Vivid creativity: A street art subway train stops at TRUMPF

Is that really a subway train hanging in the tunnel corridor at TRUMPF in Ditzingen? Yes, you saw it right. To be more precise, it's an original side wall of a Berlin subway train that used to stop in the capital at the Brandenburg Gate or Bellevue Palace a while ago. Twenty meters long and over three meters high, with four large doors, with images in TRUMPF blue made with a marker and spray can. This extraordinary work of art has recently been hanging on the wall in a long underground tunnel at the company headquarters in Ditzingen. The colleagues walking by from the new TRUMPF Education Center to the Blautopf company restaurant immediately notice that the artwork is truly unique to TRUMPF.

There are TRUMPF stories in every pictogram and every piece of lettering on the large hidden object picture. And there is a reason for this: Berlin graffiti artist Hülpman was inspired to create his paintings by none other than TRUMPF apprentices, students and trainers. Last year, he spent two days brainstorming with 50 young TRUMPF colleagues in a workshop. His question to the participants: What do you associate with TRUMPF? Family business, security and future quickly landed on the list, not to mention AI, innovation and customer insight. The first drawings and ideas took form. "Not only was the workshop great fun, but ideas and visual worlds were created, and these formed the central basis for the subsequent artwork," said the artist, whose real name is Felix Hülpüsch. The wall installation is therefore a joint work by the artist and the TRUMPF junior staff. And this can be seen in many details on the large hidden-image picture. For example, there are drawings on the subway train which even TRUMPF experts have trouble deciphering: In addition to silhouettes of TRUMPF machines, the old company logo, the TRUMPF trainee band or the birthday laser for the 100th anniversary, the original signature of TRUMPF CEO Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller can also be found on the subway train.

However, it was not only the creative motifs that were fashioned in Ditzingen, but also the artwork itself. In late summer last year, this street artist spent almost a week drawing in a production hall on the TRUMPF campus in Ditzingen. TRUMPF colleagues were able to look over his shoulder and talk to him. "For TRUMPF, art has always been an important part of the company's DNA and we want our employees to be directly involved in it," said Alexandra Müller, who heads the internal Art Department at TRUMPF. "The opportunity to observe a renowned artist at work and to be so close to the creation of a work is unique," reported Müller. And she is delighted that several hundred colleagues attended the live painting.

A few days ago, the final stage of the giant artwork was completed: thanks to colleagues from the TRUMPF Customer Center in Ditzingen, the large TRUMPF hidden object now has a permanent fixture. The TruMatic 7000 punch laser machine was used to create the brackets that support the 1.3-ton side wall of the suburban train. TRUMPF is therefore not only in the picture, but also behind the installation. The finished work of art can now be admired. The viewer is guaranteed one thing: Over a length of almost 20 meters, there is a lot to discover as you walk past, and there’s also a puzzle or two to solve. A classic hidden object - and certainly one of the most exciting subway train walls in the world.