Hesse: squatting in Frankfurt's Gallus district

Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Several activists have occupied a residential building in the Gallus district of Frankfurt since the weekend.

Hesse: squatting in Frankfurt's Gallus district

Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Several activists have occupied a residential building in the Gallus district of Frankfurt since the weekend. The campaign also protests against the gentrification of the district, said a spokeswoman for the initiative on Monday. The last tenants of the building, which the occupiers say will be demolished in the spring, moved out at the end of November. Some of them have now been accommodated in hotels, others in emergency shelters, it said. "It doesn't make sense to send people onto the streets in winter," said one of the squatters. "It's warm here, heating, water and electricity work."

According to the spokeswoman, the squatters are now trying to contact the owner and the city for further action. "That wasn't possible at the weekend, but we hope that there will be talks." A poster hung on the fence of the property, on which the occupiers asked the owners to make the apartments available free of charge until construction actually began. As part of the new construction project, at least 60 percent of social housing should be created, it said.

Rental prices in Frankfurt are among the highest in Germany. Thousands of people commute from the surrounding area to their jobs in the Main metropolis. For many years, the Gallusviertel, close to the inner city, was an industrial and working-class district, but increasingly high-priced condominiums are often being built as a result of conversions and new buildings.