Offenbach am Main () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

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 ...

, on the left bank of the river

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

. It borders

Frankfurt 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 ...

and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It has a population of 138,335 (December 2018). In the 20th century, the city's economy was built on machine-building, leather-making, typography and design, and the automobile and pharmaceutical industries.

Geography

Subdivision

The inner city area of Offenbach is quite large and consists of the historic center of the city and its expansions of the 1800s. Three formerly independent suburbs were incorporated in the first half of the 20th century:

Bürgel Bürgel is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 12 km east of Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms ...

being the first in 1908, then

Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter B ...

and Rumpenheim in 1938 and 1942. South of the inner city area are the suburbs Lauterborn, Rosenhöhe and Tempelsee. Kaiserlei is a commercial district in the far west of the city bordering Frankfurt. In the west Waldheim is a residential neighborhood on the city limits with ''Mühlheim am Main''. In 2010 the eastern part of the city center was officially named Mathildenviertel, as the area was already unofficially called by the locals. Unlike most larger cities in Germany, Offenbach was not completely divided into districts. Only the nine neighborhoods mentioned above were officially districts, leaving the largest parts of the city officially unnamed. Although specific names for neighborhoods and areas were already in use among the locals and residents. In June 2019 the city council approved a new act that subdivides the city's area entirely into 21 districts. The nine existing districts largely remained the same, most of them were even expanded. The new districts were laid out after the already by locals commonly known neighborhoods, such as the Westend, the Nordend or Buchhügel. A completely new name was only needed to be found for one neighborhood south of the city center, which never had commonly used name before: Lindenfeld. The name derived from an old name of a land lot in this area, when it was still fields in agricultural use prior to the 1800s. As of July 2019 there are the following 21 districts: *Bieber *Bieberer Berg *Buchhügel *Buchrain *Bürgel *Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung *Hafen *Kaiserlei *Lauterborn *Lindenfeld *Mathildenviertel *Musikerviertel *Nordend *Offenbach-Ost *Rosenhöhe *Rumpenheim *Senefelderquartier *Tempelsee *Waldheim *Westend *Zentrum

Climate

Offenbach experiences a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). There are subtropical summers with warm to hot temperatures ranging from 29.8 °C at daytime and 6.9 °C at night. Winters are temperate cool and mild with temperatures ranging from 17.9 °C at daytime and 2.5 °C at night. Due to its location in the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...

, the whole Rhein-Main Metropolitan Region generally experiences one of the warmest climates in Germany, making it possible to grow plants from the subtropics such as

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

and

olive trees The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

History

The first documented reference to a suburb of Offenbach appears in 770. In a document of the Holy Roman

Emperor Otto II An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

dating to 977 exists the first mention of the place of Offenbach. During the Middle Ages Offenbach passed through many hands. Only in 1486 could the Count Ludwig of Isenburg finally take control of city for his family, and 1556 Count Reinhard of Isenburg relocated his Residence to Offenbach, building a palace, the Isenburger Schloß (Isenburg Palace), which was completed in 1559. It was destroyed by fire in 1564 and rebuilt in 1578. In 1635 Offenbach given to the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt but it was returned to the Isenburg-Birstein Count (later Prince) in 1642 and remained in that Principality until 1815 when the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

gave the city to the Austrian Emperor,

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

. A year later it was given to the

Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

. Always very close to the city centre of Frankfurt, Offenbach was a popular location for business. The town has its own trade fair, and many companies have opened facilities here because there are fewer restrictions and no closed businesses. French Protestants (

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s) came in the 17th century and settled in Offenbach and contributed to making Offenbach a prosperous city, e.g., bringing knowledge of tobacco with them and turning Offenbach into a centre for rolling cigars. The town was more cosmopolitan than Frankfurt; famous people such as

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

visited it several times. The Rumpenheim Palace and its park were a popular destination for monarchs in the 19th century. The city was thereafter ruled by Grand Dukes of Hesse and by Rhine until the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Offenbach became the center of the traditional design with figures such as the architect

Hugo Eberhardt Hugo Eberhardt (2 May 1874, Furtwangen im Schwarzwald − 8 April 1959) was a German Architect. Biography Eberhardt started his career as a ship interior architect for Norddeutscher Lloyd, After working in Kos as an archeologist for a German ...

