Genuine Frankfurt? An Audio Walk on Authenticity in Urban Space (Knowledge Transfer Project)

What is con­sidered “genuine Frankfurt” or more precisely: what is inter­preted as “authentic” in Frankfurt? Within the frame­work of the Leibniz Research Alliance “Historical Authenticity”/“Value of the Past“, a PRIF team – as well as six other institutes of the network – developed an audio walk: Just like in Berlin, Braun­schweig, Marburg, Leipzig and Potsdam, the meaning of authen­ticity was questioned in Frankfurt: What is and was perceived as authentic, where and by whom? - Does “the real Frankfurt” exist at all? The Frank­furt audio walk leads to places that, as examples from the city's history, show how conflict-laden the attribution of authenticity can be and how it has always been re-evaluated over time.

This transfer project invites you to take a trip to different parts of Frankfurt's urban space. In Bocken­heim, the route leads from the Senckenberg Natur­museum via the old university campus and the Sencken­berg­anlage to the Bocken­heimer Warte through a neighbor­hood that was – and in some ways still is – the scene of house fights of different sorts. In Frankfurt's city center, between Haupt­wache, Paulsplatz and the “Neue Altstadt”, attempts at recon­structing a 'real' place of origin of the city can be seen. Through the Ostend, the audio walk leads from Börne­platz to the current location of the ECB and to the banks of the Main, which are also presented as places where authen­ticity was and is struggled for. The city walk can be completed in one piece or in stages.

All audio walks of the Leibniz Research Alliance were realized in collaboration with Audio­kombinat Berlin. They are available free of charge via the “Guidemate” app or via the platform in the browser.