Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a continuous conurbation with Offenbach am Main; its urban area has a population of over 2.7 million. The city is the heart of the larger Rhine-Main metropolitan region, which has a population of more than 5.8 million and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region and the fourth largest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union (EU). Frankfurt is one of the '' de facto'' four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg), as it is home to the European Central Bank, one of the institutional seats of the European Union, while Frankfurt's central business district lies about northwest of the geographic center of the EU at Gadheim in Lower Franconia. Like France and Franconia, the city is named after the Franks. Frankfurt is the largest city in the Rhenish Franconian dialect area.

Frankfurt was a city state, the Free City of Frankfurt, for nearly five centuries, and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire, as a site of Imperial coronations; it lost its sovereignty upon the collapse of the empire in 1806, regained it in 1815 and then lost it again in 1866, when it was annexed (though neutral) by the Kingdom of Prussia. It has been part of the state of Hesse since 1945. Frankfurt is culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse, with half of its population, and a majority of its young people, having a migrant background. A quarter of the population consists of foreign nationals, including many expatriates. In 2015, Frankfurt was home to 1,909 ultra high-net-worth individuals, the sixth-highest number of any city. As of 2023, Frankfurt is the 13th-wealthiest city in the world and the third-wealthiest city in Europe (after London and Paris).

Frankfurt is a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and transportation, and is the site of many global and European corporate headquarters. Due to its central location in the former West Germany, Frankfurt Airport became the busiest in Germany, one of the busiest in the world, the airport with the most direct routes in the world, and the primary hub for Lufthansa, the national airline of Germany and Europe's largest airline. Frankfurt Central Station is Germany's second-busiest railway station after Hamburg Hbf, operated by , the world's largest railway company, whose Frankfurter division DB InfraGO manages the largest railway network in Europe. Frankfurter Kreuz is the most-heavily used interchange in the EU. Frankfurt is one of the major financial centers of the European continent, with the headquarters of the European Central Bank, , Frankfurt Stock Exchange, , DZ Bank, KfW, Commerzbank, DekaBank, Helaba, several cloud and fintech startups, and other institutes. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media and creative industries complement the economic base. Frankfurt's DE-CIX is the world's largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fairs. Major fairs include the Music Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair. The city also has 93 consulates, among which the largest is the US Consulate General.

Frankfurt is home to influential educational institutions, including the Goethe University with the (Hesse's largest hospital), the FUAS, the FUMPA, and graduate schools like the FSFM. The city is one seat of two seats of the German National Library (alongside Leipzig), the largest library in the German-speaking countries and one of the largest in the world. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, continental Europe's largest English theater and many museums, 26 of which line up along the Museumsufer, including the Städel, Liebieghaus, German Film Museum, Senckenberg Natural Museum, Goethe House and Schirn art venue. Frankfurt's skyline is shaped by some of Europe's tallest skyscrapers, which has led to the term '' Mainhattan''. The city has many notable green areas and parks, including the Wallanlagen, , Grüneburgpark, the City Forest, two major botanical gardens (the Palmengarten and the Botanical Garden Frankfurt) and the Frankfurt Zoological Garden. Frankfurt is the seat of the German Football Association, is home to the first division association football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the Löwen Frankfurt ice hockey team, and the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, and is the venue of the Frankfurt Marathon and the Ironman Germany.

Distinctions

Frankfurt is the largest financial hub in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, , Frankfurt Stock Exchange and several large commercial banks. Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings that form its renowned Frankfurt skyline. In fact, it is one of the few cities in the European Union (EU) to have such a skyline. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the world's largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market.

In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had their registered offices in Frankfurt, including Germany's major banks, notably , DZ Bank, KfW, Deka Bank and Commerzbank, as well as 41 representative offices of international banks. Frankfurt has been nicknamed Mainhattan and Bankfurt. The city is also noted for its unique timber-framed old town. The Römer area has been most recently in the Dom-Römer Project and hosts the Frankfurt Christmas Market. The Saalgasse complements the timbered romanticism with postmodern houses by 12 different architectural firms.

Frankfurt is considered a global city as listed by the GaWC group's 2012 inventory.The World According to GaWC
". GaWC. Retrieved 4 November 2014. Among global cities it was ranked tenth by the Global Power City Index 2011 and 11th by the Global City Competitiveness Index 2012. Among financial hubs, the city was ranked eighth by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and ninth in the 2013 Global Financial Centres Index.

Its central location in Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, and road transport hub. Frankfurt Airport is one of the world's busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurt Central Station is one of the largest rail stations in Europe and the busiest junction operated by , the German national railway company, with 342 trains a day to domestic and European destinations.Bahnhof.de Frankfurt Hbf
. Retrieved 27 September 2011. Frankfurter Kreuz, also known as the Autobahn interchange and located close to the airport, is the most-heavily used interchange in the EU, used by 320,000 cars daily.Strassenwaerter
In 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual 'Quality of Living' survey of cities around the world. According to ''The Economist'' cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germany's most expensive city and the world's tenth most expensive.

Etymology

(in Old High German) or (in Latin) were the first names mentioned in written records from 794. It transformed to ''Frankenfort'' during the Middle Ages and then to ''Franckfort'' and ''Franckfurth'' in the modern era. According to historian David Gans, the city was named by its builder, a Frankish king named Zuna, who ruled over the province then known as Sicambri. He hoped thereby to perpetuate the name of his lineage. This is chronologically incompatible, however, with the archaeologically demonstrated Roman occupation of the area around Nida fortress in modern Heddernheim. The name is derived from the ''Franconofurd'' of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; ''Furt'' (cf. English '' ford'') where the river was shallow enough to be crossed on foot.

By the 19th century, the name ''Frankfurt'' had been established as the official spelling. The older English spelling of ''Frankfort'' is now rarely seen in reference to Frankfurt am Main, although more than a dozen other towns and cities, mainly in the United States, use this spelling, including Frankfort, Kentucky, Frankfort, New York, and Frankfort, Illinois. ''The New York Times'' first used the Frankfurt spelling for Frankfurt am Main on 24 October 1953 and last used the Frankfort spelling on 10 June 1954.

The suffix ''am Main'' has been used regularly since the 14th century. In English, the city's full name of ''Frankfurt am Main'' means "Frankfurt on the Main" (pronounced like English ''mine'' or German ). Frankfurt is located on an ancient ford (German: ') on the river Main. As a part of early Franconia, the inhabitants were the early Franks, thus the city's name reveals its legacy as "the ford of the Franks on the Main".

Among English speakers, the city is commonly known simply as Frankfurt, but Germans occasionally call it by its full name to distinguish it from the other (significantly smaller) German city of Frankfurt an der Oder in the ''Land'' of Brandenburg on the Polish border.

The city district Bonames has a name probably dating back to Roman times, thought to be derived from ' (good table).

The common abbreviations for the city, primarily used in railway services and on road signs, are ''Frankfurt (Main)'', ''Frankfurt (M)'', ''Frankfurt a. M.'', ''Frankfurt/Main'' or ''Frankfurt/M''. The common abbreviation for the name of the city is "FFM". Also in use is "FRA", the IATA code for Frankfurt Airport.

History

Early history and Holy Roman Empire

At the western borders of Frankfurt lies the Kapellenberg as part of the Taunus with one of the first Stone Age cities in Europe. The Celts had different settlements in the Taunus mountains north of Frankfurt, the biggest one the Heidetrank Oppidum. The first traces of Roman settlements established in the area of the river Nidda date to the reign of Emperor Vespasian in the years 69 to 79 AD. Nida (modern Heddernheim, Praunheim) was a Roman civitas capital (''Civitas Taunensium'').

Alemanni and Franks lived there, and by 794, Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which ''Franconofurd'' (alternative spellings end with -furt and -) was first mentioned. It was one of the two capitals of Charlemagne's grandson Louis the German, together with Regensburg. Louis founded the collegiate church, rededicated in 1239 to Bartholomew the Apostle and now Frankfurt Cathedral.

Frankfurt was one of the most important cities in the Holy Roman Empire. From 855, the German kings were elected and crowned in Aachen. From 1562, the kings and emperors were crowned and elected in Frankfurt, initiated for Maximilian II. This tradition ended in 1792, when Francis II was elected. His coronation was deliberately held on Bastille Day, 14 July, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus Cathedral, known as the (Emperor's Cathedral), or its predecessors.

The ('Frankfurt Trade Fair') was first mentioned in 1150. In 1240, Emperor Frederick II granted an imperial privilege to its visitors, meaning they would be protected by the empire. The fair became particularly important when similar fairs in French Beaucaire lost attraction around 1380. Book trade fairs began in 1478.