, the typographer

Rudolf Koch Rudolf Koch (20 November 1876 – 9 April 1934) was a German type designer, professor, and a master of lettering, calligraphy, typography and illustration. Commonly known for his typefaces created for the Klingspor Type Foundry, his most widel ...

, the bookbinder and designer

Ignatz Wiemeler Ignatz Wiemeler (1895–1952) was a German bookbinder and educator, internationally known and exhibited. He was part of the ''Offenbach School'' movement, alongside Rudolf Koch and the painter Karl Friedrich Lippmann. Biography Wiemeler was born ...

and

Ernst Engel Ernst Engel (; ; 26 March 18218 December 1896) was a German statistician and economist, famous for the Engel curve and Engel's law. Biography Ernst was born in Dresden in 1821. He studied at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology in Ki ...

and the painter

Karl Friedrich Lippmann Karl Friedrich Lippmann (also "Carl Fr. Lippmann" and "FK Lippmann"; 27 October 1883, in Offenbach am Main – 30 May 1957) was a German painter of the New Objectivity, known for landscapes and portraits. Life Karl Friedrich Lippmann was o ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

a third of the city was destroyed by Allied bombing, which claimed 467 lives. With the new district Lauterborn the city was expanded to the south in the 1960s. On the border with Frankfurt, the office district Kaiserlei was built. Offenbach is a so-called "Sozialer Brennpunkt" ("multiple social problems area") because of unemployment, poverty, gang related crime and migration. Before its eradication in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, the city had a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

population. Jews settled in the city as late as the late 16th century, and it is believed that out of the 871 residents of the town as of 1829, the 40 Jewish families comprised nearly a quarter of the town's population. They also established their own cemetery.

Governance

Mayor

The current mayor of Offenbach is Felix Schwenke of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD). He was elected in 2017. The most recent mayoral election was held on 10 September 2017, with a runoff held on 24 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Felix Schwenke , align=left,

, 12,076 , 43.3 , 26,408 , 66.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Peter Freier , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 7,918 , 28.4 , 13,062 , 33.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Peter Schneider , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, 3,963 , 14.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christin Thüne , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

, 1,476 , 5.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Elke Kreiß , align=left, The Left , 1,032 , 3.7 , - , , align=left, Muhsin Senol , align=left, Forum New Offenbach , 916 , 3.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Helge Herget , align=left,

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...

, 520 , 1.9 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 27,901 ! 99.3 ! 39,470 ! 97.4 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 209 ! 0.7 ! 1,061 ! 2.6 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 28,110 ! 100.0 ! 40,531 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 91,924 ! 30.6 ! 92,115 ! 44.0 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Offenbach
1st round
The following is a list of mayors since 1824: *1824–1826: Peter Georg d'Orville *1826–1834: Heinrich Philipp Schwaner *1834–1837: Peter Georg d'Orville *1837–1849: Jonas Budden *1849–1859: Friedrich August Schäfer *1859–1867: Johann Heinrich Dick *1867–1874: Johann Martin Hirschmann *1874–1882: Hermann Stölting *1883–1907: Wilhelm Brink *1907–1919: Andreas Dullo *1919–1933: Max Granzin *1947–1949: Johannes Rebholz *1950–1957: Hans Klüber *1957–1974: Georg Dietrich *1974–1980: Walter Buckpesch *1980–1986: Walter Suermann *1986–1994: Wolfgang Reuter *1994–2006: Gerhard Grandtke *2006–2018: Horst Schneider *2018–: Felix Schwenke

City council

The Offenbach city council (''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'') governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 March 2021, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , align=left, Felix Schwenke , 610,508 , 28.4 , 3.6 , 20 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , align=left, Sybille Schumann , 390,305 , 18.1 , 3.6 , 13 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Roland Walter , 389,099 , 18.1 , 6.0 , 13 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , align=left, Sven Malsy , 183,773 , 8.5 , 0.7 , 6 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , align=left, Christin Thüne , 157,125 , 7.3 , 1.7 , 5 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Dominik Schwagereit , 134,284 , 6.2 , 3.3 , 4 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

(FW) , align=left, Dennis Lehmann , 91,446 , 4.2 , 1.5 , 3 , 1 , - , , align=left, Forum New Offenbach (FNO) , align=left, Muhsin Senol , 57,626 , 2.7 , 0.2 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Piraten) , align=left, Gregory Engels , 46,459 , 2.2 , 0.5 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...

