Frankfurt am Main is the most populous city in the state of Hesse and
the fifth largest in Germany. It is independent of a district and forms
the center of the Frankfurt metropolitan area with more than 2.3 million
inhabitants. Around 5.8 million people live in the Frankfurt/Rhein-Main
metropolitan region (Rhine-Main area).
Frankfurt am Main has been
one of the most important urban centers in Germany since the Middle
Ages. First mentioned in a document in 794, it has been an imperial city
since 1372. Until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, most of the
Roman-German kings were elected in Frankfurt am Main and since 1562 they
were also crowned emperors. From 1815 onwards, the Free City of
Frankfurt was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and
at the same time its political center. It was the seat of the Federal
Assembly and, in 1848/49, of the National Assembly and the Provisional
Central Authority. After the German War in 1866, Prussia annexed the
Free City of Frankfurt. Due to the rapid industrialization, a surge in
population began. The city has had over 100,000 inhabitants since 1875
and more than 500,000 since 1928. As a sign of commitment to European
unification, Frankfurt has been called the European City since 1998.
Frankfurt am Main is an international financial centre, an important
industrial, service and exhibition center and is one of the economic
world cities. Frankfurt am Main is the seat of the European Central
Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, numerous
financial institutions (including Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, DZ Bank,
KfW), the supervisory authorities BaFin and EIOPA and the Frankfurt
Trade Fair. The Frankfurt Book Fair and the Musikmesse are considered
the world's leading trade fairs in their sectors, and the International
Motor Show took place here until 2019. The city is also the seat of many
national sports associations, including the German Olympic Sports
Association and the German Football Association.
Thanks to its
central location, Frankfurt am Main is a hub in the German and European
transport network with Frankfurt Main Airport, the main train station
and the Frankfurter Kreuz. The internet node DE-CIX is an important
exchange point for data traffic on the internet.
A special
feature for a German city is the constantly growing high-rise skyline of
Frankfurt. Some striking skyscrapers are among the tallest in Europe.
That is why Frankfurt am Main is sometimes ironically referred to as
Mainhattan. Historical landmarks of the city are the Alte Oper and the
partly reconstructed ensemble of the old town with Römerberg including
the Römer town hall, Dom-Römer-Areal and Kaiserdom. More than 40 percent
of the city area are parks and landscape protection areas, including the
Frankfurt green belt with the Frankfurt City Forest, which has been
owned by the city since 1372.
The city's cultural life is
traditionally shaped by civic foundations, patronage and liberal private
initiatives. This resulted in the municipal theaters with the two
sections Frankfurt Opera and Theater Frankfurt, the Frankfurt
Museumsufer, the Senckenberg Natural History Museum, the Schirn
Kunsthalle and the Museum of Modern Art, the Historical Museum and
Goethe's birthplace in the old town, the Old Opera, the English Theatre
, the zoo and the palm garden. The Goethe University, founded in 1914 by
a community foundation as the Royal University, produced several Leibniz
and Nobel Prize winners. In addition, there are seven other universities
in the city with a total of over 60,000 students.
Most tourists are concentrated in the city center. However, they miss
the diversity of Frankfurt's districts. Districts like Bornheim and
Ostend (multicultural), Bockenheim (students), Sachsenhausen (chic) and
Nordend (chic/alternative) show Frankfurt from its most attractive and
true side! Here you will also find the loveliest cafés and parks (see
also "Activities").
Frankfurt am Main comprises 43 districts
including the airport, which is a district in its own right. Officially
there are 46, because three districts (Nordend, Westend and
Sachsenhausen) are statistically divided again. For structuring, the
districts in Wikivoyage are roughly summarized:
Old town and
downtown
Station district (Bahnhofsviertel, Gallus and
Gutleutviertel)
West (Griesheim, Höchst, Nied, Sindlingen,
Sossenheim, Unterliederbach and Zeilsheim)
South (Niederrad, Oberrad,
Sachsenhausen, Schwanheim)
Northwest (Heddernheim, Niederursel,
Praunheim and Rödelheim)
Mid-West (Bockenheim, Hausen and Westend)
Central-North (Berkersheim, Dornbusch, Eckenheim, Eschersheim,
Frankfurter Berg, Ginnheim, Nordend and Preungesheim)
North (Bonames,
Harheim, Kalbach, Nieder-Erlenbach and Nieder-Eschbach)
East
(Bergen-Enkheim, Bornheim, Fechenheim, Ostend, Riederwald and Seckbach)
Airport
The following articles exist on an interim basis and are
to be reclassified prognostically into the above-mentioned articles:
Downtown districts
Sachsenhausen
Outskirts
Maximum
By plane
Frankfurt am Main Airport (FRA) is the second largest
airport in continental Europe and the largest hub for Lufthansa, which
is based here. From Frankfurt you can fly to every corner of the world.
The airport is connected to the ICE/IC network via the airport
long-distance train station and the S-Bahn, the regional train and
regional express lines via the airport regional train station. The
Nightjet night trains stop at the airport regional train station, even
though they are long-distance trains. The city center can be reached in
11 - 15 minutes with the S 8 and S 9 from the regional train station
every 15 minutes. A single ticket to the city center costs €4.90 (as of
January 1st, 2018), the city of Frankfurt has the RMV tariff zone 5000,
the airport has the tariff zone 5090. The journey by taxi costs €35. The
tariff is non-negotiable as it is set out in the Frankfurt taxi
regulations. The arrival from the airport is also possible with the city
bus lines of the local public transport company traffiq 58
(Frankfurt-Höchst train station - Lufthansa Aviation Center - Lufthansa
base - airport terminal 1) and 61 (Frankfurt-South train station -
airport terminal 1).
Despite its name, the low-cost airport
Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN) is located approx. 130 km from Frankfurt am Main
and can be reached in 2 hours by bus from the main train station. The
ticket can be bought on the bus and costs around €20. Sufficient time
should be planned, as the buses only run every 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
(timetable)
Business jets and private planes mainly land at
Frankfurt-Egelsbach Airport. This is located 20km south of Frankfurt in
Egelsbach.
By train
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof has the
second most passengers after Hamburg with 493,000 travelers a day and is
the busiest train station in Germany with 630 long-distance and local
trains and 1100 S-Bahn trains a day. Almost all long-distance trains
that run through central Germany stop here, and there is also an
extensive range of local transport connections. The S-Bahn (exception:
S7 and additional services to the airport S8) stop underground in a
tunnel station. The exits from the above-ground main station to the
underground S-Bahn station are on platforms 16 and 21, the elevators in
the direction of the city are on platform 18 and those to the airport
are on platform 19. It is essential to allow sufficient time. Trains to
Siegen, Marburg, Heidelberg and Mannheim are shared en route.
The
central location of Frankfurt and the ICE high-speed trains make it
possible to reach the most important cities in Germany within four
hours. Some time examples: Cologne in 1:03 h, Stuttgart in 1:18 h,
Munich in 3:11 h, Hamburg in 3:36 h and Brussels in 3:06 h, Berlin,
Paris, Zurich and Amsterdam in approx. 4 h, Kiel, Schwerin and Dresden
in about 5 hours. From Frankfurt Hbf there are the following direct
long-distance connections: Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover, Berlin, Dresden,
Nuremberg, Regensburg, Passau, Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart, Freiburg,
Basel, Bern and Zurich. From France there is a high-speed connection to
Paris and since March 2012 there is a daily TGV to Marseille via
Strasbourg and Lyon. Further connections lead to Brussels and Amsterdam.
Since December 2017, a Eurocity Express has also been going to Milan
once a day. There are important local transport connections to Kassel,
Fulda, Würzburg, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Saarbrücken and Koblenz.
From the main station there are further connections with the subway (on
a separate level between the above-ground station and the S-Bahn
station) and with the tram from the station forecourt. Travelers who
want to go to the city of Frankfurt can take any S-Bahn from the main
train station in the direction of the city center and get off at
Hauptwache or Konstablerwache. To get to the old town, take the subway
to Dom/Römer.
The third long-distance station in Frankfurt is
Frankfurt (Main) Süd station. Some long-distance trains, including most
night trains and the FlixTrain, only stop here and do not go to the main
station. From Frankfurt South there are direct connections to Berlin and
regional services to Fulda and Würzburg via Aschaffenburg. The three
regional and long-distance platforms have neither escalators nor
elevators.
The night train network connects Frankfurt South with
Berlin and Prague, Frankfurt Airport with Munich, Vienna and Zurich, and
Frankfurt Hbf with Vienna, Copenhagen and Warsaw. Since the timetable
change in December 2016, night train journeys within Germany and to
Italy, Austria and Switzerland have been carried out by the ÖBB
Nightjet.
Train connections from Frankfurt Airport can be found
in the airport article.
By bus
After the liberalization of the
long-distance bus market caught Frankfurt completely unprepared and led
to hopeless traffic chaos, the new long-distance bus station Frankfurt
(Main) was opened in 2019 on the south side of the main train station.
In addition to the top dog Flixbus, long-distance bus lines from
Eurolines and some smaller providers such as the Polish operator Sindbad
also stop here. An infrastructure on site has not yet formed, for
provisions or similar you still have to switch to the main station.
A Flixbus ticket office is located directly at the long-distance bus
station, Eurolines has set up a travel agency nearby at Mannheimer
Straße 15.
In addition to the main train station, long-distance
buses also stop at the airport.
In the street
In Frankfurt am
Main, environmental zones have been set up in accordance with the Fine
Dust Ordinance. If you don't have the appropriate badge, you risk a fine
of €100 when entering an environmental zone. This also applies to
foreign road users. Date of action: 01/01/2012
Entry ban for vehicles
of pollutant groups 1+2+3 (Info Federal Environment Agency)
Since
January 2012, only cars with a green sticker are allowed to enter the
environmental zone. The zone includes the area inside the ring road,
excluding the P&R car parks and some industrial areas.
