Often relegated to the position of “the gateway to Europe”, Frankfurt has much more to do than its busy International Airport – the fourth largest on the continent and where most trans-Atlantic flights to Asia or Europe stop at. America-. With more than 900,000 inhabitants, Frankfurt is a very diverse city : more than half of the population is not German, and for this reason the city is an interesting melting pot of cultures in which more than 100 different languages are spoken.
With this in mind, it is no wonder that Frankfurt has many good things to offer: artistic and cultural spaces, outdoor activities, historic buildings, and much more . Here are all the places you must visit if you travel to the city.
The 10 places that Frankfurt
Main-Hattan , the financial heart of the EU
The full name of the city is Frankfurt am Main , that is, Frankfurt am Main, since this is the river that runs through the city center. Frankfurt is not only the financial capital of Germany, but also of the European Union , since it is the headquarters of the European Central Bank.
And, like any financial city, it is full of skyscrapers that form an impressive skyline on the banks of the River Main. For this reason, the city has earned the nickname “Main-hattan” in honor of the counterpart neighborhood in New York (Manhattan), whose financial buildings also spread out on the banks of the Hudson River.
The Main Tower
There is no better way to see Frankfurt than from the top of the Main Tower, the only skyscraper in the city open to the public . Ride the elevator to the 200-meter-high platform for stunning views of the Frankfurt skyline. Here you can enjoy a cocktail and a meal at the Main Tower Restaurant & Lounge, located on the top floor of the tower, offering a tasting of international cuisine with panoramic views.
Museumsufer
Clustered on both sides of the Main River – mostly on the left bank – is a cluster of 12 museums in an area known as Museumsufer (the Museum Wharf) . The Museumsufer is a recent idea, developed in the 1980s and 1990s. Some museums were housed in existing manor houses, while others were designed by eminent architects such as OM Ungers and Richard Meier.
There are museums of cinema, art, architecture, communication and ethnography, to name a few , but regardless of whether you want to enter or not, architecturally the area deserves a walk on its own. In any case, throughout the article we will recommend the essential museums.
If you are in Frankfurt on the last weekend of August, you can take advantage of the Museumsiferfest . During this festival, the museums have later opening hours, multiple passes, music and dance performances in the open air and a regatta is also held in the Main.
Goethe’s house museum
The versatile German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749 in the picturesque house at 23 Großer Hirschgraben, a converted medieval house with a Rococo facade and interior just before the arrival of Goethe’s parents.
Goethe lived here until the age of 16, and later returned after spending a few years in Leipzig and Strasbourg studying. At that time he wrote here one of his most famous works : Young Werther’s Sorrows .
After being damaged in the war, the house has been restored to its original appearance when Goethe lived here. The interior is furnished with contemporary objects such as an astronomical clock that belonged to a family friend . In addition, attached to the house is a museum of romantic art, appropriate for the tortuous Sturm und Drang stage of the young Goethe.
Römerberg
The most picturesque and central square in the city is surrounded by very photogenic medieval houses, a church and several historical administrative buildings.
The one that will catch your eye is the Römer, in the middle of a group of three buildings with gabled roofs that have housed the Frankfurt city hall since 1405 .
The adjoining building, Goldener Schwan , was also annexed, as the city council decided to move into houses that were already standing rather than build one from scratch.
In front of the town hall is the Renaissance Fountain of Justice , dating from 1543 , and on the opposite side of the square is the Old Church of San Nicolás, from the 15th century, which is in an incredibly good state since during the war survived without major damage.
The Frankfurt Cathedral
When Germany was unified in the 19th century, the Frankfurt Cathedral took on special significance due to its historical significance in the days of the Holy Roman Empire.
Construction of the cathedral began in the 1300s and 1400s in the Gothic style , and it has been faithfully rebuilt twice : once after a fire in 1867 and once in the 1950s after the war.
This former collegiate church received the title of cathedral in 1562, when it began to host the coronation ceremonies of the kings of the Holy Roman Empire . Ten kings were crowned in this same place from 1562 to 1792, and even earlier the imperial church elections were held in 1356.
In the south transept of the nave you can admire the choir stalls from the 14th century, the Baroque Altar of the Assumption and the 15th century fresco of the life of Mary.
Eiserner Steg
The Eiserner Steg is a 150-year-old Frankfurt iron bridge spanning the River Main between the city center and the Sachsenhausen area. It has been rebuilt twice, the first in 1912, when the Main was made navigable for larger ships, and again after the Nazis blew it up in the final days of WWII.
The metal frame of the bridge is elegant, and the best time to cross it is at the end of the day, when the low sun illuminates the towers of the skyscrapers .
And, of course, the Eiserner Steg has also fallen into the fashion webs of love locks that attach to all available surfaces, which has caused it to become one of the most romantic spots in the city.
Sachenhausen, the perfect place to taste typical Frankfurt gastronomy
For hundreds of years, the Sachsenhausen district was a distinct town from the rest of Frankfurt , but it was still granted the protection of the huge ring of city walls.
The fertile left bank of the Main was dedicated to agriculture. Soon the apple orchards replaced the vineyards of other cities – since the grape does not resist the cold of the area – and from the 18th century the neighborhood bars began to serve the typical cider of the area . Stop by an Apfelweinkneipe to try it along with the typical dish of the city: green sauce.
Grüne Sauce (Green Sauce)
In countries with a gastronomy as rich as Spain it may be surprising that the typical dish of a city is a sauce, but among the locals it is more famous than the also typical Frankfurt sausages (which you should also try, because they are completely different from those sold with that denomination in the rest of Europe)
There’s nothing fancy or special about salsa verde, but it’s worth trying because it tastes great. It is served with boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs , it has a thick consistency and its green hue is due to the seven fresh herbs used to make it : borage, chervil, watercress, parsley, pimpernel, sorrel and chives.
Apfelwein
The perfect pairing for a portion of green sauce is a glass of Apfelwein, the typical Sauchenhuasen cider . And, like the best traditional drinks, Apfelwein has its own paraphernalia: it is served in a Bembel, a ceramic jug with blue motifs, and poured into a Gerippte, a carved glass. As for the flavor, it is acidic and refreshing, perfect to counteract the creaminess of the Grüne Sauce.
The Senckenberg Natural History museum
If you have a young child who is going through the typical phase of love for dinosaurs, the Senckenberg (the second largest natural history museum in Germany ) should be on your agenda if you visit Frankfurt.
Life-size dinosaur replicas welcome visitors at the entrance, and inside are fossils of a triceratops, iguanodon, t-rex, diplodocus , parasaurolophus, and a psittacosaur.
But, in addition, there is much more to see apart from the dinosaurs. The museum also has a huge catalog of animal specimens that includes a quagga, a species of zebra extinct since the 1880s.
You can also see the skeleton of Lucy, the “oldest” human ancestor on earth (3.2 million years old, of the Australopithecus afarensis species).
Palmengarten
Opened in 1871, the Frankfurt Botanical Garden covers 22 hectares , displaying plant species from all over the world in greenhouses or outdoors.
The specimens are organized according to their region : A glass pavilion contains a sub-arctic landscape, while there is a tropicarium for the tropical forest and two separate structures for the desert environment.
Some of them date from the 1980s, while others date back to the 19th century and were restored after the park was returned to the city in the 1960s. Important exhibitions and performances are held in this botanical garden. , like the historic Festsaal, or the Jazz im Palmengarten, the oldest open-air jazz festival in the world dating back to 1959.
