The Bahnhofsviertel (, ) is a quarter of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the Ortsbezirk Innenstadt I.

The Bahnhofsviertel was developed between 1891 and 1915. Along with the Westend, the Nordend and the Ostend, it is part of Frankfurt's dense inner city districts. The Bahnhofsviertel is known as one of Frankfurt's main entertainment and red-light districts (the latter especially around ), along with Alt-Sachsenhausen south of the river Main.

Geography

The Bahnhofsviertel is scarcely half a square kilometre larger than the Altstadt, 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. The Main river forms a natural border in the south. Adjacent districts to the west are the Gutleutviertel and the Gallus around Frankfurt Central Station, the Westend in the north and the Innenstadt in the east. To the south, on the opposite side of the Main, lies Sachsenhausen.

History

thumb|300px|The developing Bahnhofsviertel, 1893. The unbuilt area shows the grounds of the western stations of five years previously. The new street network is already finished.

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 the Taunus Railway was built to the town of Höchst, still part of the Duchy of Nassau, the original Taunus 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 the Main-Neckar and Main-Weser lines were added to that. The western stations were grouped together until 1888, after which time they were replaced by the new 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 the International Electro-Technical Exhibition led by Oskar von Miller. In the meantime, the large civil land development in the style of the Wilhelminian period was placed under monument protection. In the Second 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. 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. 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. The 180-room establishment now bears the name Crazy Sexy and is the largest brothel in Germany. In 2013, five percent of prostitutes came from Germany; most came from Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia.

In the neighborhood there are occasionally large raids by the police. Counseling centers include the Diakonisches Werk operated Tamara project under the guidance of Doña Carmen.

Economy

Air China and Syrian Arab Airlines operate their Frankfurt offices in a facility in Bahnhofsviertel. Other airlines with Frankfurt offices in Bahnhofsviertel include Aeroflot, China Airlines, and Iran Air.

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File:Frankfurt Skyline at Night.jpg|Bahnhofsviertel as seen from the Main Tower

File:Frankfurt am Main, Bahnhofsviertel (Mai 2006).jpg|Bird's eye view of the Bahnhofsviertel

File:Nizza, Frankfurt.jpg|The Nizza on the banks of the Main

File:Münchner-Straße,-Frankfurt.jpg|Münchener Straße, a view in the direction of Willy-Brandt-Platz

File:Rotlichviertel Frankfurt Main.JPG|The red light district of Frankfurt at night

</gallery>

References

  • German Website over Bahnhofsviertel