Niederrad is a quarter of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is part of the ''

Ortsbezirk A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, ''Stadtbezirke'' usually only exist in a metropo ...

Süd'' and is subdivided into the ''Stadtbezirke'' Niederrad-Nord, Niederrad-Süd and the new Niederrad-West.

History

The district is mainly designated as residential area, although it has a large

office park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

(''Bürostadt'') in its western half. It includes the early social housing area of Bruchfeldstraße which was planned by the urban planners in the 1920s under the direction of

Ernst May Ernst May (27 July 1886 – 11 September 1970) was a German architect and city planner. May successfully applied urban design techniques to the city of Frankfurt am Main during the Weimar Republic period, and in 1930 less successfully expor ...

, the Adolf-Miersch housing area (1957/58) and the high-rise Mainfeld residential area (begun in 1963, built mainly during the early 1970s). In 1151 Niederrad was mentioned for the first time in a document, referring to it simply as "Rode" (literally: "the clearing") in the imperial forest between

Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

and Schwanheim. In 1193 the Sandhof, a (small) royal moated castle, is mentioned for the first time. In 1221 the Sandhof passes into the possession of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

(until 1809). In 1552 Niederrad and the Sandhof are put to the torch by Markgrave Alcibiades of Brandenburg. In 1616, another fire almost completely burns Niederrad to the ground. In 1726 the first protestant church is built (now: Paul-Gerhard-Gemeinde). Around 1750 the Sandhof gets a baroque architectural makeover. Between 1761 and 74 the Frauenhof is built. The building is first used for a cotton printing factory by the merchant Johann Friedrich Müller. Around 1850 Niederrad's population increases to 2,000 people. In 1866 Niederrad, like Frankfurt am Main, is annexed by Prussia, as a result of the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

. In 1871 Niederrad's first catholic church is built. In 1887 the Sandhof, who came into possession of the city government in 1884, is turned into a (part of) a hospital that would later become the hospital of the

Frankfurt University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

. On July 1 of 1900 Niederrad is officially integrated into the city of Frankfurt. (Population at the time: 8,800 people.) Before, it was only part of the surrounding district. In 1930 Niederrad reaches a population of 14,000 people. At the same time the psychiatric clinic is built by Ernst May and Professor Elsässer. In 1932/33 a new catholic church is built. In 1944 the Sandhof is destroyed by allied bombardment. Other parts of Niederrad are also severely damaged. In 1950 Niederrad's population reaches 18,000 people. As of 2019, Niederrad had a population of 26,488 people.

Situation

Niederrad is bordered in the north by the

River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, Hesse. The cities of Mainz and Wies ...

, in the west by the A5 Autobahn, in the south by the

Main Railway The Main Railway (German: ''Mainbahn'', pronounced 'mine barn') is a 37.5 km-long double-track rail electrification, electrified railway line, which runs on the south side of the river Main (river), Main from Mainz to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, ...

and Flughafenstraße, and in the east by the former racecourse, Kennedyallee and the

Main-Neckar Railway The Main-Neckar Railway (german: Main-Neckar–Eisenbahn, MNE) is a main line railway west of the Odenwald in the Upper Rhine Plain of Germany that connects Frankfurt am Main to Heidelberg via Darmstadt, Bensheim and Weinheim. It was opened in 18 ...

. Niederrad is the site of the western part of the University Hospital Frankfurt. Until 2018, the Bürostadt Niederrad was technically part of the Schwanheim district, but Niederrad now covers the entire Bürostadt, which has been renamed the Lyoner Quartier. The former Niederrad Racecourse – now home to a park and the academy of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

– is located administratively in the district of

. File:Frauenhofniederrad1.jpg, ''Frauenhof'', a baroque building in Niederrad from 1761 File:FfmCity+Rennbahn v.jpg, Niederrad racecourse File:Niederrad Bruchfeldstraße 5.jpg, Bruchfeldstraße File:Im Mainfeld, Frankfurt.jpg, ''Mainfeld'', a residential area

References

{{Authority control Districts of Frankfurt