In 1372, Frankfurt became a ( Imperial Free City), i.e., directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.

In 1585, Frankfurt traders established a system of exchange rates for the various currencies that were circulating to prevent cheating and extortion. Therein lay the early roots for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years' War, but suffered from the bubonic plague that refugees brought to the city. After the war, Frankfurt regained its wealth. In the late 1770s the theater principal Abel Seyler was based in Frankfurt, and established the city's theatrical life.

Mk Frankfurt Merian Stadtansicht.jpg, Frankfurt in 1612
Frankfurt Am Main-Peter Becker-BAAF-032-Aussicht vom Steinernen Haus in der Judengasse nach Westen-1872.jpg, Frankfurt in 1872
Hertel Kaiserplatz von Osten um 1880.jpg, Kaiserplatz,

Impact of French revolution and the Napoleonic Wars

Following the French Revolution, Frankfurt was occupied or bombarded several times by French troops. It remained a Free city until the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1805/6. In 1806, it became part of the principality of Aschaffenburg under the ( Prince-Primate), Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg. This meant that Frankfurt was incorporated into the Confederation of the Rhine. In 1810, Dalberg adopted the title of a Grand Duke of Frankfurt. Napoleon intended to make his adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais, already (" prince of Venice", a newly established primogeniture in Italy), Grand Duke of Frankfurt after Dalberg's death (since the latter as a Catholic bishop had no legitimate heirs). The Grand Duchy remained a short episode lasting from 1810 to 1813 when the military tide turned in favor of the Anglo-Prussian-led allies that overturned the Napoleonic order. Dalberg abdicated in favor of Eugène de Beauharnais, which of course was only a symbolic action, as the latter effectively never ruled after the ruin of the French armies and Frankfurt's takeover by the allies.

Frankfurt as a fully sovereign state

After Napoleon's final defeat and abdication, the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) dissolved the grand-duchy and Frankfurt became a fully sovereign city-state with a republican form of government. Frankfurt entered the newly founded German Confederation (till 1866) as a free city, becoming the seat of its , the confederal parliament where the nominally presiding Habsburg Emperor of Austria was represented by an Austrian "presidential envoy".

After the ill-fated revolution of 1848, Frankfurt was the seat of the first democratically elected German parliament, the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the (St. Paul's Church) and was opened on 18 May 1848. In the year of its existence, the assembly developed a common constitution for a unified Germany, with the Prussian king as its monarch. The institution failed in 1849 when the Prussian king, Frederick William IV, declared that he would not accept "a crown from the gutter".

Frankfurt after the loss of sovereignty

Frankfurt lost its independence following the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, when Prussia annexed several smaller states, including the Free City of Frankfurt. The city was subsequently incorporated into the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. The occupation and annexation were widely regarded in Frankfurt as a grave injustice, yet the city retained its distinctly Western European, urban, and cosmopolitan character. The formerly independent towns of Bornheim and Bockenheim were incorporated in 1890.

In 1914, the citizens founded the University of Frankfurt, later named Goethe University Frankfurt. This marked the only civic foundation of a university in Germany; today it is one of Germany's largest.

From 6 April to 17 May 1920, following military intervention to put down the Ruhr uprising, Frankfurt was occupied by French troops. The French claimed that Articles 42 to 44 of the peace treaty of Versailles concerning the demilitarization of the Rhineland had been broken. In 1924, Ludwig Landmann became the first Jewish mayor of the city, and led a significant expansion during the following years. During the Nazi era, the synagogues of the city were destroyed and the vast majority of the Jewish population fled or was killed.

During World War II, Frankfurt was the location of a Nazi prison for underage girls with several forced labour camps, a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see '' Romani Holocaust''), the Dulag Luft West transit camp for Allied prisoners of war, and a subcamp of the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.

Frankfurt was severely bombed in World War II (1939–1945). About 5,500 residents were killed during the raids, and the once-famous medieval city center, by that time one of the largest in Germany, was almost completely destroyed. It became a ground battlefield on 26 March 1945, when the Allied advance into Germany was forced to take the city in contested urban combat that included a river assault. The 5th Infantry Division and the 6th Armored Division of the United States Army captured Frankfurt after several days of intense fighting, and it was declared largely secure on 29 March 1945. Frankfurt consists to over 40% of buildings from before World War II, besides all destruction.

After the end of the war, Frankfurt became a part of the newly founded state of Hesse, consisting of the old Hesse-(Darmstadt) and the Prussian Hesse provinces. The city was part of the American Zone of Occupation of Germany. The Military Governor for the United States Zone (1945–1949) and the United States High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG) (1949–1952) had their headquarters in the IG Farben Building, intentionally left undamaged by the Allies' wartime bombardment.

Frankfurt was the original choice for the provisional capital city of the newly founded state of West Germany in 1949. The city constructed a parliament building that was never used for its intended purpose (it housed the radio studios of Hessischer Rundfunk). In the end, Konrad Adenauer, the first postwar Chancellor, preferred the town of Bonn, for the most part because it was close to his hometown, but also because many other prominent politicians opposed the choice of Frankfurt out of concern that Frankfurt would be accepted as the permanent capital, thereby weakening the West German population's support for a reunification with East Germany and the eventual return of the capital to Berlin.

Postwar reconstruction took place in a sometimes simple modern style, thus changing Frankfurt's architectural face. A few landmark buildings were reconstructed historically, albeit in a simplified manner (e.g., Römer, St. Paul's Church, and Goethe House). The collection of historically significant Cairo Genizah documents of the Municipal Library was destroyed by the bombing. According to Arabist and Genizah scholar S.D. Goitein, "not even handlists indicating its contents have survived."

The end of the war marked Frankfurt's comeback as Germany's leading financial hub, mainly because Berlin, now a city divided into four sectors, could no longer rival it. In 1948, the Allies founded the Bank deutscher Länder, the forerunner of . Following this decision, more financial institutions were re-established, e.g. and Dresdner Bank. In the 1950s, Frankfurt Stock Exchange regained its position as the country's leading stock exchange.

Frankfurt also reemerged as Germany's transportation hub and Frankfurt Airport became Europe's second-busiest airport behind London Heathrow Airport in 1961.

During the 1970s, the city created one of Europe's most efficient underground transportation systems. That system includes a suburban rail system (S-Bahn) linking outlying communities with the city center, and a deep underground light rail system with smaller coaches ( U-Bahn) also capable of travelling above ground on rails.

In 1998, the European Central Bank was founded in Frankfurt, followed by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and European Systemic Risk Board in 2011.

Geography

Frankfurt is the largest city in the state of Hesse in the western part of Germany.

Site

Frankfurt is located on both sides of the river Main, south-east of the Taunus mountain range. The southern part of the city contains the Frankfurt City Forest, Germany's largest city forest. The city area is and extends over east to west and north to south. Its downtown is north of the river Main in Altstadt district (the historical center) and the surrounding Innenstadt district. The geographical center is in Bockenheim district near Frankfurt West station.

Frankfurt at the heart of the densely populated Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region with a population of 5.5 million. Other important cities in the region are Wiesbaden (capital of Hesse), Mainz (capital of Rhineland-Palatinate), Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, Hanau, Aschaffenburg, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Rüsselsheim, Wetzlar and Marburg.

Districts

The city is divided into 46 city districts (''Stadtteile''), which are in turn divided into 121 city boroughs (''Stadtbezirke'') and 448 electoral districts (''Wahlbezirke''). The 46 city districts combine into 16 area districts ('' Ortsbezirke''), which each have a district committee and chairperson.

The largest city district by population and area is Sachsenhausen, while the smallest is Altstadt, Frankfurt's historical center. Three larger city districts (Sachsenhausen, Westend and Nordend) are divided for administrative purposes into a northern (''-Nord'') and a southern (''-Süd'') part, respectively a western (''-West'') and an eastern (''-Ost'') part, but are generally considered as one city district (which is why often only 43 city districts are mentioned, even on the city's official website).

Some larger housing areas are often falsely called city districts, even by locals, like Nordweststadt (part of Niederursel, Heddernheim and Praunheim), Goldstein (part of Schwanheim), Riedberg (part of Kalbach-Riedberg) and Europaviertel (part of Gallus). The Bankenviertel (''banking district''), Frankfurt's financial district, is also not an administrative city district (it covers parts of the western Innenstadt district, the southern Westend district and the eastern Bahnhofsviertel district).

Many city districts are incorporated suburbs ('' Vororte'') or were previously independent cities, such as Höchst. Some like Nordend and Westend arose during the rapid growth of the city in the Gründerzeit following the Unification of Germany, while others were formed from territory which previously belonged to other city , such as Dornbusch and Riederwald.

