Frankfurt am Main is a beautiful city, the fifth largest in Germany. Without exaggeration, it is the heart of the German lands in terms of economy, education, tourism and culture. The sights of Frankfurt am Main amaze with their diversity: these are ancient churches, skyscrapers that are stunning in their height, and interesting museums. From the abundance of curious places, eyes run wide, but, of course, it is worth starting from the most sonorous tourist spots. Let's figure out together what is worth seeing first.

Banks quarter

The Banks Quarter in Frankfurt am Main is called the central business district of the city, and of Germany as a whole. It is rightfully considered the economic heart of the country and one of the largest financial centers in Europe. The quarter does not have a clear boundary separating it from neighboring districts, but is mainly defined by the area in the west of Innenstadt, south of the Westend and east of the Bankofsviertel. Its central square is called Opernplatz. Most of the largest banks in Germany have settled in this area, for example, Commerzbank and Helaba. In addition, branches of foreign banks are also located here.

In fact, this is a kind of tiny metropolis in a metropolis with an impressive infrastructure. The second New York Manhattan with many skyscrapers, office buildings, restaurants, hotels. The tallest office building in Europe has long been considered the local Commerzbank Tower, a little over 250 meters high, which only recently gave way to Moscow's Triumph Palace. to fully experience the atmosphere of German clerks.

Römerberg square

Postcards depicting the famous square are sold in every gift shop. And, even if you were not lucky enough to visit Frankfurt am Main, visually you are most likely familiar with Römerberg. In fact, this is the historical center of the city, a beautiful, authentic place. In the ninth century, fairs, tournaments, festivals, executions and coronations were held here, and in the fifteenth century the government settled.

In the 16th century, the famous “Justice” fountain with a statue of Justice in the center was installed in the center of the square. A few steps from the fountain is a memorial plaque dedicated to the books burned by the National Socialists in 1933. The eastern row of Römerberg houses is characterized by frame buildings, which were erected in 1986 in accordance with historical plans.

Roemer

Römer Square is one of the most remarkable sights of Frankfurt am Main. Its name came from the town hall, which is located here, and in translation means “Roman”. In 1405, the city council bought local buildings from the merchant Kunz, and over the years, nine more buildings (11 in total) and several courtyards were added. More than one significant event took place on Römer Square, as evidenced by 52 photographs depicting the Kaisers on them.

The famous City Hall suffered serious damage during World War II. Its reconstruction began in 1945 and it was reopened in 1955. The most famous point on the square is certainly the Römer balcony, from which many prominent German figures waved to the welcoming crowd.

Hauptwache square

Hauptwache, often pronounced in Russia as the Guardhouse, is the central and most recognizable square of Frankfurt am Main. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, it was called Schillerplatz. The main architectural element is undoubtedly the baroque building, which used to be the headquarters of the guards of the law. The square itself was rebuilt several times.

The current design features a sunken terrace leading to an underground pedestrian area with shops and a public transport station. What is also remarkable in Hauptwach is an amazing combination of architectural styles. In addition to the headquarters building, the church of St. Catherine stands out, around them are built “newbies”, who took the place of the buildings destroyed during the Second World War.

Museum Embankment

The Museum Embankment of Frankfurt am Main is an amazing place and a real treasure trove for all art lovers. On the south bank of the Main, nine exhibition buildings lined up one after the other, like pearls in a necklace. From west to east they are called:

In addition to the opportunity to visit each museum separately, tourists can participate in one of the largest art festivals – Night of Museums, which takes place annually in August.

Senckenberg Museum

The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History is one of the most visited in Frankfurt. In 2003, the venerable old building, built in 1907, with its impressive exhibition on the history of the planet and evolution, was heavily modernized. It contains one of the most important natural history collections in Europe. Many of the thousands of exhibits are extremely rare and have no analogues.

More than 400,000 people visit the museum every year. Fascinating and sometimes scary pictures open before them. For example, how a huge anaconda devours a wild boar or the skeleton of “Lucy” – an ancient man. But, of course, the most impressive exhibits are dinosaurs.

Opening hours:

Ticket price: 10 euros.

Goethe House Museum

The Goethe House Museum is located exactly where it belongs – in the homeland of the great poet and thinker. The building, built in the seventeenth century, was destroyed during the bombing of the Second World War. However, the old house was completely restored in the form as close as possible to the original building. The furnishing of the kitchen, living room and reception rooms fully corresponds to the bourgeois life of the late Baroque. Goethe's studio room looks the same as during the life of the creator.

