The Greens in the Frankfurt City Council have the goal of giving cyclists and pedestrians priority over cars.Image: Pexls / Edin Osmanovic
Germany
“It’s like in a drama,” says Katharina Knacker. The police are doing their job, the court has ruled accordingly and the activists are fighting for their beliefs. And somewhere in between is Knacker. The mobility policy spokeswoman for the Greens parliamentary group in the city council of Frankfurt am Main (Hesse).
Scene of the drama that Knacker is talking about: The Fechenheim Forest near Frankfurt. Trees should give way to concrete there. The forest becomes the highway. A difficult situation for Knacker. She herself was on site as a parliamentary observer when the police cleared the forest. “What we have seen is that the police treat the activists with respect,” she says.
Activists are taken out of the trees in the Fechenheim forest.Image: dpa / Sebastian Gollnow
The clearing of the forest, which many affectionately call Fechi, was much more peaceful than the operation a few days earlier in the North Rhine-Westphalian village of Lützerath. After the large-scale demonstration on the second weekend in January, the escalation and the large-scale evacuation, the resistance there has leveled off. In North Rhine-Westphalia, a village has to make way for coal, and in Hesse, a forest for the autobahn.
In both federal states, the Greens are part of the government. The Greens are also in the federal government as part of the traffic light coalition. And yet there are always projects that are diametrically opposed to the core issue of climate protection.
Everyone has their role: police, politics and activism
Of course, says Knacker, it touched her emotionally to see the eviction. Clearing a forest to complete a highway in 2030 is not up to date. You also know the allegations that the Greens are hypocritical. There was even a banner with this slogan in Fechi, reports the local politician.
She clarifies that she cannot say anything about Lützerath. After all, she was not involved in the decision-making process there. It was different in the Fechenheim forest.
cracker says:
“We have always spoken out against this at city level. It was a process that lasted decades. Now we are the government at federal, state and city level. We are even the strongest force in Frankfurt – but we don’t have an absolute majority anywhere. In In our democracy, you form coalitions – and you have to make compromises.”
These compromises are not always the maximum that the party would want. “Nevertheless, I think it’s legitimate and I think our democracy is a good system,” says Knacker. Of course it is a pity that the Greens are often attacked so violently for these compromises. At the same time, Knacker makes it clear: “The activists and citizens’ initiatives must demand the maximum, that’s their role.”
Katharina Knacker is the mobility policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Frankfurt City Council.Image: private
The interaction between parliamentarians and activists is important, says Knacker. The highway through the Fechenheimer forest is now being built, admits Knacker. What has changed, however, is the general discourse: “There is more and more talk about how sensible or not sensible that is.” However, decisions about motorways or Frankfurt Airport are not made at the municipal level.
The city council knows what she’s talking about. She herself came into the community through participation in a citizens’ initiative politics. In 2018 she was involved in the Radentscheid Frankfurt, which “Kidical Mass Frankfurt”. The children’s version of the bicycle activists from “Critical Mass”. So her hobbyhorse is the bike. In 2019 Knacker joined the Green Party and since 2020 she has been a city councillor. And cycling is one of the areas in which she is a mobility local politician can actively change something.
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Green transport policy – only on your own doorstep
Because what she can actively shape as a local politician are the streets where people live: “So the public transport, the bike paths, the sidewalks and how we direct the traffic.” The Frankfurt mobility department is green and so is the coalition agreement includes major goals in the field of mobility. Above all, climate-friendly projects should be pushed.
What she has noticed since taking office: a rethink has taken place. About how cycling has to be designed – how cycling is accepted. “Even by encouraging citizens who have become active and collected signatures,” says the politician. There is now a large majority in Frankfurt in favor of expanding cycle paths. Turn car lanes into bike lanes and make roads safer. “That makes me very hopeful,” says Knacker.
Of course, she admits, everything should go much faster. “But something happens.” Even if there are headwinds and discussions from time to time – as always when something changes. But there is a lot of positive feedback. Knacker says: “Foot and bicycle traffic, public transport – these are our options.” And pedestrian traffic in particular has been extremely neglected for a long time. And that despite the fact that every journey starts with people leaving the house on foot, says the local politician.
The Frankfurt cycle paths are constantly being expanded.Image: dpa / Frank Rumpenhorst
Another factor on the way to a greener city: parking spaces. For a long time, parking for residents in Hesse and thus also in Frankfurt was very cheap. Blame it on: a regulation from the D-Mark times. “The price was more stable than any other,” Knacker puts it in a nutshell. Something has changed at the state level. The municipalities can decide for themselves.
For the Greens in Frankfurt, this is the starting signal for a gradual changeover. Gradually, all parking spaces in the stock exchange city will be subject to a charge – resident parking is also set to become more expensive. There should be special passes for craftsmen, nursing services and service providers. Knacker calls this a “parking package.” And the implementation now takes a certain amount of time.
But it’s these projects, says Knacker, that stick in people’s minds when it comes to local or state elections. “The cycle paths are noticed very strongly because they are right on your doorstep.” The street space is changing, there is more space for people than for cars. Biking is becoming safer and sidewalks are getting wider. In a personal conversation Knacker gets a lot of positive feedback for the developments in Frankfurt.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had to throw some principles overboard for energy security.Image: dpa / Marcus Brandt
With regard to the 180-degree turn that the Greens had to make in the wake of the Ukraine war, Knacker says it is a sign of strength. Because her party is originally an anti-war party. In the course of the war, the representatives at the federal level now have to debate arms deliveries. Due to the energy crisis, the Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck and his cabinet colleagues have also ensured that coal-fired power generation is ramped up again.
“The accusation of ideology often comes up – of course we have goals and ideas – but when reality changes, of course we have to reassess what is the right thing,” says Knacker. She herself has the impression that this impresses the citizens. And she would like other parties to do the same more often.
The quarrels within the traffic light coalition have not been overlooked since its inception. Corona, arms deliveries, energy – it seems that every issue has the potential to antagonize the three parties.
