Mysterious things happen in my neighborhood, Bilk, the hippest, hottest place in Düsseldorf, the finest city on the Rhine. It’s vibrantly diverse, in the good way!
About a week ago, I crossed the Merowinger Bridge over the Düssel river, and saw this attached to it:
“bilk stays dirty”.
I have no idea who put it there, or why (anyone know?). It’s gone now, either to a landfill or an art gallery
Just one of those odd things that sometimes happen here.
German Joys 
It’s probably a statement against gentrification. You have heard the same statement about Kreuzberg where I live. Or in Neukölln:
https://www.notesofberlin.com/neukolln-bleibt-dreckig/
Logic being: if we behave like antisocial jackasses and let our stupid dogs shit everywhere no rich people want to live here so it keeps the rent low.
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That was one of my theories as well, but they certainly put a whole lot more thought and care into it than the random sprayer.
However, I think perhaps it might actually be a protest against pollution. It was put on a bridge over the Düssel which was notorious for people throwing random garbage into the river. In fact, *I myself* filmed a cleanup operation of exactly this stretch of the river a few years ago and posted it, and got many compliments for actually wading into the river and removing the bottles, batteries, lamps, broken bike locks, plastic bags, and other garbage people had thrown into it.
I can imagine people spray-painting to keep a neighborhood ungentrified, but it’s hard to imagine people embracing throwing batteries and old televisions into a river where ducks and fish live. Or maybe I’m just not cynical enough.
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You are not cynical enough.
Olli Schulz told a story on the “fest & flauschig” Podcast a while ago: a friend was walking her dog in Berlin. When she wanted to put its poo in a bag she was screamed at by some local punk for being part of the problem.
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