In 1995, a man from Essen and a man from Rostock jointly founded Plakat Kunst Hof Rüttenscheid in a backyard in the south of Essen. In doing so, the founders not only wanted to support the German Poster Museum, they also wanted to show that graphic design can go beyond design. In 2011, one of the founders passed away, and what remained was his idea of a breeding ground for urban arts in the middle of the Ruhr region. Inspired by this, Christian Mai founded PLAKATKIOSK 25 years later at the same location, as a native of Rostock and raised in Essen.