Last month, my brother and I had what I can only describe as a questionable encounter at Frankfurt am Main Hbf.
We were in the lounging area waiting for our connecting train when we noticed a guy (judging by his mannerisms, most likely an addict) attempting to whisk away a sleeping man’s bag. Not in a slick, Oceans-Eleven-kind-of-way… more like whispering God-knows-what spells (literally) to himself while slowly inching the bag away. And yes, we tried waking the sleeping guy up… except he was deeeep into sleep (for context, it was broad daylight and vibe wasn’t particularly cozy). At that point, we weren’t even sure if we were helping a tired/sober traveler or someone under an influence himself.
So as the logical next step, my brother went off to find a police officer… but there wasn’t one in sight. Meanwhile, everyone else around us was acting like this was just business as usual, a normal Saturday if you will. No reactions at all except for a surprised/horrified French girl sitting beside us. Unfortunately, we had to catch our train and I thought I completely forgot about it.
But a recent Reddit post reminded me of this incident and now I’m just wondering…Is Frankfurt am Main Hbf always like this? Or did we just witness a rare “what are the odds” moment? Any similar experiences any one (even in other German Hbfs)?
https://i.redd.it/z1f25klqzmtg1.jpeg
Posted by Jazzlike-Reward-4379
29 Comments
Welcome to Crackfurt.
Er, yeah, you should try not to fall asleep at train stations in general, or your stuff gets stolen.
Next time if you see something like that, make a ruckus. Like, get loud. “HALT! Ist das Ihre Tasche?” Once people around start staring, a thief will usually leave.
The Main Station and the Part around it are awful. The other parts of the town are quite nice (and nicer than the most germans know).
That’s pretty normal there. It’s basically what you expect to happen.
Frankfurt Hbf is one of the most dangerous places in Germany for a reason
The central station of Frankfurt was notorious 25 years ago and hasn’t changed.
The first time I have been there, I walked out of the station, across the road and saw for the first time soneone with a needle in his arm (and the only time so far).
Central stations are never nice places, but Frankfurt rankes as one of the worst.
Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof and the surrounding area is an absolute shithole. The smoking späti across the road is great though, always a couple weirdos hanging out inside. I like to drink in there when I’m waiting for my train.
Yeah thats our HBF for ya. We’re a very international city, and that means people in poverty living here. But there’s also a lot of extremely wealthy bankers here too, so just a really big inequality gap overall.
Don’t worry too much, but look after your valuables! FRK Hbf is run down and full of homeless and crack addicts, yes, but violent crime is very rare. The main risk are pickpockets, who depending on days can be abundant. Again, less than in e.g. Madrid‘s or Paris‘ train stations, but high by German standards.
And water is wet…
Frankfurt is chill, people are overreacting. Yeah, here are some drug cartels and prostitutes, but hey – nobody is perfect. I’m enjoying it for 5 years already – absolutely based town.
A bit? You don’t say…
Frankfurt, Nürnberg and i think Bremen Hauptbahnhof are like this and probably a few more
yes, Frankfurt’s worst area is directly outside. That of course does also influence the station itself a bit.
Wait until you step outside
It is Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. The station is world-renowned for it’s junkies
Twenty years ago I was snared in a large group detained by Polizei at 2 AM outside of Frankfurt Hbf. I was just minding my business whilst enjoying a Schinkenbrötchen. They followed me to a trash can so I could toss the wrapper while they ran everyone’s ID.
10/10
I feel like most European big train stations are pretty sketchy. I had to wait from 12am to 5am for a bus outside the Brussels station and an older English lady asked if she could sit with me because she was getting bothered by a group of guys. There were 20-30 guys roaming around, climbing under busses to presumably stash packages, and watching for people who weren’t keeping an eye on their belongings. Made the Frankfurt Hbf look like a cakewalk
First time to frankfurt it seems. Dont walk around the HBF is a zombir show of addcits
I was born and raised in Frankfurt. It’s a great city and I love it.
But when I visit, I’m always with my guard up at Hauptbahnhof.
Nothing like the smell of cold urine and months old sweat.
Yeah, that’s just Frankfurt main train station for you. All train stations are only semi-safe to dangerous places with addicts and criminals around because addicts, dealers and other criminals use these areas for “business.” You are definitely much safer at an airport.
Frankfurt is among the worst in all of Germany.
omg yeah the Hbf there can be sketchy sometimes, esp at night lol. Hope you guys were okay tho! 🙏
Frankfurt Hbf is really awful, I am often in Leipzig and Berlin and the big stations there are nothing like this, Berlin has some other stations that are really shady but the main ones like Hbf, Ostbahnhof or Südkreuz are quite fine, at least when comparing it to Frankfurt Hbf, I was recently there and I never had such a bad feeling as there.
Went to Frankfurt for work. The coolblue store opened there and I helped to get things ready for the store opening.
I live near Düsseldorf, which is roughly 2 hours away. Once I have reached the main station, I was shocked. It was a mess and I went into the wrong direction due to lost orientation.
I saw dozens of junkies. Not the usual amount that you would expect, it was like what you would imagine to see during a drug epidemic. A veeeery strong smell of urine, heavily armed police officers and a few very shady looking people were also part of my walkthrough. Düsseldorf HBF is also a bit weird sometimes but it’s like kindergarten compared to this. Frankfurt is the worst imo.
Frankfurt HbF is notorious in germany everyone knows it’s a bad place, once i had a connection at 01:20h am or just 01:20 in 24h format or in short in the middle of the night. We all had to wait more than an hour for our connection as we left the train 2 police officers were waiting on the platform and told us how to get to “safe spaces” and adviced us not to leave the train station itself.
I went to McDonalds ate a cheeseburger and drank a coffee and read my book.
Nothing happened, but the clientel is sketchy as heck.
It’s just about the most shady place in the country
The last time my son and I passed through Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, we saw a man shake a turd out of his pants leg.
Its a shame, but every city’s Hauptbahnhof is probably the shadiest place in said city. Frankfurt is huge, and a bit notoriously shady on its own, so the Hauptbahnhof is the concentrate of that. It’s a shame, because that’s people’s usual first impression. I’m sure Frankfurt is much cooler than all that, but the train station has left me with such a bad impression.
It’s really not that bad. Aside from the occasional headshotters and train pushers it’s very survivable. There is an overwhelming police presence and weapon-free zone from 8pm – 5am. Just try to not inhale the crack.