(PARTEI) , align=left, Daniel Pfeiffer , 34,957 , 1.6 , 1.1 , 1 , 1 , - , , align=left, Young Offenbach (JO) , align=left, Dominik Imeraj , 28,525 , 1.3 , 0.0 , 1 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG) , align=left, Fikri Türet , 27,574 , 1.3 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 32,424 ! 96.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,308 ! 3.9 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 33,732 ! 100.0 ! ! 71 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 94,827 ! 35.6 ! 2.7 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Statistics Hesse

Twin towns – sister cities

Offenbach am Main is twinned with: *

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the ...

, France (1955) *

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

, Luxembourg (1956) *

Mödling Mödling () is the capital of the Austrian Mödling (district), district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna. Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone (Industrieviertel). The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises ...

, Austria (1956) * Saint-Gilles, Belgium (1956) *

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

, England, United Kingdom (1956) * Zemun (Belgrade), Serbia (1956) *

Velletri Velletri (; la, Velitrae; xvo, Velester) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring com ...

, Italy (1957) * Rivas, Nicaragua (1986) * Kawagoe, Japan (1983) *

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

, Russia (1988) *

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

, China (1997)

Demographics

Offenbach has a large non-German population. In 2016, foreign nationals made up 37% of the population. The largest communities are, in that order, from Turkey, Greece, Romania, Poland and Italy. According to census data, Offenbach and

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

had the highest share of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

migrants of all German districts in 2011.

Population history

Until the end of the 17th century, Offenbach remained a small town with less than a thousand inhabitants. With the coming into power of the count Johann Philipp in 1685, the city began to develop and the population rose steadily. In the 19th century the city became industrialized and the population increased even tenfold. Offenbach is one of the German cities where Germans without migrant background make up a minority of the population. As of 31 December 2012, approx. 44.3% of residents or 55,047 people had no foreign background. In contrast to that, there were 55.7% or 69,214 people with at least one non-German grandparent. The largest of those groups are:

Economy

Until the early 1970s Offenbach was dominated by the machine-building and leather industries. The city hosts the German Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies to this day. The

Deutscher Wetterdienst The () or DWD for short, is the German Meteorological Service, based in Offenbach am Main, Germany, which monitors weather and meteorological conditions over Germany and provides weather services for the general public and for nautical, avia ...

, commonly abbreviated as DWD, (translated from German as German Meteorological Service), residing in the Westend district. Offenbach was also the European center of

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...

, with Gebr. Klingspor and Linotype (inventors of

Optima Optima is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf and released by the D. Stempel AG foundry, Frankfurt, West Germany in 1958. Though classified as a sans-serif, Optima has a subtle swelling at the terminals suggesting a glyphic ...

Palatino Palatino is the name of an old-style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf, initially released in 1949 by the Stempel foundry and later by other companies, most notably the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. Named after the 16th-century Italia ...

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

) moving to nearby

Eschborn Eschborn () is a town in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 21,488 (2018). Eschborn is home to numerous corporations due to its proximity to Frankfurt and relatively ...

in the 1970s and

MAN Roland Manroland AG manufactures newspaper web offset presses, commercial web offset presses, and sheetfed offset presses for commercial, publications and packaging printing. The company has production facilities in Offenbach am Main and Augsburg. M ...

printing machines still a major employer today. Typography and design still remain important with a cluster of graphic design and industrial design companies, as well as the university level Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main (HfG) design school and the

Klingspor Museum The Klingspor-Museum is a museum in Offenbach, Germany, specializing in the art of modern book production, typography and type. It includes a collection of fine art books from Karl Klingspor, one of the owners of Klingspor Type Foundry in Offe ...

