Frankfurt am Main

Frankfurt am Main is Germany's financial and economical center. It is mostly referred to as just 'Frankfurt'. Many banks have there offices there and the city is also home to Germany's main stock exchange, as well as the 'Messe' where numerous fairs are held every year. Frankfurt is home to two important central banks: the German Bundesbank and the European Central Bank (ECB). Frankfurt am Main also has Germany's best museums and some 10%percnt; of the city's budget is used for culture. This budget is quite large as many of German's richest people live in the city. Frankfurt was named after the Franks and it had been a separate city-state for almost 500 years until it was finally annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866.

Some intersting landmarks in Frankfurt include:

• Römer is the German word for Roman. It is a complex of nine houses that are home to Frankfurt's city hall (Rathaus). The upper floor is known as The Kaisersaal (Emperor's Hall) and was the place where newly crowned emperors held their banquets. The surrounding square is called the Römerberg.
• The Gothic Frankfurter Dom, or Frankfurt Cathedral, is the city's main Catholic church. It was dedicated to St. Bartholomew and constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries on the foundation of an earlier church from the Merovingian time. From 1356 onwards, kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected in this church. Between 1562 and 1792 it was the location were Roman-German emperors were crowned.
  The church was destroyed by a fire in 1867 and later rebuilt in its current style. Its tower has a viewing platform that offers great views over frankfurt.
• The former Altstadt was rebuilt between 2012 and 2018 and is known as the new Old Town. It sits between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral and includes reconstructions of 15 historical buildings that were destroyed during World War II. It's a scenic part of Frankfurt and very popular with tourists.
• Around the city centre you'll find numerous buildings that were constructed in the so-called Gründerzeit architecture. They often boast richly-decorated façades in the form of Historicism such as Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, German Renaissance and Baroque Revival.
• Haus Wertheim (Wertheim House) is the only timber building in Frankfurt's Altstadt (Old Town) that survived the heavy bombings of World War II undamaged. It is located on the Römerberg adjacent to the Historical Museum.
• The Saalhof dates from the 12th century, making it the oldest surviving building in the Altstadt and is home to parts of the Historical Museum.
• Frankfurt's Archaeological Garden is located between the Römerberg and the cathedral and contains small parts of the city's oldest recovered buildings: an ancient Roman settlement and the 6th century Kaiserpfalz Frankfurt (Frankfurt Royal Palace).
• The national historic monument of Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church) dates from 1833 and was the seat of Germany's first democratically elected parliament in 1848. A year later the parliament dessolved, as the monarchs of Prussia and Austria did not want to lose power and ended the democratic experiment by force.
  The church was partly destroyed during WWII and rebuilt, resulting in its modern appearance.
• The Eiserner Steg (Iron Bridge) is a pedestrian-only bridge across the Main river. It was originally built in 1868 to connect Römerberg with Sachsenhausen. During WWII, it was destroyed, but in 1946, it was rebuilt.
• The Gothic church of St. Leonhard sits on the Main river, not far from the Eiserner Steg bridge. It is a Catholic hall church, with its oldest foundations dating from 1425. It is one of few churches in the Old Town that survived World War II almost undamaged. The church was restored between 2011 and 2019.
• The Alte Oper, or Old Opera, is a former opera house built in 1880. It was one of the major opera houses in Germany until it was heavily damaged in World War II. It remained a ruin until the late 1970's, when rebuilding commenced. It was reopened in 1981 and nowadays it has become a popular concert hall.
• Eschenheimer Turm (Eschenheim Tower) dates from the 15th century. It used to be one of the city's gates as part of late-medieval fortifications. It is the oldest and most unaltered building in Frankfurt's Innenstadt (Inner City) district.
• Katharinenkirche (St. Catherine's Church) is Frankfurt's largest Protestant church. It was dedicated to the Christian saint of Catherine of Alexandria and sits at the entrance to the central pedestrian shopping street of Zeil.
• The Baroque Hauptwache building was built as in 1730 and used as a prison, hence its name which means 'main guard-house'. It is opposite St. Catherine's Church and the U-bahn underground train station of hauptwache is right beneath it.
• At the end of the 19th century, the railway system around Frankfurt needed more capacity and so, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Frankfurt Central Station) was built to replace 3 smaller downtown railway stations. When it commenced operations in 1888 it was the largest train station in Europe. The Neorenaissance building was enlarged in 1924 in Neoclassic building style.
• The Frankfurter Hof is a landmark hotel at the city's central Kaiserplatz. It opened in 1876 and is one of Frankfurt's most prestigious hotels.
• Frauenfriedenskirche, as well as the Holy Cross church were both consecrated in 1929. They are good examples of early modernist church buildings during the time of the New Frankfurt.
• Großmarkthalle was opened in 1928 and was also part of the New Frankfurt project. The building was damaged during WWII and later restored. It was integrated into the new seat of the European Central Bank between 2010 and 2014.
• The original Goethe House dated from 1749, but it was destroyed during WWII. It was the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The building was reconstructed according the original blueprints in 1947.
• Junior-Haus dates from 1951 and is a good example of early post-World War II architecture. It is located at Kaiserplatz.
• Bayer-Haus was built a year later and is another example of early post-World War II architecture.
• The IG Farben Building is also known as Poelzig-Bau, or Poelzig Building, as its architect was Hans Poelzig. The building was erected in 1930 as the corporate headquarters of I.G. Farbenindustrie AG. It is located in the Westend district and borders Grüneburgpark in the west. Upon its completion, it was the largest office building in Europe and remained so until the 1950s. It was the location were Zyklon B, the lethal gas used in concentration camps during WWII, was manufactured.
  After the war, the allies used it as their headquarters and in 1995 it was returned to the German government. Nowadays it houses part of the campus of Goethe University.
• Die Welle (The Wave) was constructed from 1998 to 2003. It is a complex of three wavelike-formed office buildings next to the Opernplatz.
• Frankfurt's original library, the Alte Stadtbibliothek, was built from 1820 to 1825. It was destryed during WWII and rebuilt between 2003 and 2005.
• Palais Thurn und Taxis was rebuilt from 2004 to 2009 and is a reconstruction of an old palace that was originally constructed between 1731 and 1739.
• MyZeil is a shopping mall that boasts an imposing vaulted glass-structure. It was opened in 2009.
• The Squaire (a portmanteau of 'square' and 'air') is also known as Airrail Center Frankfurt. It is a 660 m (2,165 ft) long and 45 m (148 ft) tall office building located at Frankfurt Airport. It was built from 2006 to 2011 on top of the Frankfurt airport long distance railway station and has a connecting bridge to Terminal 1 for pedestrians. It has some 140,000 m² (1,506,947 sq ft) of rentable floor space making it Germany's largest office building.

