You have to pass Ammar Alsbbagh.

But there is no hip club behind the broad back of the young man in white sneakers and a black hoodie.

There is tea and coffee at the counter in the small dining room behind him.

Alsbbagh controls the entrance to the Frankfurt station mission.

Since the corona pandemic, the mood among some clients of the social institution has been tense: many offers for the homeless have been restricted or are no longer available.

Sometimes there is violence, also against the employees, reports Oliver Klingenberger-Pfahlert.

He is the deputy head of the facility.

The entrance is on the south side of the main train station.

Travelers have found refuge there for 127 years.

The Frankfurt facility is the second oldest in Germany, after Berlin.

It was originally intended to be a place of refuge for women.

Today you can also see men taking advantage of the offer.

Women are of course welcome, as the leader, Deacon Carsten Baumann, says.

Most of the time, however, they take a breather in a separate section.

The following applies to all visitors: You will receive help.

A drink, if necessary a bed.

Blind passengers are escorted to the correct platform.

Homeless people can warm up.

For several months, the thousands of Ukrainian refugees who arrive every day have also been looked after.

Volunteers like Mariia Bilousova translate and convey offers of help.

That is actually the core of the work: The employees are “recruitment geniuses”, as Renate Leutke-Stegmann sees it.

The pensioner has been a volunteer since 2019.

She has also seen unusual connections develop: The client Alex had found refuge with friends after a flat had been vacated, but she was unable to take her cat Bagira there with her.

That's why she went to the station mission.

Carsten Baumann telephoned various organizations – without success.

Nobody wanted to take Bagira.

Until he remembered that one of the employees had lost his cat.

Bagira lives with him now.

A successful mediation - and as individual as the daily work of the station mission.