The Mainzer Landstraße is one of the main

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector r ...

s 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 ...

, running west from the city centre to the outlying suburbs of the city. The road runs largely parallel with the

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

along its northern bank, and at in length is Frankfurt's second longest road.

History

The road was built between 1746 and 1750 as part of the longer route between

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 it ...

and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

. As one of the most heavily used roads in Frankfurt, factories soon sprang up along its length as Germany industrialised in the 19th century, including the headquarters of Adler and Tenovis. A

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way, the modern day lines 11 and 21, soon followed, supported by the industries along its length. By the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, there were around 40 factories along the length of the road, with more along the many side roads that branch off it. With the opening of

Bundesautobahn 66 is an autobahn in southwestern Germany. It connects the Taunus to Fulda, passing close to Frankfurt am Main. The first part of the autobahn between Wiesbaden and the Nordwestkreuz Frankfurt, was opened as early as 1934, then called the ''Rhein-M ...

, Mainzer Landstraße has become less important for long distance travel and now mostly facilitates travel around the west end of the city. Accordingly, it was downgraded from a regional road (

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

) to a district road (

Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße ...

Route

From the Innenstadt, Mainzer Landstraße runs through Westend, Bahnhofsviertel, Gallus, Griesheim and

Nied The Nied (; ) is a river in Lorraine, France, and Saarland, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Saar. It is formed where two streams converge: the ''Nied allemande'' ("German Nied") and the ''Nied française'' ("French Nied"), which join in ...

on the way to Höchst. The road begins at

Taunusanlage station Frankfurt (Main) Taunusanlage station (german: link=no, Bahnhof Frankfurt (Main) Taunusanlage) is a train station in the city centre of Frankfurt, Germany. It is served by eight S-Bahn lines (S1–S6, S8, S9). The station was opened with the firs ...

, close to the

Deutsche Bank Twin Towers The Deutsche Bank Twin Towers, also known as Deutsche Bank Headquarters (German: ''Zwillingstürme der Deutschen Bank'' or ''Hauptverwaltung Deutsche Bank AG''), is a twin tower skyscraper complex in the Westend-Süd district of Frankfurt, Ge ...

. Between Taunusanlage and the crossroads at Platz der Republik, it passes the

Westend Tower Westendstraße 1 is a 53-storey, skyscraper in the Westend-Süd district of Frankfurt, Germany. The structure was completed in 1993 and together with the nearby City-Haus, forms the headquarters of DZ Bank. In 1995 it won the "Best Building of ...

, the

Frankfurter Büro Center Frankfurter Büro Center (German for ''Frankfurt Office Centre''), also known as FBC, is a 40-storey, skyscraper in the Westend-Süd district of Frankfurt, Germany. It was designed by architect Richard Heil from Frankfurt. The building's anch ...

and the

City-Haus City-Haus is a 42-storey skyscraper in the Westend-Süd district of Frankfurt, Germany. It was constructed from 1971 to 1974 and designed by architects Johannes Krahn and Richard Heil. It was the tallest building in Frankfurt from 1974–197 ...

. The tramlines join Mainzer Landstraße at Platz der Republik, and the road then continues into Gallus, where it passes under Galluswarte

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

station and past the Galluswarte watch tower, which marks the historic walls of Frankfurt. The section of the road in Gallus is known for its high concentration of car dealerships and garages. An alternative tram route to the south lets trams bypass part of Mainzer Landstraße around Galluswarte and a

headshunt A headshunt (or escape track in the United States) is a short length of track provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines. Terminal headshunt A 'terminal headshunt' is a short le ...

tram siding at Mönchhofstraße on the outskirts of Gallus let trams stop and reverse there at

off-peak Peak demand on an electrical grid is simply the highest electrical power demand that has occurred over a specified time period (Gönen 2008). Peak demand is typically characterized as annual, daily or seasonal and has the unit of power. Peak de ...

times. At the border between Gallus and Griesheim, the road passes under

Bundesautobahn 5 is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection (with the A 7. The southern end is at the Swiss border near Basel. It runs through the German states of Hessen and Baden-W� ...

before it meets

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

40, which connects

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 ...

with the city centre and Bundesautobahn 66, near Nied. The tramway runs on a special overpass above the junction, and a

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

at Nied Kirche (Nied Church) allows the 21 line to terminate there. The road then crosses the River Nidda, and terminates in Höchst where it meets Bolongarostraße. This road, and its continuation Brüningstraße, runs through the old town and Industriepark Höchst, the headquarters of

Hoechst AG Hoechst AG () was a German chemicals then life-sciences company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiary of th ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainzer Landstrasse Roads in Hesse Streets in Frankfurt