Frankfurt (population 760,000; metro area 5.8 million) is Germany’s financial capital, home to the European Central Bank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and one of Europe’s busiest airports. Most international travellers transit through it without visiting — which is a mistake. Frankfurt has a distinctive character that no other German city has: small in the old town, large in the skyline, and deeply international.
The Skyline and the Old Town
The Mainhattan skyline: Frankfurt’s cluster of high-rise financial towers along the Main river has earned it the nickname “Mainhattan” — it is the only German city with a recognisable skyline of tall buildings, and one of only a handful in Europe. The towers: the Commerzbank Tower (259m, designed by Norman Foster, 1997 — Europe’s tallest building for several years), the Messeturm (256m), the Main Tower (200m — has a public observation deck, the only one among the financial towers). Views from the Main Tower: Frankfurt’s unusual combination of compact old town below and modern towers above, with the Taunus hills behind — one of the strangest and most distinctive urban views in Germany. The Römerberg: Frankfurt’s old town (Altstadt) was 85% destroyed in the Second World War. The Römerberg — the medieval market square with half-timbered houses — was reconstructed in the 1980s and is now the centre of the tourist old town. Historically important but the reconstruction is post-war. The Frankfurt Cathedral (Kaiserdom): where Holy Roman Emperors were elected (10 emperors elected 1356–1792) and crowned (9 crowned here). The Gothic interior is original medieval; the tower offers a good view over the old town.
Museums and Culture
The Museumsufer (Museum Embankment): the south bank of the Main is lined with 12 museums within walking distance — the highest density of museums in Germany. Key institutions: the Städel Museum (one of the great German art museums — medieval to contemporary, strong on Old Masters: Dürer, Cranach, Vermeer, Rembrandt, and an outstanding collection of German Expressionism); the Museum of World Cultures (Weltkulturen Museum); the Film Museum; the Architecture Museum. The Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse): the world’s largest trade fair for books, held every October in the Messe Frankfurt — the largest publishing industry event on Earth, attended by 300,000 people. Authors, agents, publishers, and rights holders from 100+ countries. The zoo (Frankfurter Zoo): one of Germany’s oldest zoos (founded 1858) — notable for its successful gorilla and primate conservation breeding programme and for its unusual historical architecture (the Exotarium from the 1950s is a classic of its period).
Food and Drink
Frankfurter Grüne Soße (Green Sauce): Frankfurt’s iconic dish — a cold herb sauce made from exactly seven herbs: parsley, chives, cress, sorrel, borage, chervil, and burnet. The sauce is mixed with sour cream or mayonnaise and served over hard-boiled eggs or boiled potatoes. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Frankfurt’s most famous son, apparently loved it. The herbs must be the seven specific ones — no variation is accepted by purists. Frankfurter Würstchen (the original Frankfurt sausage): thin pork sausages, smoked, and boiled — the template for what became the American hot dog. Best eaten with mustard and Riesling Sekt (sparkling wine). The restaurants of the Sachsenhausen district: the south bank neighbourhood across the river, famous for the Ebbelwoi (apple wine — the Frankfurt equivalent of wine or beer). Served in the ribbed Bembel ceramic jug; typically paired with Handkäse mit Musik (hand cheese with “music” — the music being the sound of the onion vinaigrette fermenting the sour cheese in your stomach, which local tradition finds funny). Sachsenhausen taverns: Zum Gemalten Haus (Schweizer Str.), Dauth-Schneider — some operating since the 19th century.
