Post photo: Jumping in in front of the town hall
Table of Contents
shops
Recently, some people have been getting upset about our shops in the city center and especially about the landlords of cheap hairdressers, one-euro shops and junk food suppliers. Everyone probably needs their own image of the enemy.
Hardly anyone wonders why there are more and more shops of this kind in Heilbronn and consequently fewer and fewer shopping and dining options that appear to be "befitting their status". I'll say it flat out, because that's exactly how we in Heilbronn want it to be!
On the one hand, we are really letting our city center go to waste. We save everyone public toilets so that recently I observed a couple of young girls walking along the banks of the Neckar, who couldn't help but watch a wild pisser relieving himself with a magnificent spray in the river. But you can also watch women relieving themselves quietly and secretly in Heilbronner corners, which is probably all too human if you stay a little longer in our city and also avoid public car parks or better restaurants like the devil the holy water.
In addition, far too many Heilbronners like to scatter their rubbish throughout the city or just drop it on the spot. Not to mention those fellow citizens who like to fill the public rubbish bins with their household waste, which is still better than simply taking it to the collection points.
The crowning glory, however, is that our pedestrian paths and zones have been redesignated as car parks or even as rally routes for vehicles of all kinds. Who would still like to shop, stroll, shop or even dine in a well-groomed environment in such an environment?
On the other hand, we make it very difficult for all shop and shop owners themselves. High-quality products and goods are bought by many people in Heilbronn in other cities - because they are hip - or simply purchased online. However, far too many people in Heilbronn only populate the few remaining "good" shops to get the best advice, to try out the goods on site or just to touch them. Then buy somewhere else.
The bottom line is that fewer and fewer traditional and high-quality shops and stores want to settle in Heilbronn or are able to survive there. Because of this and in order not to leave the premises empty, the owners are forced to rent out to anyone who still wants to settle in Heilbronn.
I'm convinced that the vast majority of shop and commercial building owners would rather rent to top-class restaurants, pubs or designer shops - only they haven't come to our city for a long time.
And that's why we Heilbronner get exactly what we deserve! We could easily change this by making our city cleaner, tidier and generally more attractive and by going back to shopping in the well-managed shops that are still there. If necessary, the shop owner also orders those goods that are said to only be available in Munich, Stuttgart or Milan.
Rathenauplatz
For as long as I can remember, Rathenauplatz has had a prominent clock that is easy to read for both drivers and pedestrians. For a few months, before my visit to California this year, this watch has stopped working. The hands are at twelve and that's it; this means that the watch will always show the correct time twice a day.
And this is probably enough for our city administration. In any case, one has to realize once again that our city administration is very happy to buy things and then just lets them go to waste. In any case, the traffic control panel right around the corner hasn't been working for a few weeks. Which, however, doesn't bother anyone in this case, because this traffic control system deluxe was only purchased to throw our tax money out the window and to entertain a few administrative employees - which they obviously don't appreciate.
Incidentally, Rathenauplatz was a former Bronze Age and Celtic cemetery until it was opened up for traffic in 1873. Then it developed into the Heilbronn "Anhalterbahnhof" and probably got its prominent watch at the same time. This was destroyed during the war, but restored in 1948 and showed Heilbronn night owls well into the 1990s when it was time to greet the day that was just beginning with a visit to the Europäischer Hof.
Heilbronn's entertainment district has long been history, as has the clock on the square, which has survived the ages. Retirement homes have recently been sprouting up around Rathenauplatz, and so perhaps things will soon come full circle and the place will once again be what it once was.
rain jumping
The high jump meeting, which had previously taken place in Eberstadt from 1979 to 2018 and was able to boast world and European records at least in the early years, now took place for the first time directly in Heilbronn and then also on the market square.
Despite the bad weather, my better half and I take the opportunity to experience attractive competitive sports on our doorstep. And we were not disappointed. On the contrary, I would never have imagined that a single competitor would jump the six-foot-tall in such conditions. And so we even got to witness a couple of successful jumps over 2014 and then even two more successful jumps over XNUMX. And so it is not at all tragic that the meeting record from XNUMX with two meters forty-one was not equaled or even surpassed at the first competition in Heilbronn.
Today's highs were more than deserved and showed how strong and ready our athletes still are today. I liked it even better that the high jumpers didn't take any undue risks in these adverse conditions. So my compliments go to this year's crowd pleaser Gianmarco Tamberi, who apologized and asked for your understanding that he already ended the competition after the first successful jump over two meters ten - others have to reach this height first.
By the way, he won Hamish Kerr, who was the first of two participants to jump the two-meter-twenty-eight mark. My personal favorite was nonetheless Wao Sang-hyeok, who took the rain with humor and also allowed himself to get through the competition up to the third failed attempt over two meters thirty. The audience, which endured in the rain until the end, accepted this joy of jumping with enthusiasm.
The "shop" business model is simply permanently broken - there is nothing left to save. The income to be generated by the shops, which have been under massive pressure for years due to online trade, escalating bureaucracy, exploding rent and energy costs, rapidly increasing shoplifting and much more, is simply far too low.
In addition, it is much easier and more attractive for the customer to buy online - better selection, often more competence, a more transparent market and much more
Nothing helps, we won't get back the vibrant pedestrian zones of the 1990s unless the internet "disappears" again. But that's rather unlikely...
Your points are certainly accurate. That's why I believe that you have to rethink the whole thing and set it up more comprehensively. Simply more shopping paradise and maybe even with a roof over the pedestrian zone.
Recently, I was able to admire a working mall — clean, tidy, safe, friendly and knowledgeable vendors, along with very attractive shops and wonderful eateries.
I believe that our pedestrian zone could be transformed into a paradise, which can also boast the charm of an old imperial city - we would be sure of the flow of visitors.