I watched my regional public TV station this AM (HR network).....covering a piece on Frankfurt.
For those who didn't notice it....the Brit paper....the 'SUN'....carried a recent article and described Frankfurt's train station neighborhood...as the "largest slum in Germany" and "zombie land".
Cause? Well...literally two to three thousand drug addicts in an area of 2 kilometers by 3 kilometers. Aggressive policing within the station keeps crime to a minimum, but once you step outside of the front or sides of the station....you feel a bit unsafe (my own words).
Early 1978....I rode the train into Frankfurt for the first time, and walked out of the front....to feel 100-percent safe. Even throughout the 1980s and 1990s....I felt safe.
In the past dozen years? I'd advise you to step out the door and walk as quickly as possible for at least 15 minutes....to get beyond the addict zone. I'd also tell you after dark....don't walk the area.
So the reason why the Brits brought this up? Well....the European Football Championship in June and July...five games to be played in Frankfurt (actually well outside of the addict-zone.
This discussion has peeved the mayor, and they seem intent on getting rid of the reputation.
This resolution phase? Well....if you bring it up to Frankfurt residents....they've been waiting twenty years for someone to clean up the mess.
As for the addicts going away? Unless you took active enforcement and forced 3,000-odd people into a drug-program....I don't see this getting fixed.
Saying it's the worst of any city in Germany? I would suggest Hamburg in active competition....along with Berlin. But the problem in Frankfurt is mostly because of the confined nature of the crowd....6 square kilometers.
As for attending the soccer games there? The stadium is around 4 km south of the river, and probably 5 km from the train station. My advice....find a hotel on the south or west of Frankfurt, and just avoid the main station in town as much as possible. This area around the stadium is one of the safer areas of the region....without any weird problems.
3 comments:
To be fair, it's probably been pretty scummy for ages but you don't notice these things when you're young. How old were you in the 80's? Probably not a target for crime age.
And another thing, always remember the adage "Is it true? Or did you read it in the Sun?"
Obviously, the Frankfurt political establishment took the 'Sun' serious (I can think of 40 newspapers more 'fair' or truthful).
On my scummy 'index'...there are certain things I readily accepted in the 1980s as 'normal'. I'd say today...every boundary has been expanded. You have to be vigilant as you walk through the Hauptbahnhof...some predator is always watching.
I was around Frankfurt 1978/1979, and later in 1984/1985....returning to Germany in 1994. You could walk around the Bahnhof district there in the two earlier periods and not look over your shoulder. My first trip back around 1994...I was 'ambushed' upon stepping out of the Bahnhof by a dozen drug-dealers (something awful rare in 1970s/1980s). Most locals say that the 'wall' coming down brought in a lot of problems
I've walked around a lot of European metro cities (London, Rome, Paris, Den Haag/Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Hamburg, and so on). Plus I've been through Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town, Singapore, and Panama City.
In the case of Frankfurt, about 95-percent of the city is worth walking through and non-dangerous/threatening. The drug use within that Bahnhof quarter is to the level that you need to exit your train, and get to the tram...not loitering in the area (particularly at night).
I had a conversation with a German who left the area in mid-90s, and fall of last year....they made a trip back....connecting to a train in Frankfurt. Her assessment was awful harsh...watching junkies do their fix right in front of you and no worry about the cops reacting.
I'll never forget my most recent night in Frankfurt. Walked out of the Hauptbahnhof to see a 60 year old drunk homeless man try to karate kick a black British tourist while yelling racial slurs at him. Quite a sight.
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