Explorations of Germany’s fifth largest city.
Frankfurt am Main is a very modern looking German city. Like many other large cities, it was bombed severely during WWII. Since then, Frankfurt has grown into a commercial powerhouse and home to the European Central Bank.
A bit of Frankfurt has been restored in the city center, some of which was rebuilt very recently (I approve). Frankfurt wasn’t my favorite place to visit in Germany on this trip, but one of my favorite places I visited was in Frankfurt. I stayed in the area for a few days, exploring Frankfurt and the local area, including visits to Aschaffenburg and Mainz.
I’m starting off with the city center in this post, even though I saw something else first.
Jana Irving Views of skyscrapers right away in the Hauptwache. Here you can find the closest S-bahn station to the city center.
Jana Irving Yay! An old looking building! Assume every old looking building to have been greatly restored after WWII.
Jana Irving Paulskirche was the location of the first democratically elected parliament in Germany in 1848.
Jana Irving They restored the facade of the Altes Rathaus (old city hall). There is now a modern offices behind the old facade.
Jana Irving I’m so glad that this was saved, which was sort of rare in the 1950s.
Jana Irving Gorgeous building.
Jana Irving Sigh. Gorgeous facade with what the hell on top. It wouldn’t have taken much to make that blend in.
Jana Irving The medieval facade of the Römer, which served as the city hall for centuries.
Jana Irving More medieval style building across the Römerberg. Before the war, much of central Frankfurt looked similar to this.
Jana Irving Alte Nikolaikirche (Old St. Nicholas Church) on the right side of the Römerberg.
Jana Irving The Historical Museum Frankfurt near the Main.
Jana Irving Eiserner Steg (Iron Footbridge).
Jana Irving Most of the skyscrapers are all in that small section of the city center.
Jana Irving A very castle looking cafe.
Jana Irving Entering the New Frankfurt Old Town. From 2011-2018, on the site of a now demolished ugly building, a reconstructed “old town” was constructed based on the buildings that were originally on the site. The exterior of the buildings are fantastic. The amount of new luxury apartments in the area is questionable, but at least they aren’t put in a soulless tower like they usually are and actually add something to the city.
Jana Irving Much better than what was here. Honestly, glass curtain buildings would have been an improvement.
Haus zur goldenen Waage (House of the Golden Scales) was completed in 2017 based on the original building on the site. Part of the foundational walls survived the war, but they were pulled down in the 1950s. The current construction looks like an 1800s restoration to be honest.
Jana Irving Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus (Imperial Dome of Saint Bartholomew), the Cathedral of Frankfurt (even though it has never actually been a cathedral).
Jana Irving For being the largest church in Frankfurt, it really isn’t that big. The nave is pretty short compared the the size of the transepts (the wings that go to the left and right of the center). The church had a massive fire in 1867. The nave was reconstructed at a much taller height in order to match the transepts.
Jana Irving Rudolf II of Praunheim, 14th century, is buried inside of the church. I just thought it looked fancy.
Jana Irving Less than an hour later, the sun was out and shining.
Jana Irving The European Central Bank in Willy-Brandt-Platz.
Jana Irving All the skyscrapers seem to be clustered in this area.
Jana Irving The Frankfurt Archaeological Museum is in a old monastery.
Jana Irving It’s a pretty good museum. The cloister still had some wonderful frescoes.
Jana Irving A medieval cloister next to skyscrapers.
Jana Irving Of course, I found a cemetery (Hauptfriedhof).
Jana Irving I love German cemeteries. They are so park like and its normal for people to walk around them, so I don’t feel like such a weirdo.
Jana Irving I also found a few very adorable squirrels.
Jana Irving Now for my favorite stop, the Frankfurt Botanical Garden.
Jana Irving This garden has a ton of greenhouses, making it a great place to see plants even in March.
Jana Irving Such a fantastic place.
Jana Irving Spring flowers were in bloom outside as well.
Jana Irving They also have a butterfly house, which had a lot of butterflies from North America. My luck.
Jana Irving Europaturm-Fernmeldeturm, Europe had a fad of giant broadcast towers for a few decades.
Jana Irving I also went to the Frankfurt Zoo where I saw this cute little baby.
Frankfurt was a nice place to visit. There is a bunch of museums with a great museum pass, botanical garden, zoo, cemeteries, and parks.
Check out my next update where I explore the city of Mainz!
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Start at the beginning of this European adventure!
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