Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 778,589 inhabitants as of 2025 make it the List of cities in [Germany by population|fifth-most populous city in Germany]. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, the city forms a continuous conurbation with Offenbach am Main; its urban area has a population of over 2.7 million. Frankfurt 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. Home to the European Central Bank, the city serves as one of the four institutional seats of the European Union. Frankfurt is classified by the GaWC as an Alpha-rated world city.
Frankfurt was first mentioned in a document in 794 and has been an imperial city since 1372. Frankfurt was a city state, the Free City of Frankfurt, for nearly five centuries, and was one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire">Rome">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 by the Kingdom of Prussia following the Austro-Prussian War. 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.
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 former West Germany, Frankfurt Airport became the the busiest airports in Germany|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 Deutsche Bahn, 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 and business centers of Europe, with the headquarters of the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, 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. Other 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 , the FUAS, the FUMPA, and graduate schools like the FSFM. The city is one of two seats of the German National Library, 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, 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 parks and major botanical gardens. Roughly 52 percent of the city area is green. Frankfurt is a founding member of the Climate Alliance of European Cities and has pledged to work towards a 50 percent reduction of carbon emissions by 2030. 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, Deutsche Bundesbank, 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 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 Deutsche Bank, 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. 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 Deutsche Bahn, the German national railway company, with 342 trains a day to domestic and European destinations. 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. 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
Frankonovurd or Vadum Francorum 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. The name is derived from the Franconofurd, from the Germanic tribe of the Franks and Furt where the river was shallow enough to be crossed on foot.Thietmar of Merseburg in the 11th century reported a founding legend in which Charlemagne and his army of Franks discovered the ford at Frankfurt when a doe crossed over it, showing them the way; in honor of this the city was named "ford of the Franks". 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". Frankfurt is located on an ancient ford 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 German city of Frankfurt an der Oder in the Land of Brandenburg on the Polish border. The common abbreviations for the city, primarily used in railway services and on road signs, are Frankfurt , Frankfurt , 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 was a Roman civitas capital.Alemanni and Franks lived there, and by 794, Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which Franconofurd 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. In 1372, Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt and was as such directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor rather than a regional ruler or a local nobleman. From 1562 onward the kings and emperors were crowned and elected in Frankfurt, starting with Maximilian II. This tradition ended in 1792, when Francis II was elected. His coronation was deliberately held on 14 July Bastille Day, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus Cathedral, known as the Kaiserdom, or the four other structures known to have existed at this location. The cathedral spire was constructed according to plans by Madern Gerthener in 1415 and is 95 meters tall.
The Messe Frankfurt 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 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.
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 Fürstprimas, 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 de Venise, Grand Duke of Frankfurt after Dalberg's death. 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 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 as a free city, becoming the seat of its Bundestag, 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 Frankfurter Paulskirche 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, 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. 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. In spite of the wartime destruction, over 40% of Frankfurt's buildings still date from before the Second World War.
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 and the United States High Commissioner for Germany 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. 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.
File:Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof von oben.jpg|thumb|Frankfurt Central Station, view from the roof of the Maintower in 2003
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. 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. In 1948, the Allies founded the Bank deutscher Länder, the forerunner of the Deutsche Bundesbank. Following this decision, more financial institutions were re-established, such as Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank. In the 1950s, Frankfurt Stock Exchange regained its position as the country's leading stock exchange. In 1998, the European Central Bank was founded in Frankfurt, followed by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority in 2011, and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority in 2024.
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 linking outlying communities with the city center, and a deep underground light rail system with smaller coaches also capable of travelling above ground on rails.
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 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, Mainz, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, Hanau, Aschaffenburg, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Rüsselsheim, Wetzlar and Marburg.
Districts
The city is divided into 46 city districts, which are in turn divided into 121 city boroughs and 448 electoral districts. The 46 city districts combine into 16 area districts, 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 are divided for administrative purposes into a northern and a southern part, respectively a western and an eastern part, but are generally considered as one city district.
