The Willy-Brandt-Platz is a central square in

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 ...

, Hesse, Germany. Its name was Theaterplatz (Theatre square) until 1992, when it was named after

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, the former chancellor. It is located between the Main Station and the Altstadt, at the Frankfurter Anlagenring, and is part of the so-called

Bankenviertel Bankenviertel (; ''banking quarter'') is the name of the central business district in Frankfurt, Germany where many banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions are located. It is the most important German financial hub, if not o ...

. Major buildings are the Städtisches Opern- und Schauspielhaus, the municipal theatre that opened in 1963, and the Eurotower skyscraper. Below the square are the U-Bahnhof Willy-Brandt-Platz and the Theatertunnel street tunnel.

History

The square was the location of a city gate to the West, the Neues Galgentor. The fortifications () were demolished in 1809. The former fortifications were replaced by a park called Wallanlagen. When the theatre (Schauspielhaus) was completed in 1902, the square was named Theaterplatz. It was renamed again in 1992 to honour Willy Brandt.

Description

The square is open for pedestrians, the tram, cars, and the U-Bahn below it. Cars were preferred, which led to less flexibility for other parties. The building of the Theatertunnel in 1974 helped to reduce car traffic significantly. From 2004, when an underground parking lot below the square was completed, it was remodelled to ensure accessibility for handicapped people of public institutions. At the same time, a new lighting system was installed. Eurotower mit Euro-Skulptur

In the Gallusanlage, north of the square, one of two copies of the monumental sculpture '' Euro-Skulptur'' by Ottmar Hörl dominates the park. The -high, 50-ton sculpture, consisting of a blue

euro sign The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

surrounded by twelve yellow stars representing the first member nations of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, is illuminated at night by 330 neon light strips. The acrylic glass sculpture was installed in 2001. A sculptured fountain, ' (''Fairy-tale Fountain''), created by in

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

, is placed next to the opera house.

U-Bahnhof

At the

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four U-Bahn systems and fourteen S-Bahn systems. The U-Bahn commonly understood to stand for Untergrundbahn (''underground railway'') are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while ...

station , lines of the Strecke A (U1, U2, U3 und U8) and Strecke B (U4 and U5) connect.Willy-Brandt-Platz station – Frankfurt U-Bahn map
subway.umka.org

Notes

References

External links

U-Bahn-Station "Willy-Brandt-Platz": VGF und Stadtplanungsamt gestalten Eingang vor dem Schauspielhaus neu
vgf-ffm.de, 28 December 2009
U-Bahn-Zugang am Willy-Brandt-Platz in Frankfurt
baunetzwissen.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Willy Brandt Platz, Frankfurt Squares in Frankfurt