The Para­dies­hof

No flat, no job — no job, no flat   

Alt­hough many hou­ses are empty in a city like Frank­furt, peo­ple have to live per­ma­nently on the street. And even in the emer­gency shel­ters there are often not enough places. This is exa­cer­ba­ted by racist exclu­sion: many peo­ple who come to Frank­furt from Euro­pean and non-Euro­pean count­ries are excluded from most social bene­fits. Wit­hout a job they can­not afford a flat, wit­hout a flat they can­not take a job — because for that they need an offi­cial regis­tra­tion address (more on this in the sta­ti­ons The aut­ho­rity for for­eig­ners and Working in Frank­furt). 

Brea­king the vicious cir­cle of home­l­ess­ness   

Because of this vicious cir­cle, many peo­ple who migrate to Frank­furt are per­ma­nently threa­tened by home­l­ess­ness. The­r­e­fore, the acti­vists of Pro­ject Shel­ter have deve­lo­ped a prac­tice of soli­da­rity to sup­port each other in housing, job search and deal­ing with aut­ho­ri­ties. Howe­ver, the cen­tral pro­blem for newly arri­ved peo­ple — lack of housing and no regis­tra­tion addres­ses — can­not be sol­ved wit­hout a house. A self-orga­nised centre is at least a first step towards brea­king the vicious cir­cle. An open neigh­bour­hood café, housing, coun­sel­ling, group rooms, Ger­man cour­ses and events can create an important cont­act point for many peo­ple. In addi­tion, the centre could become a place to fur­ther ally poli­ti­cally. Pro­ject Shel­ter and many other poli­ti­cal and soli­da­rity groups are fight­ing for a city for all, against racist laws like the labor-mar­ket test (Vor­rang­prü­fung), explo­ita­tion at the work­place, depor­ta­ti­ons und racial pro­fil­ing. 

“Upgrading« neigh­bour­hoods means exclu­ding peo­ple

There is a reason why the Para­dies­hof con­ti­nues to stand empty ins­tead: the city’s goal is to »upgrade« the buil­ding and the sur­roun­ding pub dis­trict. Upgrading pri­ma­rily means making neigh­bour­hoods more attrac­tive for wealt­hier clas­ses and real estate inves­tors. In the pro­cess, peo­ple with lower inco­mes are dis­pla­ced. In order to achieve upgrading, for exam­ple, buil­dings are moder­nised, ren­ted flats are con­ver­ted into con­do­mi­ni­ums and adver­ti­sing for the dis­trict is car­ried out. The result: the pro­per­ties and land increase in value and more pro­fit can be made from the rising rents. A self-orga­nised centre, which Pro­ject Shel­ter has been fight­ing for since 2014, does not ful­fil this pur­pose of upgrading. It has been rejec­ted by the city govern­ment for years and put on the back bur­ner. Yet a centre with an open neigh­bour­hood café, housing opti­ons, coun­sel­ling ser­vices, Ger­man cour­ses and events could be very valuable for many peo­ple in Frank­furt.