The European Championship is about to start in Germany, and the eyes of fans around the world are on Germany. Stadiums and train stations in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and other major cities have said they are ready to welcome guests from afar.
Foreign media have also begun to report on the European Cup. So, the British media "The Sun" came to Frankfurt, and what they saw was such a scene.
The Sun reported a few days ago that Frankfurt's main train station was described as a "zombie land" and was accompanied by cinematic photos of people wandering around on the side of the road after taking drugs. The Sun also called it "Germany's most dangerous ghetto" and "hell" – filled with more than 5,000 drug addicts who looked like the walking dead and more than 300 drug dealers, who also wounded people with knives and even caused shootings in the streets.
In fact, Frankfurt's main railway station is a frightening existence even in the German media, and it has long been reported by living bacteria:
Frankfurt train station is "the most dangerous and largest slum in Germany", with more than 300 drug dealers active and the highest level of violent assault in a decade
However, Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef (SPD) was furious, angry at The Sun's report, saying he "didn't understand" why his city was described as a "ghetto". "We don't want to whitewash anything, but after all, regional stability is more of a marathon than a sprint," he complained at a media briefing. 'Worsening the situation' does no one any good. “
But why did The Sun target Frankfurt at its worst with such precision? It turned out that UEFA was the initiator. This year, UEFA said of Frankfurt in their Euro Championship fan guide: "UEFA recommends that fans travelling to Frankfurt to watch all five matches stay overnight in the train station area. It's a short walk from the main train station. “
UEFA's operation can indeed be regarded as instigating fans to know that there are tigers in the mountains and favor the tigers.
Stephanie Wüst (FDP), head of city marketing at Frankfurt's economic department, said she was stunned to read the Sun's report. According to her, the metropolis on the banks of the River Main would prefer people to talk about "Frankfurt Fashion Week", the largest and most exciting "trade fairs", "city skylines" and "Europe's tireless beating financial center". (After all, it's Germany's most noteworthy skyline)
While those highlights do exist, fans from all over the world who get off the train at the main train station will see a different picture: numerous hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, and 1,626 officially registered prostitutes. There was a lot of rubbish on the streets, syringes everywhere and drug addicts, as well as people defecating on the sidewalks, or dozing off or falling unconscious on sickening mattresses that were disgustingly dirty. Here, even street cleaning requires the accompaniment of security personnel.
Frankfurt's head of city marketing is currently trying to contact The Sun in the hope of reshaping its image abroad. Even the Minister of the Interior of Hesse, Roman Poseck (CDU), "stepped forward" and said: "The portrayal of Frankfurt as a forbidden area in the overseas media is a 'distorted image', and this exaggerated claim is 'not worth refuting'".
However, German media pointed out that Posek, who has long been a judge and justice minister in Frankfurt, should know that Frankfurt police chief Stefan Müller (Stefan Müller) has just told the media that the area of Frankfurt's main railway station is actually "a stubborn disease in central and southern Germany".
About half of the annual robberies in Frankfurt take place in the 1.5 square kilometres of the train station. All told, there are more than 10,000 crimes here every year, almost 1 in 10 of all crimes in the city. It would not be an exaggeration to call it a crime hotspot.
The reaction of the city of Frankfurt to the German media was more scandalous than the region itself – it had been ignored for many years, both by numerous complaints from local residents and business owners about the security of the area, and by frequent reports in German newspapers, television and online media. However, in the face of the safety reminders of the media in other countries, it bounced up in an instant, and the dignity was bursting.
In the words of a recent interview with a Frankfurt citizen: "An article must first appear in The Sun before people here panic like wolves." ”