Exercise: Neuland

On the Frankfurt Bridges there is a wide range of dance and movement of all kinds - both indoors and outdoors in the countryside

More and more people are working from home, shopping online instead of going to the store, streaming movies instead of going to the movies, and having food delivered instead of going to a restaurant. As a result, they are also leaving their homes less and less often, and unless they are involved in sports, more and more exercise is being dropped from their daily routine. On the Frankfurt Bridges, therefore, there are numerous opportunities to exercise in certain outdoor locations or also in beautiful, pleasant spaces created specifically for this purpose: whether in the form of Yoga, Pilates, Qi Gong and Tai Chi and the like, or whether in the form of dance of all kinds.

Frankfurt's bridges have almost 1 million square meters of green space - thus there's plenty of room for Yoga, Pilates, or Tai Chi classes, which were banned from Frankfurt‘s parks September 2018

In September 2018, the holding of sports courses of all kinds in parks was banned for the "commercial use of green spaces“, as the Frankfurt Parks Department was concerned about the condition of the parks, and residents often felt disturbed in their peace and quiet by the ever-increasing number of people who went to Frankfurt‘s Parks for physical exercise, similar to New York or Shanghai. Course providers in particular also liked to use music as a supporting element, which was perceived to be disturbing, as well.

The Frankfurt Bridges offer all citizens the opportunity to gather commercially or privately for exercise and sports of all kinds in special premises but also on numerous green spaces in the outdoor area of the bridges. These green spaces and premises are placed in such a way that no residents can be disturbed, neither on the bridges nor next to them: In the case of green spaces, it is ensured by locating them only on the outer arms where the bridges no longer pass through residential areas; and even there, they are designated only where no bridge residential buildings are planned in the immediate vicinity.

The premises are even simpler: they just need to be well soundproofed and have the option of switching on ventilation and air conditioning so that there is no need to open the windows during physical activity, even in summer.

On the more remote sections of the outer arms, there are regularly distributed green areas that can be used by all citizens for physical activity

Neither because of noise pollution nor because of the used green space one must worry: There are no residential buildings in the immediate vicinity and the grass on these areas is the same as that used for football pitches and is therefore extremely hard-wearing. The green areas are designed like clearings, i.e. they are beautifully overgrown free circular places: the "bridge clearings".

The bridge clearings can be reached quickly and easily by young and old with the autonomously running buses and trains

Whether Yoga for children or Pilates for seniors: The goal is to give as many groups, clubs and course providers or even schools and senior citizens' homes as possbile from all over Frankfurt the opportunity to move in the outdoor area, whereby the operator kiosks in the vicinity are the points of contact when a group finds a bridge clearing completely occupied and wants to find out what the current situation is at the other nearest clearings: The operator kiosks are in contact with each other and have the best overview of the bridge clearings in their vicinity.

Because the areas for the clearings are between 200 and 1000 square meters, so that it can happen even with the larger bridge clearings on nice summer days that they are already completely occupied by some groups.

You can also be active alone or in pairs on the bridge clearings, without a group

For people without their own garden, only public green spaces are available for private exercise. However, for more complicated or foreign disciplines such as Qi-Gong or Tai Chi, a trainer or course leader is very helpful.

If one of the disciplines is announced in the hobby pop-ups, the course leaders there can also move their event to the outdoor area, weather permitting. There, for a small donation, anyone who wants to join the group can do so.

As with all cultural or artistic offerings, the goal here is to keep barriers to participation as low as possible for citizens.

As in New York or London, "donation based Yoga classes" are also welcome on the bridges - both indoors and outdoors

Anyone can participate there and only needs to bring motivation, nothing else. Often this is sponsored by food companies.

Frankfurt has many good clubs, which are complemented on the Frankfurt Bridges by smaller locations for couple dancing of all kinds

Whether it's salsa, tango or standard or modern dance, there are few small venues in Frankfurt besides the big dance clubs with a relaxed atmosphere where you can just drop in, have a glass of wine and - if you feel like it - dance a bit. If you go to the Ostpark in the summer evenings, you know the place where young people and adults play music with their own Bluetooth speakers and dance - mostly salsa, but also bachata, forro, mambo and much more.

On the Frankfurt Bridges, in addition to the hobby pop-ups where dancing can also be featured, there are three dance locations: one for all kinds of modern dancing on the East Arm of the bridges, one for Latin dancing on the West Arm of the bridges, and one at the top of the Kennedy-Allee slope that is designed for standard dancing.

https://www.inlocamotion.com/dance-salsa-bachata

The dance house at the Kennedy-Allee slope is for social get-togethers, with the possibility of standard dance

The dance house has a large dance floor, but it has also a bistro character. It comprises a bar and a large outdoor terrace, so that you can also just to the place to drink coffee.

It can be rented for smaller parties and weddings, and accordingly has barrier-free access.

Conclusion: The Frankfurt Bridges offer a wide range of opportunities for exercise in everyday life

With the range of exercise on offer, be it in the direction of gymnastics, dance or for example martial arts, the Frankfurt Bridges make a contribution to counteracting the trend towards "online home cocooning".

By making all kinds of physical activity possible, both outdoors and in suitable premises, spontaneously and without months of membership etc., the bridges make an important contribution to the health of an increasingly ageing society.

All offers have in common that they are open for every citizen, offer a beautiful environment and above all have low entry barriers: Events are either sponsored or designed with marginal costs, as renting the locations is extremely cheap; the bridge clearings in the green are also available to commercial course providers, who in return can offer cheap deals to course participants.

Die Meisterakademie

Musikpavillions

Handwerkstraditionen

Hobby-Pop-ups

Bühnenkunst

Die Brückenwelt

Besondere Quartiere

Brückenvielfalt