Over the past few days, eight children and young people have transformed the grey façade of the mobile play container in Großkölnstraße into a colorful underwater world with street art. Since then, an octopus, a dolphin and other aquatic animals have been greeting visitors to the city center, young and old.

The artists Maren Hoch and Steph Neuberger guided the children over four days during the summer vacations to create their own street art project. They collected ideas with them, made sketches in the Ludwig Forum's art workshop and implemented them on site over three days in a large-scale and colorful mosaic-style painting. "It was a wonderful week with the children and young people. They were all very committed and enjoyed creating and were keen to learn new things. Creating their own large work of art in the middle of a public space in the city center was a great experience for the children and young people," said the two artists.

Mayor Sibylle Keupen visited the children at the play container during the vacation campaign. "It is important to me to make the city center even more attractive for families and children. I am delighted that our mobile play container has been so well received and that the children have now been able to design it themselves with their own ideas and according to their wishes. My heartfelt thanks go to the young artists who have used their creativity to create such a beautiful motif and make the street more colorful," explained Sibylle Keupen.

The team from the city's inner-city morning task force installed the mobile play container in November 2023 in order to quickly create a better quality of life for families and children in Großkölnstraße. The task force includes experts from various departments - such as business development, urban design, climate and environment - who work together to develop measures to improve the situation in the city center. In cooperation with the Aachen Museum Service, the design of the container was finally made possible as part of a vacation play course.

City Manager Kai Hennes emphasized: "From play areas and furniture to more greenery in the pedestrian zones - mobile solutions such as those we are implementing with the task force have the advantage that they can be implemented quickly and easily. We test what works where and can make it permanent if necessary. The city center is changing, there is a lot going on. It's an advantage to be able to flexibly adapt the offers and situations on site."

Further information:

To the inner city morning task force: aachen.de/grosskoeln

to the Museumsdienst Aachen: museumsdienst-aachen.de/