New Mural Completed at VOLKSWAGEN Engine Plant Chemnitz: International Street Artist M-City Makes a Creative Statement

A new monumental artwork now enriches the public space in Chemnitz. Between June 22 and 27, 2026, a large-scale stencil-art mural by the world-renowned Polish artist Mariusz Waras, better known as M-City, was successfully realized at the Volkswagen engine plant (Kauffahrtei site). The project was created as part of the curated HALLENKUNST Mural Art Program and makes a highly visible statement at the intersection of industrial history and contemporary urbanity.

The newly created mural is based on the artwork "Neon X," which originally originated during an artist residency in Chemnitz and already attracted great attention at HALLENKUNST 2025 in the Chemnitz Market Hall. M-City, who today teaches as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and has realized over 700 murals in metropolises such as Berlin, Paris, São Paulo, London, and Prague, is considered the ideal artist for this location steeped in history. His art is deeply rooted in the aesthetics of industrialization; having grown up amidst industrial landscapes, Waras understands the pulsating inner workings and dynamics of production facilities like no other. The complex fantasy structure breaks up the functional rigidity of the factory facade by embedding familiar elements such as gears and industrial fragments into an abstract, forward-looking composition.

Due to the color scheme, whose nuances can already be found elsewhere on the building, the mural does not act as an isolated foreign body, but as a harmonious continuation of the architectural identity of the Volkswagen engine plant.

A central and particularly emotional aspect of the artwork is the dignified tribute to the former Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, Dr. Carl Hahn (1926–2023). Rather than relying on a conventional, static monument, the lasting legacy of the Chemnitz native—who decisively and visionarily shaped the development of the location over decades—is seamlessly woven into the dynamic depiction of the plant. It symbolizes a bridge between the mechanical past and a highly technological future—values that Carl Hahn stood for throughout his life.

The integration of this work underlines the ambition of the HALLENKUNST Mural Art Program to inseparably interweave top-tier urban art with the specific identity of the Chemnitz region and the broader cultural region. From now on, the permanent exhibit serves as a public space of reflection for the ongoing structural and technological transformation of the automotive industry. It offers sustainable narrative value for the artist, VOLKSWAGEN SACHSEN, and HALLENKUNST, bringing together technical heritage and modern urbanity at the highest level of quality.

Our curated MURAL ART PROGRAM is an initiative to strengthen the cultural visibility of the region in public spaces.

Photos: Johannes Richter, M-City