Frankfurt（1）

Frankfurt am Main, commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region which has a population of 5,600,000 and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13).

Frankfurt is the financial and transportation centre of Germany and the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is seat of the European Central Bank, the German Federal Bank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Trade Fair, as well as several large commercial banks. Frankfurt Airport is one of the world's busiest international airports(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13A/B), Frankfurt Central Station is one of the largest terminal stations in Europe, and the Frankfurter Kreuz is one of the most heavily used Autobahn interchanges in Europe. Frankfurt lies in the former American Occupation Zone of Germany, and it was formerly the headquarters city of the U.S. Army in Germany.

Frankfurt is considered an alpha world city as listed by the Loughborough University group's 2010 inventory(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13B/B), was ranked 20th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2010 Global Cities Index and was ranked 6th among global cities for economic and social innovation by the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Index in 2010.

Frankfurt is an international centre for commerce, finance, culture, transport, education, and tourism. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Frankfurt is Germany’s second most expensive city, and the 48th most expensive in the world. Frankfurt also ranks among the top 10 most livable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13/S).

Overview

Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Two Lufthansa Airbus A380s at Frankfurt Airport

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University

The three major pillars of Frankfurt's economy are finance, transport and trade fairs.

Frankfurt has been Germany's financial centre for centuries and it is the home of a number of major banks and brokerages. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) is by far Germany's largest, and is one of the world's most important. Frankfurt is also the seat of the European Central Bank (Europäische Zentralbank) which sets monetary policy for the Eurozone(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13B/S), consisting of 17 European Union member states that have adopted the euro (€) as their common currency and sole legal tender, and of the German Federal Bank (Deutsche Bundesbank). In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had their registered offices here including the headquarters of the major German banks, notably Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, as well as 41 representative offices of international banks(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13A/S).

Frankfurt has an excellent transportation infrastructure: Frankfurt Airport (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) is the third busiest airport by passenger traffic in Europe and is the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa, the largest airline in Europe. The airport is close to the Frankfurter Kreuz (Autobahn interchange) where two of the most heavily used motorways in Europe(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q), Bundesautobahn 3 in west-east-direction and Bundesautobahn 5 in north-south-direction, meet. In addition, Frankfurt has three railway stations for high-speed ICE trains: Frankfurt Central Station (Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof), Frankfurt South Station (Frankfurt Südbahnhof) and Frankfurt Airport long-distance Station (Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof). Frankfurt is the busiest junction operated by Deutsche Bahn, the German national railway company, with 342 daily trains to domestic and European destinations(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q).

Frankfurt Trade Fair (Messe Frankfurt) is the third largest trade fair in the world with a total area of 578,000 square metres (6,221,540 square feet). It has ten halls with a total of 321,754 square meters (3,463,331 square feet) of exhibition space and 96,078 square metres (1,034,175 square feet) of outdoor area more available. Many large trade fairs are held in Frankfurt each year(AKKU Sony VGP-BPS13Q), notably the Frankfurt Motor Show (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung - IAA), the world's largest motor show, the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), the world's largest book fair, and Musikmesse, the world's largest music fair.

Frankfurt is also home to many cultural and educational institutions including the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, many museums (e.g. Städel, Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Goethe House), and two major botanical gardens, the Palmengarten, which is Germany's largest, and the Botanical Garden of the Goethe University(Sony VGP-BPL8 Battery).

A unique feature of Frankfurt is its significant number of skyscrapers in the city center which form the Frankfurt skyline. Frankfurt is one of only a few cities in the European Union that have such a skyline, the others being London, Warsaw, Madrid, Rotterdam and La Défense in the outer Paris region.

Panorama of Frankfurt seen from the Maintower observation deck(Sony VGP-BPL8A Battery)

Name

The legend of the Frankenfurt (ford of the Franks)

Frankonovurd (in old high german language) or Vadum Francorum (in latin language) were the first names mentioned in written records from 794. It transformed to Frankenfort during the Middle Ages and then to Franckfort and Franckfurth in Modern history. At the beginning of the 19th century the spelling of Frankfurt was widely established. The name affix "am Main" is used regularly since the 14th century(Sony VGN-FZ130E/B Battery).

In English, the city's full name of Frankfurt am Main translates to "Frankfurt on the Main" (pronounced like English mine or German mein). Frankfurt is located on an ancient ford (German: Furt) on the Main river. As a part of early Franconia, the inhabitants were the early Franks, thus the city's name reveals its legacy as being "the ford of the Franks on the Main river"(Sony VGN-FZ130E/BA Battery).

