Jennifer Bentler (36) from “Einstein Kaffee”: “The shops are almost all gone. Friedrichstrasse is no longer a promenade” Photo: Olaf Selchow
By Tristan Filges
The day the court swept the green car-free dreams off the table. The BZ was on site on Tuesday and captured the mood. The fact is: Nobody seems to be really happy with the current situation – not residents, drivers and cyclists. And business people probably least.
“Friedrichstrasse is no longer a promenade,” says Jennifer Bentler (36) from “Einstein Kaffee”. You serve almost only tourists and office workers. Because: “The shops are almost all gone,” she says.
And the shops that have survived so far are complaining about significantly fewer customers and falling sales.
Petra Leichtle (56) often comes to work by bike: “As a cyclist, I have to ride carefully here, pedestrians often walk carelessly across the street” Photo: Olaf Selchow
The residents complain mainly about speeding cyclists who would not pay attention to pedestrians. “They are very dangerous for my children,” says Dimitri P. (57). Other residents complain again and again about car traffic, which inevitably diverts to the side streets.
Father Dimitri P. (57) has lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years. He is annoyed by the speeding cyclists in the neighborhood: “They are dangerous for my children” Photo: Olaf Selchow
And the cyclists? They complain about tourists and café-goers who inattentively cross the street.
The tourists Berndt (62) and Sabine G. (63) from Hanover were in the Galeries Lafayette. Her verdict on the current situation on Friedrichstrasse: “Surprisingly unpleasant” Photo: Olaf Selchow
When it comes to Friedrichstrasse, everyone involved seems to be hoping that things will finally get better again…