As soon as the temperatures are almost bearable, there is no question where you can regularly find Frankfurt employees on Thursdays: at the Konstablerwache, at the producers' market, around the Rollanderhof stand and sloshing out to Metzlers and Schobbe-Otto. If it's still a bit cool, it doesn't matter, the crowd is so dense, you save yourself the patio heater. Around eight, the operators close down, then you usually have to sweep the last drinkers off the square with gentle force. On Fridays, the whole thing is repeated at the stock exchange, and on Saturday noon is Kehraus at the Kleinmarkthalle. The people who enliven the city center are frugal, they don't even need bar tables. Just glasses and what's in the jars. And if the whole thing can be streamlined with the completion of a few weeks' shopping – all the better.
We can do that too, the city of Hofheim probably thought. From next week on, an after-work market will take place on the central Ludwig-Meidner-Platz, of course also on Thursdays, the day just before the weekend has finally proven its worth. From 16 p.m. to 20 p.m., with crowds and good weather even longer, it will be tested for the time being until the summer holidays whether the successful Frankfurt model can not compete a little. After all, employees who don't want to go home yet are everywhere.
With farm shops and wine stalls to the locational advantage
Twelve local operators are the first to do so. Various farms in the area are carting in their half farm shops, there will be soft fruit and hand cheese, honey, juice and soaps, coffee and cake and Italian baked goods, plus falafel and tarte flambée. Cider and fruit secco, Italian wine and beer from the Taunus brewery are also served. If that's not enough for you or if you're looking for a quieter corner, you can settle down in the neighbouring summer garden in Hof Ehry.
Retailers, among others, are expected to benefit. As soon as it is market day, there will be significantly more walk-in customers, reports Wolfgang Exner (CDU), as the first city councillor also responsible for the market. But of course, the whole of Hofheim benefits: If you don't have to compete with all Frankfurters for space and wine, it relaxes the evening immensely. And the prospect of being able to sit for two hours longer is a real locational advantage.