Among English speakers, the city is commonly known simply as Frankfurt, though Germans occasionally call it by its full name when it is necessary to distinguish it from the other (significantly smaller) German city called Frankfurt in the federated state of Brandenburg, Frankfurt (Oder) (Sony VGN-FZ130E/BB Battery).

The common abbreviations for the city, which are primarily used in railway services and on road signs, are Frankfurt (Main), Frankfurt (M), Frankfurt a.M., Frankfurt/Main or Frankfurt/M. The common acronym for the city is Ffm or FFM.

The older English spelling of Frankfort is now rarely seen.

History

Frankfurt in 1612

The Frankfurt Parliament at St. Paul's Church in 1848

Aerial view of the cathedral in May 1945 after World War II

Reconstruction (1981–1984) of six houses at the east side of the Römerberg which were destroyed in World War II(Sony VGP-BPL9 Akku)

Main article: History of Frankfurt am Main

In the area of the Römer, Roman settlements were established, probably in the 1st century; some artifacts from that era are found even to this day. The city district Bonames has a name probably dating back to Roman times—it is thought to be derived from bona me(n)sa. Nida (Heddernheim) was also a Roman civitas capital(Sony VGP-BPL9/B Akku).

The name of Frankfurt on Main is derived from the Franconofurd of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; Furt (cf. English ford) where the river was shallow enough to be crossed by wading. Alemanni and Franks lived there and by 794 Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which Franconofurd (-furt -vurd) was first mentioned(Sony VGP-BPL9/S Akku).

Frankfurt was one of the most important cities in the following Holy Roman Empire. From 855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned in Aachen. From 1562 the kings/emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximilian II being the first. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected. His coronation was deliberately held on Bastille Day, 14 July, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille(Sony VGP-BPL9A/B Akku). The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus cathedral, known as the Kaiserdom (en: Emperor's Cathedral), or in its predecessors.

The Frankfurter Messe (Frankfurt Trade Fair) was first mentioned in 1150. In 1240, Emperor Friedrich II granted an Imperial privilege to its visitors, meaning they would be protected by the Empire. The fair became particularly important when similar fairs in French Beaucaire lost attraction around 1380. Book trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt since 1478(Sony VGP-BPL9A Akku).

In 1372 Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt (en:Imperial city), i.e. directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.

Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years' War, but suffered from the bubonic plague that was brought to the city by refugees. After the end of the war, Frankfurt regained its wealth(Sony VGP-BPL9 Akku).

In the Napoleonic Wars Frankfurt was occupied or bombarded several times by French troops. It nevertheless still remained a free city until the total collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1805/6. In 1806 it become part of the principality of Aschaffenburg under the Fürstprimas (Prince-Primate), Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg. This also meant that Frankfurt was incorporated into the confederation of the Rhine(Sony VGP-BPS21 Akku). In 1810 Dalberg adopted the title of a Grand Duke of Frankfurt. Napoleon intended to make his adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais, already Prince de Venise ("prince of Venice", a newly established primogeniture in Italy), Grand Duke of Frankfurt after Dalberg's death (since the latter as a Catholic bishop had no legitimate heirs). The Grand Duchy remained a short episode lasting from 1810 to 1813(Sony VGP-BPS21A Akku), when the military tide turned in favour of the Anglo-Prussian lead allies, which overturned the Napoleonic order of central Europe. Dalberg abdicated in favour of Eugène de Beauharnais, which of course was only a symbolic action, as the latter effectively never did rule after the ruin of the French armies and Frankfurt being taken by the allies(Sony VGP-BPS21B Akku).

After Napoleon's final defeat and abdication, the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815, redrawing the map of Europe) dissolved the grand-duchy, and Frankfurt entered the newly founded German Confederation (till 1866) as a free city, becoming the seat of its Bundestag, the confederal parliament where the nominally presiding Habsburg Emperor of Austria was represented by an Austrian "presidential envoy"(Sony VGP-BPS21A/B Akku).

After the ill-fated revolution of 1848, Frankfurt was the seat of the first democratically elected German parliament, the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the Frankfurter Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church) and was opened on 18 May 1848. The institution failed in 1849 when the Prussian king declared that he would not accept "a crown from the gutter". In the year of its existence, the assembly developed a common constitution for a unified Germany, with the Prussian king as its monarch(Sony VGP-BPS21/S Akku).

