Graz hotspot

Volksgarten: calls for a protection zone are getting louder

In an interview with "Krone", Graz City Councillor Kurt Hohensinner calls for the immediate reintroduction of a protection zone in the park.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Sepp Pail, Christian Jauschowetz)

The mayor of Graz wants to make the Volksgarten, a notorious crime hotspot, safer, but rejects the reintroduction of a protection zone. It is precisely this measure, however, that local residents and the Graz ÖVP are now emphatically calling for: it is the most effective means of preventing violent excesses.

The Volksgarten is not exactly regarded by many people in Graz as the kind of recreational oasis where they prefer to let their children play. Residents prefer to avoid the green area in the Lend district rather than rest on one of the benches. Sometimes unabashed drug deals, violent crimes and bullying have been on the agenda for years, turning the park, which was created in 1875, into a fear zone. A month ago, KPÖ mayor Elke Kahr gave the green light for the implementation of measures to get the Volksgarten problem under control. On the one hand, a two-person patrol is now patrolling the area, and on the other, the area is to be redesigned.