Some larger housing areas are often falsely called city districts, even by locals, like Nordweststadt, Goldstein, Riedberg and Europaviertel. The Bankenviertel, Frankfurt's financial district, is also not an administrative city district.
Many city districts are incorporated suburbs 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.At the end of the 19th century the city of Frankfurt was enlarged. The central train station was built in 1888 to support the incorporation of existing population centers. Bornheim was incorporated in 1877, followed by Bockenheim in 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 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 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 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. Its climate features cool winters with frequent rain showers and overcast skies, and warm summers. The average annual temperature is, with monthly mean temperatures ranging from in January to in July. The city is one of the warmest in 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" and is one of the biggest parks with Mediterranean vegetation north of the Alps.
| Climate data for Frankfurt | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean No. of days with Maximum temperature => | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.4 |
| Mean No. of days with Minimum temperature <= | 15.8 | 15 | 8.8 | 2.9 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 | 6.2 | 13.6 | 64.1 |
| Mean No. of days with Maximum temperature <= | 4.6 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 3 | 10.3 |
| Mean No. of days with snow depth => | 4.9 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 13.3 |
| Mean number of days with thunder | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 27.5 |
| Mean number of days with hail | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 |
| Mean number of days with fog | 3 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 32.2 |
| Number of days with no sunshine | 19.9 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 9.9 | 11 | 8.8 | 9.3 | 7.7 | 11.1 | 15 | 19.2 | 21.7 | 163.1 |
| Mean daily daylight hours | 9.0 | 10.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 15.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 14.0 | 13.0 | 11.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 12.3 |
| Average Ultraviolet index | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Source 1: NOAA | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Source 2: Weather Atlas | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Demographics
Population
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 TurkeyMoroccan communityFrankfurt 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.
Immigration and foreign nationalsAccording 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 ; 7.3% come from Africa; 3.4% come from North 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. ReligionFrankfurt is historically a Protestant-dominated city. However, during the 19th century, an increasing number of Catholics moved to Frankfurt., the largest Christian denominations were Catholicism and Protestantism, especially Lutheranism.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. Frankfurt has a 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 politicsMayorThe 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 ! % ! 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 City councilThe Frankfurt am Main city council 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 ! +/- ! 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 ! ! Landtag electionFor 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, Miriam Dahlke, Ralf-Norbert Bartel, Michael Boddenberg, Markus Bocklet and Boris Rhein.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 electionFor federal elections which are held every four years, Frankfurt is split up into two constituencies. In the German federal election 2017, Matthias Zimmer and Bettina Wiesmann were elected to the Bundestag by directe mandate in Frankfurt am Main I and Frankfurt am Main II respectively. Nicola Beer, Achim Kessler, Ulli Nissen and Omid Nouripour 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 businessFrankfurt 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, eighth at the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, ninth at the Global Financial Centres Index, tenth at the Global Power City Index, 11th at the Global City Competitiveness Index, 12th at the Innovation Cities Index, 14th at the World City Survey and 23rd at the Global Cities Index.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 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, 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. 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 banksFrankfurt is home to two important central banks: the German Bundesbank and the European Central Bank.European Central BankThe European Central Bank 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 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, 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 BundesbankThe Deutsche Bundesbank, 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. 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 which is formed by all 27 EU member states. Its balance sheet total is around 2,7 trillion, making it the 4th biggest central bank.Commercial banksIn 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 and nicknamed "Mainhattan" or "Bankfurt". 73,200 people were employed at banks in 2010.