. In recent years Offenbach has become a popular location for a wide array of services, especially from the transport sectors. Offenbach is the host to the European headquarters of

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Hyundai Motors Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...

and

Kumho Tires Kumho Tire (formerly known as Samyang Tire) is a Korean tire manufacturer. It is a subsidiary of Chinese tire conglomerate . Kumho Tire was previously operated as a business unit of the Kumho Asiana Group. Operations An industrial conglomerate ...

. Omega-haus01.JPG, An office building in Offenbach-Kaiserlei Zeitungsrollenoffsetdruck-COLORMAN.jpg, A printing machine produced by

Manroland Manroland AG manufactures newspaper web offset presses, commercial web offset presses, and sheetfed offset presses for commercial, publications and packaging printing. The company has production facilities in Offenbach am Main and Augsburg. Ma ...

Honda Small Hybrid Sports Concept.jpg, Honda Small Hybrid Sports Concept developed in Offenbach Sheraton-offenbach.jpg, The Sheraton Offenbach 01 Ring Center shopping mall, Offenbach am Main, Germany.jpg, Einkaufszentrum Ring Center

Arts and culture

Attractions

In Offenbach there is no specific Old Town, but there are several buildings which survived bombing during the war and have been restored. One of them is the Neo-baroque palace ''Büsingpalais'' with the Büsingpark, reconstructed in the 1980s. Today it is used as a congress center close to the Sheraton hotel. Between the shopping area and the Main, is the ''Lilipark'' and the ''Lilitemple'', named after

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

's fiancée Lili Schönemann. The most important building is the ' (Isenburg Palace), a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

palace from 1576. It is today used by the Offenbach Design University which is next to it. There is also a neoclassic palace in the borough Rumpenheim, the ''Rumpenheimer Schloss'' it now serves exclusively as domestic dwellings but the park is public. *''Isenburger Schloss'', a Renaissance building, now used by the Offenbach Design University *''Büsingpalais'' with Büsingpark *''Wilhelmsplatz'' a square with coffee houses and three times a week a market. *Buildings of the French Protestant Church and the French Protestant Community. *Rumpenheim Palace. *Former Synagogue "Capitol" (now a concert hall next to the new Synagogue). *The Westend Quarter (19th century). *Several

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

apartment houses. *Buildings by early 20th century architect

: "Heyne" Factory, main building of the Design University, AOK Insurance building. *Prefabricated houses by

Egon Eiermann Egon Eiermann (29 September 1904 – 20 July 1970) was one of Germany's most prominent architects in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a furniture designer. From 1947, he was Professor for architecture at the Technical University ...

in Lauterborn

Events

There are several festivals in Offenbach, some of these are: * ''Lichterfest im Büsing-Park'' (festival of lights in the park of the Büsing palais) * ''Nacht der Museen'' (with Frankfurt) * ''Mainuferfest'' * ''Cross Media Night''

Museums

German Leather Museum The German Leather Museum (''Deutsches Ledermuseum''), located in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, Germany, is one of the largest leather museums in the world. It has a wide variety of leather items, including some exhibits, which are believed to be mor ...

* ''

'', museum of

and

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

* ''Haus der Stadtgeschichte'', municipal historical museum * ''Rosenheim-Museum'' for the painter Bernd Rosenheim

Sports

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club was founded in 1901.

Infrastructure

Transport

Roads

The streets of central Offenbach are usually congested with cars during the rush hour. Some areas, especially around the shopping streets, are pedestrian-only streets. There are numerous car parks located throughout the city. The Offenbacher Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange where the Autobahnen A 3 (