Frankfurt
is the hub of the A3 and A5 autobahns, which meet at the Frankfurter
Kreuz southwest of Frankfurt. The Frankfurter Kreuz is the busiest
motorway junction in Germany with a corresponding risk of traffic jams
at peak times. The A661 passes Frankfurt to the east and connects the
two autobahns to form an autobahn ring around Frankfurt.
Coming
from the west, the A66 and the A648 lead directly into Frankfurt - the
former leads to the Alleenring, which leads in a wide arc around
Frankfurt city center, the latter leads directly to the main station and
the city center. Coming from the east, the A66 currently ends in
Bergen-Enkheim - here there is an extreme risk of traffic jams during
rush hour with travel time losses of several hours, the motorway should
be avoided at all costs. The closure of the gap through the Riederwald
is already under construction.
park and ride
There are
park-and-ride facilities at the following stations in the Frankfurt city
area:
Frankfurt Stadium (S7, S8, S9, tram: 20, 21)
Frankfurt-Höchst train station (S1, S2, RB10, RB11, RB12, RB22, RE20)
Frankfurt-Sindlingen (S1)
Frankfurt West train station (S3, S4, S5,
S6, RB34, RB40, RB41, RB48
Praunheim Heerstrasse (U6)
Kalbach (U2)
Nieder-Eschbach (U2, U9)
Seckbach/Kruppstrasse (U4, U7)
Preungesheim (U5)
Heddernheim (U1, U2, U3, U8)
Frankfurt mountain
(S6)
Breitenbach Bridge
Frankfurt inking units (S1, S2)
Frankfurt-Zeilsheim (S2)
By boat
Traveling to Frankfurt by
ship is unusual. Excursion lines operate from Frankfurt, going up the
Main to Würzburg, down to Wiesbaden/Mainz and to various destinations on
the Rhine. These can also be used to get there, but are more expensive
than the train or bus.
Frankfurt has a dense network of S-Bahn, U-Bahn (city rail system),
trams and buses. It is often easier to move around here without a car. •
• Rhine-Main area: Schnellbahn map: S-Bahn and U-Bahn • • Line network
map: S-Bahn, U-Bahn and regional trains • Line network map S-Bahn,
U-Bahn and tram in Frankfurt • Downtown map also with bus lines
All city and local transport lines are integrated into the South Hessian
Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV). The tariff association goes from Mainz
to the north of Marburg and the state borders with Bavaria,
Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. A transitional tariff for
the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehrsverbund applies to the district of Bergstrasse.
The single ticket for the city area without the airport costs €2.75.
The short-distance ticket (up to 2 km, the destinations for this are
indicated at each stop) costs €1.85. The day ticket for the city area
without the airport is available for €5.35 (with the airport for €9.55)
and is also valid on the daily night buses. Group day tickets for up to
5 people cost €11.30 or €16.60. • Prices as of 01/01/2018. • The tickets
are valid for immediate departure and are already stamped. There is no
advance sale for single tickets, for day tickets the date can be
predetermined. For time-critical journeys with the RMV - especially when
getting to the airport - one should plan the time generously, since
delays in the RMV network are not uncommon.
RMV Mobility Center
Frankfurt am Main, Zeil 129, 60313 Frankfurt am Main. Tel: (0)69
24248024. Open: Mon-Fri 10:30-18:00.
ticket purchase
Deutsche
Bahn has ticket machines at all train stations, where both RMV tickets
and DB tickets for local and long-distance traffic can be purchased. The
Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt (VGF) maintains ticket machines in all
underground stations as well as at all tram stops and at some busy bus
stops. In Frankfurt there are no ticket sales in trams, the ticket must
be purchased from the machine.
In addition to buying tickets from
ticket machines, it is also possible to buy daily, weekly and monthly
tickets, but not single tickets, in many kiosks that are registered as
contractual partners of the RMV.
Ticket counters operated by the VGF
for the purchase of RMV tickets are located in the Hauptwache and
Konstablerwache stations. Deutsche Bahn travel centers, where tickets
for DB local and long-distance traffic can be purchased, but no RMV
tickets, are located at the main train station, Höchst train station,
Westbahnhof, Südbahnhof and the regional and long-distance train
stations.
The Frankfurt Card is only available in the tourist
information offices and in some hotels.
night traffic
At
weekends, selected tram and subway lines also run every half hour at
night. During the week there is a replacement service with buses, but
they drive almost the same route. Other bus lines ensure the connection
to the Frankfurt districts without rail connections at night on
weekends. The S8 and S9 S-Bahn trains generally run around the clock,
while all other S-Bahn lines only run at night on weekends. Since the
operating hours of the S-Bahn have been extended, there are only a few
night buses in the region.
Trams and buses, which are all
low-floor, are barrier-free. Trains with barrier-free access also run on
all underground lines U1 to U9, and ramps for the lower platforms
outside the tunnel sections can be laid out on all S-Bahn lines (only at
the 1st door of the train). However, the entrances to many train
stations are not barrier-free. All S-Bahn trains have been
air-conditioned since the end of 2014.
Bicycles are not permitted
on the underground, trams and buses from Monday to Friday between 6 a.m.
and 8.30 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., but are tolerated as long as
there is space in the means of transport.
Bicycles can be taken
on regional express trains, regional trains, S-Bahn trains and regional
buses without time restrictions. As in the entire Rhine-Main area,
taking bicycles with you is free of charge.
Getting around
Frankfurt by car is very easy compared to other cities of this size -
critics would say too easy. The entire urban area is riddled with
multi-storey car parks and underground car parks, most of which belong
to the city itself and therefore charge very moderate prices for
parking. But you can also be lucky when looking for a parking space in
the side streets, although there are usually prohibition times during
the week to deter long-term parkers. The traffic axes in Frankfurt are
generously built and optimized for motor vehicle traffic, there are some
streets with a risk of traffic jams (e.g. the access road to
Bergen-Enkheim Am Erlenbruch, traffic jams there at all times of the
day, including at night), which are streets but not nearly as congested
as in other cities.
It is quite easy to get around the city by
bike. A number of new cycle paths have been laid out in recent years.
Even if Frankfurt is not yet a "bicycle city" like e.g. B. Münster, it
is still worthwhile to explore the city by bike. Around Frankfurt there
is the 63 km long green belt cycle path.
If you want, you can
also be transported by Velotaxi or rent a nextbike, €1 per half hour, €9
for a day from April to October.
The Frankfurt Card includes all
public transport in the city including the airport. There is a 50%
discount for 28 museums, the palm garden and the zoo. The ticket costs
for 1 day: €11.00, for 2 days: €16.00, groups of up to 5 people for 1
day: €23.00, for 2 days: €33.00. Prices: 2020 Currently (as of June
2020) not all facilities are open due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the
Frankfurt Card discount is currently being denied at the Städel Museum,
Liebieghaus, Zoo and Schauspiel Frankfurt.
The network ticket
Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, which is valid throughout Germany for local
transport, is valid in Frankfurt on all S-Bahn and local trains, but not
on city transport (underground, trams, buses). The Deutsche Bahn city
ticket or BahnCard 100 is valid for all means of transport within
Frankfurt without the airport.
Accessibility
limited
barrier-free In the city of Frankfurt, most S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations
are barrier-free. Unfortunately, there are a few prominent cases of
non-accessible train stations. For example, not all platforms at
Frankfurt Süd train station are barrier-free; Ironically, the platform
where the long-distance trains stop cannot be left by wheelchair users
due to the lack of a lift.
limited barrier-free The same applies
to the tram: at some tram stops, entry is only possible by crossing the
street and boldly jumping onto the tram; Wheelchair users cannot get on
or off here. In addition, at peak times, such as when Eintracht is
playing, non-accessible trams with step access are still used.
limited barrier-free Most of the bus stops in Frankfurt's city bus
network are now barrier-free with a bus board and can be used by
wheelchair users without any problems. not barrier-free Unfortunately,
this does not apply to the night buses; the use of night buses by
wheelchair users is expressly prohibited. There are also some lines in
Frankfurt that are served by VW Transporter-based minibuses; these buses
cannot be used by wheelchair users either.
skyscrapers
Hardly any other city in Europe is characterized by
its skyscrapers like Frankfurt. You can see the skyline from afar, no
matter what means of transport you use to travel. The Ignatz-Bubis
Bridge (Strab 14, Hospital zum hl. Geist) offers the best view, while
the Deutschherrn Bridge (railway and pedestrian bridge) is recommended
for taking photos.
Due to the large number of high-rise buildings
in Frankfurt (which is still growing), only the tallest buildings over
150 meters are listed here. A complete list can be found at List of
skyscrapers in Frankfurt am Main.
1 Commerzbank Tower, Grosse
Gallusstrasse 17-19, 60311 Frankfurt am Main. Due to its sophisticated
architecture, the Commerzbank Tower, built in 1997, is one of the most
striking buildings on the Frankfurt skyline and, at 259 meters, the
tallest building not only in Frankfurt, but in all of Germany and even
the entire EU. The skyscraper serves as the headquarters of Commerzbank.
The canteen in the Commerzbank Tower is also open to external guests
(always Monday to Friday at 12 p.m., entrance through the rear entrance
on Kaiserplatz) and allows a glimpse into the interior of the building,
otherwise there are guided tours through the building only for groups on
request.
2 Messeturm, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49, 60308 Frankfurt am
Main. The Messeturm from 1990 was the tallest when it was built at 257m
and is now the second tallest building in Frankfurt. The landmark of the
Frankfurt Trade Fair, visible from afar, is now rented out as an office
building. The building is not open to the public. Deutsche Post honors
the Messeturm as one of only six buildings in Germany with its own
postal code; three other buildings that received this honor are also
high-rise buildings in Frankfurt.
