In comparison with large US - or Canadian cities, Frankfurt am Main is a rather small town. By the end of the last year it counted ca. 680 000 inhabitants. The Frankfurt region of Rhein-Main, which is a larger and economical powerful growing area - has about 4 - 5 mio. inhabitants and consists of mainly urban areas still mixed with some rural parts. The daily pull in of people to Frankfurt from this areas around often gives the impression of millions moving into the city, coming from all over the world.

Frankfurt is the metropolis of finance in Germany and will be, besides London, the European financial center in the coming next years. But like many other large cities Frankfurt faces a lot of growing economical and social problems. Structural changes - growing service industries, shrinking of industrial branches and the loss of more then 20 000 industrial workplaces - created unemployment.

The decision of 1991, to move the German capital from Bonn to Berlin will also detach a lot of services and industries from Frankfurt. Frankfurt will have to define its new role within Europe.

Historically Frankfurt has always been a center of trade and commerce. The Frankfurt fairs are well known world wide. As such, its inhabitants were treated according to their economical status. Differences in treatment and privileges were made between those, who had money and those, who were poor. Rich minorities quickly became citizens, while the major part of people who worked in Frankfurt were not allowed to live within the city`s walls. Ethnical problems have, thus, always been associated with poverty, economical and social issues.

To day immigrants cannot be hindered to live in Frankfurt, but the tendency to privilege certain groups of foreigners with high income still is part of the informal policy.

To day Frankfurt faces also big changes in its demografical structure. The birth rate of the German population is decreasing (14,5 % are under 18 years old), while the older population increases (19 % are older than 65).

30 % of the population is of foreign nationality, coming from 180 different nations. 45 % of school children still have a foreign passport, although many of them are born in Germany. Frankfurt has the highest percentage of foreign residents of any German city (ca. 200 000).

I shall not focus on the German nationality law, it has been discussed already during this conference. But let me point out, that in regard to practical integration issues, this fact causes more and more political and social problems on community level.

For example: 30 % of the Frankfurter population is not allowed to vote! A local parliament in Frankfurt has in fact a very weak legitimation to represent the citizens in a democratic way. Or another example: Foreign youngsters, born and raced up in Germany, can be expelled out of the country in case of getting involved in crime. Very often they do not speak the language of their parents and know the country of origin only through visits during their holidays. Resocialisation programs are because of the status "to be a foreigner" often not possible.

Besides the dramatically growing poverty in the last years and a growing unemployment rate of migrant workers and unskilled labourers, who were employed in non-skilled industrial jobs, Frankfurt faces housing problems, drug problems and international criminality. Juvenile delinquency, suicide and violence belong to the every day messages in our newspapers.

The largest foreign minority groups are workers from Ex-Yugoslawia (ca. 45 000), from Turkey (38 000), Morocco (15 000), Italy (14 000), Poland and Russia, Spain, Greece and larger communities from Iran, Eritrea, Indochina, Afghanistan, Irak and Sri Lanka.

In the last 10 years Frankfurt gave as well home to about 4 000 jewish refugees from different parts of the former Sowjet Union. The Jewish Community counts at the moment ca. 6000 people; before the Third Reich ca. 30 000 Jews lived in Frankfurt am Main.

Since the beginning of the employment of so called "guest workers" in the early sixties in Germany, we realised the development of 98 religious communities in Frankfurt, amongst them 25 different Islamic groups.

Since 1989 the city government makes stronger efforts towards a global integration policy. The "Department for multicultural Affairs", which has come to be known as the "Frankfurt model", was set up following the formation of the SPD-Green coalition after the local elections in Frankfurt in July 1989. The first political spokesman was Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a member of the Green party. He had a seat in the Frankfurt city council. The work of this department began with a political idea and has since evolved into an essential element in maintaining good relations between Frankfurt's many ethnic communities and the institutions of the city.

In the beginning, a team of specialist workers was put together, as the department sought to define its tasks as a new administrative body within the city bureaucracy. There was (and is) no comparable agency in Germany which could be used as a point of reference. The office was the first one of its kind. This meant a necessary process of trial and error as the department established its areas of responsibility and defined its administrative tasks.

