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Just down the road from the Lampenfabrik and up the road from the elegant Marina, you’ll find the Kulturzentrum.
Translation required?
Didn’t think so.
It’s in a fine old brick building that dates back to 1888, when it originally housed the laundry for the army garrison.
In one of earliest civil conversion projects (these days, they convert all ex-NATO airfields to civilian airports, whether there’s a need for them or not. Don’t get me started…), it became one of Germany’s first vocational training centres in 1932 and in 1981, KUZ took it over.
Excellent place.
They have poetry slams, cinema, theatre for kids of all ages, parties ranging from Dark-Wave to over-30, you can watch Mainz 05 on Saturday afternoons if you can’t get a ticket and they have a beer garden in summer.
And concerts.
I’ve seen:
Dr. John, Jeff Beck, Willy DeVille, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, Bernard Allison. Who’s back again on Wednesday night. Me too.
All of which generates more than a few decibels.
Which annoys some people (although no-one lives anywhere near it) and gets the “Tear it down and build something ugly brigade” going again.
There’s been an idea floating around for yonks to turn the marina into something like Docklands in London. Flash apartments and nice shops.
Really is just the sort of thing that Mainz needs.
“Ah, but we won’t find investors with all that noise going on.”
Ignoring the main trunk railway line that trashes by a couple of metres behind the proposed building site.
“And the…. people that these rowdy events attract….”
“Oh, and we’re cutting your subsidy, by the way“
“And that tree that’s growing on the property will have to go. It’s damaging the foundations of the place next door. (And while we’re at it, why don’t we tear it down and build something ugly)”
Shame that the tree (30 metres high, 5 metres girth, 100 years old) is a Black or Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra).
On the Endangered Species Red List.
Only 3000 in all of Germany.
They can’t touch it.
I hope.
Mainz Daily Photo 