3 Westend Tower, Westendstrasse 1,
60325 Frankfurt am Main. Less well known but no less striking is the
Westend Tower from 1993, at 208 meters rank 3 among Frankfurt's
skyscrapers. The building serves as the headquarters of DZ Bank. The
lobby on the ground floor is open to the public and is worth seeing for
the art exhibitions.
4 Main Tower, Neue Mainzer Strasse 52-58, 60311
Frankfurt am Main. Tel: (0)69 36504878 . The 200m high Main Tower from
1999 offers the only publicly accessible viewing platform of all
Frankfurt skyscrapers. The Main Tower is best known for the fact that
the broadcasting studios of the Hessischer Rundfunk were located there
for years, which revealed a breathtaking view of Frankfurt during the
programs broadcast from here (including the drawing of the lottery
numbers). Open: in summer Sun-Thu 10:00-21:00, Fri and Sat 10:00-23:00,
closed two hours earlier in winter. Price: adults €7.50, children €5.00.
5 Tower 185, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 35-37, 60327 Frankfurt am Main.
Tower 185 from 2011, despite its name a full 200m high, is located right
next to the Messeturm. Today it is the seat of the auditing company
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
6 ONE, Brussels Street 1, 60327 Frankfurt am
Main. The latest addition to the Frankfurt high-rises is the ONE,
completed in June 2022 and 191 meters high. The building serves as a
hotel tower, next to it on the 47th floor there is a publicly accessible
bar with a viewing platform, which you should really only visit for the
view, because the cocktails are terrible.
7 Omniturm, Grosse
Gallusstrasse 16-18, 60312 Frankfurt am Main. The 190 meter high
Omniturm, which opened in 2019 and is a mixed residential and office
tower, is comparatively new.
8 Trianon, Mainzer Landstrasse 16-24,
60325 Frankfurt am Main. The 186m high Trianon from 1993 is not well
known despite its height and age. It serves as the headquarters of
DekaBank.
9 European Central Bank, Sonnemannstrasse 20-22, 60314
Frankfurt am Main. The 185m high new building of the European Central
Bank from 2014 on the site of the former wholesale market hall is one of
the structurally and politically most controversial high-rise buildings
in Frankfurt. It stands alone in the east far away from the other
high-rise buildings in Frankfurt and is therefore easy to recognize. The
ECB offers public tours of the building, but the waiting times are very
long and the security checks are extremely strict.
10 Grand Tower,
Europa-Allee 2, 60327 Frankfurt am Main. In 2020, the 180m high Grand
Tower, Frankfurt's tallest purely residential tower, was built in the
new Europaviertel, and it is not without reason that critics called it
the "residential tower for the rich".
11 Opernturm, Bockenheimer
Landstrasse 2-4, 60306 Frankfurt am Main. The Opernturm, built in 2009,
named for its location right next to the Alte Oper, reaches a height of
170 m. It is the headquarters of the Swiss bank UBS.
12 Taunusturm, Taunustor 1-3, 60310 Frankfurt am Main. The 170m high
Taunusturm from 2014 stands (literally) in the shadow of its tall
neighbour, the Commerzbank Tower. It serves as an office tower.
13
Silberturm, Jürgen-Ponto-Platz 1, 60329 Frankfurt am Main. The 166m high
Silberturm from 1978 was once the tallest building in Germany and known
as the headquarters of the Dresdner Bank. Today the office tower is used
by Deutsche Bahn.
14 Westend Gate, Hamburger Allee 2-4, 60486
Frankfurt am Main. The 160m high Westend Gate, which is particularly
striking due to its shape and was built in 1976, is one of the oldest
still existing high-rise buildings in Frankfurt. Today it serves as an
office and hotel tower.
15 Deutsche Bank high-rise, Taunusanlage 12,
60325 Frankfurt am Main. At 155m, the twin towers of the Deutsche Bank
(also known as "Soll und haben") from 1984 are not the tallest, but
certainly the best-known skyscrapers in Frankfurt. Especially in film
and television, these towers are considered the epitome of the German
economy.
16 Marienturm, Taunusanlage 9-10, 60329 Frankfurt am Main.
The Marienturm, which was built in 2019 and is 155m high, seems quite
young and due to its location in the middle of larger skyscrapers rather
inconspicuous. Like many other skyscrapers, it also serves as an office
tower.
17 Skyper, Taunusanlage 1, 60329 Frankfurt am Main. The 154m
high Skyper from 2004 is particularly striking because of its unusual
shape. It also serves as an office tower.
The Rhein-Main
Frankfurt am Main Industrial Heritage Route is a section of the
Rhein-Main Industrial Heritage Route in the Hessian city of Frankfurt am
Main. The project tries to open up monuments of industrial history in
the Rhine-Main area.
Churches
A special feature of Frankfurt
is that all inner-city churches have been in the hands of the city since
1830 through a so-called "endowment contract". The two most important
and well-known sacred buildings are:
The cathedral of the Catholic
St. Bartholomew parish. The cruciform Gothic hall church was never a
bishopric. The Roman-German emperors have been elected here since the
14th century and crowned since the 16th century. Worth seeing in the
interior are the Bartholomäus frieze (15th century), choir stalls (14th
century), Maria sleeping altar (1434), Crucifixion group (1509); The
tower (96 m high, one of the most beautiful in Germany) can be climbed
from April to October when it is not being renovated (324 steps). The
cathedral museum can also be found in the entrance area of the
cathedral, where numerous sacred works of art can be found and the
history of the cathedral is illustrated.
Paulskirche, built from 1789
to 1833, memorial to democracy in Germany, seat of the first German
National Assembly (1848/49), destroyed in World War II, rebuilt from
1947 to 1949, is no longer used as a church.
Old town
In
addition to these two churches and the high-rise buildings, the symbol
of the city is the Römer, which is located on the west side of the
Römerberg, south-east of the Paulskirche. The Römer has been the city
hall of Frankfurt for over 600 years and originally consists of three
separate buildings. With other town houses from the 16th to 18th
centuries, the historic town hall complex consists of 11 houses that
were destroyed and rebuilt in World War II: the Salzhaus, the
Frauenstein house, the Löwenstein house, the Römer house (the old town
hall with tower hall and Kaisersaal), the Limburg House, the Silberberg
House, the Bürgersaal wing, the Goldener Schwan House, the Wanebach
House, the Wanebachhöfchen and the Römerhöfchen with Hercules Fountain.
To the west is the new town hall from the years 1900 to 1908, to the
south is the Gothic church of St. Leonhard. Opposite the old town hall
is the modern row of houses, rebuilt in 1983, with a historical
half-timbered facade that is true to the original. This eastern line of
the Römerberg, with its spacious square and the fountain of justice,
creates the special flair of the remaining old town. To the north is the
Black Star, to the south is the Stone House.
Between 1972 and
2010, the Technical Town Hall stood between the Römer and the cathedral,
a concrete block in the style of brutalism. In its place, the complete
historical street rows Markt and Hinter dem Lammchen with the chicken
market were restored between 2014 and 2018. Of the 35 new buildings in
the district, 15 are reconstructions of houses destroyed in World War
II. Opposite the cathedral, at Markt 5, is the most beautifully
reconstructed house, the Goldene Waage. This reversed the construction
mistakes of the 1970s and partially restored parts of the historic old
town that burned down in 1944. Since May 2018, the new old town district
with the former coronation path has been open to the general public. The
official opening was from September 21st to 23rd, 2018.
Imperial Palace Franconofurd, excavations of a Roman settlement and
the old Imperial Palace. The former open excavation site Archaeological
Garden was built over in 2013 with the new town hall and permanently
protected from the weather. The Roman and Carolingian relics have been
open to the public free of charge since August 2018, daily from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m.
Rententurm • (1456), defense tower of the late Gothic town
fortifications with Rentenamt (customs office at the harbour).
Staufer Wall, part of the first Frankfurt city fortifications (12th
century).
Haus Wertheim, the only half-timbered building in the old
town that survived the war. • It is opposite the new building of the
Historical Museum.
Canvas House • Late Gothic town house around 1390,
today: Caricatura Museum.
Downtown
If you leave the old town
to the north, you get to the Hauptwache, which in turn represents the
center of the city center (to be distinguished from the old town). The
Hauptwache is a baroque building with underground shopping arcades as
well as a junction for the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, which the main shopping
streets of the city run towards: the Zeil, a pedestrian zone, from the
east and the Kaiserstraße with entertainment venues in the side streets
from the direction of the main station.
The Kaiserstraße leads
over the Roßmarkt, to the south of which the Goethehaus is located. The
house where the poet was born was rebuilt true to the original between
1946 and 1951, with the interior including the museum being restored to
its original condition. Other important buildings in the city include:
The Alte Oper, originally built between 1873 and 1880, was bombed during
World War II. Rebuilt in 1976-81, numerous concerts are held here today.
Accessible from the Hauptwache via the so-called "Freßgass".
Palais
Thurn und Taxis • Reconstructed since 2010
Sachsenhausen
Museumsufer with its 13 renowned museums on the Main
Old
Sachsenhausen − Ebbelweiviertel
Kuhhirtenturm, Große Rittergasse,
also called “Elephant”, built at the end of the 14th century, late
Gothic, defense tower of the Frankfurt city fortifications, until the
17th century passage to the city center (“Kuhhirtentor”,
“Paradiespförtchen”), in the mid-1920s the house of the Composer Paul
Hindemith, who wrote his opera Cardillac there, severe damage in World
War II, today owned by the youth hostel.
Museums
Detailed
article: Museums in Frankfurt am Main
With more than 60 museums
and exhibition halls, the city is culturally blessed. On the Museumsufer
alone on the south side of the Main opposite the city center, 13 museums
have settled. There are also the two most famous art collections in the
city, the Städel (paintings) and the Liebieghaus (sculptures). The
following website gives an overview of the Frankfurt galleries.