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

) and A 661 meet. The A661 crosses the A 3 (

) and A 5 (

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

Public transport

The city is connected by a major line of the S-Bahn railway system to Frankfurt. The station in the city center is ''Marktplatz''. In general, six stations are located in Offenbach: ''Offenbach-Kaiserlei'', ''Offenbach-Ledermuseum'', ''Offenbach-Marktplatz'', '' Offenbach-Ost'', ''Offenbach-Bieber'', ''Offenbach-Waldhof''. Trains run every 5–10 minutes between Offenbach and Frankfurt. A 24 hours Service between both cities was introduced in 2013. The journey from Offenbach Marktplatz to Frankfurt Main Station takes 15 minutes, Frankfurt Airport can be reached within 26 minutes. Suburban trains run underground in downtown Offenbach. The city tunnel was opened in 1996. Services split up at Offenbach-Ost Station to Hanau (S8 and S9 trains), Rödermark (S1) and Dietzenbach (S2). An often-addressed problem is that there is no direct interchange between regional and suburban trains in Offenbach, since the lines were separated when the tunnel was built. Therefore, residents and city officials have proposed several times that platforms for regional trains should be added to the Offenbach-Ost Station. The city's municipal public transportation services are operated by the "Offenbacher Verkehrsbetriebe" (OVB) and its subcontractors. Nine routes (numbered 101-108 and 120) connect all boroughs with the major train stations at Marktplatz, Offenbach-Ost and Kaiserlei as well as the Central Station. The bus network has a very good coverage and frequency of service. All routes except for number 102 and number 107 busses stop at Marktplatz station, making it the most important transit hub in the city. Buses usually run with a 15-minute headway on working days and a 30-minute headway on Sundays, public holidays and after 8:00 pm. Exemptions are routes 103, 107 and 120 which run every 30 minutes. Although number 103 and 120 buses share most of their route, creating a 15-minute headway on the shared section in downtown Offenbach. Those two routes also connect the city of Offenbach with its surrounding towns, Frankfurt am Main, Mühlheim am Main and Obertshausen. Out of all municipal bus services the number 101 bus is the most frequented route. It runs every 7 or 8 minutes Mondays through Fridays. Service on the other most frequented routes (104 and 105) is also increased to a 7/8-minute headway during rush hours. In addition to the municipal bus services there are regional buses that serve the city. Two express bus routes connect Offenbach to the city of Langen (route X83) and Bad Vilbel (X97). Other services are the number OF-30 bus to Heusenstamm, the 41 bus to Fechenheim as well as the 551 to Gravenbruch, Enkheim and Bad Vilbel. Regional trains stop at the Offenbach Central Station in the city's center. The station is on the Frankfurt-Hanau main line which is one of railway with the most traffic in Germany. Mostly hourly service for Wächsersbach, Fulda, Würzburg and Erbach call at the Offenbach Central Station. There is no long-distance train service at central station, although many high-speed trains pass through on their way from Frankfurt to Munich, Berlin or Hamburg. The station lost most of its importance when the suburban trains were re-routed through the newly build tunnel beneath Berliner Straße. Nonetheless a train ride from Offenbach Central Station to Frankfurt Central Station takes only ten minutes which makes it a much-appreciated route for commuters.

Frankfurt Airport

The city is accessed from around the world via the

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...

, (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) which is located from Offenbach. The airport can be reached by car or bus and has two train stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 (direction "Offenbach Ost or "Hanau"), departing from the regional traffic station, take 25 minutes from the airport to get to Offenbach.

Notable people

Salomon Formstecher Rabbiner aus Offenbach am Main

Johann André Johann André (28 March 1741 – 18 June 1799) was a German musician, composer and music publisher of the Classical period. He was born and died in Offenbach am Main. In 1774, as the patriarch of a Huguenot family, André founded one of the firs ...

(1741–1799), founder of the music publishing firm named after him * Moritz Wilhelm August Breidenbach (1796–1857), jurist *

Salomon Formstecher Salomon Formstecher, in English also Solomon, (1808–1889) was a German reform rabbi and student of Jewish theology. Formstecher was born in Offenbach am Main on July 28, 1808. After graduating (Ph.D. 1831) from the Giessen University, he settl ...

(1808–1889), rabbi and philosopher *

Philipp Mainländer Philipp Mainländer (5 October 1841 – 1 April 1876) was a German philosopher and poet. Born Philipp Batz, he later changed his name to "Mainländer" in homage to his hometown, Offenbach am Main. In his central work (''The Philosophy of Re ...

(1841–1876), poet and philosopher * Siegfried Guggenheim (1873–1961), lawyer, notary and art collector *

Richard Heyne Richard Heyne (27 September 1882, (Offenbach am Main) - 18 March 1961, (Offenbach am Main)) was a Hesse, Hessian German People's Party, DVP politician and former member of the Landtag des Volksstaates Hessen, Landtags des Volksstaates Hessen in th ...

