When Frankfurt's new mayor was inaugurated on Thursday evening, a memorable scene ensued. The mayor and the head of the city council put the golden chain of office on Mike Josef together. Well-meaning observers could get the impression that the Green Party friends Hilime Arslaner and Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg wanted to demonstrate the best understanding of the city parliament and the magistrate. Connoisseurs of politics in the Römer, however, interpreted the scene in such a way that neither of the two ambitious politicians wanted to give way to the other at this decisive moment, which promised enormous media presence. Both dream of one day becoming the head of the city themselves.
Mike Josef was then in a hurry to take off the chain. Before he stepped up to the lectern to give his inaugural speech, the good piece was already stowed away in the corresponding large case, from which it will only be taken out again on very high occasions. Its symbolic value has fallen sharply, but not irreparably, due to excessive use by its predecessor. At the end of his term of office, Peter Feldmann even became a kind of anti-Midas: objects made of precious metals, symbolizing power, dignity and success, brought his poverty into the light as soon as he touched it. The presumptuous grab for the European Cup, which the Eintracht Frankfurt team brought to the town hall last summer, contributed significantly to the fact that Feldmann was finally voted out. Josef will keep a safe distance from the pot if Eintracht wins the DFB-Pokal on 3 June.
When looking at the photos of Joseph's inauguration, one should not only see the vanity of the protagonists. The pictures are indeed something for the history books, and not only of Frankfurt: they document the moment when, for the first time, the three highest-ranking political offices of a major German city are held by citizens who were not born in Germany. Arslaner was born in Turkey, Eskandari-Grünberg in Iran and Josef in Syria.
Joseph's election is an encouragement
In his inaugural speech to the city councillors, whose core statements he varied only slightly at the reception on Friday evening in the Kaisersaal of the Römer, Josef touched on many important challenges that he faces together with the heterogeneous coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt. The list is long: traffic turnaround, digitization, creation of affordable housing, stabilization of the station district, location decision for the new construction of the municipal stages, climate neutrality are on it. There is quite a lot of money for all these tasks, the most important thing now is to finally make something out of it. Hopefully, it will no longer be due to a lack of leadership by the Lord Mayor from now on; It remains to be seen whether Josef will succeed in finally demanding decisions, especially from the Greens, who are divided on important issues to the brink of inability to act.
In the long term, however, one point will be decisive for the development of the city, the urgency of which could be obscured by the dominance of migrants at the top of the city: "Why are so few people with migration experience to be found at the management levels of the administration and the economy? Why are opportunities for participation and advancement so unfairly distributed?" asked Josef in his speech. A glance through the ranks of the approximately 800 guests at the reception confirmed that there is still no question of adequate representation of people with a migration background, who have long been the majority among younger people.
It will be difficult to find answers to Josef's questions and to change the findings if unpleasant truths are not also spoken: the tendency of the elites to self-recruit as well as the lack of willingness to perform in certain migrant milieus. However, this can only be changed to a limited extent by local politics. However, it is not enough to praise the colorfulness of the city and to invoke the value that diversity brings with it. The fact that uncontrolled immigration is pushing schools in particular, as the most important integration machines, to their limits is often suppressed in Frankfurt as well.
After all, Josef's election as head of the city by the people of Frankfurt is an encouragement. And if everything is not deceiving, it is perceived as such, especially by young migrants.