Night of the Museums on the penultimate Saturday of April. (currently
not taking place)
On the last weekend in August, around 20
museums can be visited with the Museumsuferfest button for €7. There is
also an extensive programme. (currently not taking place)
Exhibitions
Culture
In addition to the Alte Oper there are
numerous other cultural institutions.
When relaxation is needed, the parks are a good choice. Among them
are the nationally known Palmengarten, the adjacent Botanical Garden and
the spacious Grüneburgpark with the Korean Garden in the west end. The
Frankfurt Zoo is still popular. The Günthersburgpark in Bornheim and the
small but nice Holzhausenpark are also an urban and at the same time
idyllic experience. The latter is in the immediate vicinity of the city
center and houses a small moated castle, the Holzhausenschlösschen. The
Bethmannpark near the Konstablerwache has a beautiful Chinese garden.
Exotic plants such as palm trees and citrus fruits grow on the banks of
the Main in the so-called "Mainpark Nice" due to warm temperatures that
are well above average. The Nidda from Bad Vilbel to Höchst also offers
a lot of green and idyllic landscape on the accompanying green belt
cycle path.
Public parks of the Main metropolis:
Ostpark - in
the district of Ostend
Lohrpark - in the district of Seckbach
Niddatal - Frankfurt's largest public park in the districts of
Praunheim, Ginnheim and Hausen
Grüneburgpark - Frankfurt's popular
public park in the Westend district
Günthersburgpark - public and
play park in the district of Nordend
Huthpark - Frankfurt's
little-known public park in the Seckbach district
Rebstockpark -
Frankfurt's youngest public park with the Rebstockbad in the west of
Bockenheim
Frankfurt-Höchst
Also not to be missed is Höchst's
old town, one of the last remaining half-timbered ensembles. There is
also the 18th-century Bolongaro Palace, the largest private building of
the era, with painted ceilings, stucco and a porcelain exhibition.
Above the roofs
The Main Tower (admission €5 for the elevator,
reduced €3.50 (pupils, students etc.), open from 10 a.m., website) in
the banking district and the Goethe Tower (only open in summer) in the
city forest are good vantage points .
City tours
There is a
wide range of free activities such as B. the Frankfurt Architectural
Photo Tour (photographic city tour in German and English) or the
Frankfurt Free Alternative Walking Tour.
Very detailed city tours are
offered by the Kulturothek. Also interesting for Frankfurters.
Frankfurt Tourism offers guided tours and round trips for every taste.
Whether on foot or by car, Frankfurt's sights can be visited in many
different ways.
Segway Tour Frankfurt (Seg Tour GmbH), Taubenstraße
11. Tel: +49 69 21939296, email: info@segwaytour-frankfurt.de. City tour
on different routes through Frankfurt with the electric standing scooter
"Segway®". In addition to the classic tour to the most famous sights,
there is also a tour along the Main or a special bank tour to choose
from. Also bookable for events, company outings or bachelor parties.
Price: EUR 85.00. Accepted payment methods: Cash, Master, Visa, Amex,
Apple Pay, Google Pay, EC.
Frankfurt sightseeing by audio guide -
discover the Main metropolis individually with an MP3 player or city
guide app.
Cherrytours Frankfurt - My city tour (Cherrytours GmbH),
Taubenstrasse 11. Tel.: +49 69 21939297, e-mail: office@cherrytours.de.
City tour private or in small groups for individualists. Tours available
daily, also in different languages. Individual start and end points
possible on request. Price: from 15 EUR. Accepted payment methods: Cash,
Master, Visa
The sporty city tour - sight jogging - with running
shoes to the sights of Frankfurt
Child-friendly tours and city
rallies through Frankfurt
Association of certified tour guides in
Frankfurt and their diverse range of tours
Frankfurt is a stage city on the Main Cycle Route.
Anyone who
is in Frankfurt should not be fooled by the hustle and bustle of the
city center: Frankfurt also has something sophisticated and idyllic to
offer the tourist:
If you want to get to know Frankfurt from its
true side, you should take a walk from the theater (U-Bahn
Willy-Brandt-Platz) through the ramparts along the banking district to
the Old Opera. From there via the Freßgass to the Hauptwache. A short
detour to the Zeilgalerie (beautiful view of the skyline, free of
charge) and continue to stroll to the Römer. From there via the
Archaeological Garden (excavations of a Roman settlement) to the
cathedral. "Cross over" back to the Römerberg and over the Eiserner Steg
to the Sachsenhäuser Ufer. There you can take a wonderful walk on the
promenade and admire the imposing city silhouette.
One “floor”
higher, at street level, are the museums on the Museumsufer. The German
Film Museum, the German Architecture Museum, the Museum for
Communication, the Museum for Applied Arts and the Museum of World
Cultures are particularly noteworthy. At the end of a museum tour, one
should not miss the romantic coffee in the Liebieghaus, which is located
in the backyard of a 19th-century villa.
Tourists often ignore
the districts of Frankfurt and the beautiful parks. Starting in
Bockenheim, you can take a wonderful stroll through intact 19th-century
districts via the Westend and Nordend to Bornheim, stopping at one of
the many cafés and parks (Grüneburg, Günthersburg and Holzhausenpark are
just a few examples).
Ride on the Ebbelwei-Express - the historic
tram from the 1950s runs from the Zoo stop on a circular route right
through Frankfurt, past numerous sights. On the way there is the famous
Ebbelwei (Frankfurt apple wine) together with a bag of pretzels,
alternatively as a non-alcoholic version also apple juice or mineral
water. An audio guide as a podcast for your own smartphone or MP3 player
can be downloaded from the website. Timetable and prices on the website.
To swim
All of Frankfurt's swimming pools are operated by
Frankfurt's own pools. Opening times, prices and the duration of the
outdoor pool season are also announced there.
It should be noted
that the outdoor pools are usually only open in season, and the indoor
pools only open out of season. However, the opening times are
coordinated so that you can always swim either in the outdoor pool or in
the indoor pool.
Indoor pools
Titus-Therme in the north-west
of the city
Panorama pool in Bornheim
Indoor swimming pool in
Höchst
Riedbad in Bergen-Enkheim (combined indoor and outdoor pool)
Textorbad in Sachsenhausen
The Rebstockbad is temporarily closed for
renovation.
Outdoor pools
Riedbad in Bergen-Enkheim (combined
indoor and outdoor pool)
Outdoor swimming pool in Hausen
Silo bath
in Höchst
Stadium pool in Sachsenhausen
Brentanobad in Roedelheim
Eschersheim outdoor pool
Nieder-Eschbach outdoor pool
Sports
facilities
For passive athletes, there are pretty much all kinds of
sports to be admired in Frankfurt. The most famous sports venues:
Deutsche Bank Park (formerly Commerzbank Arena): Eintracht Frankfurt
(1st Bundesliga)
PSD Bank Arena: 1. FFC Frankfurt (Women's
Bundesliga) and Frankfurt Universe (American Football, GFL)
Eissporthalle Frankfurt: Löwen Frankfurt (ice hockey, DEL2)
Fraport
Arena: Frankfurt Skyliners (Basketball Bundesliga) and United Volleys
(Volleyball Bundesliga)
The Frankfurt Golf Club in the Niederrad
district is one of the most beautiful courses in Germany. The 18-hole
championship course was designed in the English style.
The Dippemess is the oldest folk festival in Frankfurt and one of the
largest and most well-known folk festivals in Frankfurt. It always takes
place twice a year, at Easter and in autumn, in front of the ice rink in
Frankfurt. On site you will find numerous rides such as Ferris wheel,
bumper cars, etc.
The Wäldchestag takes place on the Tuesday after
Pentecost at the Oberforsthaus, near the stadium. Here you will find
more of a cultural offer with music events and numerous culinary offers.
Until the 1990s, the day in Frankfurt am Main was a public holiday on
which all businesses and shops were closed.
The Eschborn-Frankfurt
cycle race every year on May 1st, often still known under the old name
Around the Henninger Tower, is one of the classics of cycling in
Germany. The course leads from Frankfurt to the hills of the
Vordertaunus and back again. In addition to the professional race, there
is also an amateur course for amateur cyclists (limited contingent -
register early!).
The JPMorgan run every year in June is the largest
company run in the world and the second largest city run with 70,000
participants. Registration for this run is basically open to everyone,
due to the size of two points, the course goes through the whole city.
Proceeds from this run will be donated to charity.
Ironman: Probably
the most famous triathlon in the world always takes place in summer.
They swim in the Langener Waldsee, then they cycle to the Wetterau, and
the final run takes place in Frankfurt.
Frankfurt Marathon every year
on the last Sunday in October. It is the oldest city run in Germany and
(after the Berlin marathon) the second largest.
Frankfurt am Main offers pretty much everything a shopping heart
desires.
Probably the best-known shopping street in Frankfurt and
at the same time the shopping street with the highest turnover in
Germany is the Zeil in the city center. Along the Zeil and its side
streets you will find all the big brands, but also many smaller
owner-managed shops and some unusual things. Goethestrasse, Frankfurt's
luxury mile with designer brands from all over the world, deserves a
special mention here.
Outside of the city center there are other
recommended shopping streets, such as Berger Strasse in Bornheim,
Leipziger Strasse in Bockenheim, and Schweizer Strasse in Sachsenhausen.
Here you will find a large number of small shops.
There are
weekly markets in almost all parts of Frankfurt. The best-known and
largest weekly market in Frankfurt is the farmers' market on the
Konstablerwache.
Flea markets: Saturdays, alternating weekly from
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Flea market on the banks of the Main and in the
Osthafen (Lindleystraße) • Flea market
There are four major
shopping centers in Frankfurt am Main:
MyZeil in the city center
Skyline Plaza at the main train station
Hessen Center in
Bergen-Enkheim
Northwest Center in the Northwest City (Heddernheim)
The Main-Taunus-Zentrum is no longer within Frankfurt's boundaries,
but is nevertheless visited by many Frankfurters for an extensive
shopping spree.
