2023-09-25 21:13:45
Nothing happens quickly, Andreas Henke has no illusions about that. The social worker leads the outreach street work in the Bahnhofsviertel, OSSIP. And he knows: “Social work doesn’t clean up quickly.” It takes some homeless people or drug addicts years to get to the point where they can even accept a cup of tea – let alone a place to sleep or drug withdrawal. “Of course we offer everything we can to encourage people to become abstinent – and until then we will help,” says Elke Voitl (The Greens), head of the social affairs department.
This help is enshrined in the Frankfurter Weg. The four pillars not only include prevention, therapy and repression, but also damage reduction. And even the little things are a success: another day without drug deaths; an evening when someone sleeps in a bed; an afternoon in which fewer crack users walk aggressively through the streets around the train station or lie apathetically on the sidewalk because they have found a bed to rest for the day. In order to expand these offers, the magistrate has just pledged five million euros. “The facilities have to grow if we want to offer routes out of the station district,” says the department head.
The situation in the Bahnhofsviertel is still tense, and that is due to many reasons, as Andreas Henke says – not just because of his drug-addicted clients. The major construction site has a negative impact on the streetscape. Because there is less space available without the B level and some street corners that have disappeared behind construction fences, “density stress” arises. “This also makes drug deals and consumption more visible.” He rejects the observation that things are worse than ever in the area.
Many travel from the surrounding area
The high level of media attention means that many people travel from out of town because they understand from the reporting that Frankfurt’s train station district is a law-free area where they can consume in peace. “We see new people every day, including young ones,” says Henke. In any case, around half of the scene doesn’t come from Frankfurt. “We also deal with the drug policy problems in the surrounding area here,” says Voitl. There are no consumption rooms there.
According to Henke’s observation, the general situation is also worsening due to a group of particularly aggressive people who are in the Kaisersack and are armed and dangerous. The police know about it and are constantly there checking, as Henke says. This still has an impact on the neighborhood: “The clients arm themselves, it’s like arming themselves.” Many people carry screwdrivers or broken glass for self-defense, says the social worker. And when an argument breaks out, it can get brutal.
Popular substance: After heroin, crack is now the most commonly used drug in the Bahnhofsviertel. : Image: Daniel Pilar
Henke can well understand that misery and the potential for violence burden residents and employees who walk to their jobs in the area. “Many are emotionally overwhelmed.” That’s why he also offers seminars in the Prevention Council’s “See Violence – Help” event series. There he also talks about his positive experiences: “When you talk to people, it reduces fears. These are people with humor, people with a story. Then it becomes very clear to you – they are people too.”
Sometimes Henke misses this humanistic view of his clientele when talking about the Bahnhofsviertel. For example, when demands like those for a closed crack area like in Hamburg are brought out. “These people are also allowed to make decisions – where they want to stay, for example. Only a court in Germany can deny that,” says Henke. However, Voitl, head of the social affairs department, assures us: “We will not centralize the misery.”
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Voitl does not want to comment on the debate about the letter in which the Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) asked Mayor Mike Josef (SPD) to do more for the station district. “I will continue to do substantive politics and not join in discussions during the election campaign.” Among other things, Beuth had called for more social workers to be deployed. In Zurich there are at least 55 on the streets and the drug scene is smaller. Unlike Voitl, Andreas Henke says something about it: “The 55 are responsible for the entire city area, not for a quarter. I have a hard time comparing apples and oranges.”
Many do not accept drug help offers
Beuth had also criticized the fact that crack users did not accept drug help offers. However, special offers such as daytime beds or sets with clean crack pipes have been planned for a long time and are now coming in a five million package. Voitl also has his eye on a property that will have a large lounge area for crack addicts. “Even people in painful situations should adhere to social rules,” affirms the Green politician.
This is reflected in OSSIP’s social work: the twelve employees also address people who are loud or disruptive in public spaces. However, they only have a limited “net talk time,” as Andreas Henke puts it, for the approximately 300 severely addicted people in the area. “And then the right person has to be in the right place at the right time.” Because a lot of it comes down to relationship work. However, if you are sent to the wound clinic with your open leg, it must also be open – it is impossible for most people to keep an appointment the following day. Against this background, Henke considers the fact that several facilities will now be open longer as a result of the additional budget for the station district to be an important step forward. If a few more of his clients have bandaged wounds in the future, that won’t mean the whole neighborhood has been healed – but it will be a small success for the individual. And, by the way, also for the streetscape.
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