Frankfurt lost its independence after the Austro-Prussian War as Prussia in 1866 annexed several smaller states, among them the Free City of Frankfurt. The Prussian administration incorporated Frankfurt into its province of Hesse-Nassau. The formerly independent towns of Bornheim and Bockenheim were incorporated in 1890(Akku Sony VGP-BPL14).

In 1914 the citizens of Frankfurt founded the University of Frankfurt, later called Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. This is the only civic foundation of a university in Germany; today it is one of Germany's largest universities.

From April 6 to May 17, 1920, following military intervention to put down the Ruhr Uprising, Frankfurt was occupied by French troops. The French claimed that Articles 42 to 44 of the peace treaty of Versailles concerning the demilitarisation of the Rhineland had been broken( Akku Sony VGP-BPL14 ). In 1924 Ludwig Landmann became the first Jewish Mayor of the city, and led a significant expansion during the following years. However, during the Nazi era, the synagogues of Frankfurt were destroyed.

The city of Frankfurt was severely bombed in World War II (1939–1945). About 5,500 residents were killed during the raids, and the once famous medieval city centre, by that time the largest in Germany, was destroyed(Akku Sony VGP-BPS14/S ). Post-war reconstruction took place in a sometimes simple modern style, thus irrevocably changing the architectural face of Frankfurt. Only very few landmark buildings have been reconstructed historically, albeit in a simplified manner. The collection of historically significant Cairo Genizah documents of the Municipal Library was destroyed when the city was bombed. According to Arabist and Genizah scholar S.D. Goitein, "not even handlists indicating its contents have survived(Akku Sony VGP-BPL14/B)."

Frankfurt became a ground battlefield commencing 26 March 1945, when the Allied advance into Germany was forced to take the city in contested urban combat that included a river assault. The US 5th Infantry Division and US 6th Armored Division captured Frankfurt after several days of intense fighting, and it was declared largely secure on 29 March 1945. More details of this battle are provided at History of Frankfurt am Main(AKKU sony VAIO VGN-FW21E).

After the end of the war, Frankfurt became a part of the newly founded state of Hesse, consisting of the old Hesse-(Darmstadt) and the Prussian Hesse provinces. The city was part of the American Zone of Occupation of Germany. The Military Governor for the United States Zone (1945–1949) and the United States High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG) (1949–1952) had their headquarters in the IG Farben Building(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW21I), intentionally left undamaged by the Allies' wartime bombardment. Frankfurt was the original choice for the provisional capital of West Germany—they even went as far as constructing a new parliament building that has never been used for its intended purpose. Since 1949 it is used to house the radio studios of Hessischer Rundfunk. In the end, Konrad Adenauer (the first post-war Chancellor) preferred the tiny city of Bonn(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L), for the most part because it was close to his hometown, but also for another reason; many other prominent politicians opposed the choice of Frankfurt out of concern that Frankfurt, one of the largest German cities and a former centre of the old German-dominated Holy Roman Empire, would be accepted as a "permanent" capital of Germany, thereby weakening the West German population's support for reunification and the eventual return of the Government to Berlin(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z).

During the 1970s, the city created one of Europe's most efficient underground transportation systems. That system includes a suburban rail system (S-Bahn) capable of reaching outlying communities as well as the city centre, and a deep underground light rail system with smaller coaches (U-Bahn) also capable of travelling above ground on street rails(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M).

Since the postwar period Frankfurt has emerged once again as the financial and transportation centre of Germany.

Geography

Geographic location

Frankfurt is located on both sides of the Main river south-east of the Taunus mountain range. It is the largest city in the federated state (Bundesland) of Hesse (Hessen) in the south-western part of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland). The southern part of the city contains the Frankfurt City Forest (Frankfurter Stadtwald), Germany's largest forest within a city(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M). The city area is 248.31 km2 (95.87 sq mi) and extends over 23.4 km (14.54 mi) in east-west-direction and 23.3 km (14.48 mi) in north-south-direction. The city centre of Frankfurt is located on the north side of the Main river in the city district of Altstadt (the historical center) and the surrounding Innenstadt district. The geographical center is located in the city district of Bockenheim near Frankfurt West Station(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J).

