Frankfurt: Liederbach residents fear for their houses
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fromThomas J. Schmidt
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The retaining wall has still not been repaired – the city presents a map of heavy rain today
Frankfurt – Karl-Otto Müller still cannot estimate what will become of his garden. More than a year ago, a flash flood from the Liederbach damaged the retaining wall. The owner of the inn “Zum Goldenen Löwen” in Unterliederbach fears: “We residents of the stream must fear for our property.” City drainage is responsible for the wall. To this day, Müller and his neighbors do not know whether and when they will repair the wall.
But the city of Frankfurt is presenting its new heavy rain map today. This lists all areas in which dying residents can expect more than just wet feet. Probably the banks of the Liederbach also include the floodplain. Whether this has consequences for the residents is considered on a case-by-case basis.
Flood protection needs space. Ideally, retention areas can be designated to absorb the excess of water in the event of heavy rain. For the residents of the Liederbach, however, there is a special location: the creek rises near Königstein and flows through the Main-Taunus district. Only from the Autobahn 66 does it flow into the Frankfurt district. Only here could the city create security for the residents by setting up seepage areas. However, the area is used for agriculture.
And so the residents of the Liederbach dying fear that it is they who have to bear the risk of flooding. “The city just wants to renaturalize the stream,” fears Hartmut Neumann. His aunt also lives on the Liederbach, and is also affected by the fact that the wall was partially washed away. More than a year after the flood, you and other residents are still calling for flood protection: It cannot be that centuries-old buildings are now in retention areas. “As a result of the floods in June 1981, we people bordering the brook – without our knowledge and against our will – were divided into a floodplain.
Müller also finds this absurd. “Renaturation is not possible here,” he says, pointing to the wall. Quarry stones lie in the streambed. During the last flood over a year ago, the wall was damaged in many places along the course of the stream, not just behind his house. “The stream ran differently in the past. It was only laid along here from the village in the 19th century. The houses are here first – the stream came later,” says Müller. The approximately two meter high wall corresponds to the land facing the stream. It flows – currently peacefully – about two meters lower than the bottom of the property. “How is that going to work in the future without a wall?” Asks Müller. He fears that the garden could slide into the creek bed. Maybe even the foundations of the houses would be at risk.
But it is also clear: if the Liederbach is full of water after an extreme thunderstorm, as it was last in August 2020, and this presses through the narrow stream, damage will occur. The stream would have to be “defused” before the city gates, demand residents. At that time it was raining heavily in Kelkheim and Bad Soden – but not a drop in Frankfurt. the small Liederbach had become an unleashed torrent – in the Main-Taunus district, through which the Liederbach flowing from Woogbach and Rombach flows at the level of the Königstein open-air swimming pool, the creek bed is regulated and lined with basalt blocks. As a result, the flow velocity is very high. There are no designated floodplains between Königstein and Frankfurt.
That could change. The Liederbach has been part of the “100 wild brooks” program of the Hessian Ministry of the Environment since 2020. The Urselbach and the Eschbach are also included in this program, which guarantees the renaturation of the river, which is already prescribed by the EU until 2027. The country pays 95 percent of the cost.
Straightening and canalization measures, built around 100 years ago, are to be reversed, and dying streams are to be returned to the old bed. The program is intended to support the municipalities in this. The aim is to create new recreational areas and better species protection. The experts hope that the reduced flow speed of the streams will improve the cleaning effect. Floodplains should be formed, the water should be given the possibility of flooding and seepage. At the Liederbach, the municipalities through which the stream flows are involved. The plots must be made available there in order to obtain retention areas. Thomas J. Schmidt