In the early 1990s in Vienna, most painting and graffiti was illegal, and sprayers were frequently fined or arrested. Following these wave of arrests, local writers organized themselves and founded the Vienna Graffiti Union, who demanded the city to allocate legal spaces for graffiti. As a result of this pressure, the first Wienerwand (“Viennese Wall” in English) were introduced later in the 1990s.
When I was in Vienna, I didn’t come across any of these official walls, but I did notice some graffiti and wall art around the city, though not as much as I’ve seen in other European cities.