Frankfurt is the center of the densely populated Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region (Rhein-Main-Gebiet) with a population of 5.6 million. Other important cities in the region are Wiesbaden (the capital of Hesse), Mainz (the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate), Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, Hanau, Aschaffenburg, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Rüsselsheim(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW31E).

Neighbouring districts and cities

To the west, Frankfurt borders the administrative district (Landkreis) of Main-Taunus-Kreis with cities such as Hattersheim am Main, Kriftel, Hofheim am Taunus, Kelkheim (Taunus), Liederbach am Taunus, Sulzbach (Taunus), Schwalbach am Taunus and Eschborn; to the northwest the Hochtaunuskreis with Steinbach (Taunus), Oberursel (Taunus) and Bad Homburg vor der Höhe(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z); to the north the Wetteraukreis with Karben and Bad Vilbel; to the northeast the Main-Kinzig-Kreis with Niederdorfelden and Maintal; to the southeast the city of Offenbach am Main; to the south the Kreis Offenbach with Neu-Isenburg and to the southwest the Kreis Groß-Gerau with Mörfelden-Walldorf, Rüsselsheim and Kelsterbach(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW31ZJ).

Together with these cities (and some larger nearby cities, e.g. Hanau, Rodgau, Dreieich, Langen) Frankfurt forms a contiguous built-up urban area called Stadtregion Frankfurt which is not an official administrative district. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.3 million in 2010 and is therefore the 13th largest urban area of the European Union(AKKU Sony VAIO VGN-FW32Z).

Demographics

Population

Frankfurt seen from the air

With a population of 688,249 in 2010, Frankfurt is the fifth largest city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. The city is considered a multicultural city because it is home to people of 180 nationalities. In addition to the ethnic German majority, the city contains sizable immigrant populations from Turkey, Italy, Colombia, Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Macedonia, Mexico(AKKU Sony VAIO PCG-5G2L), Morocco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pakistan, Spain, Portugal, France, Japan, the United States, Austria, India, the United Kingdom, Romania, Afghanistan, Russia, Bulgaria, Lebanon and China. The Frankfurt urban area is also home to the second-largest Korean community in Europe, and to Germany's largest Sri Lankan Tamil community. Nearly 25 percent of Frankfurt's residents are foreign nationals(AKKU Sony VAIO PCG-5G3L ). In addition, 40 percent of Frankfurt's residents, and 65 percent of those below the age of five, come from an immigrant background.

Frankfurt has been a Großstadt (a city with at least 100,000 residents by definition) since 1875. With 414,576 residents in 1910 it was the 9th largest city in Germany and the number of inhabitants grew to 553,464 before World War II. After the war, at the end of the year 1945, the number had dropped to 358,000. In the following years the population grew again and reached an all-time-high of 691,257 in 1963(Sony VAIO PCG-5J1L Akku). It dropped again to 592,411 in 1986 but has increased since then. According to the demographic forecast of the City of Frankfurt the population will reach the 700,000-mark in 2012 and will further increase up to 725,000 in 2020.

Religion

For a long time Frankfurt used to be a Protestant-dominated city. However, during the 19th century an increasing number of Catholics moved there. In 2006, Catholicism was the largest religious denomination (25 percent) closely followed by Protestantism (23 percent) (Sony VAIO PCG-5J2L Akku). Both denominations are losing members and even together make up less than half of the population. According to the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland (Central Council of Jews in Germany) there are 7,300 Jews affiliated with Judaism in Frankfurt, giving it the third largest Jewish community (behind Berlin and Munich) in Germany(Sony VAIO PCG-5K2L Akku).

Politics

Frankfurt is one of five independent district-free cities (kreisfreie Städte) in Hesse which means that it does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity, in this case it is not part of a Landkreis. The other four cities are the second to fifth largest cities in Hesse: Wiesbaden, Kassel, Darmstadt and Offenbach am Main. A kreisfreie Stadt has territorial sovereignty within its defined city limits(Sony VAIO PCG-5K1L Akku).

Since 1995 Frankfurt's municipal leader is Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeisterin) Petra Roth of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The CDU und the Alliance '90/The Greens (Bündnis '90/Die Grünen) currently form the governing parties in Frankfurt.

Subdivisions

Frankfurt's financial district

The city is divided into 46 city districts (Stadtteile), which are again divided into 118 city boroughs (Stadtbezirke) and 448 electoral districts (Wahlbezirke). The 46 city districts are combined for political reasons into 16 area districts (Ortsbezirke), which each have a district committee and chairperson(Sony VAIO PCG-6S1L Akku).

