By Larissa Hoppe
Friedrichstrasse has been car-free since Monday. A comment from Larissa Hoppe, deputy BZ editor-in-chief.
The car-free Friedrichstrasse. Has anyone ever considered that there is so little going on there because the offer is not right?
► View of the section from Unter den Linden to Friedrichstrasse station. Here is audience. Zara, Dussmann, Butlers, shoe stores, drugstores. There is something for almost every budget.
► View of the section between Französische Strasse and Leipziger Strasse. Noble jewellers, Galeries Lafayette, a shop for expensive pots, noble gastronomy. Who with a normal or even low income should shop here? And how often?
The Kurfürstendamm proves that it is by no means due to traffic. Business is booming there – because the mix is right. KaDeWe next to H&M, fine boutiques next to C&A. Within a few hundred meters, everyone can find something in every price range.
Back to Friedrichstrasse. Bettina Jarasch dreams of summer and children with skateboards under their arms. Where is the halfpipe for it, where is a playground? And in principle you have to ask: Aren’t kids usually where there is a lot of space and not the next shop window? The Bullerbü atmosphere will only be felt on weekends.
The new concept is also planned for a small target group: a few residents, working people, tourists who come to take a quick look.
Apart from that, Friedrichstrasse will primarily be a motorway for cyclists. No good prospects.