Sunday shopping has not been open in Frankfurt
since 2017 after the courts repeatedly overturned the Sunday opening.
The last attempt to hold a Sunday shopping in Sachsenhausen failed in
July 2022.
Particular specialties of the region are Ribbsche with cabbage, hand
cheese with music and Frankfurter Grie Soß (Frankfurt Green Sauce).
Handkäs with music is typically served with bread and butter. The guest
usually does not receive a fork, but only a knife with which the hand
cheese is placed piece by piece on the bread and bitten off. The green
sauce consists of seven different herbs, which typically come from the
nurseries in the Oberrad district and are chopped up and stirred into
sour cream or sometimes yoghurt. This mixture is balanced with pepper,
salt, vinegar and sometimes mustard. Boiled or fried potatoes and
hard-boiled eggs are served as a side dish. •
The typical
Frankfurt apple wine, the Ebbelwoi, is drunk from an apple wine glass,
the Geribbde. The Schöbbsche (originally 0.3l, today often 0.25l) is
poured out of the Bembel, a clay jug, the size of which is indicated by
the number of Schöbbsche (e.g. 5'er Bembel). If the cider is too acidic
for you, you can drink it as a G'spritzde, diluted with mineral water.
If that's not enough for you, you can order a sweet G'spritzde, an apple
wine with lemonade or, in the surrounding area, often with orangeade.
But beware! If you order a sweet spritzer in the traditional cider bars
in Sachsenhausen and e.g. T. also Bornheims, then you expose yourself to
the wrath of the staff under certain circumstances, since the addition
of lemonade destroys the character of the cider. Most of these bars make
their own cider and are accordingly proud of the fruits of their labour,
which they dilute at best, but never sweeten. In autumn, people like to
drink the freshly pressed, natural apple juice, which stimulates the
intestinal flora and is sometimes "resoundingly successful". •
Donuts are called Kreppel (singular = plural) and particles are called
pieces. Typical local pastries are Haddekuchen (with apple wine),
Frankfurter Pudding, Frankfurter Kranz and Bethmännchen. The latter is a
marzipan pastry, related to the Frankfurter Brenten, originally eaten
with tea, but now particularly popular at Christmas. The name goes back
to the Frankfurt banking family Bethmann.
As a cosmopolitan city,
the local cuisine has always played a smaller role than in other cities.
French cuisine and Viennese coffee houses were already appreciated by
the bourgeoisie in the 19th century. It is therefore not surprising that
the Frankfurter sausage is almost extinct. The rustication with "genuine
Frankfurt" dishes and "originals" is a relatively new phenomenon and,
curiously enough, increased by the influx of New Frankfurters who are
looking for the "original" to settle in. Many an Italian or Greek
restaurant is decades older than many of the rustically trimmed bars or
pubs with bare oak tables.
The street with a cluster of
restaurants is Freßgass, which stretches to the Alte Oper. There you
will find restaurants and snacks for every taste. In a side street is
the Club Voltaire, a left-leaning bistro.
Street festivals
Luminale 2020 March 12 - March 15, 2020 − Every 2
years, the Light Culture Biennial accompanies the Light+Building trade
fair. Around 200 light projects throughout the city will bathe houses,
churches and squares in colored light. The Katharinenkirche at the
Hauptwache with the "light diffraction" (letter projection) and the
performance "The light has a face" in the Liebfrauenkirche are
particularly worth seeing.
Opernplatz Festival − 10 days at the
end of June: from 24.06. – 03.07.2020
Christopher Street Day (CSD) •
from 17th to 19th July 2020, Konstablerwache.
Mainfest − celebrations
by the river & live music on the Römerberg from 31.07. – 08/03/2020
In the first half of August, the apple wine festival is held at the
Hauptwache in Frankfurt am Main. The celebrations take place from Sunday
to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m.
to midnight, with a stage program, cider made from old apple varieties,
trendy mixed drinks and cocktails with cider.
Museum Embankment
Festival − end of August: from Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30,
2020, on both sides of the Main. Free admission to the museums with the
Museumsuferfest button for €4.
Christmas market on the Römerberg,
Paulsplatz and Mainkai − from 26.11. – 22.12.2015, Monday to Saturday:
10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m
Carillon of the Old St.
Nicholas Church: daily at 9.05 a.m., 12.05 p.m. and 5.05 p.m
Tower
blowing from the balcony of the old Nikolaikirche: Wed and Sat at 6 p.m.
Also: Artists' Christmas market in the Paulskirche and Römerhalle,
Sachsenhausen Christmas market under the Goethe Tower, Swedish Christmas
market in Preungesheim, Christmas markets at Höchst Castle and in
Bornheim
Nightlife
If you want to go out in Frankfurt, you
need to know a little about here. The best tips can be found in the
"Journal Frankfurt", which is published monthly.
Frankfurt has a
lot to offer culturally, starting with the multi-award-winning Frankfurt
theaters (Schauspielhaus, Oper), alternative entertainment and cabaret
(Mousonturm) and modern dance (The Forsythe Company) to variety shows in
the Tigerpalast. In addition, Frankfurt has a distinctive museum
landscape. The best known are the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of
Applied Art, the Schirn Art Gallery and the Städel Art Institute. Most
museums can be found on the Museumsufer on the south side of the Main.
In addition to the well-known and elegant clubs in the city center
and the gallery near the main train station, the Uniongelände in Ostend
has developed into a hip meeting place. For most clubs it is advisable
to take a jacket with you (you can leave it in the cloakroom) and not to
wear a t-shirt.
A good recommendation is the 22nd Lounge bar on
the 22nd floor of the Eurotheum in the city center (right next to the
Main Tower). From here you have a beautiful view of the city. This is a
special experience, especially in winter, when the city's sea of lights
glitters in the dark.
If you like a mixture of chic and
down-to-earth, you should look around in Sachsenhausen on Schweizer
Strasse and Textorstrasse. From the Äpplerwirtschaft (Aatschel,
Fichtekränzi, Gemalte Haus, Wagner) to the chic bar (Bar Oppenheimer,
Keepers Lounge, Hoppers), there is everything your liver desires. There
are other cider taverns in Bornheim (e.g. Eulenburg) and the 'Rad' in
Seckbach.
There are alternatives in the student Bockenheim
(around Leipziger Str.) and in the Nordend (Berger Str.). But there are
also nice places to go out in the city center around the Katharinen
Church (Studio Bar, Helium) and on the Römer.
Insider tip:
Opposite the Goethe-Haus, a small but fine bar scene has developed in
the city center around Kaffee Karin. Just have a look!
The gay
scene mainly goes to Luckys Manhattan (LM27), Central or Schwejk, all of
which are in the so-called "Bermuda Triangle" near the Konstablerwache,
but are sometimes difficult to find because of the winding streets.
In Alt-Sachsenhausen there is a colorful mix of traditional apple
wine culture, bars (including Stereobar) and clubs.
Tourism contribution: Since January 1, 2018, the city of Frankfurt
has been charging all guests who stay overnight in the city area for
tourist purposes a tourism contribution of €2 per person and night. The
tourism fee has to be paid at the hotel and is usually added to the
overnight price. The regulation does not apply to work-related stays.
In Frankfurt there is really no shortage of hotel beds, as long as
there is no major trade fair. Whether 3, 4 or 5 stars, everyone will
find a suitable place to stay here. During trade fairs, however, the
hotels are extremely expensive and fully booked, which then also affects
the entire area around Frankfurt, so that it is not possible to switch
to the periphery. But even then, there is still plenty of private
accommodation scattered throughout the city. Overnight stays in
Frankfurt hotels are extremely cheap at the weekend, since business
travelers are mainly in Frankfurt during the week. Overnight stays in
five-star plus hotels are also quite affordable here. The youth hostel
on Schaumainkai, which is also within walking distance of
Alt-Sachsenhausen and the banks of the Main, is a hotel alternative.
(The 1st Wikimania Congress also took place here.) However, private
accommodation is usually available at significantly lower prices and
often offers the advantage that travelers are provided with the right
insider tips for exploring the city.
However, the corona pandemic
and the associated absence of trade fair guests have severely thinned
out the offer in recent years, especially at the upper end. The doldrums
fell u. the well-known luxury hotels Hessischer Hof and the Villa
Kennedy, which once offered one of the largest presidential suites in
Europe.
Individual hotels are listed in the district articles.
Airport hotels are listed in the airport article.
A listing of
hotels is available on the City of Frankfurt website.
The only
campsite in the Frankfurt city area is in Heddernheim an der Nidda.
Youth hostels can mainly be found around the main train station, but
the DJH youth hostel is located south of the Main in Sachsenhausen.
Frankfurt is one of the most important university cities in Germany.
In Frankfurt there are, among others:
the Johann Wolfgang Goethe
University, with 42,000 students one of the largest universities in
Germany
the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, formerly the
Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
the Frankfurt School of
Finance and Management, formerly the University of Banking, one of the
most important private universities in Germany
the University of
Music and Performing Arts
the Städelschule, a renowned art school
However, Frankfurt is not only important in teaching, but also in
research. There are two Max Planck Institutes in the city alone.
Anyone intending to study in Frankfurt should know that Frankfurt has
the fewest places in halls of residence per place of study among the
major German university cities. Shared rooms are therefore in great
demand and hard to come by, especially with low income or student loans,
so that hundreds of students have to sleep in emergency accommodation
every year at the beginning of the semester.
Along with Leipzig,
Frankfurt is one of two locations of the German National Library that
stores every book published in Germany with a mandatory copy. Unusual
books that are not available in any other library can be ordered here
for inspection.