The largest city district by population and area is Sachsenhausen, the smallest is Altstadt, Frankfurt's historical center. Three larger city districts (Sachsenhausen, Westend and Nordend) are divided for administrative purposes into a northern (-Nord) and a southern (-Süd) part, respectively a western (-West) and an eastern (-Ost) part, but are generally considered as one city district (that's why there are often only 43 city districts mentioned, even on the official website of the City of Frankfurt) (Sony VAIO PCG-6S2L Akku).

Some larger housing areas are often falsely called city districts, even by locals, like Nordweststadt (part of Niederursel, Heddernheim and Praunheim), Goldstein (part of Schwanheim), Riedberg (part of Kalbach-Riedberg) and Europaviertel (part of Gallus). The Bankenviertel (banking district), Frankfurt's financial district, is also not an administrative city district (it covers parts of the western Innenstadt district, the southern Westend district and the eastern Bankenviertel district) (Sony VAIO PCG-6W1L Akku).

Many city districts are incorporated suburbs (Vororte), or were previously independent cities, like Höchst. Some like Nordend and Westend arose during the rapid growth of the city in the Gründerzeit following the Unification of Germany, while others were formed from territory which previously belonged to other city district, like Dornbusch and Riederwald(Sony VAIO PCG-6W2L Akku).

History of incorporations

Until the year 1877 the city territory of Frankfurt consisted of the present-day inner-city districts of Altstadt, Innenstadt, Bahnhofsviertel, Gutleutviertel, Gallus, Westend, Nordend, Ostend and Sachsenhausen.

Bornheim, which was part of an administrative district called Landkreis Frankfurt, became part of the city on January 1, 1877, followed by Bockenheim on April 1, 1895. Seckbach, Niederrad and Oberrad followed on July 1, 1900. The Landkreis Frankfurt was finally dispersed on April 1, 1910, and therefore Berkersheim(Sony VAIO PCG-6W3L Akku), Bonames, Eckenheim, Eschersheim, Ginnheim, Hausen, Heddernheim, Niederursel, Praunheim, Preungesheim and Rödelheim joined the City of Frankfurt. In the same year a new city district, Riederwald, was created on territory that had formerly belonged to Seckbach and Ostend.

On April 1, 1928, the City of Höchst became part of Frankfurt, as well as its city districts Sindlingen, Unterliederbach and Zeilsheim. Simultaneously the Landkreis Höchst was dispersed with its member cities either joining Frankfurt (Fechenheim, Griesheim, Nied, Schwanheim, Sossenheim) or joining the newly established Landkreis of Main-Taunus-Kreis(Sony VAIO PCG-7111L Akku).

Dornbusch became a city district in 1946. It was created on territory that had formerly belonged to Eckenheim and Ginnheim.

At the beginning of the 1970s the government of Hesse developed plans to significantly reduce the number of administrative districts in Hesse (Hessische Gebietsreform). On August 1, 1972, the smaller suburbs of Harheim, Kalbach, Nieder-Erlenbach and Nieder-Eschbach became districts of Frankfurt while other neighbouring suburbs chose to join the Main-Taunus-Kreis, the Landkreis Offenbach, the Kreis Groß-Gerau, the Hochtaunuskreis, the Main-Kinzig-Kreis or the Wetteraukreis(Sony VAIO PCG-7112L Akku).

Bergen-Enkheim was the last suburb to become part of Frankfurt on January 1, 1977.

Flughafen became an official city district in 1979. It covers the area of Frankfurt Airport which had formerly belonged to Sachsenhausen and the neighbouring City of Mörfelden-Walldorf(Sony VAIO PCG-7113L Akku).

Frankfurts youngest city district is Frankfurter Berg. It was part of Bonames until 1996.

Kalbach was officially renamed "Kalbach-Riedberg" in 2006 because of the large residential housing development in the area which goes by the name of Riedberg.

Cityscape

Landmarks

Saint Bartholomeus' Cathedral

Saint Paul's Church

Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral

Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus), named after Bartholomew the Apostle(Sony VAIO PCG-7131L Akku), is a gothic building which was constructed in 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, and from 1562 to 1792, the Roman-German emperors were crowned here. Today it is the main church of Frankfurt(Sony VAIO PCG-7132L Akku).

