No, not me — but our street is a good place to look for illegal parkers. The location is similar to Georgetown, or maybe Foggy Bottom. Although the area is mainly residential it’s about 5 minutes walk to the "Alte Oper," the restored Old Opera that’s similar in function to the Kennedy Center, and there are nearby restaurants and shops. The residences are in four- to six-story buildings, so of course there aren’t enough legal parking spaces even for those who live here. In addition it’s about three blocks to the banking area (you have heard of "Bankfurt?"). Fortunately we don’t drive very often so once we do find a parking place the car may stay there for several weeks. Actually a parking garage space three blocks away comes with the apartment, but it’s inconvenient enough that we rarely end up there, even last "winter."
A fair percentage of the residents do drive out and back every day. Many of them depend on the fact that ticketers work regular hours too, so every night there are cars parked along every inch of the street. It’s hard to believe that some of them can get out of the spaces they’re in; often there’s not enough room to walk between them. You’ll find cars parked halfway around corners and on the sidewalk, if it’s wide enough and there’s a way to get there (the steel posts along some downtown streets are not to protect pedestrians but to prevent cars from pulling up on the sidewalks). If there’s a gap between cars but the sidewalk isn’t wide enough to park they’ll pull through as far as they can and leave the rear sticking out in the street. The tire industry must love it here — you hear tires squealing as cars drive up over the curb even during normal parking.
During the week the illegal parkers generally leave before the ticketers arrive; on Saturday they’re not always up in time. And Frankfurt’s secret weapon against even the most creative illegal parker, the Abschlepper, can get you anywhere! A couple of weeks ago a black Trans Am was the victim. Although its U.S. military plates might have been a factor, it was parked on zebra stripes, partially in a handicapped space, facing the wrong way up our one-way street. The police were writing up a ticket when I happened to look out our front window. Soon the Abschlepper arrived and I was there to capture it all on my camcorder.
The Abschlepper is a flatbed truck with a hydraulic crane mounted behind the cab. The driver got out to operate the crane, suspended from which is a rectangular frame with straps hanging from each corner. He slid a type of bracket under each wheel, pivoted the crane so the frame was over the car and snapped the straps to the brackets. A test lift showed that the car was more front-heavy than expected (it was a Trans Am) so he adjusted the length of the straps, hoisted the car, set it down on the truck bed and drove away. Some neighbors had also gathered to enjoy the action. One little girl asked me in German if it was going to be on television. I told her yes. Her older sister, recognizing a suspicious accent when she heard one, hurried her away.
In addition to the crane, many Abschleppers can also tow a car. To see a pack of them in action is awe-inspiring — they can clear out the better part of a block in a hurry! Actually, pack may not be a very good description, since they don’t prowl on their own. However, now that private individuals can call them to deal with obvious parking infringements, it may be only a matter of time.
It is interesting, though, to see how many owners appear after the first couple of cars are taken. The police don’t care as long as there is sufficient identification for a ticket and the owners pay the Abschlepper’s fee and move the car from the illegal area.