(1882–1961), member of Landtag and producer *

Christian Dell Christian Dell (24 February 1893 – 18 July 1974) was a German silversmith. Biography Dell was born in Offenbach am Main in Hesse. From 1907 to 1911 he completed the silver forging studies at the academy. In 1912-13 he studied at the Saxo ...

(1882–1974), industrial designer, factory designer on

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

* Hans Halberstadt (1885–1966), American fencer *

Prince Philipp of Hesse Philipp, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (6 November 1896 – 25 October 1980) was head of the Electoral House of Hesse from 1940 to 1980. He joined the Nazi Party in 1930, and, when they gained power with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancel ...

(1896–1980), prince and governor *

Bernard von Brentano Bernard von Brentano (15 October 1901, in Offenbach am Main – 29 December 1964, in Wiesbaden) was a German writer, poet, playwright, storyteller, novelist, essayist and journalist. Life Brentano was a son of the Hessian Interior and Justice ...

(1901–1964), writer, essayist and journalist *

Heinrich von Brentano Heinrich Joseph Maximilian Johann Maria von Brentano di Tremezzo (20 June 1904 – 14 November 1964), known professionally as Heinrich von Brentano, was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as Federal Minister ...

(1904–1964), conservative politician *

Berthold Wolpe Berthold Ludwig Wolpe (29 October 1905 – 5 July 1989) was a German calligrapher, typographer, type designer, book designer and illustrator. He was born into a Jewish family at Offenbach near Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfu ...

(1905–1989), typographer and

type designer Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

Hans Hotter Hans Hotter (19 January 19096 December 2003) was a German operatic bass-baritone. He stood 6 ft 4 in and his appearance was striking. His voice and diction were equally recognisable. Early life and career Born in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, ...

(1909–2003), opera singer *

Helene Mayer Helene Julie Mayer (20 December 1910 – 10 October 1953) was a German-born fencer who won the gold medal at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, and the silver medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. She competed for Nazi Germany in Berlin, despite ...

(1910–1953), fencer, Olympic champion *

Gottfried Böhm Gottfried Böhm (; 23 January 1920 – 9 June 2021) was a German architect and sculptor. His reputation is based on creating highly sculptural buildings made of concrete, steel, and glass. Böhm's first independent building was the Cologne ...

(1920–2021), architect who won the

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

in 1986 * Hermann Nuber (1935-2022), footballer * Ray Bumatai (1952–2005), musician, actor and singer *

Jimmy Hartwig William "Jimmy" Hartwig (born 5 October 1954) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He played for Kickers Offenbach, TSV 1860 Munich, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Köln and FC Homburg of the Bundesliga and for ...

(born 1954), football player, manager and actor *

Olli Dittrich Oliver Michael Dittrich (born 20 November 1956) is a German television personality, comedian, actor, and musician. Life Dittrich completed a three year-education as a theatre painter in the Hamburg State Opera (1975–1978). At the same time, ...

(born 1956), actor and comedian *

Smudo Michael Bernd Schmidt (; born 6 March 1968), better known as Smudo, is a German rapper and songwriter in the hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. References External links Official websiteSmudoon Discogs Smudoon IMDb IMDb (an abbrev ...

(born 1968), musician and rapper *

Sven Beckert Sven Beckert is Laird Bell Professor of American History at Harvard University, where he teaches the history of the United States in the nineteenth century, and global history. With Christine A. Desan, he is the co-director of the Program on t ...

(born 1969), history professor at Harvard, winner of 2015 Bancroft Prize for Empire of Cotton *

Helma Wennemers Helma B. Wennemers (born 24 June 1969 in Offenbach am Main) is a German organic chemist. She is a professor of organic chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich). Education Helma Wennemers studied chemistry ...

(born 1969), German organic chemist and professor * Christian Lammert (born 1969), political scientist *

Christian Sievers Christian Sievers (born 1969 in Offenbach am Main) is a German journalist and news presenter. Career After graduating secondary school with his ''Abitur'' in 1989, Sievers studied law in Berlin and Freiburg. During his studies, he also worked at ...