Since the 18th century, St. Bartholomew's has been called "the cathedral" by the people, although it has never been a bishop's seat. In 1867, the cathedral was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in its present style. It was again partially destroyed in World War II and rebuilt in the 1950s. The height of the cathedral is 95 metres. The cathedral tower has a viewing platform open to the public at a height of 66 metres(Sony VAIO PCG-7133L Akku).

Saint Paul's Church

Saint Paul's Church (Paulskirche) is a national historic monument in Germany with great political symbolism, because it was the seat of the first democratically elected Parliament in 1848. It was established in 1789 as a Protestant church but was not completed until 1833. Its importance has its root in the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the church during the revolutionary years of 1848/49 in order to write a constitution for a united Germany(Sony VAIO PCG-7z1L Akku). The attempt failed because the monarchs of Prussia and Austria did not want to lose power, and in 1849 Prussian troops ended the democratic experiment by force of arms and the parliament was dissolved. Afterwards, the building was used for church services again(Sony VAIO PCG-7z1L Akku).

St. Paul's was partially destroyed in World War II, particularly the interior of the building, which now has a modern appearance. It was quickly and symbolically rebuilt after the war; today it is not used for religious services, but mainly for exhibitions and events(Sony VAIO PCG-8Y1L Akku).

Archäologischer Garten Frankfurt

The Archaeological Garden contains small parts of the oldest buildings ever recovered in Frankfurt: An ancient roman settlement and the Frankfurt Royal Palace (Kaiserpfalz Frankfurt) from the 6th century. The garden is located between the Römerberg and St. Bartholomew's. It was discovered after World War II when the area was heavily bombed and later partly rebuilt(Sony VAIO PCG-8Y2L Akku). The remains were preserved and are now open to the public. There are plans underway to construct a building on top of the garden but anyhow it is decided that the garden will stay open to the public.

Römer

"Römer" is the German word for "Roman" and is the name of a complex of nine houses that form the Frankfurt city hall (Rathaus). The houses where acquired by the city council in 1405 from a wealthy merchant family. The middle house became the city hall and was later connected with the neighbouring buildings(Sony VAIO PCG-8Z1L Akku). Located on the upper floor is the Kaisersaal ("Emperor's Hall") where the newly crowned emperors held their banquets. The Römer was partially destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt. The surrounding square, the Römerberg, is named after the city hall.

A 360 degree view of the Römerberg (left: Samstagsberg, middle: Alte Nikolaikirche, right: Römer) (Sony VAIO PCG-8Z2L Akku)

The Alte Oper, now a concert hall, at the Opernplatz

Eschenheimer Turm

Hauptwache building

Haus Wertheim

Wertheim House is the only timbered house in the Altstadt district that survived the heavy bombings of World War II without any damage. It is located on the Römerberg next to the Historical Museum.

Saalhof

The Saalhof is the oldest conserved building in the Altstadt district which dates back to the 12th century. It was used as an exhibition hall by Dutch clothiers when trade fairs were held in Frankfurt during the 14th and 15th century. The Saalhof was partly destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt. Today it serves as a part of the Historical Museum(Akku Sony VGN-NR11M/S).

Eiserner Steg

The Eiserner Steg (Iron Bridge) is a pedestrian-only bridge over the Main river which connects the Römerberg and Sachsenhausen. It was built in 1868 and was only the second bridge to cross the river in Frankfurt. After World War II, when it was blown up by the Wehrmacht, it was quickly rebuilt in 1946. Today around 10,000 people cross the bridge on a daily basis(Akku Sony VGN-NR11S/S).

Alte Oper

The Alte Oper is a former opera house, hence the name "Old Opera". It was built in 1880 by architect Richard Lucae. It was one of the major opera houses in Germany until it was heavily damaged in World War II. Until the late 1970s it was a ruin, nicknamed "Germany's Most Beautiful Ruin". There were even efforts to just blow it up. Former Frankfurt Lord Mayor Rudi Arndt called for blowing it up in the 1960s(Akku Sony VGN-NR11Z/S), which earned him the nickname "Dynamite-Rudi". (Later on, Arndt said he never had meant his suggestion seriously.)

Due to public pressure it was finally fully reconstructed and reopened in 1981. Today it functions as a famous concert hall, while operas are performed at the "new" Oper Frankfurt. The inscription on the frieze of the Alte Oper says: "Dem Wahren, Schönen, Guten" ("To the true, the beautiful, the good")(Akku Sony VGN-NR11Z/T).

