From the crater landscape to the most extraordinary green space

The harbor garden was Daniela Matha's idea in 2013. As Managing Director of Mainviertel GmbH, she was entrusted with the development of the future residential district under the umbrella of Stadtwerke. "We wanted to implement the idea of urban gardening here as an interim use with the people from Nordend. The first area for this was the site of today's 'Marina Gardens' and was around 10,000 square meters in size. At the time, we commissioned a landscape architecture firm to plan the site with paths, communal and storage areas."

Sabine Süßmann, head of the "Besser Leben in Offenbach" (BliO) project, was given the task of developing a temporary garden project together with interested parties. "It was a great project," she says looking back.

Not only was the shovel fixed, the area was also smoothed out and paths were laid out. Large concrete rings that were no longer needed elsewhere served as planters for the first trees. The children of the Goethe School planted the first flower pots for the area. Nothing was allowed to take root directly in the soil of the former industrial plant; a film separated the new topsoil from the original soil.

"The official start of the temporary harbor garden was the opening of the harbor steps ten years ago," says Sabine Süßmann. "On that day, anyone who wanted to take part was given a red or yellow baker's crate, which had been left over from a trade fair, and a bag of soil. We also distributed vegetable seedlings." This attracted the first residents from Nordend to the area.

At first, the boxes got lost on the huge site, but word quickly spread about the free offer. Baskets, milk cartons, rice sacks, yoghurt buckets, boots and children's bathtubs were filled with soil and seeds and lovingly watered. Almost 100 parties sowed, raked, plucked and harvested here in weddings, side by side and more and more together. Some only took care of one box and came mainly for the company. Seedlings were exchanged as well as tips and tricks, amateurs were taught by experienced gardeners. Everyone was equal before the sun and the seeds. In addition to gardening together, an intercultural exchange also took place.

Families planted flowers and vegetables with their children, while people with a migrant background grew herbs and vegetables from their home country that they couldn't get in the supermarket. "I saw bitter cucumbers for the first time here, planted by a family from Bangladesh, and I tasted very tasty water spinach for the first time," says Sabine Süßmann. The site was always open to visitors. Anyone who wanted to come was allowed to look and sniff.

City treasurer and responsible department head Martin Wilhelm also remembers the beginnings of the urban gardening project: "The harbor garden quickly changed the appearance and showed how sustainable design of a neighborhood can succeed through committed cooperation. While the construction work took its time to develop Offenbach's new district, the neighbors pitched in and made the area between Nordend and Hafeninsel colorful and livable in a short time." The Hafengarten has established itself extremely quickly and has not only been beneficial for the district, but also a successful example of citizen participation in a large city.

The free, green, democratic and unusual project attracted attention far beyond the city limits: "At first I was approached all over the city about the harbor garden," recalls Sabine Süßmann, "and then more and more media inquiries came in." Editors interviewed and photographed, radio stations sent people over and TV stations came with teams to film. In the midst of the ongoing construction work all around, the harbor garden was a world of its own with a creative and untidy charm.

The fact that the harbor garden was only designed for a limited period of time increasingly faded into the background for the gardening community and also in the public perception. "There was no plan for how long the area would exist - it always depended on the progress of the construction work," says Sabine Süßmann, who is actively supported by project coordinator Alexandra Walker.

And when Marina Gardens was built and the community garden was to become a building plot again, nobody wanted to bury the unconventional idea of urban gardening for good. A new area was designated, again for interim use. "In the winter of 2015/2016, the harbor garden moved to its new location. At around 3,000 square meters, it only had a third of the original area. But everyone moved together and everyone was able to move in."

An interim waiting list, including residents of the Hafeninsel, has now been reduced, and new spaces become available from time to time due to fluctuation. Those who join receive a contract and have to abide by a few rules. The facility remains open during the day, which is part of the concept. Although flowers and vegetables are stolen from time to time, gardening is free. Many visitors, including many of the employees from the offices in the Hafenquartier, sit on the benches here and use the bookcase to take a break in Offenbach's most unusual green space.

It is not yet clear how the green interim use will continue: the harbor garden is currently on the site of the future Gutschepark. This will only be planned in the next few years. Whether and in what form community gardening will continue here is not yet being discussed.