History of incorporations

Until the year 1877 the city's territory consisted of the present-day inner-city districts of Altstadt, Innenstadt, Bahnhofsviertel, Gutleutviertel, Gallus, Westend, Nordend, Ostend and Sachsenhausen.

Bornheim was part of an administrative district called ''Landkreis Frankfurt'', before becoming part of the city on 1 January 1877, followed by Bockenheim on 1 April 1895. Seckbach, Niederrad and Oberrad followed on 1 July 1900. The ''Landkreis Frankfurt'' was finally dispersed on 1 April 1910, and therefore Berkersheim, Bonames, Eckenheim, Eschersheim, Ginnheim, Hausen, Heddernheim, Niederursel, Praunheim, Preungesheim and Rödelheim joined the city. In the same year a new city district, Riederwald, was created on territory that had formerly belonged to Seckbach and Ostend.

On 1 April 1928 the City of Höchst became part of Frankfurt, as well as its city districts Sindlingen, Unterliederbach and Zeilsheim. Simultaneously the ''Landkreis Höchst'' was dispersed with its member cities either joining Frankfurt ( Fechenheim, Griesheim, Nied, Schwanheim, Sossenheim) or joining the newly established ''Landkreis'' of Main-Taunus-Kreis.

Dornbusch became a city district in 1946. It was created on territory that had formerly belonged to Eckenheim and Ginnheim.

On 1 August 1972, Hesse's smaller suburbs of Harheim, Kalbach, Nieder-Erlenbach, and Nieder-Eschbach became districts while other neighboring suburbs chose to join the Main-Taunus-Kreis, the Landkreis Offenbach, the Kreis Groß-Gerau, the Hochtaunuskreis, the Main-Kinzig-Kreis or the Wetteraukreis.

Bergen-Enkheim was the last suburb to become part of Frankfurt on 1 January 1977.

Flughafen became an official city district in 1979. It covers the area of Frankfurt Airport that had belonged to Sachsenhausen and the neighboring city of Mörfelden-Walldorf.

Frankfurt's youngest city district is Frankfurter Berg. It was part of Bonames until 1996.

Kalbach was officially renamed Kalbach-Riedberg in 2006 because of the large residential housing development in the area known as Riedberg.

Neighboring districts and cities

To the west Frankfurt borders the administrative district ('' Landkreis'') of Main-Taunus-Kreis with towns such as Hattersheim am Main, Kriftel, Hofheim am Taunus, Kelkheim, Liederbach am Taunus, Sulzbach, Schwalbach am Taunus and Eschborn; to the northwest the Hochtaunuskreis with Steinbach, Oberursel (Taunus) and Bad Homburg vor der Höhe; to the north the Wetteraukreis with Karben and Bad Vilbel; to the northeast the Main-Kinzig-Kreis with Niederdorfelden and Maintal; to the southeast the city of Offenbach am Main; to the south the Kreis Offenbach with Neu-Isenburg and to the southwest the Kreis Groß-Gerau with Mörfelden-Walldorf, Rüsselsheim and Kelsterbach.

Together with these towns (and some larger nearby towns, e.g., Hanau, Rodgau, Dreieich, Langen) Frankfurt forms a contiguous built-up urban area called ''Stadtregion Frankfurt'' which is not an official administrative district. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.3 million in 2010, and is the 13th-largest urban area in the EU.

Climate

Frankfurt has a temperate-oceanic climate (Köppen: ''Cfb''). Its climate features cool winters with frequent rain showers and overcast skies, and warm to hot summers. The average annual temperature is , with monthly mean temperatures ranging from in January to in July. The city is one of the warmest of Germany in winter.

The growing season is longer when compared to the rest of Germany, thus resulting in an early arrival of springtime in the region, with trees typically leafing out already toward the end of March.

Winters in Frankfurt are generally mild or at least not freezing with a small possibility of snow, especially in January and February but dark and often overcast. Frankfurt is, on average, covered with snow only for around 10 to 20 days per year. The temperature falls below 0 °C on about 64 days and the daily maximum stays below freezing for about 10 days on average per year.

Because of the mild climate in the region, there are some well-known wine regions in the vicinity such as Rhenish Hesse, Rheingau, Franconia (wine region) and Bergstraße (route). There is also a microclimate on the northern bank of the river Main which allows palms, fig trees, lemon trees and southern European plants to grow in that area. The area is called the " Nizza" (the German word for the southern French town Nice.

Demographics

Population

With a population of 763,380 (2019) within its administrative boundaries and of 2,300,000 in the actual urban area, Retrieved 22 April 2014 Frankfurt is the fifth-largest city in Germany, after Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. Central Frankfurt has been a '' Großstadt'' (a city with at least 100,000 residents by definition) since 1875. With 414,576 residents in 1910, it was the ninth largest city in Germany and the number of inhabitants grew to 553,464 before World War II. After the war, at the end of the year 1945, the number had dropped to 358,000. In the following years, the population grew again and reached an all-time-high of 691,257 in 1963. It dropped again to 592,411 in 1986 but has increased since then. According to the demographic forecasts for central Frankfurt, the city will have a population up to 813,000 within its administrative boundaries in 2035 and more than 2.5 million inhabitants in its urban area.

As of 2015, Frankfurt had 1909 ultra high-net-worth individuals, the sixth-highest number of any city in the world. It is also the world's 14th-richest city by total wealth, as of 2017.

During the 1970s, the state government of Hesse wanted to expand the city's administrative boundaries to include the entire urban area. This would have made Frankfurt officially the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin with up to 3 million inhabitants. However, because local authorities did not agree, the administrative territory is still much smaller than its actual urban area.

Moroccan community

Frankfurt has the largest Moroccan community in Germany, numbering about 8,000 people, and the Rhine-Main area has about 20,000. Many Moroccans came as guest workers in the 1970s. Today Frankfurt has many Moroccan restaurants, companies, shops, mosques and hamams. Due to the popularity of Moroccan culture in Frankfurt, it also led many people from the Maghreb and other African countries to move to Frankfurt. Famous singer Namika was born in Frankfurt to Moroccan parents.

Immigration and foreign nationals

According to data from the city register of residents, 51.2% of the population had a ''migration background'' as of 2015, which means that a person or at least one of their parents was born with foreign citizenship. For the first time, a majority of the city residents had an at least part non-German background. Moreover, three of four children in the city under the age of six had full or partial immigrant backgrounds, and 27.7% of residents had a foreign citizenship.

According to statistics, 46.7% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from other countries in the EU; 24.5% come from European countries that are not part of the EU; 15.7% come from Asia (including Western Asia and South Asia); 7.3% come from Africa; 3.4% come from North America (including the Caribbean and Central America); 0.2% come from Australia and New Zealand; 2.3% come from South America; and 1.1% come from Pacific island nations. Because of this the city is often considered to be a multicultural city, and has been compared to New York City and London.

Religion

Frankfurt was historically a Protestant-dominated city. However, during the 19th century, an increasing number of Catholics moved to Frankfurt. , the largest Christian denominations were Catholicism (22.7% of the population) and Protestantism, especially Lutheranism (19.4%).

The Jewish community has a history dating back to medieval times and has always ranked among the largest in Germany. Over 7,200 inhabitants are affiliated with the Jewish community, making it the third largest in Germany after Berlin and Munich. Frankfurt has four active synagogues.

Due to the growing immigration of people from Muslim countries beginning in the 1960s, Frankfurt has a large Muslim community, estimated at 12% in 2006.
According to calculations based on census data for 21 countries of origin, the number of Muslim migrants in Frankfurt amounted to about 84,000 in 2011, making up 12.6% of the population. The most prevalent countries of origin were Turkey and Morocco. The Ahmadiyya Noor Mosque, constructed in 1959, is the city's largest mosque and the third largest in Germany. In 2020, the number of Muslims in Frankfurt's total population was estimated at 18%.

Government and politics

Mayor

The current mayor is Mike Josef of the Social Democratic Party, who took the office on 11 May 2023.