Eschenheimer Turm

The Eschenheim Tower (Eschenheimer Turm) was erected at the beginning of the 15th century and served as a city gate as part of the late-medieval fortifications of Frankfurt. It is the oldest and most unaltered building in the Innenstadt district.

Saint Catherine's Church

St. Catherine's Church (Katharinenkirche) is the largest evangelical church in Frankfurt, dedicated to the martyred early Christian saint, Catherine of Alexandria. It is located in the city centre at the entrance to the Zeil, the central shopping street(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11E Battery).

Hauptwache

Although today "Hauptwache" is mostly associated with the inner-city underground train station of the same name, the name originates from a baroque building on the square above the station. The Hauptwache building was constructed in 1730 and was used as a prison, therefore the name that translates as "main guard-house". Today the square surrounding the building is also called "Hauptwache" (formal: An der Hauptwache) (Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L). It is situated in the city centre opposite to St. Catherine's Church and houses a famous café.

Frankfurt Central Station

Frankfurt Central Station (Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof), which opened in 1888, was built as the central train station for Frankfurt to replace three smaller train stations in the city centre and to boost the needed capacity for travellers. It was constructed as a terminus station and was the largest train station in Europe by floor area until 1915 when Leipzig Central Station was opened(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M). Its three main halls were constructed in a neorenaissance-style, while the later enlargement with two outer halls in 1924 were constructed in a neoclassicism-style.

Frankfurter Hof

The Frankfurter Hof is a landmarked hotel in the city centre at Kaiserplatz, built from 1872-1876. It is part of Steigenberger Hotels group and is considered the most prestigious hotel in Frankfurt.

20th-century architecture

Frauenfriedenskirche, consecrated 1929, an example of an early modernist church building(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S).

Grossmarkthalle, built 1926–1928, the former wholesale market hall, currently under reconstruction to become part of the future European Central Bank Headquarters.

Goethe House, rebuilt 1947. The birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from 1749 was destroyed in World War II and then rebuilt true to the original.

Junior-Haus, built 1951, an example of early post-World War II architecture located at Kaiserplatz(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z).

Bayer-Haus, built 1952, another example of early post-World War II architecture. Today it houses the 5-star Fleming's Hotel Frankfurt.

Museum für angewandte Kunst, built 1985, designed by Richard Meier.

IG Farben Building

The IG Farben Building, also known as Poelzig Building (Poelzig-Bau) after its architect Hans Poelzig, was built from 1928 to 1930 as the corporate headquarters of the chemical industry conglomerate I.G. Farbenindustrie AG. It is located in the Westend district and borders Grüneburgpark in the west(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ130E/B). On its completion, the complex was the largest office building in Europe and remained so until the 1950s. The building served as headquarters for research projects relating to the development of Nazi wartime synthetic oil and rubber, and the production administration of magnesium, lubricating oil, explosives, methanol, and Zyklon B, the lethal gas used in concentration camps(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ140E). After World War II, the IG Farben Building served as the headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command and from 1949-1952 the High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG). It became the principal location for implementing the Marshall Plan, which largely financed the post-war reconstruction of Europe. The state apparatus of the Federal German Government was devised there. The IG Farben Building served as the headquarters for the US Army's V Corps and the Northern Area Command (NACOM) until 1995 when the US Army returned control of the IG Farben Building to the German government(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E). It was purchased on behalf of the Goethe University of Frankfurt by the state of Hesse. Since October 2001 it is part of the Westend Campus of the Goethe University.

IG Farben Building, now the central lecture building of the Westend Campus of the Goethe University

21th-century architecture

The Squaire in 2011

Die Welle (The Wave), built 1998-2003, a complex of three wavelike-formed office buildings next to the Opernplatz.

Alte Stadtbibliothek, rebuilt 2003-2005, reconstruction of the old public library house which was originally built 1820-1825.

Palais Thurn und Taxis, rebuilt 2004-2009, reconstruction of a palace which was originally built 1731-1739.

MyZeil, built 2004-2009, a shopping mall at the Zeil with an imposing vaulted glass-structure(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J).

The Squaire

The Squaire (a portmanteau of the words square and air), also known as Airrail Center Frankfurt, is a 660 m (2,165.35 ft) long and 45 m (147.64 ft) tall office building located at Frankfurt Airport. It was built from 2006-2011 on top of an existing train station (Frankfurt Airport long distance Station) und has a connecting bridge to Terminal 1 for pedestrians. With a total of 140,000 m² rentable floor space it is considered the largest office building in Germany(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M). Main tenants of The Squaire are KPMG Europe LLP, two Hilton Hotels and Lufthansa.

