I know every city has its graffiti and Dublin is no exception. Windmill Lane is known for its graffiti and some of this is very good. On the other hand, the approach to Connolly Station by rail from the Northside shows the other face of graffiti - the endless crap of people's initials and the like. What I'd call wanton stuff.

So I'm no stranger to graffiti. But Berlin really floored me. There is much good stuff, such as along the remains of the Berlin Wall, but the ubiquity of crap is astonishing. To be fair it's not quite everywhere. I'm told that, relatively, areas like Kreuzberg and certain other areas, particularly areas in flux or up and coming areas, have a lot of it but that there are older and grander areas free from it as are normal urban/suburban areas. I saw a lot of it, but then I was staying in Kreuzberg.

The graffito above, make love not war, is just about acceptable. It is well done and in scale. The piece above it is of the crap variety, and the lot is currently encapsulated between custom ads for Planet of the Apes.

I am not taking exception to some of the integrated decoration of the front of buildings. There is quite a lot of that and some of it is both artistic and innovative.

Nor am I criticising banners done in a good cause.

Some of the decoration on the gable end of blocks of flats is pleasing, amusing and no doubt of interest to children.

But even here, as you approach ground level, you can see the crap invasion. Nothing, it appears, is sacred.

But there is a lot of this shite around the place. I'm surprised there isn't a more organised effort to clean it up and apprehend the "causers". It is certainly more permanent and offensive than briefly locking your bicycle to the railings outside the USA embassy.

Some more examples below.

It was pointed out to me that, while the stuff on the street is offensive, it is not necessarily an indication of the inner life of the neighbourhood. Beyond the outside door, the inner courtyard can be a different matter entirely, and, of course, it is not accessible to the casual graffiti "artists".

A small word in possible mitigation of the offence of the causers. I understand that graffiti was absolutely forbidden in the East German sector and offenders were heavily dealt with. Perhaps, even now, a quarter of a century since the fall of The Wall, the anarchist tendency is still playing out on the street. And, of course, in the old days Berlin was known for its Bohemian communities.

Even the pillars at the park gates don't entirely escape though they do seem to get off relatively lightly. Possibly because of the almost 24 hour presence of these guys about their business.