The most recent mayoral election was held on 5 March 2023, with a runoff held on 26 March, 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, Uwe Becker
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union
, 70,411
, 34.5
, 86,307
, 48.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Mike Josef
, align=left, Social Democratic Party
, 49,033
, 24.0
, 92,371
, 51.7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Manuela Rottmann
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens
, 43,502
, 21.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Peter Wirth
, align=left, Independent
, 10,397
, 5.1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Daniela Mehler-Würzbach
, align=left, The Left
, 7,356
, 3.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Maja Wolff
, align=left, Independent
, 6,014
, 2.9
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Yanki Pürsün
, align=left, Free Democratic Party
, 5,768
, 2.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Andreas Lobenstein
, align=left, Alternative for Germany
, 4,628
, 2.3
, -
, bgcolor=#FF8E57,
, align=left, Mathias Pfeiffer
, align=left, Citizens for Frankfurt
, 1,565
, 0.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Katharina Tanczos
, align=left, Die PARTEI
, 1,176
, 0.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Khurrem Akhtar
, align=left, Team Todenhöfer
, 858
, 0.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Frank Großenbach
, align=left, dieBasis
, 744
, 0.4
, -
,
, align=left, Tilo Schwichtenberg
, align=left, Garden Party Frankfurt am Main
, 661
, 0.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Sven Junghans
, align=left, Independent
, 574
, 0.3
, -
,
, align=left, Yamòs Camara
, align=left, Free Party Frankfurt
, 487
, 0.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Niklas Pauli
, align=left, Independent
, 340
, 0.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Peter Pawelski
, align=left, Independent
, 325
, 0.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Feng Xu
, align=left, Independent
, 199
, 0.1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Karl-Maria Schulte
, align=left, Independent
, 158
, 0.1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Markus Eulig
, align=left, Independent
, 102
, 0.0
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 204,298
! 99.6
! 178,678
! 99.0
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 921
! 0.4
! 1,754
! 1.0
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 205,219
! 100.0
! 180,432
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 508,510
! 40.4
! 510,336
! 35.4
, -
, colspan=7, Source
City of Frankfurt am Main

City council

The Frankfurt am Main city council (''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'') governs the city alongside the mayor. It is located in the city's medieval town hall, Römer, which is also used for representative and official purposes. 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, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
, align=left, Martina Feldmayer
, 4,894,339
, 24.6
, 9.3
, 23
, 9
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
, align=left, Nils Kößler
, 4,361,942
, 21.9
, 2.2
, 20
, 2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
, align=left, Mike Josef
, 3,385,017
, 17.0
, 6.8
, 16
, 6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, The Left ()
, align=left, Dominike Pauli
, 1,572,333
, 7.9
, 0.1
, 7
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP)
, align=left, Annette Rinn
, 1,515,646
, 7.6
, 0.1
, 7
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD)
, align=left, Patrick Schenk
, 902,412
, 4.5
, 4.4
, 4
, 4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Volt Germany (Volt)
, align=left, Eileen O'Sullivan
, 745,418
, 3.7
, New
, 4
, New
, -
, bgcolor=#FF8E57,
, align=left, Citizens for Frankfurt (BFF)
, align=left, Mathias Mund
, 395,905
, 2.0
, 0.7
, 2
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=#93A7BB,
, align=left, Ecological Left – Anti-Racist List (ÖkoLinX-ARL)
, align=left, Jutta Ditfurth
, 359,304
, 1.8
, 0.3
, 2
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
, align=left, Nico Wehnemann
, 361,932
, 1.8
, 0.4
, 2
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=#484EAB,
, align=left, Europe List for Frankfurt (ELF)
, align=left, Luigi Brillante
, 265,914
, 1.3
, 0.1
, 1
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Voters (FW)
, align=left, Eric Pärisch
, 162,122
, 0.8
, 0.2
, 1
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=#0000FC,
, align=left, I am a Frankfurter (IBF)
, align=left, Jumas Medoff
, 166,573
, 0.8
, 0.4
, 1
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=#87CEEB,
, align=left, Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)
, align=left, Haluk Yıldız
, 128,846
, 0.6
, New
, 1
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Garden Party Frankfurt am Main (Gartenpartei)
, align=left, Tilo Schwichtenberg
, 126,991
, 0.6
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)
, align=left, Herbert Förster
, 123,772
, 0.6
, 0.2
, 1
, ±0
, -
, colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey,
, -
,
, align=left, Polish Dialogue Initiative for Frankfurt
, align=left, Barbara Lange
, 88,771
, 0.4
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, The Frankfurters (dFfm)
, align=left, Bernhard Ochs
, 73,026
, 0.4
, 0.4
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, align=left, International Vote Frankfurt (ISF)
, align=left, Kerry Reddington
, 61,772
, 0.3
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Climate List Frankfurt (Klimaliste)
, align=left, Beate Balzert
, 61,526
, 0.3
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Free Party Frankfurt (FPF)
, align=left, Benjamin Klinger
, 40,621
, 0.2
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, United Democrats (VD)
, align=left, André Leitzbach
, 30,691
, 0.2
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, The Social Liberals (SL)
, align=left, Christian Bethke
, 18,563
, 0.1
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Frankfurt Free Voter Group (FFWG)
, align=left, Thomas Schmitt
, 16,587
, 0.1
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Romanians for Frankfurt (RF)
, align=left, Ionut-Vlad Plenz
, 15,884
, 0.1
, New
, 0
, New
, -
, bgcolor=#110077,
, align=left, Party of Humanists (Die Humanisten)
, align=left, Rüdiger Gottschalk
, 11,680
, 0.1
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Bulgarian Association of Frankfurt (BGF)
, align=left, Daniela Spasova-Mischke
, 11,488
, 0.1
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Sven Junghans, We Frankfurters (WF)
, align=left, Sven Junghans
, 9,627
, 0.0
, New
, 0
, New
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 221,487
! 96.0
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 9,196
! 4.0
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 230,683
! 100.0
!
! 93
! ±0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 512,034
! 45.1
! 6.1
!
!
, -
, colspan=8, Source
Statistics Hesse

Landtag election

For elections to the Hesse State Parliament, Frankfurt am Main is split up into six constituencies. In total 15 delegates represent the city in the Landtag in Wiesbaden. The last election took place in October 2018. Six members of parliament were directly elected in their respective constituencies: Uwe Serke (CDU, Frankfurt am Main I), Miriam Dahlke (Greens, Frankfurt am Main II), Ralf-Norbert Bartel (CDU, Frankfurt am Main III), Michael Boddenberg (CDU, Frankfurt am Main IV), Markus Bocklet (Greens, Frankfurt am Main V) and Boris Rhein (CDU, Frankfurt am Main VI).

Delegates from Frankfurt often serve high-ranking positions in Hessian politics, e.g. Michael Boddenberg is Hessian Minister of Finance and Boris Rhein was elected President of the Landtag of Hesse in 2019.

German federal election

For federal elections which are held every four years, Frankfurt is split up into two constituencies. In the German federal election 2017, Matthias Zimmer (CDU) and Bettina Wiesmann were elected to the Bundestag by directe mandate in Frankfurt am Main I and Frankfurt am Main II respectively. Nicola Beer (FDP), Achim Kessler (Linke), Ulli Nissen (SPD) and Omid Nouripour (Greens) were elected as well.

Nicola Beer resigned as a member of parliament in 2019 following her election to the European Parliament where she now serves as vice president.

Economy and business

Frankfurt is one of the world's most important financial hubs and Germany's financial capital, followed by Hamburg and Stuttgart. Frankfurt was ranked eighth at the International Financial Centers Development Index (2013), eighth at the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index (2008), ninth at the Global Financial Centres Index (September 2013), tenth at the Global Power City Index (2011), 11th at the Global City Competitiveness Index (2012), 12th at the Innovation Cities Index (2011), 14th at the World City Survey (2011) and 23rd at the Global Cities Index (2012).

The city's importance as a financial hub has risen since the eurozone crisis. Indications are the establishment of two institutions of the European System of Financial Supervisors ( European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and European Systemic Risk Board) in 2011, and the entry into force in 2014 of European Banking Supervision, by which the European Central Bank has become the central supervisory authority for the euro area banking sector.

According to an annual study by Cushman & Wakefield, the European Cities Monitor (2010), Frankfurt has been one of the top three cities for international companies in Europe, after London and Paris, since the survey started in 1990. It is the only German city considered to be an alpha world city (category 3) as listed by the Loughborough University group's 2010 inventory, which was a promotion from the group's 2008 inventory when it was ranked as an alpha minus world city (category 4).

With over 922 jobs per 1,000 inhabitants, Frankfurt has the highest concentration of jobs in Germany. On work days and Saturdays, one million people commute from all over the Rhein-Main-Area. The GRP per capita was €96,670 in 2019.

The city is expected to benefit from international banks relocating jobs from London to Frankfurt as a result of Brexit to retain access to the EU market. Thus far, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Standard Chartered Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc. announced they would move their EU headquarters to Frankfurt.

Central banks

Frankfurt is home to two important central banks: the German Bundesbank and the European Central Bank (ECB).

European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (''Europäische Zentralbank'') is one of the world's most important central banks with a balance sheet total of around 7 trillion. The ECB sets monetary policy for the Eurozone, consisting of 19 EU member states that have adopted the Euro (€) as their common currency. From 1998 the ECB Headquarters have been located in Frankfurt, first in the Eurotower at Willy-Brandt-Platz and in two other nearby high-rises. The new Seat of the European Central Bank in the Ostend district, consisting of the former wholesale market hall ('' Großmarkthalle'') and a newly built 185-meter skyscraper, was completed in late 2014. The new building complex was designed to accommodate up to 2,300 ECB personnel. The location is a few kilometers away from downtown and borders an industrial area as well as the Osthafen (''East Harbor''), It was primarily chosen because of its large premises which allows the ECB to install security arrangements without high fences.

The city honors the importance of the ECB by officially using the slogan "The City of the Euro" since 1998.

Deutsche Bundesbank

The (German Federal Bank), located in Ginnheim, was established in 1957 as the central bank for the Federal Republic of Germany. Until the euro (€) was introduced in 1999, the Deutsche Bundesbank was responsible for the monetary policy of Germany and for the German currency, the Deutsche Mark (DM). The Bundesbank was greatly respected for its control of inflation through the second half of the 20th century. Today the Bundesbank is an integral part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) which is formed by all 27 EU member states. Its bilance sheet total is around 2,7 trillion, making it the 4th biggest central bank.

Commercial banks

In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had a registered office, including the headquarters of the major German banks, as well as 41 offices of international banks. Frankfurt is therefore known as Bankenstadt ("City of the banks") and nicknamed "Mainhattan" (a portmanteau of the local Main river and Manhattan in New York City) or "Bankfurt". 73,200 people were employed at banks in 2010.
* — Germany's largest commercial bank. It had 15% share of private customers and total assets of €1,900 billion in 2010. Deutsche Bank ranks among the 30 largest banks in the world and the ten largest banks in Europe. Deutsche Bank is listed on the DAX, the stock market index of the 30 largest German business companies at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In November 2010 Deutsche Bank bought the majority of shares of competitor Postbank. Its headquarters are located at Taunusanlage in the financial district.
* DZ Bank — Central institution for more than 900 co-operative banks () and their 12,000 branch offices in Germany and is a corporate and investment bank. It is Germany's second-largest bank (total assets: €509 billion). The DZ Bank Group defines itself primarily as a service provider for the local Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken and their 30 million clients. The DZ Bank headquarters are the Westend Tower and the City-Haus at Platz der Republik. The DZ Bank Group includes Union Investment, DVB Bank and Reisebank, which are also headquartered in Frankfurt.
* KfW Bankengruppe — Government-owned development bank formed in 1948 as part of the Marshall Plan. KfW provides loans for approved purposes at lower rates than commercial banks, especially to medium-sized businesses. With total assets of €507 billion (2017), it is Germany's third-largest bank. The KfW headquarters are located in the Westend district at Bockenheimer Landstraße and Senckenberganlage.
*Commerzbank — Germany's fourth-largest bank by total assets (2017). In 2009, Commerzbank merged with competitor Dresdner Bank, then the third-largest German bank. Due to the merger and the higher credit risks, Commerzbank was 25% nationalized during the Great Recession. It is listed in the DAX. Its headquarters are at Commerzbank Tower (259 meters), the second-tallest building in the EU, at Kaiserplatz.
* Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen – Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, or short Helaba, is a commercial bank owned by the states of Hesse and Thuringia (). As such, it is a service provider for the local Sparkassen. Helaba is one of nine and is the fifth-largest in Germany. It is located in the Main Tower in the financial district, the only skyscraper in Frankfurt with an observation desk open to the public.
* DekaBank – DekaBank is the central asset manager of the ''Sparkassen'' in Germany. The headquarters of DekaBank are located at the Trianon skyscraper at Mainzer Landstraße.
* ING Diba Germany – Germany's largest direct bank, headquartered in Bockenheim

Other major German banks include Frankfurter Volksbank, the second-largest ''Volksbank'' in Germany, Frankfurter Sparkasse and old-established private banks such as Bankhaus Metzler, Hauck & Aufhäuser and Delbrück Bethmann Maffei.

Many international banks have a registered or a representative office, e.g., Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of China, Banco do Brasil, Itaú Unibanco Société Générale, BNP Paribas, SEB, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

Frankfurt Stock Exchange

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (''Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse'') began in the ninth century. By the 16th century Frankfurt had developed into an important European hub for trade fairs and financial services. Today the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is by far the largest in Germany, with a turnover of more than 90 percent of the German stock market and is the third-largest in Europe after the London and the Paris. The most important stock market index is the DAX, the index of the 30 largest German business companies listed at the stock exchange. The stock exchange is owned and operated by , which is itself listed in the DAX. Deutsche Börse also owns the European futures exchange Eurex and clearing company Clearstream. Trading takes place exclusively via the Xetra trading system, with redundant floor brokers taking on the role of market-makers on the new platform.

On 1 February 2012 European Commission blocked the proposed merger of Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext. "The merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext would have led to a near-monopoly in European financial derivatives worldwide. These markets are at the heart of the financial system and it is crucial for the whole European economy that they remain competitive. We tried to find a solution, but the remedies offered fell far short of resolving the concerns." European competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia said.

It is located downtown at the Börsenplatz. Deutsche Börse's headquarters are formally registered in Frankfurt, but it moved most of its employees to a high-rise called "The Cube" in Eschborn in 2010, primarily due to significantly lower local corporate taxes.

Frankfurt Trade Fair

Frankfurt Trade Fair (''Messe Frankfurt'') has the third-largest exhibition site in the world with a total of . The trade fair premises are located in the western part between Bockenheim, the Westend and the Gallus district. It houses ten exhibition halls with a total of of space and of outdoor space.

Frankfurt and the river Rhine tributary Main acquired transnational economic importance in the Middle Ages. In 1337 the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria issued a diploma privilege so that any other city was not allowed to establish a market or trade fair if this could harm the Frankfurt Trade Fair in any way. This imperial backing allowed Frankfurt to retain the commanding importance of the Frankfurt Trade Fair for centuries. In the Middle Ages the full range of manufactured and semi-processed commodities were trade at Frankfurt Fairs.

Hosted in Frankfurt are the Frankfurt Book Fair (''Frankfurter Buchmesse''), the world's largest book fair, the Ambiente Frankfurt, the world's largest consumer goods fair, the Achema, the world's largest plant engineering fair, and many more like Paperworld, Christmasworld, Beautyworld, Tendence Lifestyle or Light+Building. Messe Frankfurt GmbH, the owner and operator company, organized 87 exhibitions in 2010, 51 thereof in foreign countries. It is one of the largest trade fair companies with commercial activities in over 150 countries.

Aviation

Frankfurt Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world and is also the single largest place of work in Germany with over 500 companies which employ 71,500 people (2010).

Fraport is the owner and operator of Frankfurt Airport. It is the airport's second-largest employer (19,800 workers in 2010). Fraport also operates other airports worldwide, e.g., King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima and Antalya Airport.

The largest company at Frankfurt Airport is Lufthansa, Germany's flag carrier and Europe's largest airline. Lufthansa employs 35,000 people in Frankfurt. The Lufthansa Aviation Center (LAC) is the main operation base of Lufthansa at Frankfurt Airport. The airport serves as Lufthansa's primary hub with 157 worldwide destinations (compared to 110 destinations at Munich Airport, Lufthansa's second-largest hub). Lufthansa Cargo is based in Frankfurt and operates its largest cargo center (LCC) at Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa Flight Training is also based here.

Condor is a German airline based at Frankfurt Airport.

Other industries

Accountancy and professional services

Three of the four largest international accountancy and professional services firms ''( Big Four)'' are present.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) German headquarters are located at Tower 185. KPMG moved its European Headquarters ( KPMG Europe LLP) to The Squaire. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu are present, while Ernst & Young is located in Eschborn.

Credit rating agencies

The three major international credit rating agencies – Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings – have their German headquarters in Frankfurt.

Investment trust companies

DWS Investments is one of the largest investment trust company in Germany and manages €859 billion fund assets. It is one of the ten largest investment trust companies in the world. Other large investment trust companies are Universal Investment, Allianz Global Investors Europe (a division of Allianz SE, and a top-five global active investment manager), Union Investment and Deka Investmentfonds.

Management consultancies

Many of the largest international management consultancies are represented, including Arthur D. Little, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Booz & Company, Oliver Wyman, Bearing Point, Capgemini, Bain & Company and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Real estate services companies

Located in Frankfurt are the German headquarters of Jones Lang LaSalle and BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Law firms

Frankfurt has the highest concentration of lawyers in Germany, with one lawyer per 97 inhabitants (followed by Düsseldorf with a ratio of 1/117 and Munich with 1/124) in 2005.

Most of the large international law firms maintain offices, among them Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, Bird & Bird, Clifford Chance, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Debevoise & Plimpton, DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells, Jones Day, Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Mayer Brown, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Norton Rose, Shearman & Sterling, Sidley Austin, SJ Berwin, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, K&L Gates, Taylor Wessing and White & Case.

Advertising agencies

According to a ranking of German FOCUS magazine (November 2007) seven of the 48 largest advertising agencies in Germany are based in Frankfurt, including Havas, Dentsu, McCann-Erickson, Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT, and Publicis. Frankfurt is a media business cluster. Around 570 companies of the advertising industry and 270 public relations companies are located in Frankfurt.

Food

Frankfurt is home to the German headquarters of Nestlé, the world's largest food company, located in Niederrad. Other important food companies are Ferrero SpA (German headquarters) and Radeberger Gruppe KG, the largest private brewery group in Germany.

Automotive

The South-Korean automobile manufacturer Kia Motors moved its European headquarters to Frankfurt in 2007. In the same year, Italian manufacturer Fiat opened its new German headquarters. The automotive supplier Continental AG has the headquarters and a major manufacturing plant of its Chassis & Safety division (formerly ITT Automotive) located in Frankfurt Rödelheim.

Construction

Some of the largest German construction companies have offices, e.g., Bilfinger Berger, Hochtief, Züblin and BAM Deutschland.

Property and real estate

Frankfurt has Germany's highest concentration of homeowners. This is partly attributed to the financial sector, but also to its cosmopolitan nature, with expatriates and immigrants representing one-fourth of its population. For this reason, Frankfurt's property market often operates differently than the rest of the country where the prices are generally flatter.

Tourism

Frankfurt is one of Germany's leading tourist destinations. In addition to its infrastructure and economy, its diversity supports a vibrant cultural scene. This blend of attractions led 4.3 million tourists (2012) to visit Frankfurt. The Hotels in central Frankfurt offer 34,000 beds in 228 hotels, of which 13 are luxury hotels and 46 are first-class hotels.

Other

Frankfurt is home to companies from the chemical, transportation, telecommunication and energy industries. Some of the larger companies are:
*Industriepark Höchst — An industrial park in Höchst. It is one of Germany's largest with over 90 companies from the pharmaceutical, the chemical and the biotechnology industry, including Celanese, Clariant, BASF, Merck KGaA and Siemens. It was founded by chemical company Hoechst AG in 1874. At the beginning of the 1980s Hoechst AG was the largest pharmaceutical corporation and Industriepark Höchst was known as "the pharmacy of the world". Hoechst AG merged with Rhône-Poulenc to become Aventis in 1999 and in 2004 Aventis merged with Sanofi-Synthélabo to become Sanofi-Aventis. In 2005, around 22,000 people worked at Industriepark Höchst. In 2011, Ticona now part of Celanese, an international manufacturer of engineering polymers, moved to Industriepark Höchst.
*Deutsche Bahn – Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries DB Fernverkehr, DB Regio, DB Stadtverkehr, DB Netz, DB Schenker and the corporate development department of Deutsche Bahn are Frankfurt-based.
* – 's subsidiary T-Systems is Frankfurt-based.
* COLT – telecommunications company with Frankfurt-based German headquarters
*Nintendo — In 2014, Nintendo of Europe moved its headquarters from Großostheim to Frankfurt.
* CenturyLink — internet service provider with German headquarters in Frankfurt
* DE-CIX – Frankfurt is an important location for electronic communication, especially the Internet. It is home to DE-CIX, the world's largest internet exchange point.
* Mainova – The largest regional energy supplier in Germany with about one million customers in Hesse. It provides electricity, gas, heat and water. Its headquarters are Frankfurt-based.
In addition, several cloud and fintech startups have their headquarters in Frankfurt.

Urban area (suburban) businesses

Within Frankfurt's urban area are several important companies.

The business hub of Eschborn is located right at Frankfurt's city limits in the west and attracts businesses with significantly lower corporate taxes compared to Frankfurt. Major companies in Eschborn include Ernst & Young, Vodafone Germany, Randstad NV and VR Leasing. moved most of its employees to Eschborn in 2010.

Rüsselsheim is internationally known for its automobile manufacturer Opel, one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in Germany. With 20,000 employees in 2003, Opel was one of the five largest employers in Hesse.

Offenbach am Main is home to the European headquarters of automobile manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company, to the German headquarters of automobile manufacturer Honda, to Honeywell Germany and to Deutscher Wetterdienst, the central scientific agency that monitors weather and meteorological conditions over Germany.

Two DAX companies are located in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA and Fresenius Medical Care. Other major companies are Hewlett-Packard, Bridgestone, Deutsche Leasing and Basler Versicherungen.

Kronberg im Taunus is home of the German headquarters of automobile manufacturer Jaguar Cars as well as the German headquarters of Accenture.

Lufthansa Systems, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, is located in Kelsterbach.

LSG Sky Chefs, another subsidiary of Lufthansa, is located in Neu-Isenburg.

The German headquarters of Thomas Cook Group are based in Oberursel.

Langen is home to Deutsche Flugsicherung, the German air traffic control.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Frankfurt is twinned with:

* Birmingham, West Midlands, England (1966)
* Budapest, Hungary (1990)

* Deuil-la-Barre, Val d'Oise, France (1967); ''formerly twinned with Nieder-Eschbach, incorporated into Frankfurt in 1972)''
* Dubai, Emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2005)
* Eskişehir, Eskişehir Province, Turkey (2013)
* Granada, Granada Department, Nicaragua (1991)
* Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (1988)
* Kraków, Poland (1991)
* Leipzig, Saxony, Germany (1990)
* Lyon, France (1960)
* Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
* Milan, Lombardy, Italy (1970)
* Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (2015)
* Prague, Czech Republic (1990)
* Tel Aviv, Gush Dan, Israel (1980)
* Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1989)

Friendly cities

Frankfurt has friendly relations with:
* Cairo, Egypt (1979)
* Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan (2011)
* Lviv, Ukraine (2024)

Cityscape

Landmarks

Römer

Römer, the German word for Roman, is a complex of nine houses that form the Frankfurt city hall (''Rathaus''). The houses were acquired by the city council in 1405 from a wealthy merchant family. The middle house became the city hall and was later connected with its neighbors. The ''Kaisersaal'' ("Emperor's Hall") is located on the upper floor and is where the newly crowned emperors held their banquets. The Römer was partially destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt. The surrounding square, the Römerberg, is named after the city hall.

The former Altstadt (old town) quarter between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral was redeveloped as the Dom-Römer Quarter from 2012 to 2018, including 15 reconstructions of historical buildings that were destroyed during World War II.

German National Library

Frankfurt is one of two sites of the German National Library (''Deutsche Nationalbibliothek''), the other being Leipzig. The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek is a universal library in Germany. Its task, unique in Germany, is to collect, permanently archive, comprehensively document and record bibliographically all German and German-language publications from 1913 on, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945, and to make them available to the public.

Frankfurt Cathedral

Frankfurt Cathedral () is not a cathedral, but the main Catholic church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The Gothic building was constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries on the foundation of an earlier church from the Merovingian time. From 1356 onwards, kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected in this church, and from 1562 to 1792, Roman-German emperors were crowned there.

Since the 18th century, St. Bartholomew's has been called , although it was never a bishop's seat. In 1867 it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in its present style. It was again partially destroyed in World War II and rebuilt in the 1950s. Its height is . The cathedral tower has a viewing platform open to the public at a height of , accessed through a narrow spiral staircase with 386 steps.

St. Paul's Church

St. Paul's Church is a national historic monument in Germany because it was the seat of the first democratically elected parliament in 1848. It was established in 1789 as a Protestant church, but was not completed until 1833. Its importance has its roots in the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the church during the revolutionary years of 1848/49 in order to write a constitution for a united Germany. The attempt failed because the monarchs of Prussia and Austria did not want to lose power. In 1849, Prussian troops ended the democratic experiment by force and the parliament dissolved; the building was once more used for religious services.

St. Paul's was partially destroyed in World War II with its interior significantly damaged. It was quickly and symbolically rebuilt after the war albeit with modern alterations particularly to the interior; today it is used mainly for exhibitions and events.

Archäologischer Garten Frankfurt

The Archaeological Garden contains small parts of the oldest recovered buildings: an ancient Roman settlement and the Frankfurt Royal Palace (''Kaiserpfalz Frankfurt'') from the sixth century. The garden is located between the Römerberg and the cathedral. It was discovered after World War II when the area was heavily bombed and later partly rebuilt. The remains were preserved and are now open to the public. From 2013 until 2015 an event building, the Stadthaus ("City house"), has been built on top of the garden, but it remains open to the public free of charge.