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 ExchangeThe Frankfurt Stock Exchange 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 Deutsche Börse, which is itself listed in the DAX. Deutsche Börse also owns the European futures exchange Eurex and clearing company Clearstream.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 FairFrankfurt Trade Fair 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, 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. Aviationis 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.Fraport is the owner and operator of Frankfurt Airport. It is the airport's second-largest employer. 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 is the main operation base of Lufthansa at Frankfurt Airport. The airport serves as Lufthansa's primary hub with 157 worldwide destinations. Lufthansa Cargo is based in Frankfurt and operates its largest cargo center at Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa Flight Training is also based here. Condor is a German airline based at Frankfurt Airport. Other industriesAccountancy and professional servicesThree of the four largest international accountancy and professional services firms are present.PricewaterhouseCoopers German headquarters are located at Tower 185. KPMG moved its European Headquarters to The Squaire. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu are present, while Ernst & Young is located in Eschborn. Credit rating agenciesThe three major international credit rating agencies – Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings – have their German headquarters in Frankfurt.Investment trust companiesDWS 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, Union Investment and Deka Investmentfonds.Management consultanciesMany 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 companiesLocated in Frankfurt are the German headquarters of Jones Lang LaSalle and BNP Paribas Real Estate.Law firmsFrankfurt has the highest concentration of lawyers in Germany, with one lawyer per 97 inhabitants in 2005.Most of the large international law firms maintain offices, among them A&O Shearman, Baker McKenzie, Bird & Bird, Clifford Chance, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Debevoise & Plimpton, DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells, Jones Day, K&L Gates, Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Mayer Brown, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Norton Rose, Sidley Austin, SJ Berwin, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, Taylor Wessing and White & Case. Advertising agenciesAccording to a ranking of German FOCUS magazine 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.FoodFrankfurt is home to the German headquarters of Nestlé, the world's largest food company, located in Niederrad. Other important food companies are Ferrero SpA and Radeberger Gruppe KG, the largest private brewery group in Germany.AutomotiveThe 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 located in Frankfurt Rödelheim.ConstructionSome of the largest German construction companies have offices, e.g., Bilfinger Berger, Hochtief, Züblin and BAM Deutschland.Property and real estateFrankfurt 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.TourismFrankfurt 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 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.OtherFrankfurt is home to companies from the chemical, transportation, telecommunication and energy industries. Some of the larger companies are:
Urban area (suburban) businessesWithin 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. Deutsche Börse 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 relationsTwin towns – sister citiesFrankfurt is twinned with:
Friendly citiesFrankfurt has friendly relations with:Central Station, 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.Shopping streets
LandmarksRömer, the German word for Roman, is a complex of nine houses that form the Frankfurt city hall. 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 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 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. Frankfurt Cathedralis 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 Dom, 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 Churchis 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 FrankfurtThe Archaeological Garden contains small parts of the oldest recovered buildings: an ancient Roman settlement and the Frankfurt Royal Palace 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, has been built on top of the garden, but it remains open to the public free of charge.Haus WertheimWertheim 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.SaalhofThe 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 StegThe Eiserner Steg 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 OperThe 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".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". Eschenheimer TurmThe Eschenheim Tower 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 Churchis 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.HauptwacheAlthough 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". It is situated downtown opposite to St. Catherine's Church.Frankfurter HofThe 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, 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 quartersAround 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.Timber-framed old townsAround 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.German National LibraryFrankfurt is one of two sites of the German National Library, 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.20th-century architecture
21st-century architecture
SkyscrapersFrankfurt 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, around the trade fair premises and at Mainzer Landstraße between Opernplatz and Platz der Republik, which connects the two areas.The 20 skyscrapers are:
History of high-rise buildingsThe 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 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 were constructed at Mainzer Landstraße and Eurotower and Garden Tower 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 emerged, but none have surpassed Commerzbank Tower. Other tall structures
Green city parksWith 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.
CultureMuseumsWith more than 30 museums, Frankfurt has one of the largest variety of museums in Europe. Most museums are part of the Museumsufer, located on the front row of both sides of the Main riverbank or nearby, which was created on an initiative by cultural politician Hilmar Hoffmann.Ten museums are located on the southern riverbank in Sachsenhausen between the Eiserner Steg and the Friedensbrücke. The street itself, Schaumainkai, is partially closed to traffic on Saturdays for Frankfurt's largest flea market.
