At a first glance, Frankfurt’s Bahnhofsviertel can be an alarming place to walk through. 

With drug deals happening out in the open as well as brothels, a high level of homelessness and a tense atmosphere, the station district is not for the fainthearted. 

It is an infamous crime hotspot, too. As The Local reported, Frankfurt has the highest crime rate in Germany (ahead of Berlin), with 14,871 offences per 100,000 inhabitants.

The number of violent crimes, such as assault and robbery, increased in 2023 across Germany, with 12,530 such offences recorded in Frankfurt. Police said a “significant proportion” of the offences were registered in the Bahnhofsviertel.

READ ALSO: How dangerous is Frankfurt central station and the Bahnhofsviertel?

But what’s it like to live and walk around the area every day?

Gregor Amann, deputy head of Frankfurt City Council and member of the Social Democrats (SPD), says the Bahnhofsviertel has numerous problems that the city has been trying to tackle over the years. But he’s also keen to point out the positive aspects of the area.

Amann, a former member of the German Bundestag, has lived a short walk from the ‘train station quarter’ for decades, walks there almost every day and sees it as his constituency. 

He understands why people who are not used to it can find the neighbourhood scary, but said: “I think it’s actually not as bad as it looks.

“I’ve lived there for 30 years. I have never been mugged, I’ve never been attacked, I’ve never had any problems. All right, I’m a male person, tall and and so forth. But I also know women that live in the neighbourhood or walk through the neighbourhood that say, ‘you know, it’s not as dangerous as it looks.'”

Despite this, the number of crimes taking place – and other anti-social problems – can’t be ignored. 

Frankfurt is known for its open drugs policy known as ‘the Frankfurt way’ that was introduced in the 90s. This involved providing drug consumption rooms and implementing other measures aimed at making using drugs safer. 

Amann said this greatly reduced drug deaths at the time, but said issues have risen with the shift from people using heroin to drugs like crack cocaine.

“When I moved to the neighbourhood about 30 years ago, all the drug addicts were taking heroin. Now, I am told by a local expert, everybody’s taking everything now, and crack plays a big part of that.”

He said a major challenge is that heroin “makes people passive” whereas when people take crack “they’re not passive, and they’re sort of low key aggressive, and they just keep walking around the neighbourhood”.

The city has been looking at the possibility of an addiction centre for people addicted to crack cocaine as well as expanding hours of existing drug help centres. 

But Amann said there are no quick solutions. “I have the feeling we haven’t found an answer to the crack problem yet,” he said. 

The city councillor added that things deteriorated during the pandemic when the area emptied out and people who would usually receive money from begging lost their livelihoods. 

‘Getting better’

The city has taken measures to deal with crime.

As well as a weapons ban, there are more police patrols and CCTV cameras.

It is also being cleaned more often. An office with three city workers have been assigned to help the neighbourhood deal with issues and talk with businesses. E-scooters can’t be dumped anywhere on the pavement. More public toilets have been installed. 

“We still have ways to go, but it is getting better,” said Amann, who is in favour of more proactive approaches and a higher police presence. 

Amann said he speaks to people in the Bahnhofsviertel daily, and visits restaurants and venues in the neighbourhood. 

He said he didn’t want to “disguise any problems that we have”. But reports in tabloids – such as when the British newspaper The Sun called it ‘Zombieland’ ahead of the Euro 2024 tournament – were disappointing. 

“That’s all BS,” he said. “It’s just not true.”

He added that every city has its “rough patch” and that he didn’t foresee the Bahnhofsviertel becoming a sought-after spot with zero problems in future.  

But he said: “I’m hoping it becomes nicer and safer. The status quo is not enough.”