The Bahn­hofs­vier­tel

A brief out­line of the history of this district

 In the 1980s and 1990s, the Bahn­hofs­vier­tel was mainly asso­cia­ted with the buz­zwords drugs, crime and red-light dis­trict. Since the 2000s, things have chan­ged. In the city of Frankfurt’s drug policy, the so-cal­led Frank­furt Way ⊕ was adopted.  Tau­nus­straße, in the nor­t­hern part of the dis­trict, is still known for brot­hels and table dance bars and attracts thou­sands of peo­ple every year, eit­her as cus­to­mers or as a tou­rist attrac­tion. In addi­tion, many peo­ple have always lived and worked in the Bahn­hofs­vier­tel who have a migra­tion history them­sel­ves or in their fami­lies.  

 The wind of gen­tri­fi­ca­tion blows

 City policy has chan­ged its stra­tegy for the Bahn­hofs­vier­tel since the 2010s. The aim is now to upgrade this neigh­bour­hood. As a result, inves­tors have since bought many of the hou­ses and flats, reno­va­ted them exten­si­vely and sold them on at a high price or ren­ted them out. Rising rents and reno­va­tion lawsuits are dis­pla­cing the old-estab­lished resi­dents, who have lower or middle inco­mes. The many super­mar­kets, bars and restau­rants in the various com­mu­ni­ties are incre­asingly being repla­ced by high-pri­ced restau­rants, offices and super­mar­ket chains. But for many peo­ple with their own or their family’s migra­tion history, the sta­tion dis­trict is still an important place: they meet acquain­tances and fri­ends there, can buy food and other things that are often not available in the big super­mar­ket chains, run their own busi­ness or find work here.   

 Social exclu­sion and dis­pla­ce­ment   

 Peo­ple who have low or no income and/or are affec­ted by racism have often had no choice but to move to neigh­bour­hoods like the Bahn­hofs­vier­tel due to struc­tu­ral exclu­sion and racism. In these neigh­bour­hoods rents are cheap, but housing con­di­ti­ons and infra­struc­ture, such as health care or schools, tend to be low as well.  In the course of gen­tri­fi­ca­tion, they are now being dis­pla­ced again, alt­hough some of them have been working and living in the Bahn­hofs­vier­tel for deca­des. The city is also try­ing to push drug users out of the Bahn­hofs­vier­tel with actions such as the »con­cen­tra­ted action«, wit­hout actually loo­king for solu­ti­ons to their situa­tions. Due to various lines of con­flict, there are also con­flicts bet­ween the peo­ple living and stay­ing in the Bahnhofsviertel.