(born 1969), journalist *

Tarek Al-Wazir Tarek Mohammed Al-Wazir ( ar, طارق محمد الوزير; born 3 January 1971) is a politician in the German Green Party. Since January 2014 he has been deputy to the Hessian Minister-President, and Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, T ...

(born 1971), politician, Deputy of the Hessian Minister-President * Aykut Anhan (born 1985), musician and rapper

Notable residents

Jacob Frank Jacob Joseph Frank ( he, יעקב פרנק; pl, Jakub Józef Frank; born Jakub Lejbowicz; 1726 – December 10, 1791) was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi (1626 ...

(1726–1791), Jewish religious leader *

Abraham Bing Abraham Bing (1752–1841) was the Oberrabbiner (Chief Rabbi) of Würzburg, and a Rosh yeshiva there. He trained several prominent German rabbis. Biography Bing received his rabbinic training from the talmudist and kabbalist Nathan Adler. (The ...

(1752–1841), rabbi *

(1876–1934), typeface designer, calligrapher and university professor * Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970), official and justice inspector, attended Goethschule here *

Heinrich Kaminski Heinrich Kaminski (4 July 1886 - 21 June 1946) was a German composer. Life Kaminski was born in Tiengen in the Schwarzwald, the son of an Old Catholic priest of Jewish parentage. After a short period working in a bank in Offenbach, he moved ...

(1886–1946), composer, worked here *

(1895–1952),

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

and university professor * Fritz Kredel (1900–1973), German-American artist and graphic designer, studied here *

Regina Jonas Regina Jonas (; German: ''Regine Jonas'';As documented by ''Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Geburtsregister; Laufendenummer 892'' which reads: "''In front of the signed registrar appeared today... Wolff Jonas... a ...

(1902–1944), first female Rabbi, ordained in Offenbach *

Karlgeorg Hoefer Karlgeorg Hoefer (6 February 1914 – 8 October 2000) was a German calligrapher and typographer. Hoefer was born in Schlesisch-Drehnow (now Drzonów) in Silesia. He taught typography at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (until 1970 "We ...

(1914–2000),

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

Cornelia Hanisch Cornelia Hanisch (; born 12 June 1952) is a retired German fencer. She won a gold medal in the team foil and a silver in the individual foil at the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad a ...

(born 1952), fencer, Olympic winner *

Dieter Müller Dieter Müller (né Kaster; 1 April 1954) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. He achieved his greatest success playing for 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga in the late 1970s. Müller scored 177 goals in 303 games i ...

(born 1954), footballer *

Rudi Völler Rudolf "Rudi" Völler (; born 13 April 1960), nicknamed "''Tante Käthe''" ("Aunt Käthe"), is a German former professional football player and manager who serves as the sporting director for Bayer Leverkusen. A forward, Völler won the FIFA W ...

(born 1960), football player and manager *

Götz Otto Götz Otto (born 15 October 1967) is a German film and television actor who is perhaps best known internationally for his roles as henchman Richard Stamper in the 1997 James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', as Adolf Hitler's adjutant Otto Gün ...

(born 1967), actor *

Anthony Rother Anthony Rother (born 29 April 1972) is an electronic music composer, producer and label owner living in Frankfurt, Germany. Rother's electro sound ("Sex With the Machines", "Simulationszeitalter", "Hacker") is characterized by repetitive machi ...

(born 1972), electronic musician

Gallery

Offenbach Isenburger Schloss c.jpg, ''Isenburger Schloss'' Büsing Palais d.jpg, ''Büsingpalais'' Offenbach Rumpenheimer Schloss a.jpg, ''Rumpenheimer Schloss'' OFwochenmarkt.jpg, The market on Wilhelmsplatz Hfg-offenbach-germany.jpg, Detail at the building of the HfG, designed by Hugo Eberhardt Darmstädter-straße.jpg, A typical street in Offenbach Klinikum-offenbach-2010.JPG, The municipal hospital Buchrainweg29.jpg, The house where Rudolf Koch lived, one of the art deco houses in the southwestern part of the town Offenbach Hills.jpg, Offenbach hills

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Offenbach Am Main Cities in Hesse Populated places on the Main basin Populated riverside places in Germany Historic Jewish communities Grand Duchy of Hesse