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Hidden Sights Munich: The Traffic Light Flower
Hidden Sights Munich: The Traffic Light Flower
Munich is famous for its sights. Especially from the Baroque period and the Renaissance. Numerous churches, castles, and other buildings bring joy to countless tourists every year. In addition, Munich was and is a city of art and culture. Since King Ludwig I (no, not the „crazy king“, but one of his ancestors) began to transform „his“ Munich into an „Isar-Athens“ and make it a haven of culture, it attracted many artists and cultural workers. Until today you can find magnificent buildings, art, and culture on an extraordinarily high level in Munich and its neighborhood.
Sights off the beaten track
But a lot of people would also like to explore the art off the tourist paths. One of these artworks is the „Traffic Light Flower“.
It is a work of visual art created in 2002 by the artists Johannes Brunner and Raimund Ritz.
Hidden sight: The Traffic Light Flower
The object is located in the courtyard of the Stadtwerke headquarters on the former site of the Munich-Moosach gasworks. Between 1909 and 1975, the gasworks ensured the gas supply for Munich households. Between 1983 and 2005, contaminated areas from the time when coal was converted to gas here were removed. The old buildings were demolished, except for the landmarked „gas meter workshop“ and a few other things, such as the entrance gate at Dachauerstraße. In the early 2000s, the office headquarters of Stadtwerke München was built here. In the inner courtyard, the city decided to create an innovative, modern work of art. The choice fell on the traffic light flower.
It is a relatively large installation of traffic lights. These constantly show different circuits. For a whole hour, you can follow the light show without repetition, if you want. Admittedly, there are partly rather extended phases, in which the same traffic lights are on. If you like to see what the traffic light flower does, there are actually two short videos of it on youtube:
How to get there
The artwork is quite close to the city center. You can easily get there by taking the tramway. Tramway lines 20 and 21 stop only 100 meters from the Art installation. You simply get off at the „Stadtwerke München“ station and walk around the office building. In the courtyard, you will find the installation.
