Sonic Eviction

On August 17, Germany’s state-owned railway company Deutsche Bahn announced the launch of a new initiative that aimed to sonically evict “homeless people and drug users” at its Hermannstraße station, a story that caught the attention of virtually every news outlet in Germany, as well as the New York Times. (The project has since been abandoned, citing criticism from the public and the German Music Council. “Nature sounds” will be tried out instead.) It is the latest development in a series of instances where European public transportation agencies believe they can weaponize classical music for positive social outcomes. But unlike previous efforts in places like Leipzig and London, where the ostensibly calming sounds of Vivaldi and Mozart fill stations to subdue criminal behavior, Berlin’s approach attracted attention because it was far more confrontational. Violent, even: Deutsche Bahn hoped that the “anxiety-inducing” qualities of an exclusively atonal playlist would simply rid stations of “unwanted” guests.