Whole streets in the 4th district are currently falling victim to illegal sprayers: “60 new graffiti within two weeks”, a resident documented with photos. Wieden is not even one of Vienna’s graffiti hotspots. District chief Lea Halbwidl (SPÖ) now wants to create more legal areas for spraying.
“In the past, illegal graffiti could only be seen sporadically on the walls of buildings in the 4th district,” says “Krone” reader Luise M. But that has changed, especially in the past year. “It’s like the plague”, M. complains. “I don’t understand why nobody is acting here, although it is getting worse.” The problem is not just in the Grätzel around Schaumburggasse: “Graffiti attacks against Karlskirche are also increasing dramatically” , criticizes ÖVP district chairman Johannes Pasquali.
The smear hotspots are usually elsewhere: Landstrasse, Mariahilf and the 15th district recorded an increase in illegal graffiti of over 100 percent from 2019 to 2020 (there are no more recent data). According to the police, there was an increase of 26 percent in all of Vienna.
Neighboring residents demand educational work. Wiedens district boss Lea Halbwidl (SPÖ) wants to lure the sprayers to legal places and expand them.