Frankfurt is a commuter city. During the day, the city swells and
becomes a metropolis of millions, in the evening, when commuters drive
to neighboring cities and other communities, the city contracts again.
Nevertheless, the cultural and night scene is very distinctive.
There were 487,400 jobs subject to social security contributions in
2008. Only a third (164,000) lived and worked in Frankfurt. 323,500
people commuted to the city and the trend is rising, 178,000 of them
from the neighboring communities.
In no other German city is the
service industry as prevalent as in Frankfurt. Not only the financial
services industry, management consultancies and lawyers have declared
Frankfurt their capital. The European Central Bank (ECB) is based in
Frankfurt. Advertising and PR or chemical and pharmaceutical companies
also feel at home here. The city has almost as many jobs as residents.
However, there is still significant industry in Frankfurt and the
region. In addition to the Industriepark Höchst, these include B. Opel
in Ruesselsheim. The airport offers around 70,000 jobs.
Although living in Frankfurt is no more dangerous than in other major
German cities, the city feels subjectively much more unsafe. Reasons for
this are:
the city's liberal drug policy, which draws many
addicts from other German cities to Frankfurt. Especially in the station
district, addicts, dealers and used syringes determine the cityscape.
the homeless, who are not more numerous, but clearly more present than
in other major German cities. Hotspots for the homeless are the B level
of the main train station, Niddastrasse in the train station district
and the Eschenheimer Tor underground station in the north of the city
centre. Sensitive people should avoid these areas, especially at night
and early in the morning.
the sometimes very pushy beggars,
especially at the main station, who can be scared away quite easily if
you stubbornly ignore them, look away and keep walking - they don't pose
any real danger.
Statistically, Frankfurt actually has the most
crimes per inhabitant of any major German city after Berlin, which is
why the media occasionally refer to the city as the "crime capital".
However, these statistics are falsified by two things: on the one hand,
the airport is located in the city of Frankfurt and falsifies the
statistics (smuggling, passport offenses, etc.), on the other hand, most
private banks have their headquarters in Frankfurt, so that credit card
misuse, no matter where the world it takes place is included in the
Frankfurt statistics. In addition, the numerous commuters who commute
into the city every day are not included in the statistics.
Anyone who avoids getting involved in conversations, especially at
night, avoids drug users and avoids using public toilets, especially in
the train station district and in the city center (syringes lying around
can transmit infectious diseases such as HIV), actually have nothing to
fear. Families with children should avoid the station district entirely
and use public transport or a taxi.
As in all major German cities, medical care is very good. The
university hospital, which enjoys an excellent reputation, deserves a
special mention.
University Hospital Frankfurt
general
emergency services in Frankfurt a list of medical emergency services in
Frankfurt
Dentist emergency service Current display of dentists on
duty and available dental emergency services
Dental emergency service
Frankfurt Mediation (A&V e.V.): 069-59795360
The Frankfurter is not known to be particularly friendly. However,
one is treated really unfriendly only in exceptional cases. Once you get
used to the rough manners, especially in cider bars, you get along very
well with all the locals. Occasional language problems can be resolved
with a "Huh?" solve, the Hessian universal question word. German is the
universal language, almost everyone can speak English, but the many
commuters mean that many dialects come to the city.
Tourist info
Hauptbahnhof, Hauptbahnhof - Passage. Phone: +49 69 212 38800, email:
info@tcf.frankfurt.de. Open: Mon-Fri 8 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sat-Sun + public
holidays 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Römer Tourist Info, Römerberg 27. Tel.: +49
69 212 38800, e-mail: info@tcf.frankfurt.de. Open: Mon-Fri 9:30 a.m. -
5:30 p.m., Sat-Sun + public holidays 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
The City
of Frankfurt has created the Frankfurt Asks Me platform with an
integrated defect reporter. Anyone can enter defects in the city on
this, e.g. B. littering and vandalism. The city's service center then
processes the defects entered there.
Franconofurd or Francorum vadus is the name of the settlement on the
cathedral hill in the first documentary mentions in 794 in Old
Franconian and Latin. Both means ford of the Franks and refers to a rock
barrier in the subsoil of the Main, which made it possible to cross the
river – which was much wider at the time than it is today – safely at
this point, which is probably slightly above today’s Old Bridge, when
the water level was normal. The ford probably had no strategic
importance in Roman times, since the Roman roads leading from
Mogontiacum to the Limes and into the interior of Germany, such as the
Elisabethenstraße, bypassed the cathedral hill and the swampy Main
lowland.
After the Romans left around the year 260, the cathedral
hill was taken over by the Alamanni. Around 530, the Franks replaced the
Alamanni in control of the lower Main area. The new rulers probably used
the ford as an important transport route, which is why their trading
partners called it Frankenfurt.
In 1014-1017 the chronicler
Thietmar von Merseburg wrote down a well-known legend about the founding
of the city by Charlemagne. He connects them to the Saxon Wars:
“The origin of this place name should no longer remain unclear to you,
dear reader. So now I want to tell you what I've heard from credible men
about it. Under the reign of Emperor Charlemagne, son of King Pepin, war
broke out between his ancestors and our ancestors (the Saxons). In this
battle the Franks were defeated by ours. When they had to go back across
the Main, ignorant of a ford, a hind crossed in front of them and showed
them the way, so to speak, through God's mercy. They followed her and
reached the safe shore in good spirits. After that the place is called
Frankfurt. When the emperor saw himself defeated by the enemy on this
campaign, he was the first to retreat and declare: 'I prefer people to
abuse me and say that I fled from here than that I fell here. For as
long as I live I may hope to avenge the grave shame done to me.'”
– Thietmar von Merseburg: Chronicon VII, 75
In fact,
Charlemagne never waged war against the Saxons in the Main area. The
story of the origin of the name of Sachsenhausen, as the supposed place
of the settlement of captive Saxons by the victorious emperor, is a
legend. It probably goes back to a legendary mixture with the historical
fact that shortly after his departure in 794 he went into the field
against rebellious Saxons in northern Germany.
Another founding
myth of Frankfurt was popular up until the 18th century, for example in
Zedler's Universal Lexicon. Little is known about him today: Helenos, a
son of Priam, is said to have settled on the Main after fleeing the
destroyed Troy and founded a city called Helenopolis. Frankfurt would
therefore have the same mythical origins as Rome, whose legendary
founders, Romulus and Remus, were descendants of escaped Trojans. Around
the year 130 AD, a certain Francus, a duke of the Hogiers, is said to
have restored the old city of Helenopolis and called it Franckenfurt
after his name. Other authors attributed the name Helenopolis to Empress
Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. The oldest known mention of
the Helenopolis myth comes from the humanist Johannes Trithemius from
the 15th century, other humanists followed much later. Until the 18th
century, Helenopolis was often used as a synonym for Frankfurt, for
example as a place of printing in books, in numismatics and as a student
registration number.
The original form of the name Franconofurd
developed into Frankenfort or Frankinfort in the Middle Ages, and into
Franckfort and Franckfurth in modern times. At the latest since the
beginning of the 19th century, the spelling Frankfurt has been
established. The suffix am Main can already be found in the oldest
documents, regularly since the 14th century. Colloquially, the official
name is usually shortened to Frankfurt as long as there is no risk of
confusion, especially with Frankfurt (Oder). Even unofficial forms of
names such as Frankfurt/Main or Frankfurt are common, in rail traffic
Frankfurt (Main) is common. The abbreviations Ffm or FFM are widely
used, as well as the IATA airport code FRA or the vehicle registration
number F.
Geographical location
The city lies on the northern edge of the
Upper Rhine Plain on both sides of the Lower Main south-east of the
Taunus. With its metropolitan area, it forms the center of the
Rhine-Main area. About a third of the city area is designated as the
Frankfurt green belt conservation area. This includes the Frankfurt city
forest, one of the largest city forests in Germany. The urban area
stretches 23.4 kilometers from east to west and 23.3 kilometers from
north to south.
The city has its highest natural point at the
Berger Warte on the Berger Rücken in the Seckbach district at 212.6
meters above sea level. Its lowest point is on the banks of the Main in
Sindlingen at 88 meters above sea level.
The center of gravity
and the geographical center of today's urban area are in the Bockenheim
district near the Westbahnhof, i.e. outside the historic city center.
This goes back to the incorporations to the west, so Offenbach, which is
not incorporated, is closer to the city center than many districts of
Frankfurt.
neighboring communities and counties
Frankfurt
borders in the west on the Main-Taunus-Kreis (town of Hattersheim am
Main, municipality of Kriftel, towns of Hofheim am Taunus and Kelkheim
(Taunus), townships of Liederbach am Taunus and Sulzbach (Taunus), towns
of Schwalbach am Taunus and Eschborn), in the northwest to the
Hochtaunuskreis (cities of Steinbach (Taunus), Oberursel (Taunus) and
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe), in the north to the Wetteraukreis (cities of
Karben and Bad Vilbel), in the north-east to the Main-Kinzig-Kreis
(municipality of Niederdorfelden and the city of Maintal). ), in the
southeast to the city of Offenbach am Main, in the south to the district
of Offenbach (city of Neu-Isenburg) and in the southwest to the district
of Groß-Gerau (cities of Mörfelden-Walldorf, Rüsselsheim am Main,
Raunheim and Kelsterbach).
geology
Most of Frankfurt's urban
area belongs to the western lower Main plain, to the east to the
Hanau-Seligenstädter Depression and to the extreme north to the
Wetterau. Geologically, the four river terraces of the Main and Nidda,
which have been formed since the younger Pliocene and in the
Pleistocene, can be identified in the city area. The highest terrace
consists of Taunus rocks and can only be found in the city area in the
Berger Rücken area. On the upper terrace of 170 to 120 meters are the
northern and north-eastern parts of the city, which drop steeply to the
north-west to the Nidda and to the south on the Bornheimer Hang and the
Röderberg, as well as the south of Sachsenhausen with the Mühlberg and
the Sachsenhäuser Berg. The middle terrace is at an altitude of between
100 and 115 meters. It can be seen in the urban area, for example in the
Kelsterbacher Terrasse and on the steep bank of the old town of Höchst.