What is special about the Frankfurt model? The first point to be made is structural. There is a parallel political and administrative framework. The political speaker is - still to day, ten years later - member of the city council. The work therefore is directly legated to the decision makers of the city. Secondly, the department is an integral part of the city administration. The director is not a "commissioner", like it is the case in many other German cities, but has got the same rights and possibilities which all other directors of departments have. Its range of activities - based on the mayors administrative decree - is wide and not narrowly defined. This means, it has to be acknowledged as an element of the bureaucracy, the office has prescribed rights and duties and an own budget. It cannot be ignored with impunity as perhaps a citizens` grass roots group may be.

This is an important element in the balance of power at local level, a recognition of the legitimate right of foreigners as tax-payers and resident citizens to have their problems acknowledged and dealt with by the city authorities.

The staff of 14 full-time employees is equally divided between German and non-German, male and female co-workers, and this is of importance as a political symbol. Between them they speak twelve languages. Specialists are responsible for various national groups (the Turks, the Moroccans etc.) of for refugees or Sinti and Roma. Other areas of specific interest include the problems relating to migrants in old age, school, religious and cultural questions, the special situation of women, of artists or youth employment. The department is designed to support minority interests, which might include German groups experiencing discrimination (e.g. gays or lesbians). On a more general level and legislative in improvement of migrants status in Germany (e.g. support for double citizenship and political acceptance of the fact that Germany has become a centre of immigration).

There is a large individual case load to be dealt with, relating to accommodation, employment, job training and many other day-to-day matters.

There is the important job of liaison and co-ordination with other civic departments responsible for foreigners’ affairs, from housing to schooling, residence permits to expulsion orders. Here the department acts as a sort of go-between, representing the foreigner as a client on the one hand, applying the rules of the city and the state on the other. Complaints of ethnic or racial discrimination in everyday life or within the administration have to be thoroughly investigated. Externally this means arbitration, for example in a neighbourhood conflict between people of different ethnic origin, bringing the various parties together and trying to resolve the conflict. Internally, that is in cases of complaint against public servants, this can put the department in a tricky position. It must be seen to be fair by both the citizens of Frankfurt and the colleagues within the bureaucracy - a task requiring much tact and diplomacy.

One of the watchwords of the department is communication. This begins with the problem of inter-departmental contact within the city administration. The department organises seminars for Frankfurt’s civil service employees on how to deal with the language, social or cultural problems which arise when dealing with non -German clients. This involves tackling sensitive issues like preconceptions and prejudice, as well as resentments born of the frustrations of often boring bureaucratic tasks. It also means confronting rigid attitudes resulting from negative experience.

The is constant contact with the social services, with refugee agencies, with the foreigners administrative authority and a host of other public offices concerning individual cases. It has been important to establish the department’s reputation as a source of reliable information and expertise for other agencies and offices. This can mean Mediation in cases of conflict, providing experts from various fields, helping to find solutions. In spectacular cases, for example threatened expulsion of a non- EU citizen, the political influence of Mr. Cohn-Bendit may be brought to bear, both in the city council and the media. The publicity and press department plays an important role here. Constant liaison and communication is used to heighten Awareness on all sides of the issues involved, and to combat prejudice as a factor in administrative practice. It is a form of "affirmative action" in local government.

As an example of the department’s broader function in Frankfurt’s multicultural society we can look at culture and religion. In Frankfurt there are a large number of Moslems ( 80.000 from countries all over the world, organised in 25 muslim communities) who participate in religious and educational organisations.

Buildings are needed as places of worship, as centres where people can seek advice, and simply as meeting-points. The department encourages the creation of such centres as points of inter-communal contact. Cultural differences, competition for precious space in the urban landscape and not least a suspicion of Islamic fundamentalist influence (a factor which has to be weighed very carefully by the department) make it difficult for these organisations to find rooms in the city. The department has to bring the planning authorities, local citizens and representatives of the Moslem groupings together to allay fears and find practicable solutions. In the course of time it has been possible to find suitable rooms for a number of such organisations or - to give another example - to install a cemetery for Muslims in Frankfurt.

Another aspect of this is cooperation with the elected body responsible for promoting foreigners’ interests at communal level, the Kommunale Ausländervertretung (KAV), an advisory board of foreign nationals. This body is composed of 37 non-German representatives who where elected by Frankfurt’s registered alien residents, and it`s office is located in the same building as the department. This board has a purely consultative function. Nevertheless legislation within the city parliament, or city council decisions, are discussed, statements can be made, changes suggested, improvements recommended; but the organisation has no executive power. This - the question of voting rights - continues to be one of the weakest points for migrants’ rights in Germany - the lack of genuine political influence of foreigners for foreigners - hence the importance of the current debate on double citizenship. At present non-German citizens live in a sort of political limbo, dependent on liberal German opinion being prepared to reflect de facto social and economic changes in German society by conceding citizens of non-German origin more rights sometime in the future.

