Jena, April 30, 2026 – The city of Jena is taking more consistent action against illegal graffiti and has presented a new concept for combating it. In addition to prevention, the focus is primarily on financial support for affected property owners.
- What: New municipal concept against illegal graffiti
- Focus: Central recording in the city’s Mängelmelder, rapid removal of criminal content
- Funding: Up to 50 % of cleaning costs (max. 1,250 euros/year) for private owners, up to 75 % for protective measures
- Next step: Approval of the funding guideline (total volume: 125,000 euros) in the Stadtrat next week
Central Reporting System and Rapid Removal
In order to be able to react more quickly to illegal graffiti, the city of Jena is bundling its measures. In the future, all incidents are to be recorded centrally via the Mängelmelder. This enables the responsible authorities to identify focal points more quickly and coordinate cleaning in a more targeted manner. Particular attention is paid to criminal or extremist content: these are to be removed from the cityscape as a priority and particularly quickly in the future.
Financial Support for Affected Citizens
Private property owners who become victims of vandalism have often had to bear the high cleaning costs themselves until now. The new concept provides for concrete financial relief in this regard. A new funding guideline is intended to support private owners with up to 50 percent of the cleaning costs incurred – capped at a maximum of 1,250 euros per year. Those who also invest in preventive protective measures or design solutions can even expect up to 75 percent of the costs to be covered. The Stadtrat will deal with the draft next week. A funding pool of 125,000 euros is earmarked for the program.
Prevention: Legal Areas and Youth Work
In addition to prosecution and removal, Jena is increasingly focusing on education and prevention. The city plans to expand workshops and special youth projects. In addition, more legal graffiti areas are to be created in the city area to offer sprayers creative freedom and preventively reduce illegal actions.
Background: Combating Graffiti and the Jenaer Mängelmelder
The municipal Mängelmelder has already been an established tool for years for citizens in Jena to report defective streetlights, illegal waste dumps, or graffiti to the administration via app or website. Legal graffiti areas already exist in Jena at selected locations, for example in the vicinity of the Jena-Paradies station or on certain retaining walls in Lobeda. Such legal walls (often called „Hall of Fame“) have proven to be an effective means in many cities to keep the illegal sprayer scene away from historical centers and residential neighborhoods. The now planned financial support for private households is an important step, as the professional removal of graffiti from house facades, especially with sandstone or elaborately insulated walls, can often consume high four-figure sums.
Source:
Stadt bündelt Maßnahmen gegen illegale Graffiti
Transparency Note: This article was created automatically, editorially reviewed, and expanded with AI support.