Frankfurt - the "Mainhattan of Germany"
Written: Sep 04 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: good connctions; easy to explore without speaking german
Cons: somehow grey center; nearly more visitors in town than real Frankfurter
The Bottom Line: You really find everything. Culture, friends, leisure, a big town and the flair of the "village" people around.
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| nilora's Full Review: Frankfurt am Main |
For a bit more than 2 years Frankfurt is now my home. Long enough to enable me to tell you a bit about!
Mainhattan and its skyscrapers
This is the unofficial name for Frankfurt in Hessen with its ca. 630.000 inhabitants. It obviously refers to Manhattan being famous for its skyscrapers. Just like Frankfurt. And the Main is one of Germanys biggest river crossing Frankfurt. That is how the name was created. Frankfurt belongs to the towns with the highest building in Europe which are all located in the area of the city centre. For example the “Messeturm” (trade fair tower) with its 259 m is the highest building in Europe. And you have a great view over the town standing on such a skyscraper when the sun goes down….
Frankfurt as economical town
Frankfurt historically has a great importance of the development of Germany. Still today it is THE financial town where for example the European Central Bank residents. If you get to know somebody here and you ask if he’s working in a) a bank or b) the stock exchange you have a really good chance to be right! But the Main-Taunus area – that’s how we call the closer area around Frankfurt – also has a lot of industry. No surprise given the excellent traffic conditions. Several motorways are crossing and the Frankfurt Airport is known to a lot of travellers in Europe which had to change their plane there. Those good traffic conditions are also a main reason for Frankfurt being such a famous place for trade fairs (this unfortunately makes hotel bills raising as high as the skyscrapers if you come in a trade fair time).
History
I don’t want to bore you with a lot of details. Just for being complete: The first time Frankfurt was historically mentioned was in the year 794 when “Karl der Große” founded it as Franconovurd. After the lost 2nd world war Frankfurt tried to become capital of Germany, but lost against Bonn – our former capital. Well, as you well know, in the meantime it’s Berlin.
What you have to see
Ø Goethe Haus: The famous writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born 1749 in Frankfurt. His house can still be visited and is a must for literally and culturally interested.
Ø Museumsufer (bank of museums): Alongside the bank of the Main in the middle of the town are 19 museums located. Technical, historical, art, culture – everything you could be looking for. The last weekend in August there is even the so called Museumsuferfest (festival of bank of museums) where all museums can be visited within two days for only 7,50€. Crossing the Main by ship is included!
Ø Römer: Here you find the town hall. It is a historically wonderful building with memories of old German emperors.
Ø Hauptwache / Konstablerwache / Zeil: The Zeil is the biggest pedestrian shopping street in Frankfurt. The right thing for spending some money on a relaxing day. At both ends you’ll find a place: at one end of it the Konstablerwache with its Saturday market and on the other the Hauptwache – where most open-air events find their starting point and where the U- and S-trains meet. The Hauptwache used to be a prison in the 18th century, by the way.
Ø Different: Frankfurt of course offers much more for sightseeing than I can cover here. The Dome, the zoo, the famous nature museum Senckenbergmuseum (with dinosaurs!), the stock exchange, the Paulskirche, certain skyscrapers you can climb, open air events in the middle of the town (during summer you find something like this each weekend!) and and and.
Famous for food?
Well, you should get yourself some “Handkäs mit Musik un’ Äppelwoi”. That is a kind of cheese marinated in a special sauce and a kind of cider which is made in this region.
Information
More information about the town – of course as well in English – you can find on www.frankfurt-tourismus.de.
If you come from the airport just take the S8 and S9, direction Offenbach or Hanau and get out at Hauptwache. You are directly in the centre. And from there you find everything very easily.
Well, I like the town. It is big enough that you find everything there but it hasn’t changed to one of those town which lost their flair. And the nightlife is fantastic. Bars open all night, disco, cinema, theatres and opera, an unbelievable variety of international restaurants. And there is nothing better than sitting in the middle of a market place in the city eating an ice cream in one of the Italian ice-cream cafés.
Final comment: Absolutely worth a visit. You find everything from fun, culture, internationality. Just come and find out.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
nilora
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Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
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