The lowest terrace between 95 and 90 meters was formed in the Holocene.
It accompanies the Main on both sides. On it are the cathedral hill, the
historic nucleus of the city, and the Carmelite hill. In some places in
the city, for example in Bockenheim (Basaltstraße) and in the city
forest on Schwarzsteinkautweg, layers of Vogelsberg basalt from the
Miocene can be found in the subsoil, the thickness of which reaches up
to 14 meters.
The oldest temperature measurements date from December 1695 and are
handed down in the chronicle of Achilles Augustus von Lersner.
Continuous series of measurements have existed since 1826, albeit for
different stations.
In Frankfurt there are several weather
stations of the German Weather Service. The airport station outside the
city center has been recording the weather since 1949. Since 1985 there
has also been the Westend station on the Westend campus of the Goethe
University in Frankfurt, which represents the climate of the more
densely built-up inner city. When comparing the data from both stations,
it is noticeable that the Westend station often registers higher
temperatures, because the heat island effect ensures that it is often
warmer in downtown Frankfurt than in the surrounding area.
Due to
its location on the northern edge of the Upper Rhine Plain, Frankfurt,
along with other major cities such as Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim and
Darmstadt, is one of the warmest cities in Germany. The mean annual
temperature at the airport weather station was 10.6 °C between 1981 and
2010, and even 12.1 °C at the Westend weather station between 2017 and
2022.
Spring arrives in the region very early, so apple blossoms
often begin in early to mid-April. In March, 10 °C to 15 °C are usually
reached during the day, in May over 20 °C. In March, temperatures around
and over 25 °C were reached, in April and May over 30 °C. It is often
dry and sunny.
In summer, the average daily temperatures range
between 18 and 22 °C, with daily temperatures usually reaching values
between 24 and 30 °C. In midsummer, longer phases with more than 30 °C
during the day are not uncommon, although it is relatively sunny in
summer. As a rule, there are 60 to 80 summer days a year, in 2018 there
were even 108, and 10 to 30 hot days. The record is 43, also set in
2018. Around 5 to 10 tropical nights are possible per year. The highest
temperature of 40.2 °C was measured on July 25, 2019 in the west end.
In autumn, especially in September, a few dry, late-summer warm days
are still possible. The maximum temperatures range from 8 to 12 °C in
November to 20-24 °C in September, and over 30 °C were still measured in
September.
After the Lower Rhine around Cologne, the winters are
the second mildest here. Maximum temperatures are in the
mid-single-digit range, and freezing temperatures are not as common as
in other regions. An average of 20 to 60 frost days have been reported
in the West End in recent years. There are at most ice days in the low
double-digit range, since 2013 exclusively under 10. The lowest
temperature of −23.8 °C was measured on January 19, 1940 in the west
end; the lowest temperature since 1985 was −15.0 °C, measured on
February 9, 1986. There can be snowy days between November and March.
The snowiest months since 1985 were January 1997 and February 1986, each
with 23 days. Significantly more snow days are measured in the Taunus.
The surrounding low mountain ranges, in particular the Taunus, often
act as a protective shield against rain and clouds for the region, which
is why the city of Frankfurt, with an average annual precipitation of
around 600 mm, is one of the drier and with 1600 to 2000 hours of
sunshine a year one of the sunniest cities in Germany . In the region
northwest of the Taunus main ridge, there are often significantly fewer
hours of sunshine than in the Rhine-Main area.
According to the
climate classification according to Köppen and Geiger, this is a climate
of the Cfb type, which is dominant in Germany. Due to the increased
accumulation of summer months with an average temperature of 22 °C in
the course of climate change, it is to be expected in the foreseeable
future that Frankfurt and the rest of the Upper Rhine Graben will fall
into the warmer, subtropical classification Cfa. This classification is
typically found in Milan, northern Italy.
The clean air plan for Frankfurt drawn up by the state of Hesse dates back to 2005 and was updated for the first time in 2011. According to the bioclimate map of the German Weather Service, Frankfurt is located in a polluted conurbation. From an air hygiene point of view, the often low wind speeds and, in connection with this, the frequency of times with unfavorable air exchange are characteristic. An essential part of the clean air plan was the establishment of an environmental zone covering large parts of the city area on January 1, 2012. The clean air plan was not able to reduce the pollution caused by nitrogen oxides, especially nitrogen dioxide, below the limit values of the 39th BImSchV, which have been in force since 2010. “The main emitter in Frankfurt am Main is motor vehicle traffic, followed by air traffic, industry and building heating. The prevailing exceedances of limit values are mainly caused by motor vehicle traffic. On busy roads, diesel-powered passenger cars are the main cause with up to 80%.” The limit value for nitrogen dioxide can therefore often not be met in the Frankfurt city area in busy areas. The Administrative Court of Wiesbaden therefore decided on September 5, 2018: “The clean air plan for the city of Frankfurt am Main includes zone-specific driving bans for motor vehicles with petrol or gas-powered Otto engines below the Euro 3 emissions standard, and for all vehicles with diesel engines below the Euro 5 emissions standard from February 1st, 2019, and for motor vehicles with diesel engines that meet the Euro 5 emission standard from September 1st, 2019, in addition to a concept for parking space management and for the short-term retrofitting of the bus fleet operating in the inner city area with SCRT filters.” The diesel driving ban would affect around 200,000 vehicles in the Frankfurt metropolitan area . The city and state were able to bring about an appeal against the driving ban judgment at the Hessian Administrative Court in Kassel and temporarily avert a diesel driving ban. The second update of the clean air plan, which came into force on December 28, 2020, is associated with a comprehensive package of measures that, among other things, provides for improved parking space management, replacement of municipal vehicles, creation of bus and bicycle lanes and a speed limit of 40 km/h within the system ring. If the measures do not result in compliance with the limit values, traffic restrictions for older diesel and petrol vehicles will be imposed in particularly polluted areas with effect from October 1, 2021.
From the Frankenfurt to the end of the Holy Roman Empire
Frankfurt
am Main was first mentioned on February 22, 794 in a document of
Charlemagne for the Regensburg monastery of St. Emmeram. The document,
written in Latin, says: "... actum super fluvium Moin in loco nuncupante
Franconofurd" - "given (exhibited) on the river Main in a place called
Frankfurt." A Roman military camp and, in the Merovingian period, a
Frankish royal court were probably established at the same location. In
June 794, important church representatives of the empire met in the
Frankish royal palace at the Synod of Frankfurt.
In 843,
Frankfurt temporarily became the most important royal palace in East
Franconia and the site of imperial diets. In 1220, Emperor Friedrich II
abolished the office of Reichsvogt in Frankfurt. This ministerial was
replaced by the imperial mayor appointed by the emperor as head of the
otherwise self-governing citizenry. During the 13th and 14th centuries,
the city gained more and more privileges and regalia, for example the
annual autumn fair in 1240 and the spring fair in 1330. In 1266 the city
council, consisting of 42 patricians and master craftsmen, was mentioned
for the first time. Since 1311, the council elected two mayors annually
as city leaders. With the acquisition of the mayor's office, Frankfurt
achieved full sovereignty as an imperial city in 1372.
The Golden
Bull of 1356 confirmed Frankfurt as the lawful electoral city of the
Roman kings, after most royal elections had taken place here since 1147.
From 1562, the imperial coronations also took place in Frankfurt, most
recently in 1792 that of the Habsburg Franz II. The coronation path,
which led from the imperial cathedral of St. Bartholomew via the market
square to the Römer, was reconstructed between 2012 and 2018 as part of
the Dom-Römer project. In 1742, Frankfurt even became a residential city
for almost three years. Since Emperor Charles VII, who came from the
House of Wittelsbach, was unable to return to his homeland, the
Electorate of Bavaria occupied by Habsburg troops, after his coronation,
he was forced to live in the Palais Barckhaus on the Zeil until October
1744.
With the end of the Old Empire, the sovereignty of
Frankfurt as an imperial city ended. On July 12, 1806, it fell under the
rule of the Prince Primate Karl Theodor von Dalberg, who united it with
the Principality of Regensburg, the Principality of Aschaffenburg and
the Imperial City of Wetzlar to form an independent state within the
Confederation of the Rhine, the state of the Prince Primate. In 1810
Dalberg ceded the principality of Regensburg to Bavaria, in exchange for
the principality of Hanau and the principality of Fulda, and became
Grand Duke of Frankfurt. In the short-lived Grand Duchy of Frankfurt,
the city of Frankfurt formed a mairie from 1810 to 1813 and was the
capital of the Frankfurt department, which also included its formerly
imperial city villages as Land-Districtsmairie Frankfurt.
The
Free City of Frankfurt
With the collapse of the Napoleonic system,
Dalberg abdicated as Grand Duke of Frankfurt on October 28, 1813. His
Grand Duchy was subordinated to the Central Administration Department
for the occupied territories by the victorious Allies as the General
Government of Frankfurt. On December 14, 1813, the independence of the
city and its territory was restored and its imperial city constitution
was reinstated. The previous prefect Friedrich Maximilian von Günderrode
took over the provisional management of the administration as mayor.
At the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Bavaria planned the
annexation of Frankfurt, but on June 8, 1815, the Congress decided to
restore Frankfurt as a free city within the German Confederation. Along
with Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, it was one of four free cities that
were able to maintain their traditional freedom of the city up to the
modern age. The Free City of Frankfurt gave itself a new constitution,
the Supplementary Constitutional Act, and the motto Strongly in the
Right. The Bundestag of the German Confederation established itself in
Frankfurt. In 1833 the Frankfurt guard storm, an attempt to start a
general revolution in Germany, failed. In 1848 the March Revolution
broke out in Germany. The convened National Assembly met in Frankfurt's
Paulskirche and, with the Paulskirche constitution, drew up the first
all-German and democratic constitution in Germany.