Skyscrapers

See also: List of tallest buildings in Frankfurt

Frankfurt skyline in August 2010, view from Goethe Tower in the south

Upper section of the Maintower with a public observation desk at 200 metres

Frankfurt is the only German city with a significant number of skyscrapers, meaning buildings at least 150 m (492.13 ft) tall. 12 out of a total of 13 skyscapers in Germany are located in Frankfurt with two more (European Central Bank Headquarters, 185 metres, and Taunusturm, 170 metres) under construction in 2011(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S). Most of the skyscrapers and high-rise office buildings in Frankfurt are located in the financial district (Bankenviertel) near the city centre, around the trade fair premises (Europaviertel) and at Mainzer Landstraße, which connects the two areas.

The 12 skyscrapers in Frankfurt are:

Commerzbank Tower, 259 m (849.74 ft) — Europe's tallest building (1997–2003), Headquarters of Commerzbank.

Messeturm, 257 m (843.18 ft) — Europe's tallest building (1990–1997), Main tenant is Goldman Sachs (Germany).

Westendstraße 1, 208 m (682.41 ft) — Headquarters of DZ Bank.

Maintower, 200 m (656.17 ft) — Headquarters of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen and of Standard & Poor’s (Germany) (Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z).

Tower 185, 200 m (656.17 ft) — Headquarters of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Germany).

Trianon, 186 m (610.24 ft) — Headquarters of DekaBank.

Opernturm, 170 m (557.74 ft) — Headquarters of UBS (Germany).

Silver Tower, 166 m (544.62 ft) — Germany's tallest building (1978–1990), Main tenant is Deutsche Bahn.

Plaza Büro Center, 159 m (521.65 ft) — Germany's tallest building (1976–1978), Main tenant is Marriott Frankfurt Hotel.

Deutsche Bank I, 155 m (508.53 ft) — Headquarters of Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Bank II, 155 m (508.53 ft) — Headquarters of Deutsche Bank.

Skyper, 154 m (505.25 ft) — Main tenant is DekaBank(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M).

Other high-rise buildings in Frankfurt include:

Eurotower, 148 m (485.56 ft) — Headquarters of European Central Bank.

Frankfurter Büro Center, 142 m (465.88 ft) — Main tenant is Clifford Chance (Germany).

City-Haus, 142 m (465.88 ft) — Main tenant is DZ Bank.

Gallileo, 136 m (446.19 ft) — Main tenant is Commerzbank.

History of high-rise buildings

Skyline at night, seen from Deutschherrnbrücke (2011)

For centuries St. Bartholomeus's Cathedral had been the highest structure in Frankfurt. The first building to beat the 95-metres high cathedral in terms of height was not an office building but a grain silo, the 120-metres high Henninger Turm, built from 1959-1961(Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E).

The first boom of high-rise buildings came in the 1970s when the Silver Tower and the Plaza Büro Center were constructed and became the tallest buildings in Germany with a height of 166 metres and 159 metres respectively. Around the same time the Frankfurter Büro Center and the City-Haus (both 142 metres tall) were constructed at Mainzer Landstraße and the Eurotower (148 metres) and the Garden Towers (127 metres; then called Helaba-Hochhaus) were constructed in the financial district. (Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J)

During the 1980s none of the then constructed buildings reached higher than the existing buildings. The most famous buildings from this decade are the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers at Taunusanlage, both 155 metres tall.

The second boom of high-rise buildings was in the 1990s: The MesseTurm, built at the trade fair premises, reached a height of 257 metres and became the tallest building in Europe by 1991. It was beaten in terms of height by the Commerzbank Tower (259 metres) in 1997. Other tall buildings from this decade are Westendstraße 1 (208 metres), Maintower (200 metres) and Trianon (186 metres) (Akku Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M).

Since the beginning of the 21th century Frankfurt has seen the construction of more high-rise buildings (e.g. Skyper, Gallileo, Westhafen Tower) but not any record-breaking heights. The last skyscrapers constructed are the Opernturm (170 metres; built 2007-2010) and the Tower 185 (200 metres; built 2008-2011) (SONY Vaio VGN-NS38M Battery).