It was here that he wrote the famous “Faust” and “The Sufferings of Young Werther”. The museum exhibits an extensive collection of paintings, sketches and busts from the 18th and 19th centuries, from late baroque and classicism to romanticism and Biedermeier. This exposition clearly shows the connection of the writer with art. Well, at specially organized exhibitions, visitors can see archival materials on Goethe, for example, excerpts from manuscripts and some confidential documents.

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday – from 10:00 to 18:00, Sunday and public holidays – from 10:00 to 17:30. Ticket price: 7 euros, children under 6 years old – free of charge.

old opera

The current building of the old opera is entirely the merit of the citizens of Frankfurt am Main, thanks to the protests and generous donations of which, it was completely restored after the terrible bombing. The grand opening took place on August 28, 1981. Since then, more than 300 different events have been held annually at the old opera.

The season starts with the festival “Auftakt”, which is dedicated to contemporary music. The Great Hall (2450 seats) hosts performances by national and international ensembles and soloists, the Mozart Hall (720 seats) hosts chamber and symphony concerts, song evenings. The range of performances is amazing. There are concerts, musicals, jazz performances, and even rock performances! Everyone will find something to their liking.

frankfurt cathedral

Strictly speaking, in fact Frankfurt Cathedral is not a cathedral, since it has never been the main church of the bishop. However, the Gothic Cathedral of St. Bartholomew is one of the few that has received the resounding title of “Imperial Cathedral” (Kaiserdom). Since 1356, according to the decree of Charles IV, kings were elected here. Between 1562 and 1792, ten monarchs were crowned emperors in front of the altar of the cathedral. The modern church is the fifth building on this site.

Over the years, the territory of the cathedral expanded, and when, in 1867, a major fire took place, an extensive restoration was carried out in the neo-Gothic style. At the same time, a spire was installed on the tower, which rises to 95 meters. In addition, the external and internal decoration of the cathedral had to be seriously worked on after the devastating war. Visitors can admire not only the cathedral itself, but also visit the museum in the medieval monastery. From April to October, you can climb the tower, although for this you have to climb 324 steps. The cathedral hosts both morning and evening services, which can also be visited.

St. Paul's Church

St. Paul's Church was first consecrated in 1833 as the main Evangelical Lutheran church in the city of Frankfurt am Main. The elliptical central building, made of red sandstone, had the largest and most modern hall in the city, and it was here that the meeting of the first all-German parliament took place. In 1944, the church was completely destroyed, but its reconstruction was not long in coming.

It was consecrated on May 18, 1948 on the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the German National Assembly. Since then, the church has been a kind of symbol of the beginning of German democracy. Sometimes public exhibitions are held on the lower floor, but in general the church serves for state and municipal events.

Church of Saint Justin

The church is located in the Höchst district and is the oldest building in Frankfurt am Main. Its three-storey basilica has been under construction since 830, and surprisingly, it has survived to this day. In general, the Church of St. Justin is a happy exception, as it is one of the few fully preserved churches in Germany from the early Middle Ages. The interior is decorated in medieval and baroque style. In the western part you can find a crucifix also in the Baroque style.

Opening hours: from April to October – from 14:00 to 17:00 (Tuesday-Sunday), from November to March – from 14:00 to 16:00.

Euroturm

Euroturm is a television tower with a height of 337.5 meters. It was designed by Erwin Heinle. Construction itself began in 1974. The top of the tower can be rotated to offer a panoramic view of the Rhine. For several years, a restaurant and a nightclub functioned at the top, but since 1999 the Euroturm has been closed to the public. In 2004, the antenna on the tower was replaced and is now capable of broadcasting high-definition digital television signals. The tower itself is owned by T-Systems, whose main color is magenta. It is in it that the evening illumination of Euroturm is made.

Maintauer

When the Maintower was completed in 1999, even the locally spoiled residents of Frankfurt am M. were impressed. For the first time in Europe, a multi-storey building with a glass facade was built. In fact, Maintower consists of two high-rise buildings that are interconnected with each other. One of them is square, 170 meters high, the other is round, 200 meters high, made of non-reflective glass.

This multi-storey building is especially popular among city residents and tourists. It is the only one in the city that has a public observation deck with a restaurant. In addition, the most popular radio and television studios are located on the 53rd and 54th floors respectively.

Opening hours: observation deck – from 10:00 to 9:00 (Sunday-Thursday) and from 10:00 to 11:00 (Friday-Saturday). Ticket price: 7.50 euros.

Eschenheim Tower

At the very end of the Bockenheimer Anlage park, the Eschenheim Tower shines dazzlingly. Once it was one of the forty-two watchtowers of the city fortifications. But can it be called only one of many? Rather, the most beautiful of all and rather ancient – Eschenheim was built in 1428. The tower is 47 meters high, we have eight levels and two attics. Inside the tower there were living quarters for a security guard, which were used until 1956.