The department has worked hard to project is work in public. Mr. Cohn-Bendit, the first political responsible of the department between 1989 until 1997, as a well-known figure in political life throughout Germany and Europe, has played an important role in heightening public awareness of the issues relating to multicultural life in German cities today. The director of the department, also a well known activist, coming originally from the NGO sector and well informed about needs and political interests of the migrants, played another important role in linking public institutions with basic migrants organisations. Members of the department are in constant contact with every kind of institution in public life in Frankfurt from the media to foreigners’ self-help groups. One day it might be a working-party for change in the asylum laws, the next a meeting of the allotment-users association. In this sense all the co-workers are involved in public relations activity for the promotion of understanding between the different communities living in present-day Germany.

One of the deficits which the department quickly became aware of was the lack of well-documented evidence and information (beyond basic statistics) on the migrants’ situation. Research and surveys have been necessary to collate detailed statistical data and to get an idea of migrants’ subjective views on their experience. A large number of surveys were commissioned in the course of the last five years. These have included topics ranging from appraisals of the legal position, school and educational issues, psychological situation and integration of migrants and refugees in the city, to support for town planning proposals with a multicultural background. In the educational sphere one such survey looked at the extent of intercultural teaching in the city’s play-schools and afternoon-school groups. A recent example was a comparative study of the situation of young Moroccans in the city. One control-group were apprentices living in relatively stable, integrated circumstances; the other consisted of individuals living more-or-less on the street after running away from home. The study concluded with suggestions for - among other things - better preventive measures and integrative social work with young foreigners in danger of drifting into the drug scene.

Such projects have entailed grass-roots research, interviews and extensive use of existing studies leading to reports which have been published. At another level there have been hearings and symposiums with experts, workers in the field, administrators and involved citizens to discuss possible changes in policy arising from the findings of both theoretical and practical research projects. Nonetheless, getting the bureaucratic wheels moving is painstaking work, especially in times of recession and drastic cuts in local expenditure.

One of the most important areas of activity for the department is anti-discrimination work. Large numbers of cases are reported, falling into different categories. The department’s job is to investigate, to bring the respective parties together and to mediate. Complaints and conflicts relate to the following main areas:

- Administration (e.g. residence, registration, discrimination in public offices, application for citizenship)

- Education (play-school, problems with teachers, drugs and violence in schools, sport and swimming lessons for Moslem girls)

- Conflict with the police (racist statements, lack of police support in cases of violence against women or blacks e.g.)

- Neighbourhood conflicts (noise, begging by children, verbal harassment, threatening behaviour)

- Problems within the family (forced marriage, daughters leaving home against their parents’ will, violence against wives or children, daughters’ dress in traditional families, generation conflicts)

Not only migrants seek advice, but also applicants for asylum, members of German minorities, like gipsies or homosexuals, ethnic Germans and German citizens, to say nothing of other offices, teachers and psychologists etc. Constant contact and cooperation between departments have become an essential part of this process. Citizens now know that they can find redress against discrimination within the administrative structure itself. A recent important step forward has been the appointment of three migrants within the police force as mediators ("foreign Commissioners in the Police Forces") (themselves of Moroccan and Turkish origin, one is a woman) in cases of racist and /or sexist complaint against the police. This is a clear sign of the trust which has been built up through a policy of dialogue and arbitration between all concerned when there is conflict between minorities and the police.

Then there is the question of combating discrimination in a more general social and political sense. Specialists in the department are constantly being called upon to give advice on such matters as devising school projects against racism, or providing concepts for fighting discrimination at the workplace. Up-to-date sources of information on multi-cultural life in Germany today (research publications, brochures, exhibition material, speakers etc.) are required by many bodies involved in anti-discrimination work, from church organisations to institutes of adult education.

A recent programme of talks on prevention of violence (physical attacks and arson) was organised by the department in conjunction with the police and fire departments. They are an important response at grass-roots level in Frankfurt to the large number of racist assaults on foreigners over the last few years which have taken place all over Germany. While there have been no attacks against foreigners or refugees, and significantly fewer xenophic events din Frankfurt than in other parts of the country, the city regards a preventive programme of this kind as an important political signal to Germans and migrants alike. Representatives of foreigners’ initiatives and clubs were invited to act as "multipliers" of essential information to their communities on what to do in cases of emergency. The idea behind this is that trust must be established and communication improved between the institutions of law and order and the migrant communities, if racist and right-wing radical violence is to be stopped. Amongst other, a video was produced and distributed not only in migrants organisations, but also in private households.

Sometimes there are individual cases where the department is convinced that a foreigner or asylum-seeker has been unjustly treated by the German authorities (under the migration or asylum laws). These can become test-cases. For example, if a family of asylum-seekers is threatened with repatriation to a theoretically "safe" country, but circumstances on the ground indicate they will be in grave peril, then the department may act. It will mobilise the administration to try and look for other options to allow the family to remain on the one hand. The case may also be publicised through the media. The representative of the department will exert pressure on the political level to try and reverse such a decision on humanitarian grounds.

In such cases the department opts for a liberal interpretation of laws and regulations in favour of the alien individual whose physical and mental well-being is in the balance. This interpretation can often put the department in a controversial position, as critics claim that it is being too political in such cases. But it is precisely the combination of the administrative and political dimension which has played a vital part in establishing the department as an influential force in local migrant policy.

A very different aspect of the department’s work can be illustrated by the case of the Sinti and Roma, traditionally referred to as the Gypsies. Integration of traveller communities with a long tradition of persecution is a difficult long-term process. They are understandably suspicious of officialdom in any form. There is a clash of social and cultural values between the guest and host societies. The department is faced with the thorny problem of finding sites for caravans or containers, often against local opposition. Existing sites can be centres of tension between the Sinti and Roma and the district residents, because there is a stark clash of life-styles and cultures. Local representatives, the housing, public health or other departments must be brought in on round-table talks with the parties involved. The problems are acute, but dialogue and the earnest search for solutions prevent a difficult situation becoming an explosive one. Success-stories of this kind are unspectacular but important.

One of the themes which underlies much work in the department is that of cultural (and religious) differences and similarity. The pragmatic search for solutions to conflict cannot afford to be dogmatic. Do some of the problems which people of different nationality or religion have with one another occur for these or for other reasons? Are there always cultural differences responsible for conflicts - or is the social situation the reason for problems in the community? Perhaps because an individual is poor in a wealthy society, or because they lack recognised social skills? The essential problem a person has may be of a more individual kind. Often differences of race, culture or faith can be used to justify prejudice, privilege or bureaucratic inactivity. Nevertheless differences of custom and culture have to be respected and are a basic part of people’s identity. The department’s co-workers are sometimes confronted with the dilemma of support for conflicting cultural norms and with decisions which they would prefer not to have to take.

What is a co-worker to do when confronted with a Turkish girl whose parents want her to be married in Anatolia against her wishes? This is less a culturally specific problem that one of traditional versus modern ways of life. The girl contacts the department, comes to the office, is informed of all the options and offered support. But she is understandably afraid to leave home and to be taken into care, with all of the attendant legal, emotional and social consequences for her and her family.

Talking to the family with appropriate counselling and legal support may provide a solution. But the problem may also be insoluble, it could end tragically. Such situations are deeply emotive for everybody involved and there is no easy recipe for success - each case must be treated with sensitivity and decided on its merits.

The department has become not only an integral part of Frankfurt’s administration, but also an example for a constructive approach to multicultural policy in Germany today. The city lives with the reality of migratory process. It is experiencing the pain and the problems as well as the benefits and pleasures of different ethnic communities living with one another. The department’s role has been to increase awareness of social change through migration. It has tried to find reasonable ways of dealing with the difficulties involved, and to overcome fears and aggressions which are part of this transformation. It has been important that a civic department set the tone for a progressive-minded policy, showing that integration does not just mean assimilation of minority groups within the dominant culture.

May be it is therefore that the "Frankfurt model" is a point of reference for other cities - within Germany and beyond it's borders. Other German cities are considering adopting similar policies. The department has established contact with cities in other countries. Visits by specialists from other towns with comparable tasks have led to a stimulating exchange of views, as each side profits from learning about the other’s situation. The Frankfurt model has become a focus of interest international as an important approach to dealing with migration and multiculturalism in the urban context. A continuing dialogue on migrant policy between the cities of Europe at decentralised level would undoubtedly prove to be fruitful.

The adoption of policy recognising multicultural reality in German cities is politically controversial. It implies accepting that Germany has become a focus of permanent immigration and thus an ethnically diverse society, a fact which many are not prepared to acknowledge. The department thus remains a bone of party political contention, a change within the city government might put the future of the Frankfurt model at risk. The city’s financial problems compound the problem. When drastic cuts in the city administration have to be made for lack of money, then the Department for Multicultural Affairs could be seriously affected.

One improvement for the future would be - on the formal level - a clearer definition of the office’s responsibilities and functions. In the first few years the lack of a precise official brief was in many ways an advantage. Now there are many areas in which the need for administrative activity demands rules and regulations. It would be better if the extent of the department’s role were more clearly set out in black and white.

For observers of the department’s work and progress in defining the tasks for a forward-looking multicultural policy in Germany’s cities today, there is no doubt of need for approaches of this kind. Comparison with other countries with experience of long-term immigration shows that the process cannot be ignored. Neglect of the specific problems of migrant communities, of racial tension and of institutional discrimination has fatal long-term results. The Department for Multicultural Affairs represents an important attempt at local administrative level to come to terms with these realities.

Referring to integration aspects like freedom of religion, status of religious communities and religious instruction in schools I would like to give you shortly some examples, which might describe the practical implications, which we are confronted on local level.

In the beginning of the nineties, unfortunately after the attacks against refugees by neo-nazi groups in Germany, activists of German organisations for the protection of animals claimed Islamic and Jewish communities to stop the slaughtering of cows and sheep without (according to German law) stunning them before. They sued representatives of Turkish and other Islamic mosques in order to achieve a stop of immolating animals. The interest of the city of Frankfurt and of course the Department for multicultural affairs was then, to avoid further xenophobic or racist discussions about different cultural practices. We planned a Mediation session between all involved institutions instead. Our goal was to find a practical way out and a compromise between the interests of the religious communities on one side and the interests of prevention of cruelty against animals on the other.

The first meetings between members of the department and 24 representatives of Frankfurt mosques brought up the whole controversy. The formal permission, given by a certificate of the Saudi Arabian Ministry for Religious Affairs, about the sphere of action and efficiency by using the electrocyphalogramm before slaughtering, helped then, to find a solution. Invited by the official Frankfurter Schlachthof, all imams came to see in a direct demonstration by using the electro shock , that a stunned sheep is not dead, but would get up after a certain time. The compromise was found and is practised (up to 90 %) since then.

A similar experience was made in mediation between the Department, responsible for the maintenance of Frankfurt graveyards , parks and gardens and Muslim groups. Because of the dominant Christian tradition in Germany, there was no official possibility to bury Muslims according to the rituals of their traditions. Several meetings and negotiations and finally the planning of a new graveyard with the participation of the Muslim leaders helped to solve the problem. Now there are possibilities to do ritual washings and the funeral according to Muslim law. German law, which prohibits open coffins in the grave (which is common practice in Islamic countries) is formally followed by interment of the body in an open coffin , letting the cover beside.

A last example: In May 1991 the Department of multicultural affairs organised a international conference "Europa 1990 - 2000 - Multiculturalism in the City - The Integration of Immigrants."

As a way of familiarising senior policy-makers in the community relations field with the practical problems experienced at the local level, study visits had been made before in different European cities. The result of these field trips and the local contacts, it has become increasingly apparent to us, that town planning policies and the housing situation of immigrant communities, the job training, educational and cultural aspects as well as the employment situation have a direct impact on the community relations situation in any given district. Cultural and social diversity presents new challenges to the public services in various fields and has implications for the education and training of officials and personnel. The role of the police in an ethnically and culturally diverse society was also one of the important aspects of the conference.

The experts also called for more detailed Research to be carried out on the impact of housing and town planning schemes on minority ethnic groups and immigrants. More surveys need to be carried out on peoples real housing needs and preferences. The authorities responsible for housing and planning ought, to be provided with a permanent Research and monitoring capability so that they can promote action-Research and pilot projects.

The results of this conference had been passed on local, federal and European policy makers to promote migration issues. They were published by the Council of Europe 1991 (Coll. Fr. (91) 3) and distributed within the project on "Community Relations".