100 years of Sankt Georgen: a wall full of flowers

Before: a grey wall by the road

The long wall around the campus park was grey, stained and partly tagged – a boundary passed every day by cars, cyclists and the tram. For the anniversary it was to show what the school stands for: openness and development.

What blooms on the wall

Birds of paradise in orange and violet, monstera leaves metres high, lotus, pink leaves, palm and banana fronds, white blossoms with a bumblebee – botanically accurate and along the entire length of the wall. Existing signs such as “Mensa im Park” and the anniversary lettering “100 Jahre Sankt Georgen – heute weiter denken” became part of the composition.

What the plants mean

According to the school, “the plant motifs refer to processes of growth, differentiation and continuous change.” The mural presents Sankt Georgen as an open, dynamic place where knowledge keeps developing – and creates a new point of attention on campus.

The idea came from the artist

The plants-and-flowers theme was Slavik’s own proposal: he wrote a letter to rector Prof. Wolfgang Beck – at exactly the right moment, just before the school’s 100th anniversary. The school’s leadership accepted it with minor changes, such as lettering with the school logo. Why exotic plants? “I chose exotic plants because they are more exciting: why should I paint something that already exists here?” he told the Frankfurter Neue Presse.

How the Sankt Georgen mural is made

1. Research: plant studies in the Nizza garden on the Main riverbank and in libraries; designs also with the help of AI tools.
2. Preparation: the wall, just over 280 metres long, was in poor condition – it was repaired and whitewashed (Caparol), creating about 600 m² of painting surface.
3. Transfer: using a virtual-reality headset, Slavik projected the designs onto the wall and drew the outlines.
4. Spraying: leaves and blossoms are painted with Montana Colors spray cans, section by section.

The wall and its neighbours

“This wall is so beautiful, thank you for your work!” – Slavik heard sentences like this a dozen times a day while painting. Drivers stopped to praise him, walkers watched him spray. Fr Niccolo Steiner SJ, the school’s art commissioner: “The green is meant as an invitation to visit our public park behind the wall.”

A work that has grown

At the opening of the summer semester on 13 April 2026, Slavik talked with Fr Niccolo Steiner SJ, moderated by rector Prof. Wolfgang Beck. At the time he described his work, like the floral motifs it shows, as a continuous process of growth that took in new artistic possibilities such as AI technologies. The mural has since been completed: a continuous wall of flowers where passers-by stop, take photos and start conversations.