Munich has unveiled an impressive new street art installation featuring a 165-meter-long wall decorated by 50 selected graffiti artists in the Pasing district. The project, titled 'Back to the Roots,' transforms a noise barrier wall along Hildachstraße into a vibrant homage to the city's pioneering role in German graffiti culture.
Located on the back side of a retaining and noise barrier wall at the extension of Hildachstraße, near the intersection with Erna-Eckstein-Straße, the colorful artwork requires some searching to find. The wall stands 5.5 meters high and stretches 165 meters in length, positioned away from the residential area at the edge of the new development along Paul-Gerhardt-Allee. Visitors who discover this hidden gem are greeted by an extensive gallery of artistic, color-intensive graffiti pieces created by renowned street artists including Loomit, Graphism, and Flin.
The project was carefully organized with each team of artists allocated 12 meters of wall space to showcase their work. The Urban Design Studio Graphism and the Munich Graffiti Library collection coordinated the logistics and artist selection. The initiative received official backing from Munich's Cultural Department, which provided €10,000 in funding for the 'Back to the Roots' project.
This street art initiative stems from a 2014 city council mandate that called for promoting and enabling free creative actions in the realm of street art and graffiti. According to Patricia Müller from the Cultural Department, Munich served as a central hub for German graffiti culture during the 1980s and 1990s, long before Berlin became recognized as the capital of urban art. The legendary flea market grounds on Dachauer Straße served as an iconic location for this movement during that era.
'With the project on Hildachstraße, we're connecting to this phase of Munich's urban art history,' Müller explained. 'It's a tribute to our history and simultaneously a statement for the present – celebrating diversity, expressive power, and public space as a canvas for intergenerational culture.'
The Cultural Department continues to support various graffiti projects throughout the city. Recent examples include artists decorating walls at the playground on Laimer Anger and a commemorative mural created on a column at Donnersbergerbrücke to mark the 20th anniversary of the NSU murder of Theodoros Boulgarides. Looking ahead to 2026, officials have announced plans for a collaboration with the Casa Action Sports Center in Pasing, promising more opportunities for street art expression in Munich's evolving urban landscape.