Apart from the abovementioned, there are more than 30 other interesting museums in Frankfurt, making it the city with one of the largest variety of museums in Europe. They include the Städel Museum, which has an excellent art collection with works from the Renaissance up to now. Modern art can be found in the Museum für Moderne Kunst (Museum of Modern Art). The Museum für angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts) was built in 1985. The Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Senckenberg Natural History Museum) is the second-largest natural history museum in Germany. Other museums are the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (German Architecture Museum), Deutsches Filmmuseum (German Film Museum), Deutsches Romantik-Museum, Frankfurter Ikonenmuseum (Icon Museum Frankfurt), Liebieghaus (Museum of sculptures), Museum Giersch (Museum for Regional Art), Museum für Kommunikation (Museum of Communications), Museum der Weltkulturen (Museum of World Cultures), Museum für elektronische Musik (Museum of Modern Electronic Music), Bibelhaus Erlebnis Museum (Bible House Experience Museum), Jüdisches Museum Frankfurt (Jewish Museum Frankfurt), Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Historical Museum Frankfurt), Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Schirn Art Gallery Frankfurt), Frankfurter Kunstverein (Art Association Frankfurt), Museum Judengasse (Jews' Alley Museum), the forementioned Goethe-Haus (Goethe House), Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt (Archaeological Museum Frankfurt), Caricatura Museum für Komische Kunst (Caricatura Museum of Comic Art), Dommuseum Frankfurt (Frankfurt Cathedral Museum), Dialogmuseum (Dialogue Museum), Eintracht Frankfurt Museum at Deutsche Bank Park, the Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum (Light Railway Museum Frankfurt) in the Gallus district, the Verkehrsmuseum Frankfurt (Transport Museum Frankfurt) in the Schwanheim district, the Hammer Museum in the Bahnhofsviertel district and the Geldmuseum der Deutschen Bundesbank (Money Museum of the German Federal Bank) in the Ginnheim district. The Explora Museum+Wissenschaft+Technik (Explora Museum of Science and Engineering) in the Nordend district was closed in 2016.