Nowadays, there is a bar and a restaurant inside the building, which often welcome tourists and locals. It is also good that the Eschenheim Tower managed to survive to the present almost in its original form, and now it simply looks magical in the midst of urban bustle.

My Zeil Shopping Center

Whatever you want to buy, you will almost certainly find it on Zeil Street, where, without a doubt, the most impressive building is the shopping center of the same name. This six-story cradle of shopping was built in 2009 by the Italian architect A. Fuksas. Say what you like, but the creator turned around to the fullest, embedding a kind of “whirlpool” or “canyon” into the design. Thanks to him, soft daylight enters the building. The construction budget amounted to almost a billion euros, and more than eighty upscale stores are located inside it. Opening hours: 10:00-21:00. Sunday is a day off.

Frankfurt old bridge

Surprisingly, the “Old Bridge” of Frankfurt am Main is not even hundreds of years old. The old structure was replaced in 1926, and later, thirty-five years later, a reconstruction was carried out. However, this fact does not detract from the popularity of the bridge. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the Old Bridge was essentially the only one of its kind in Frankfurt. There is a very funny legend about its construction. Say, when the master got down to business, the devil came to him and demanded his soul in exchange for help.

He said that the first person to step on the bridge would go with him to hell. The master agreed, but he himself cheated, letting the people of the rooster go forward. The width of the modern version of the bridge is almost 20 meters, the length is 237 meters. Like most architectural objects in Frankfurt, the bridge was bombed during the Second World War. As a result, several spans lined with red sandstone were replaced with metal structures.

Eiserner-Steg footbridge

The Eiserner-Steg iron footbridge was erected between 1868-1869 by a private company of local residents as the third bridge over the Main. From the very beginning, the bridge was built exclusively for pedestrians, because there was no place on the Frankfurt side for the construction of gangways of the road bridge. Eiserner-Steg was rebuilt in 1911. Initially, in order to cross to the other side, residents came to pay a fee in order to cover the cost of construction.

The fee was canceled when the authorities took control of the bridge. The Eiserner Steg is 170 meters long. During the Second World War, it was undermined by the Nazis, but restored quickly enough, in 1946. In the early nineties, during the reconstruction, Eiserner-Steg was completely renovated.

frankfurt zoo

In the very center of Frankfurt am Main, there is an extensive zoo, founded in 1858, as a result of which it is rightfully called one of the oldest in the world. More than 4,500 animals (500 different species) live in open cages and uniquely designed enclosures. One of the notable attractions of the zoo is the largest house of nocturnal animals in Europe.

No less impressive is the so-called Exotarium, where penguins, fresh and marine fish, reptiles and insects brought from all over the world live. A specially built grotto allows you to observe the inhabitants of the depths, even if they disappeared under water.

Opening hours: in summer – from 9:00 to 19:00, in winter – from 9:00 to 17:00. Ticket price: 10 euros, for children from 6 to 17 years old – 5 euros, under five – free of charge.

Batman Park

At the end of the eighteenth century, Bethmann's bankers decided to equip a wonderful garden around their house, which by the forties of the twentieth century was taken over by the city authorities, and since 1952 has been opened to the public. The pearl of the park is the Chinese garden of amazing beauty. This is an exceptional place imbued with a special calmness and East Asian aesthetics. Protected by thick walls from the bustle of the city, the garden was built with a reference to the gardens of China's Huizhou City District.

For some five months in 1989, a spring flower paradise of 4,000 square meters was laid out here with a marble bridge, various pavilions, a pond and even a waterfall. The garden welcomes guests all year round from 7 am until dark. On weekends and holidays – from 10 am until dark.

palm garden

In the heart of a huge metropolis, a real paradise with plants from all over the world comfortably hid. Even without traveling to exotic countries, you can plunge into the stunning botanical variety of the palm garden. One of the iconic points is the tropicary, which displays the plant worlds of various tropical landscapes (savannahs, deserts, monsoon jungles). And in the center of the garden is an amazing flower house where you can admire the sea from beautiful flowers planted on an area of 200 square meters. m. Moreover, regardless of the season.

In addition, various exhibitions and events are constantly held in the garden, including performances by outstanding contemporary botanists and musical groups. In warm weather, even children will not be bored here – there is a playground, a pond with boats, minigolf and even a small railway.

Opening hours: from February to October – 9:00-18:00, from November to January – 9:00-19:00. Ticket price: 7 euros, for children under 13 years old – 2 euros.

In Frankfurt am Main, tourism.com.de recommends the following hotels: