Was everything better in the past?

Wiesbaden's Lord Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD) sometimes has the impression that citizens are discussing the conditions in the state capital.

Mende disagrees.

He speaks of a "nostalgic transfiguration" that occasionally gets loud in urban society.

Mende pleads not to look backwards, but to look to the present and future and to deal with a fundamentally important question: How can the city center be transformed so that it remains an attractive destination for the people of Wiesbaden and the surrounding area?

Although there is now a "master plan for the inner city", the mayor believes that it does not contain any panaceas.

He expects impetus from a series of events he initiated called “Wiesbaden 2030 – Future Dialogue of the Lord Mayor”.

a novelty,

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.

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Mende hopes to gain impetus for his work as head of urban planning.

It is undisputed that the city center and especially the pedestrian zone faced major challenges even before the corona pandemic, before the energy crisis and before inflation as a result of the war in Ukraine.

"This is not new and does not only apply to Wiesbaden - but the corona pandemic has made this much clearer," says Mende.

Corona has shown what inner cities can look like if structural change continues and if no active countermeasures are taken.

How this could work was to be shown in three rounds of talks in the Kulturforum: on the Walhalla theater ruins as a cultural center with charisma,

Walhalla as a "pacemaker" for the city center

Many hopes rest on the Valhalla in particular.

The dramaturge Marie Johannsen from the Staatstheater Wiesbaden approves of the function of the empty magnificent building as a "pacemaker" for the city centre.

In her opinion, such a move is urgently needed because the city center is stuck in an “identity crisis”.

How exactly this pacemaker is supposed to work remains unclear.

For Johannsen it is about a meeting place, a kind of cultural counter-program to the state theatre.

Voices from the ranks of cultural workers to first develop a usage concept and then to tackle the renovation based on that found no support on the podium.

If Mende has his way, the renovation work will start as early as 2024 in order not to lose subsidies.

The Lord Mayor deliberately does not want to plan the use in detail now.

Rather, he relies on the newly created cultural space awakening needs and unleashing creativity.

An opinion that Johannsen supported by arguing that the Walhalla should not be narrowed down to its function as an event location.

This is about revitalizing a key point.

This also applies with other accents to the former Citypassage, which is intended to give impetus as the "Mauritiushöfe".

For Mende, the planned mix of offices, shops, restaurants, apartments and hotel rooms on an area of ​​7,200 square meters means a friendly, small-scale alternative to the pedestrian zone in Langgasse and Kirchgasse, which is characterized by department store chains and system gastronomy.

However, the city's influence on such developments is small insofar as it hardly owns any real estate in the historical pentagon.

The managing director of the urban development company, Andreas Guntrum, lamented precisely this lost influence: "We are standing there naked." As reported, the city now wants to turn the wheel back and buy real estate again if the opportunity arises.

A decision that Guntrum thinks is absolutely right.

Daniel Christ from real estate developer Art-Invert confirmed that Mauritius-Höfe could actually become a small-scale “parallel world”, according to Guntrum.

In his estimation, apartments in such a district are of essential importance because, alongside restaurants and hotel rooms, they contribute to a continuous revitalization.

"Shopping alone is not enough"

According to the experts, what applies to the Mauritius-Höfe can be applied to the entire city center: the mix makes the difference.

"Shopping alone is not enough," says Christiane Hinninger, the new head of the economic department (Die Grünen).

The diversity of the city center is essential for its attractiveness.

The IHK sees positive signs.

Their general manager Sabine Meder called for more "flagship projects".

Meder called on the politicians to be braver and wished for “something spectacular” for Wiesbaden.

Ilka Guntrum from the advertising association “Wiesbaden Wunderbar” was more specific in her wishes.

A light show would therefore be desirable and in the "Walhalla" cabaret and musical.

She was skeptical as to whether the state capital could have much influence through the purchase of real estate.

The big footfall generators in the pedestrian zone are indispensable.

The city must also be accessible at low cost, whether by bus or car, Guntrum demanded.

And the successful campaign of offering free bus travel on the four Saturdays in Advent should be extended, for example to the first Saturday of each month.