Most museums open around 10:00 am local time and if you're a museumgoer, you can comfortably visit 4 museums in one day.

When Frankfurt was smaller, it was surrounded by several nice villages, which have now become incorporated into the city to become scenic borroughs with timber framed buildings. They include Höchst, Seckbach, Niederursel and Bergen-Enkheim. In total, there are some 3,000 timber framed houses in Frankfurt.

The city boasts many busy shopping streets, of which Zeil is the most important one. There are also countless skyscrapers and tall towers in Frankfurt, many of which offer excellent views over the city. Despite of this, Frankfurt is also known as a 'green city'. It has a large forest, many parks, the Main riverbanks and there are two botanical gardens.

More than 50% of Frankfurt's surface is protected green area. Some of the most interesting parks in the city include:

• Frankfurter Grüngürtel, a ring-shaped 'green belt' that surrounds the city. It was established as a protected area in 1991 and includes the Frankfurter Stadtwald (Frankfurt City Forest, Germany's largest forest within a city), the Schwanheimer Düne (Schwanheim Dune), the Niddatal (Nidda Valley), the Niddapark, the Lohrberg (Lohr Mountain, Frankfurt's only vineyard), the Huthpark, the Enkheimer Ried (Enkheim Marsh), the Seckbacher Ried (Seckbach Marsh) and the Fechenheimer Mainbogen (a S-shaped part of the Main river in Fechenheim).
• Mainuferpark (Main Riverbanks Park) is a commonly used term for all of Frankfurt's inner-city Main riverbanks. It is very popular with strollers and tourists. During the summer it can get very crowded.
• The Wallanlagen are the city's former ramparts. They were abolished in 1812 and are nowadays a collection of parks. The part between the northern Main riverbank and the Opernplatz is commonly known as 'Central Park', because, just as its famous example in Manhattan, it is surrounded by tall skyscrapers.
• Nizza Park is at the juncture of the northern Main riverbank and the Wallanlagen. It is called Nizza because of its somewhat warmer climate, Mediterranean flora grow there that survive the winter and thus it recalls Nice in southern France.
• In the Nordend district is a Chinese-styled park known as Garten des Himmlischen Friedens, or Garden of Heavenly Peace. It was named after Tiananmen Square in Beijing and is home to several Chinese buildings. You'll also find traditional Chinese plants and herbs there.
• Palmengarten is a botanical garden in the Westend district. It opened to the public in 1871 and hosts many tropical and subtropical plants.
• The Botanischer Garten der Goethe-Universität is the university's botanical garden. It is also an arboretum and contains about 5,000 species of plants. It is organized into two major areas: The geobotanical area, which contains an alpine garden, arboretum, meadows, steppes, marsh and a pond, as well as collections of plants from the Canary Islands, Caucasus, East Asia, Mediterranean and North America. The systematic and ecological collection includes crop plants, endangered species, ornamental plants, roses and the Neuer Senckenbergischer Arzneipflanzengarten (New Senckenberg Medicinal Plant Garden).

Other large parks include Niddapark, Ostpark and Grüneburgpark. Collectively, Botanischer Garten der Goethe-Universität, Palmengarten and Grüneburgpark form the largest inner-city green area of Frankfurt.

There are many music bars in the city and if you visit one of them you should certainly try the local cider known as Ebbelweï. Frankfurt is also home to countless festivals and venues throughout the year.

Accommodation is widely available in Frankfurt am Main and there are countless restaurants as well. The city has excellent rail connections with the rest of Germany, as it is one of the main railway junctions with more than 1,500 trains passing through every day. Public transportation within the city is by U-Bahn (metro), S-Bahn (light rail), tram, bus and taxi. You can also rent (E-)bikes and E-scooters. Frankfurt's airport is one of the busiest in Europe with connections to almost anywhere.

If you drive past Frankfurt on the A5 autobahn, you should try to stop at the Taunusblick Eschborn fuel station, which has a viewing tower that offers great views towards the city.

Frankfurt am Main is 425 km southwest of Berlin.