Haus Wertheim

Wertheim House is the only timbered house in the Altstadt district that survived the heavy bombings of World War II undamaged. It is located on the Römerberg next to the Historical Museum.

Saalhof

The Saalhof is the oldest conserved building in the Altstadt district and dates to the 12th century. It was used as an exhibition hall by Dutch clothiers when trade fairs were held during the 14th and 15th centuries. The Saalhof was partly destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt. Today it serves as a part of the Historical Museum.

Eiserner Steg

The Eiserner Steg (Iron Bridge) is a pedestrian-only bridge across the Main that connects Römerberg and Sachsenhausen. It was built in 1868 and was the second bridge to cross the river. After World War II, when it was blown up by the Wehrmacht, it was quickly rebuilt in 1946. Today some 10,000 people cross the bridge on a daily basis.

Alte Oper

The Alte Oper is a former opera house, hence the name "Old Opera". The opera house was built in 1880 by architect Richard Lucae. It was one of the major opera houses in Germany until it was heavily damaged in World War II. Until the late 1970s, it was a ruin, nicknamed "Germany's most beautiful ruin". Former Frankfurt Lord Mayor Rudi Arndt called for blowing it up in the 1960s, which earned him the nickname "Dynamite-Rudi". (Later on, Arndt said he never had meant his suggestion seriously.)

Public pressure led to its refurbishment and reopening in 1981. Today, it functions as a famous concert hall, while operas are performed at the "new" Frankfurt Opera. The inscription on the frieze of the Alte Oper says: "''Dem Wahren, Schönen, Guten''" ("To the true, the beautiful, the good").

Eschenheimer Turm

The Eschenheim Tower ('' Eschenheimer Turm'') was erected at the beginning of the 15th century and served as a city gate as part of late-medieval fortifications. It is the oldest and most unaltered building in the Innenstadt district.

St. Catherine's Church

St. Catherine's Church is the largest Protestant church, dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria, a martyred early Christian saint. It is located downtown at the entrance to the Zeil, the central pedestrian shopping street.

Hauptwache

Although today Hauptwache is mostly associated with the inner-city underground train station of the same name, the name originates from a baroque building on the square above the station. The Hauptwache building was constructed in 1730 and was used as a prison, therefore the name that translates as "main guard-house". Today the square surrounding the building is also called "Hauptwache" (formal: ). It is situated downtown opposite to St. Catherine's Church.

Central Station

Frankfurt Central Station (''Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof''), which opened in 1888, was built as the central train station for Frankfurt to replace three smaller downtown train stations and to boost the needed capacity for travellers. It was constructed as a terminus station and was the largest train station in Europe by floor area until 1915 when Leipzig Central Station was opened. Its three main halls were constructed in a neorenaissance-style, while the later enlargement with two outer halls in 1924 was constructed in neoclassic-style.

Frankfurter Hof

The Frankfurter Hof is a landmark downtown hotel at Kaiserplatz, built from 1872 to 1876. It is part of Steigenberger Hotels group and is considered the city's most prestigious.

St. Leonhard

St. Leonhard, on the Main close to the bridge Eiserner Steg, is a Catholic late Gothic hall church, derived from a Romanesque style basilica beginning in 1425. It is the only one of nine churches in the Old Town that survived World War II almost undamaged. The parish serves the English-speaking community. The church has been under restoration from 2011 until 2019.

Gründerzeit quarters

Around the city centre there are widespread quarters full of Gründerzeit architecture. Buildings of that type often sport richly decorated façades in the form of Historicism such as Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, German Renaissance and Baroque Revival.

Textor-schweizer-ffm002.jpg, Sachsenhausen
Frankfurt, Beethovenstraße 71.jpg, Westend
Frankfurt am Main - Nordend.JPG, Nordend
Bergerstrasse-ffm066.jpg, Bornheim

Timber-framed old towns

Around the city center of Frankfurt are several former independent villages, now part of the city, with timber-framed centres and even whole old towns like Höchst, Seckbach, Niederursel and Bergen-Enkheim. Overall there are around 14.500 buildings in Frankfurt built before 1919 and around 3.000 of them are timber framed houses.

Hoechster Altstadt September 2010 Pano 1.jpg, Höchst old town
Town-hall-seckbach-hesse-2010-germany-b.jpg, Seckbach
Niederursel, Alt-Niederursel 29-31 (1).jpg, Niederursel
Bergerrathaus2.JPG, Bergen-Enkheim

20th-century architecture

* Frauenfriedenskirche and Holy Cross Church), both consecrated in 1929, are examples of early modernist church buildings during the time of the New Frankfurt.
* Großmarkthalle, built 1926–1928 as a part of the New Frankfurt-project, the former wholesale market hall was repaired after the second world war and integrated into the new seat of the European Central Bank between 2010 and 2014.
* Goethe House, rebuilt 1947. The birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from 1749 was destroyed in World War II and then rebuilt true to the original.
*Junior-Haus, built 1951, an example of early post-World War II architecture located at Kaiserplatz.
*Bayer-Haus, built 1952, another example of early post-World War II architecture.
* Museum für angewandte Kunst, built 1985, designed by Richard Meier.
* IG Farben Building – Also known as Poelzig Building (''Poelzig-Bau'') after its architect Hans Poelzig, it was built from 1928 to 1930 as the corporate headquarters of I.G. Farbenindustrie AG. It is located in the Westend district and borders Grüneburgpark in the west. Upon its completion, the complex was the largest office building in Europe and remained so until the 1950s. The building served as headquarters for research projects relating to the development of synthetic oil and rubber and the manufacturing of magnesium, lubricating oil, explosives, methanol, and Zyklon B, the lethal gas used in concentration camps. After World War II, it served as the headquarters for the Supreme Allied Command and from 1949 to 1952 the High Commissioner for Germany (HICOG). It became the principal location for implementing the Marshall Plan, which largely financed the post-war reconstruction of Europe. The state apparatus of the Federal German Government was devised there. It served as the headquarters for the US Army's V Corps and the Northern Area Command (NACOM) until 1995 when the US Army returned control of the IG Farben Building to the German government. It was purchased on behalf of the Goethe University Frankfurt by the state of Hesse. In October 2001 it became part of the Westend Campus of Goethe University.

21st-century architecture

*Die Welle (''The Wave''), built 1998–2003, a complex of three wavelike-formed office buildings next to the Opernplatz.
*Alte Stadtbibliothek, rebuilt 2003–2005, reconstruction of the old public library house originally built 1820–1825.
* Palais Thurn und Taxis, rebuilt 2004–2009, reconstruction of a palace originally built 1731–1739.
* MyZeil, built 2004–2009, shopping mall at the Zeil with an imposing vaulted glass-structure.
* The Squaire (portmanteau of ''square'' and ''air''), also known as Airrail Center Frankfurt, is a long and tall office building located at Frankfurt Airport. It was built from 2006 to 2011 on top of an existing railway station ( Frankfurt Airport long distance Station) and has a connecting bridge to Terminal 1 for pedestrians. Its total of rentable floor space makes it Germany's largest office building.

Skyscrapers

Frankfurt is unique among German cities with regards to skyscrapers. Since the 1970s some of the tallest buildings in Germany have been built along the Mainzer Landstrasse. The Main Tower was completed in 1999 with its top floor skydeck and penthouse restaurant designed to be open to tourists. Frankfurt hosts 20 out of Germany's 21 skyscrapers. Most skyscrapers and high-rise office buildings are located in the financial district ( Bankenviertel), around the trade fair premises ( Europaviertel) and at Mainzer Landstraße between Opernplatz and Platz der Republik, which connects the two areas.

The 20 skyscrapers are:
*Commerzbank Tower, – designed by Norman Foster, when the tower was completed in 1997 it was the tallest building in Europe with 259 meters. It is still the tallest building in Frankfurt and constructed in steel.
*Messeturm, – The EU's third-tallest building, the tallest building in Europe 1990–1997; main tenant is Goldman Sachs (Germany).
* Four I,
* Westend Tower, – DZ Bank headquarters
*Main Tower, – Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen and Standard & Poor's (Germany) headquarters
* Tower 185, – PricewaterhouseCoopers (Germany) headquarters
* ONE ,
* Omniturm,
* Trianon, – DekaBank headquarters
* Seat of the European Central Bank, – European Central Bank headquarters
* Grand Tower, – Tallest residential tower
* Four I, – Residential tower
* Opernturm, – UBS (Germany) headquarters
* Taunusturm,
* Silberturm, – Germany's tallest building 1978–1990, Main tenant is .
* Westend Gate, – Germany's tallest building 1976–1978, Main tenant is Marriott Frankfurt Hotel.
* Deutsche Bank I, – headquarters
* Deutsche Bank II,
* Marienturm,
* Skyper, – Main tenant is DekaBank.

