The little forest in the east of Frankfurt cannot be compared with the Dannenröder Forest.

But it's closer: it's actually in the middle of the city limits, 40,000 square meters it's big or small, depending on how you look at it.

Trees that are up to 200 years old can be found here.

They are to give way to the 2.2-kilometre-long gap between the A 66 and the A 661, including the Riederwald Tunnel, which covers half of the route and has dominated traffic discussions in the city for decades.

After a postponement last year, clearing work is scheduled to begin next fall.

Those who oppose clearing and expansion are not interested in the fact that around 12,000 young trees were planted in the Schwanheim district in 2018 to compensate for this: they consider such afforestation measures to be questionable, but not their own protest.

People who want to remain anonymous are diligently building houses in the affected trees.

And there will be more.

How do you explain it to the squatters?

The city of Frankfurt is already struggling with the project, according to its environment department head Rosemarie Heilig (Die Grünen), or rejecting the widening of the A 661, which is a prerequisite for it.

Around 500 million euros are to be invested in order to finally reduce permanent traffic jams in the east of Frankfurt and the burden on the people living in the Riederwald district.

It is a situation that has become untenable from the point of view of motorists and the vast majority of residents.

Corresponding law has been in force for construction since 2020.

That is always the crucial point: it must be enforced here as well.

Just as it has to be endured or enjoyed when a legally binding decision is taken in a democracy that car lanes give way to bicycle lanes elsewhere.

You should therefore do everything you can to understand each other, to prevent an escalation in autumn, to avoid scenes like the clearing of the Dannenröder forest.

The squatters of the trees have long since achieved their goals: people talk about cars in the city and their future very differently today than they did ten years ago.

But who can make it clear to them that a modern infrastructure is also needed for low-emission mobility in the future?