What's up with the graffiti in Berlin?

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For all of you who love Berlin, write me and let's compare notes. I've taken at least a dozen trips to Berlin and I think I know the city pretty well but you may have a different perspective. If so, I'd like to hear about it.
If you're younger than me (under 60), you are most likely to be attracted to hip, trendy parts of Berlin, like Mitte or Prenzlauerberg. These areas, although mildly interesting to me, and not the parts of Berlin in which I feel most comfortable. I love the pretty neighborhoods of Zehlendorf, Schlactensee, Fronau, and the like. My friend Thomas who grew up in Berlin describes these neighborhoods as "posh." They are certainly more upscale than the neighborhoods in Mitte or Prenzlauerberg but they're also much lusher with beautiful old trees and lavish gardens with a mind-blowing assortment of flowers.
These more middle class neighborhoods do have something in common with their rougher counterparts, however. No matter where you find yourself in Berlin--the leafy suburbs or the gritty city center--you see lots and lots of graffiti. It always amazes me that the Germans who are so obsesses with recycling and preserving the environment seem oblivious to this brand of visual pollution. We're not talking about graffiti as art here. We talking ugly turf-marking. You'd be hard pressed to find a neighborhood untouched by the ravages of black spray paint.
My brother who lives in Berlin once spotted a person spraying the interior of a train car with graffiti. He approached the painter and asked him to stop. The painter yelled and swore at him, irate that my brother had distracted him from his 'work.' No one else on the train seemed disturbed by any of this.
I'd like to know why this seems to be tolerated. If you can shed some light on this, please leave me comment.
Love from your Berlin Mom

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