Michael Hocks didn't like the Opernplatz festival.
The longtime artistic director and managing director of the Alte Oper, who managed the concert hall very successfully from 1998 to 2012, has never officially opposed the big party on his doorstep.
As an aesthete, he personally preferred the empty square with an unobstructed view of the magnificent imperial building to the food stalls and the hustle and bustle.
Be that as it may: the festival is currently, until July 1st, bringing the Alte Oper back into the consciousness of many different people.
It is photographed from all corners and angles or staged as a background motif.
People are sitting on the steps of the Konzerthaus, literally on the threshold.
How many have probably never been inside or haven't been inside for years?
Yet everyone is somehow proud of the Frankfurt landmark.
You can really feel that on the pitch.
The Alte Oper represents Frankfurt's civic spirit like hardly any other building in the city: opened in 1880 as an opera house, financed by donations from citizens, destroyed in the war, then left in ruins for a long time and finally reopened in 1981 with the modern interior of a concert hall, again paid for by the people of Frankfurt even.
Even today you can hear the nickname "Dynamite-Rudi" at the wine stands, at least from older visitors, in memory of the former mayor Rudi Arndt, who once wanted to blow up the ruins.
Frankfurters love the Alte Oper.
If only they dared to step over the threshold more often.
There are plenty of offers, including special ones for beginners in the coming season.
The title: "Walk in".