Inside perspectives of "Zombieland"

People in the community - Inside glimpses of the movie "Zombieland".

Before Amar rushes a few meters to the public urinal outside in the rain, he first has to pull his wet shoes over his holey socks. "Sorry, it's especially disgusting outside today," the man says as he retreats into his shelter on Frankfurt's Mosel Street in the train station district. For months, he's been staying in the entrance of a former hotel. On barely more than two square meters, he rolls himself with a friend on a piece of cardboard for sleeping, and in the corner lies a plastic bag with food, a broken suitcase serves as a pillow and wardrobe all in one.

This district is like "Zombieland," - this is how the British tabloid "Sun" recently described the area with the clear drug scene. Stories of "the most dangerous slum in Germany" have been heard - "full of 5,000 slobbering junkies and 300 dealers."

Amar is one of the people who somehow ended up in the Bahnhofsviertel. And he tells what it's like to live there. He does this quietly and only after he has pulled the blanket over his makeshift shelter. He's been afraid too many times to be provoked or attacked by the group of junkies who are lighting their crack pipes a few meters away. "I'm always afraid," says the man from Algeria - and in that moment, a clearly drugged man pulls the blanket aside, which at least gives Amar the illusion of privacy.

Hundreds are part of the drug scene

Since he came to Frankfurt in 2019, he's been living on the street, as Amar reports, trying to maintain a certain dignity with a neat haircut and as clean clothing as possible. His body is covered by years of heroin use. In the past two years, it's gotten progressively worse in the streets around the train station. "There are constant robberies, brutal fights between the junkies," he says. More addicts "from elsewhere" are coming to the district. "And the stuff that's circulating now makes them totally aggressive," he adds.

He has no expectation that anything will change before the European Football Championship - numerous international guests are expected for the games held in Frankfurt - he doesn't expect anyone to care about them: "Nobody here cares about us," he says, leaving it open who he means.

The Drug Office of the City of Frankfurt estimates the drug scene in the Bahnhofsviertel at about 3,300 people who use consumption rooms. About 300 of them stay regularly in the Bahnhofsviertel. Since 2012, crack has been the most widespread drug in the scene, followed by alcohol, cannabis, and heroin, says Anita Strecker from the Drug Office. "Most junkies consume multiple substances," she adds.

The police recorded around 8,500 drug offenses in Frankfurt last year, 7,000 in 2022. Almost half of all drug-related offenses were recorded in the Bahnhofsviertel, according to a police spokesperson. There are also more frequent personal checks: in addition to daily patrols, and at least one large-scale check per week.

Crack is the main problem

A change of scene: Less than a hundred meters away from Amar's hideout, a man in a leather jacket and two women are sitting on the dirty steps of a house entrance. All three have their crack pipes and a lighter laid out on the asphalt. A passing police patrol is barely acknowledged. "It's still good that they're here," the man says. "Without the cops, it would be much worse here."

While the women can barely form a coherent sentence, another man joins the conversation. "You could have been sold for a euro here today, that wasn't so extreme before," he says, shaking his head. "I've been on hard drugs for more than twenty years." The mass of addicts and the constant amount of available drugs cause aggression.

A plump man approaches the group at the house entrance with an umbrella. A nod and two sentences are enough - a few banknotes and a portion of crack change hands. Then the three start preparing the drug for consumption. "I'm going to be gone for a minute," the man says and lights his crack pipe. The high is short, just a few minutes later, he can talk again. "We're not a pretty sight," he says, acknowledging their appearance. "I had a decent life before this."

Stories like this have been experienced by Wolfgang Barth countless times over the past decades. The 63-year-old has been working with addicts for more than 30 years and leads the Drug Emergency Service (DND) on Elbestraße. "The main problem is crack," explains Barth, who has observed "a certain calm in the open drug scene" in the past two months.

The presence of more cops on the streets has made life a little safer for drug addicts. They don't have to worry about getting harassed by pushy sellers. Barth, from the DND, says their services are still much-needed: "Our twenty beds for the night and rest spots during the day are always taken." And it's not just their local clients who are asking for help. There are people from other cities who've recently arrived in Frankfurt and are looking for support too. Even though it's hard for some to totally quit drugs, they can still live partially normal lives with less use. Barth believes that everyone has the chance to change their ways. "Change is always possible," he says.