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Bahnhofsviertel | |
|---|---|
Location of the Bahnhofsviertel (red) and the Ortsbezirk Innenstadt I (light red) within Frankfurt am Main
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 Location of Bahnhofsviertel | |
  Bahnhofsviertel  Bahnhofsviertel | |
| Coordinates:50°06′06″N08°39′34″E / 50.10167°N 8.65944°E /50.10167; 8.65944 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Hesse |
| Admin. region | Darmstadt |
| District | Urban district |
| City | Frankfurt am Main |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.525 km2 (0.203 sq mi) |
| Population (2020-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 3,703 |
| • Density | 7,050/km2 (18,300/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 60329 |
| Dialling codes | 069 |
| Vehicle registration | F |
| Website | www.bahnhofsviertel.de |
TheBahnhofsviertel (German pronunciation:[ˈbaːnhoːfsˌfɪʁtl̩]ⓘ,lit. 'train station quarter') is a quarter ofFrankfurt am Main,Germany. It is part of theOrtsbezirk Innenstadt I.
The Bahnhofsviertel was developed between 1891 and 1915. Along with theWestend, theNordend and theOstend, it is part of Frankfurt's dense inner city districts. The Bahnhofsviertel is known as one of Frankfurt's mainentertainment andred-light districts (the latter especially aroundTaunusstrasse [de]), along withAlt-Sachsenhausen south of the river Main.[2]
The Bahnhofsviertel is scarcely half a square kilometre larger than theAltstadt, making it the second smallest district of the city. The longest border line is just short of a kilometre long. Almost trapeze shaped, this district lies between the Alleenring to the west,Mainzer Landstraße in the north and the Anlagenring to the east. TheMain river forms a natural border in the south. Adjacent districts to the west are theGutleutviertel and theGallus aroundFrankfurt Central Station, theWestend in the north and theInnenstadt in the east. To the south, on the opposite side of the Main, liesSachsenhausen.
The area between the Frankfurt city wall and field of the gallows had hardly been constructed by the early nineteenth century. Only farming estates were to be found in this area. Near to the city gallows and as an unprotected site outside the city walls, it was left alone for a long time. As industrialisation came in, the city walls and its gallows were torn down to be replaced initially by villas with large gardens. The technical advances were especially noticeable here. When in 1839 theTaunus Railway was built to the town ofHöchst, still part of theDuchy of Nassau, the originalTaunus station (Taunusbahnhof) was constructed on the Anlagenring. The track of the Taunus station ran through the middle of the district of today's station quarter. Later the stations of theMain-Neckar andMain-Weser lines were added to that. Thewestern stations were grouped together until 1888, after which time they were replaced by thenew Frankfurt central station, which was situated another 500m further west. Thus the railway tracks also became redundant, and the year 1889 was able to begin with a dividing up of the area. As there was still no significant residential zone existing in 1891, the area became the central site of theInternational Electro-Technical Exhibition led by Oskar von Miller. In the meantime, the large civil land development in the style of theWilhelminian period was placed under monument protection. In theSecond World War the quarter was not so strongly bombed as the inner city, but nevertheless many buildings were destroyed, particularly in the north. In the time of the occupation by the American armed forces the district developed an active nightlife, allowed soldiers free rein to endless brothels.[2]
The Bahnhofsviertel is well connected to the public transport system because of its central location. TheHauptbahnhof, which borders the borough, offers connection to regional and long distance trains. Twotram lines (11 and 12) cross the Bahnhofsviertel on Münchner Straße. TheWilly-Brandt-PlatzU-Bahn station andTaunusanlageS-Bahn station are also easily reachable. The well-known meaning of Kaiserstraße has been lost among the street traffic, travel from the Alleenring to the Hauptbahnhof is no longer possible through the Kaisersack. Instead the main traffic vein today is Gutleutstraße, which flows into the theatre tunnel and offers a connection to the old part of town. The roads arrange in a chessboard-like fashion and make orientation easy. The wide east-west streets are constructed like boulevards and communicate the charm of a big city. Numerous nineteenth century buildings have survived throughWorld War II and became chaste residential houses in the 1950s and 1960s, whilst several supplemented skyscrapers. Best known are theSilvertower and theGallileo at Jürgen-Ponto-Platz (named after the murdered president of Dresdner Bank), the Skyper and the Gewerkschaftshaus in Wilhelm-Leuschner-Straße. The latter was built in 1931, (the architect was Max Taut), and was then the biggest skyscraper in the city. The best known of many hotels in the Bahnhofsviertel, the InterContinental, is also in Wilhelm-Leuschner-Straße.
There are no large parks but in the south of the district lies the Main Riverbank, one of the most popular green areas in Frankfurt. In 1860 a silted branch of the Main, the Kleine Main, was filled up and the offshore island Mainlust was connected to the main bank. On this land Sebastian Rinz, the city gardener, laid out a green area with Mediterranean vegetation which was soon named Nizza in common speech. The Frankfurt families Guaita and Loeen had already possessed large landscaped gardens in the climatically favoured area of the river west of the old city walls since the seventeenth century.
Frankfurt'sred-light district is in Bahnhofsviertel. The core of the district consists of Elbestraße, Moselstraße and Taunusstraße. The district was more and more dominated byprostitution, especially after 1945. The reason being that duringWorld War II, the area was only slightly damaged by bombs, and that many of the hotels located there were used by theUS occupation forces for the accommodation of military personnel. The great poverty of the German population and the in comparison very wealthy US soldiers formed thesociocultural background for the emergence of the red light district at this point.[3] During the Cold War era, American soldiers referred to it as Kaiserstraße, or K-Street.
There are a number of brothels in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel.[4] In 1969, the Frankfurt contractors received Willi Schütz's approval for the opening of the first large brothel at 49-53 Elbestraße. The project was supported by the then Frankfurt police chief Gerhard Littmann, who saw in the creation of an Eros Center in the vicinity of the city the only way to deal with the numerous complaints about "commercial malnutrition" in residential areas.[5] The 180-room establishment now bears the nameCrazy Sexy and is the largest brothel in Germany. In 2013, five percent ofprostitutes came from Germany; most came fromEastern Europe,Latin America orAsia.[4] TheRote Haus at 34 Taunusstrasse has six floors and 67 rooms. There are 14 brothels in the station district.[6]
In the neighborhood there are occasionally large raids by the police.[7][8] Counseling centers include theDiakonisches Werk operated Tamara project[4][9] under the guidance of Doña Carmen.
Air China andSyrian Arab Airlines operate their Frankfurt offices in a facility in Bahnhofsviertel.[10][11] Other airlines with Frankfurt offices in Bahnhofsviertel includeAeroflot,[12]China Airlines,[13] andIran Air.[14]
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