“In the case of Rammstein,” says a resident of the Olympic Village, “it was a total catastrophe.” Fans would have parked everything, some would have opened their first beer as they got out of the car and “peed” everywhere. Everyday life in the Olympic Village, where parking spaces in the underground driveways and on the parking decks are scarce anyway. It then becomes problematic at major events, such as the Rammstein concerts with a total of 240,000 tickets sold or on Tuesday evening at Depeche Mode.
At 5 p.m., a few hours before the start of the Depeche Mode concert, the public parking spaces at Helene-Mayer-Ring are already full. Drivers are circling around, looking. But this evening it is different. Because local resident Christian Schlag has thought of something – to make it easier for his roommates to drive home and at the same time to help concert-goers to find a parking space: He has organized a paid parking service in the private parking areas of the Olympic Village.
The founder of Olympiawerk, a service and craftsman’s shop in the Olympic Village, has observed that blocked off parking spaces for residents remain free while concert-goers park in restricted areas. His solution: The residents make unused parking spaces available via a website. The seats are entered in the “easyapp” app, and visitors can reserve them for a fee.
This is to prevent drivers from blocking the streets (e.g. in front of the P+R car park). Residents would then also be able to get through again, since the fans were no longer blocking the turning lane to the resident parking spaces. In order to draw the concert-goers’ attention to its parking option,gat has organized four folders. You stand at the Helene-Mayer-Ring, speak to the waiting motorists and make sure that nobody parks wildly.
Because the parking situation in the village is tense despite the almost 4,000 parking spaces of the Parkharfe, even without concerts: the municipal planning department already described the parking situation as precarious in 2019. Even without events, the average utilization of the public parking spaces in the Olympic Village is more than 90 percent. In a reaction to requested access controls, the district administration department also confirmed in 2019 the existing parking pressure, which was “drastically increased during the events”. The authority referred to the need for a renewed parking guidance system.
Christian Schlag has his hands full on concert days.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Christianhit’s approach is pragmatic. He already offered his parking service at the Rammstein concerts. It didn’t work out so well there, Hit says. The carpenter alone checked that evening whether the drivers had parked correctly – which did not always work. That’s why there was even a “shit storm” from local residents on social media. That’s why he has now organized four supporters for the Depeche Mode concert. In addition, this time two mobile toilets ensure cleanliness. The profit from the parking service, minus the service fee for the app, goes back in part to the residents, who get five euros a day for their parking space. The rest remains hit, for his expenses and as an expense allowance.
The offer, which is not exactly cheap – at least 30 euros on the day of the Depeche Mode concert – is gratefully accepted: Around 6 p.m. the parking pressure increases, the second level of the parking deck at the entrance to the Olympic Village is already full, only downstairs there are still a few pitches. Hitler, tanned, with a straw hat and a big smile, drives back and forth on his cargo bike. He shows drivers where there are still parking spaces, helps with the app and collects the money. He has to ask some drivers to move because they didn’t pay attention to the signs. Because not all parking spaces can be used – the bookable 150 to 200 parking spaces are marked with a pink sign, all others are still private.
After a long search, Yvonne Panzer also found a parking space. Previously, she had searched unsuccessfully for two hours around the Olympic Hall, followed the signs and accidentally came across the private park folder. She is also on her way to Depeche Mode and books the parking space without first looking at the price. But she is satisfied with the offer, because now she can finally go to the stadium to the band.
Personal address: Free parking spaces in the Olympic Village are now also offered to non-residents on neuralgic days.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Only twenty minutes later, all parking spaces are fully booked via the “easyapp”. Hit instructs his stewards not to allow any more cars onto the private parking deck. There are still a few cars in front of the P+R car park, with visibly frustrated passengers. It was a “complete success,” says Schlager later in an initial summary. The streets in the Olympic Village were less busy and there were no “wild pissers”. For the events that are expected to be even bigger on July 5th and 6th, when Pink wants to perform, a few things would have to be worked out: “We need more comrades-in-arms.”