You will find junkies, prostitution and squalor in any big European city if you go looking for them. But they will probably not be as visible or concentrated as they are in Frankfurt.
Four men are slumped on a litter-strewn pavement lighting up pipes full of crack – the illegal and catastrophically addictive blend of cocaine and baking powder.
Here in the financial capital of the European Union, they are very hard to avoid. Step out of the city's magnificent central railway station, one of Germany's busiest, and, within a one-minute walk, you are inside what looks like the set of a dystopian film well before you find, say, the headquarters of the European Central Bank or the delightful old world charm of Roemer square.
You certainly cannot accuse the authorities of ignoring the issue, given the plethora of security cameras, police patrols, drug clinics and advice — right down to a tourist map for junkies pointing out the nearest needle pick-up points and shower facilities. All supporters have learned to add in considerable extra time before planning any journey. Even The New York Times has managed to take time off from moaning about Britain to report that, in the world of soccer, 'Germany's faltering rail system emerges as a tough opponent'.
When it comes to growth, Germany is now being outperformed by the EU's former basket case, Greece. Meanwhile, in the first half of 2024, corporate insolvencies in Germany increased by 30 per cent. And so on and so on. He wants to see more CCTV cameras — 'like you have in London' — and more police crackdowns. 'Right now, we just have junkie-jogging,' he says, referring to local slang for the way in which the drug addicts simply shuffle round to another street each time the police appear.
The streets were cleaner under the former conservative regime of the CDU, she adds, but the city's current coalition of socialists and Greens is too soft. 'I cannot afford to vote Green,' she jokes, adding that driving a car is getting more and more difficult. Not that she would ever consider public transport. 'The trains are useless now.'
The Press reports that the whole city is a 'Zombieland' are grossly unfair, he tells me, because the problem is limited to one district. The situation may not look appealing, he concedes, but 'people should feel secure'.
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