Have you ever been in Aachen? I wasn’t there until yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, all I knew `til yesterday was, that Aachen is a highly attractive destination. Beyond the common tourist attractions like the Roman residues and the medieval heart of the city with cathedral and its Treasury, Aachen is a student city with a unique atmosphere. It is easy to reach by local train in a 2 hours trip from my hometown Essen; I never was there anyway – until yesterday.

A longer stay was not planned. A short visit in the Thalys shop and then take the next possible train back to Essen. What shall I say, I missed that train by only a minute. What would you do in a foreign city without local knowledge and one hour time until the next train departs? I definitely thought it would be fun to have a look at the immediate surroundings and began strolling around the station. Outside the hall and a few steps along the street I found myself in streetart hunters paradise. Who would have thought it possible that Aachen is a street art hot spot? OK – there is SENOR SCHNU; it is well known that he is based in Aachen; that was all I knew about Aachen’s street art scene. There is more. Much more! Aachen glues, paints, assembles and rearranges. There is MR. TETRAIX, an artist who recycles little paper drink packs and uses them to decorate traffic lights and -signs. His installations are placed overhead and the common tourist passes them without taking notice. Next to the station you’ll find a lot of WHITE TRASH and an artist who calls himself I LOVE ANIMALS; who wonders that his characters are animals. I have found some nice paste-ups around the station and missed my train again. So I went on with my excursion around the station and learned a lot about street art in Aachen. It is time to explore more and capture the heart of the city. The next time.

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