Other high-rise buildings include:
* Eurotower, – Former European Central Bank headquarters
*One Forty West, – Meliá Hotels International, Residential
* Frankfurter Büro Center, – Main tenant is Clifford Chance (Germany).
* City-Haus, – Main tenant is DZ Bank.
* Gallileo, – Main tenant is Commerzbank.

History of high-rise buildings

For centuries, St. Bartholomeus's Cathedral was the tallest structure. The first building to exceed the 95-meter-high cathedral was not an office building but a grain silo high. The Henninger Turm was opened in the 1960s and the silo was topped by a revolving restaurant designed to be a landmark. The Henninger Turm was extensively refurbished and is now a residential high-rise.

The first high-rise building boom came in the 1970s when Westend Gate (then called ''Plaza Büro Center'') and Silberturm were constructed and became the tallest buildings in Germany with a height of 159.3 meters and 166.3 meters, respectively. Around the same time, Frankfurter Büro Center and City-Haus (142.4 meters and 142.1 meters) were constructed at Mainzer Landstraße and Eurotower (148.0 meters) and Garden Tower (127.0 meters; then called ''Helaba-Hochhaus'') were constructed in the financial district.

None of the buildings constructed during the 1980s surpassed Silberturm. The most famous buildings from this decade are the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers at Taunusanlage, both 155.0 meters tall.

The 1990s featured a second wave. Messeturm, built on the trade fair site, reached a height of and became the tallest building in Europe by 1991. It was overtaken by the Commerzbank Tower in 1997. Other tall buildings from this decade are Westendstrasse 1 (), Main Tower () and Trianon ().

In 21st-century Frankfurt, more high-rise buildings and skyscrapers (e.g., Skyper, Opernturm, Tower 185, Seat of the European Central Bank, Taunusturm) emerged, but none have surpassed Commerzbank Tower.

Other tall structures

* Europaturm — The Europe Tower is a telecommunications tower, also known as the Frankfurt TV Tower, built from 1974 to 1979. With a height of 337.5 meters it is the tallest tower and the second tallest structure in Germany after the Fernsehturm Berlin. It was open to the public until 1999, with an entertainment establishment in the revolving top. It is normally referred to by locals as the "Ginnheimer Spargel" (''Ginnheim Asparagus''), but stands a few meters within Bockenheim district.
* Henninger Turm — The Henninger Tower was a 120-mete-high grain silo built from 1959 to 1961 and owned by Henninger Brewery. It was the highest structure until 1974. The Henninger Tower had two rotating restaurants at the height of 101 and 106 meters and an open-air observation deck at the height of 110 meters. The tower closed to the public in October 2002 and was demolished in 2013 to be replaced by a 140 m (459 ft) tall residential tower, which is externally inspired by the old Henninger Turm. The cornerstone for this project was laid in June 2014 and construction was completed in summer 2017. The new tower offers 207 luxury flats and houses the non-rotating restaurant "Franziska". From 1962 to 2008 a famous yearly cycling race was named after the tower, the "Radrennen Rund um den Henninger Turm" (''Cycling race around Henninger Tower''). The now-renamed race is still a yearly event.
* Goetheturm – The Goethe Tower was a tower on the northern edge of the Frankfurt City Forest in Sachsenhausen. It was the fifth tallest wood construction structure in Germany. It was built in 1931 and was a popular place for day-trippers until it burned down in 2017. A faithful reconstruction has been opened to the public on 12 October 2020, exactly three years after the original's destruction.

Shopping streets

*Zeil – Frankfurt's central shopping street is a mile long and has been a shopping destination for more than a century. Only the western half of Zeil is pedestrianized. MyZeil is a stereotypical shopping mall. Three more shopping malls occupy the Zeil: UpperZeil (replacing the Zeilgalerie, which was demolished in 2016), Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt, as well as large fashion retail clothing stores from Peek & Cloppenburg and C&A. During the month before Christmas, the extended pedestrian-only zone is host to Frankfurt Christmas Market, one of the largest and oldest Christmas markets in Germany. Zeil is bordered by two large public squares, Hauptwache in the west and Konstablerwache in the east. It is the second most expensive street for shops to rent in Germany after the Kaufingerstraße in Munich. 85 percent of the shops are retail chains such as H&M, Saturn (store), Saturn, Esprit Holdings, Esprit, Zara (retailer), Zara or NewYorker.
*Goethestraße – Frankfurt's shopping destination for prestigious luxury shops like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Tiffany, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Cartier SA, Cartier, Burberry, Vertu and Bulgari.
*Freßgass – (officially ''Kalbächer Gasse'' and ''Große Bockenheimer Straße'') is a central pedestrian-only street section between Börsenstraße and Opernplatz. The name translates as "feeding alley" because of its high concentration of gastronomy, but lately prestigious shops (e.g., Apple Store, Hugo Boss, Porsche Design Group, Porsche Design) have moved here due to the lack of space in the neighboring Goethestraße, displacing old, established restaurants, butchers and delicatessens.
*Berger Straße – Frankfurt's longest shopping street. It starts in the city center, runs through Nordend, Frankfurt, Nordend and Bornheim (Frankfurt), Bornheim and ends in Seckbach. The street is less crowded than the Zeil and offers a greater variety of smaller shops, restaurants and cafés.
*Leipziger Straße – Central shopping street in the Bockenheim district starting at Bockenheimer Warte going towards West. High density of shops for daily needs.
*Braubachstraße – In the Altstadt district, close to the historic sites of the city, offers a large variety of art galleries, second-hand bookshops and antique shops.
*Münchener Straße – In the Bahnhofsviertel district, located between the central station and Willy-Brandt-Platz, is the most multicultural shopping street with many shops selling imported products mainly from Turkey, the Middle East and Asia.
*Kleinmarkthalle – (literally: ''Small Market Hall'') is a market hall close to Konstablerwache square offering fresh food and flowers. In addition to regional delicacies like green sauce imported goods are offered. The Kleinmarkthalle is the largest public marketplace in Frankfurt.

Green city

With a large forest, many parks, the Main riverbanks and the two botanical gardens, Frankfurt is considered a "green city": More than 50 percent of the area within the city limits are protected green areas.

*Frankfurter Grüngürtel – The Green Belt is a ring-shaped public green space around the city. With 8,000 Hectare, ha it covers a third of the administrative area. It includes the Frankfurter Stadtwald ('' Frankfurt City Forest'', Germany's largest forest within a city), the Schwanheimer Düne ('' Schwanheim Dune''), the Niddatal (''Nidda (river), Nidda Valley''), the Niddapark, the Lohrberg (''Lohr Mountain'', Frankfurt's only vineyard), the Huthpark, the Enkheimer Ried (''Frankfurt-Bergen-Enkheim, Enkheim Marsh''), the Seckbacher Ried ('' Seckbach Marsh'') and the Fechenheimer Mainbogen (a S-shaped part of the Main river in Fechenheim). The Green Belt is a protected area which means that housing is not allowed. The Green Belt was formally created in 1991 with its own constitution.
*Mainuferpark – The Mainuferpark (''Main Riverbanks Park'') is the common term to describe the inner-city Main riverbanks. It is an auto-free zone with large green areas that is popular with strollers and tourists, especially in the summertime, when it can become crowded. The southern riverbank, which continues further to Offenbach am Main and Hanau, offers the best skyline views. The northern riverbank ends in the west at the former Westhafen (''West Harbor'', a residential housing area) and is growing to the east: A former industrial-used area between the new Seat of the European Central Bank and the Osthafen (''East Harbor'') has become a park named Hafenpark (''Harbor Park''), which offers outdoor courts for basketball, soccer and a skatepark.
*Wallanlagen – The Wallanlagen (former ''Defensive wall, ramparts'') relate to the former ring-shaped Defensive wall, city wall fortifications around the Altstadt and the Innenstadt district (abolished 1804–1812), now a series of parks. Building is not allowed, with a few exceptions, the most famous being the Alte Oper (built 1880) at the Opernplatz. The part between the northern Main riverbank and the Opernplatz, referred to officially as Taunusanlage and Gallusanlage, is locally known as "Central Park" (a reference to the Central Park, famous park in Manhattan), because of the skyscrapers which stand on both sides.
*Nizza Park – At the juncture of the northern Main riverbank and the Wallanlagen is a famous small park called Nizza. The name of the park recalls Nice

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