“Scratching” is a form of vandalism apparently derived from sprayed graffiti, in which tags are scratched into windows (usually), mostly of public transportation vehicles and street furniture. This phenomenon has apparently begun in the early 1990s.

Scratching on Berlin subway windows

Scratched window at Warschauer Straße train station in Berlin

In Germany, scratching is especially prevalent in Berlin, where literally no public transportation train car is without scratched windows, despite BVG and S-Bahn companies spending between them 12 million € on repairing and exchanging scratched windows in 2005 alone. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, numerous visitors complained about the scratched windows.

External links

• Weil es alle kratzt (2005 newspaper article)
• An example of the controversy surrounding scratching.