In 1863 the
Frankfurt Princes' Day, an attempt to reform the German Confederation,
ended unsuccessfully. In the German War of 1866, Frankfurt remained
loyal to the federal government. Public opinion tended to be on the side
of Austria and the Kaiser, although there had been voices in Frankfurt
for some time calling for a voluntary union with Prussia for economic
and foreign policy reasons. On July 18, during the Main campaign, the
city was occupied by the Prussian Main Army and heavy contributions were
imposed. On October 2nd, Prussia annexed the city, which finally lost
its independence; the urban district of Frankfurt was assigned to the
administrative district of Wiesbaden in the province of Hesse-Nassau,
and payment of the contributions was later waived. In 1868, Prussia
introduced a municipal constitution in Frankfurt with a mayor as head of
the city. As a symbol of reconciliation, the Franco-Prussian War was
officially ended in Frankfurt in 1871 with the Peace of Frankfurt.
From the early days to the destruction of World War II
The
annexation was advantageous for the economic development of the city
into an industrial center with rapid population growth. Between 1877 and
1910, Frankfurt incorporated numerous surrounding towns in several
stages and increased its area from 70 to 135 square kilometers. It
finally became Germany's largest city by area for a short time at the
beginning of the 20th century. With the rapid growth in population, the
city expanded its public infrastructure, including numerous schools,
several Main bridges, water supply, sewage system, a modern professional
fire brigade, cattle and slaughterhouse, the market hall, trams, train
stations and ports. After industry had initially settled mainly in
Bockenheim, along the Mainzer Landstraße and in Sachsenhausen, the
Osthafen with an industrial area was created between 1909 and 1912, the
newly developed area of which was as large as the entire urban area
north of the Main that was built up at the end of the 19th century . In
addition to the traditional Frankfurt industries, foundries and metal
goods, type foundries and printers, breweries, chemical factories and,
after the International Electrotechnical Exhibition in 1891, also an
electrical industry emerged. In 1914 the university, donated by
Frankfurt citizens, was opened.
Frankfurt was spared from
destruction during the First World War, but suffered from a poor supply
of food and other everyday necessities due to its location as a Prussian
border town with a Hessian and Bavarian hinterland. As a result of the
November Revolution of 1918, there were riots and intermittent street
fighting that lasted until the end of 1919.
In the 1920s,
Frankfurt experienced a cultural boom, among other things through its
theaters and the urban planning program of the New Frankfurt (known
worldwide for the Frankfurt kitchen, the archetype of the modern fitted
kitchen). In 1925 the first international Workers' Olympics took place
in the newly built Waldstadion.
During the Nazi era, 11,134 Jews
were deported from Frankfurt. Only 367 of them survived the Holocaust.
During World War II, Allied air raids on Frankfurt destroyed around 70
percent of the buildings, including almost the entire old and inner
city. The medieval cityscape, which was almost complete until 1944, was
lost as a result. On March 26, 1945, troops of the 3rd US Army, coming
from Sachsenhausen, entered the city center via the Wilhelmsbrücke,
which had only been partially destroyed. On March 29, 1945, hostilities
in the city ended and the last Wehrmacht units withdrew in the direction
of Taunus and Wetterau.
Since 1945: development into a
multicultural economic metropolis
After the end of the war, the US
armed forces set up their European headquarters in Frankfurt. Plans to
give the extended urban area a special status as an independent district
of Frankfurt, analogous to the District of Columbia, proved to be
impractical. In 1946 the city was assigned to the newly formed state of
Greater Hesse. In 1947 the Economic Council of the Bizone, which was
extended to the Trizone in 1948, took up its seat in Frankfurt. In the
election for the federal capital on May 10, 1949, Frankfurt lost to
Konrad Adenauer's favorite Bonn. A parliament building had already been
built in Frankfurt. Since then it has housed the Hessian Broadcasting
Corporation.
Despite the defeat in the capital issue, the city
once again developed into an economic metropolis and the most important
financial center in continental Europe during the period of the economic
miracle. The reconstruction in the 1950s was not based on the old urban
structures. Large parts of the former old town are still shaped today by
the simple modernist functional buildings and traffic axes that were
created at that time. As a result of the division of Germany, Frankfurt
took on metropolitan functions as the seat of companies, associations
and federal institutions and became the seat of the European Central
Bank in 1998.
Religions and worldviews
All world religions are
represented in Frankfurt. Until 2001, the majority of Frankfurters
belonged to one of the Christian denominations. Due to secularization
and immigration of non-Christian population groups, the proportion of
Christians in the population is steadily decreasing. In 2020, 19.0% of
the residents were Catholic, 15.1% were Protestant and 65.9% were
non-denominational or belonged to other faith communities.
Since
the Reformation, the city has been considered traditionally Protestant,
although Catholic community life never completely died out. Due to
immigration and incorporation, the proportion of Catholics has gradually
increased since the 18th century and has been greater than that of
Protestants since 1995.
About 6,500 Frankfurters belong to the
Frankfurt Jewish community. According to an estimate published in 2007,
around 75,000 Muslims lived in Frankfurt at the end of 2006.
A
small church existed on the site of the cathedral as early as the 7th
century. From the end of the 12th century, numerous other churches and
chapels were built in quick succession, some as foundations from
Frankfurt citizens, some as religious settlements.
In 1533 the
Free Imperial City introduced the Reformation. After the Augsburg
Interim of 1548, the Catholic collegiate churches and monasteries in
Frankfurt were returned to the Catholic Church in order to avoid
conflict with the Catholic Emperor and not to jeopardize city privileges
(especially the fairs and imperial elections). The few remaining
Catholics had freedom of belief since the Augsburg Religious Peace of
1555, but until 1806 they were only able to acquire citizenship in
exceptional cases. Persecuted Huguenots came from France and created the
first community of Réfugiés in Germany in 1554. In 1558, Protestant
refugees from England presented the English monument as a gift for the
city's hospitality. The Reformed Church was not allowed to build its own
churches in Frankfurt until 1786. In 1866, the Lutheran and Reformed
congregations merged to form a Frankfurt state church.
In 1933,
under pressure from the state, the Frankfurt State Church merged with
the Evangelical Churches of Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau to form the
Evangelical Church of Nassau-Hessen, which in 1947 became the
Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN). Bergen-Enkheim, which was
incorporated in 1976, still belongs to the Kurhessen-Waldeck evangelical
church. The Evangelical Church Congress has taken place four times in
Frankfurt, namely in 1956, 1975, 1987 and 2001. In 2021 the third
Ecumenical Church Congress was held in Frankfurt. Because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, almost all events were broadcast digitally.
Until 1917, the then 86,000 Catholics in Frankfurt formed a common
municipality, after which several parishes gradually emerged. Most of
the Catholic communities belong to the diocese of Limburg, only
Bergen-Enkheim to the diocese of Fulda and the districts of Harheim,
Nieder-Erlenbach and Nieder-Eschbach, which were incorporated in 1972,
belong to the diocese of Mainz. The German Catholic Day has been a guest
in the city three times, namely in 1863, 1882 and 1921.
In
addition to the two major denominations, orthodox churches, ancient
oriental churches, free churches and other denominations are represented
in Frankfurt, including the Old Catholic Church, the New Apostolic
Church and Jehovah's Witnesses. About 30 evangelical groups have come
together under the umbrella of the Evangelical Alliance Frankfurt.
A Jewish community is first mentioned in Frankfurt in 1150. Twice,
in 1241 and 1349, the Frankfurt Jews were victims of pogroms in the
Middle Ages. From 1462 to 1796 they had to live in a ghetto, the
Judengasse. In 1806, Prince Primate Karl Theodor von Dalberg decreed
equal rights for all Jews and Christians. In 1816, the Free City of
Frankfurt partially restricted the civil rights of Jews again in the
Supplementary Act. During the anti-Jewish Hep-Hep riots, which saw
numerous riots and incidents in over 80 cities and towns in the German
Confederation and across its borders between August and October 1819,
Frankfurt was the scene of the next to Würzburg, the most severe
excesses of violence. For four days, the city was in a state of
emergency due to massive violent riots. It was not until 1864 that
Frankfurt became the third German state after Hamburg and Baden to grant
unrestricted equality to Jews.
Around 1930 about 28,000 Jews
lived in Frankfurt. Almost all were deported or expelled during the
National Socialist era, and the four large synagogues were destroyed
during the November pogroms of 1938. 11,134 Frankfurt Jews were deported
during the Holocaust. By the end of the war only about 160 had survived
in the city. Shortly after the end of the war, a new Jewish community
was founded by deported Eastern European Jews. With around 6,500
members, it is one of the largest congregations in the Federal Republic
today. The largest synagogue in Frankfurt is the Westend synagogue.
The Nuur Mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, built in
Sachsenhausen in 1959, was the first mosque in Frankfurt and one of the
first in Germany. There are now around 35 mosques of various Islamic
faiths in Frankfurt.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints (Mormons) has its headquarters for the Central Europe area in
Frankfurt am Main (Eckenheim). There are also two communities in
Eckenheim and Höchst. In 1987, the Frankfurt Temple in Friedrichsdorf
(Hochtaunuskreis) was the first Mormon temple in what was then the
Federal Republic of Germany.
The Scientology organization, which
originated in the United States, has maintained a branch in Frankfurt's
Bahnhofsviertel since 1971. Outside of Frankfurt, in Hofheim-Langenhain,
the only house of Bahai worship in Europe has been located since 1964.
The consecration hall of the Unitarian Free Religious Community, which
was founded in 1845 and is recognized as a public corporation, is
located in downtown Frankfurt and has over 1,000 members.