Not directly located on the northern riverbank in the Altstadt district are:
The Explora Museum+Wissenschaft+Technik in the Nordend district was closed in 2016. Most museums open around 10:00 am local time, and it is possible to comfortably visit four museums in one day, a fact many tourists take advantage of. Performing artsMusicand Trance music originated in Frankfurt. In 1989 German producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti formed the Snap! project. Snap! songs combined Rap and Soul vocals adding rhythm by using computer technology and mixing electronic sounds, bass and drums. By doing so a new genre was born: Eurodance. In the early 1990s, DJs including Sven Väth and DJ DAG first played a harder, deeper style of acid house that became popular worldwide over the next decade as Trance music. Some of the early and most influential Eurodance, Trance and Techno acts, e.g., La Bouche, Jam and Spoon, Magic Affair, Culture Beat, Snap!, Dance 2 Trance, Oliver Lieb and Hardfloor, and record labels such as Harthouse and Eye Q, were based in the city in the early 1990s.Venues
Botanical gardensFrankfurt is home to two major botanical gardens:
Foreign culture
Festivals
NightlifeFrankfurt offers a variety of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs. Clubs concentrate in and around downtownand in the Ostend district, mainly close to Hanauer Landstraße. Restaurants, bars and pubs concentrate in Sachsenhausen, Nordend, Bornheim and Bockenheim.In electronic music, Frankfurt was a pioneering city in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with renowned DJs including Sven Väth, Marc Trauner, Scot Project and Kai Tracid. One of the main venues of the early Trance music sound was the from 1988 to 1998. Another popular disco club of the 1980s–1990s and a hotspot for Techno/Trance music was the Dorian Gray, which was located within Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport from 1978 to 2000. Further popular venues were the and the Coocoon Club in Fechenheim. Notable live music venues of the past include the and the . Among the most popular active rock and pop concert venues is the Batschkapp in Seckbach, which opened in 1976 as a center for autonomous and left-wing counterculture. Domestic culture
Culinary specialties
Quality of lifeIn a 2001 ranking by the University of Liverpool, Frankfurt was rated the richest city in Europe by GDP per capita, followed by Karlsruhe, Paris and Munich.Frankfurt was voted the seventh in the Mercer Quality of Living Survey by the Mercer Quality of Living Survey, seventh in the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and 18th at the Economist's World's Most Liveable Cities Survey. According to an annual citizen survey, arranged by the city council, 66 percent inhabitants are satisfied or highly satisfied with the city, while only 6 percent said that they are dissatisfied. Compared to the 1993's survey the number of satisfied inhabitants has grown about 22 percent while the number of dissatisfied inhabitants was reduced by 8 percent. 84 percent of the inhabitants like to live in Frankfurt, 13 percent would rather choose to live somewhere else. 37 percent are satisfied with the public safety, 22 percent are dissatisfied. Frankfurt consistently has the highest levels of crime per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany and is therefore dubbed the German "crime capital". However, this statistic is often criticized because it ignores major factors: It is calculated based on the administrative 680,000-inhabitant figure while the urban area has 2.5 M inhabitants and on weekdays adds another million people. The rate for personal safety-relevant crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape or bodily harm, is 3.4 percent, placing Frankfurt twelfth in the ranking or number 21. In 2018, the state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, was ranked the third-safest state in Germany. TransportAirportsFrankfurt AirportThe city can be accessed from around the world via Frankfurt Airport located southwest of downtown. The airport has four runways and serves 265 nonstop destinations. Run by transport company Fraport it ranks among the world's busiest airports by passenger traffic and is the busiest airport by cargo traffic in Europe. The airport also serves as a hub for Condor and as the main hub for German flag carrier Lufthansa. It is the busiest airport in Europe in terms of cargo traffic, and the fourth busiest in Europe in terms of passenger traffic behind London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport in 2018 was 69,510,269 passengers.A third terminal is being constructed. The third terminal will increase the capacity of the airport to over 90 million passengers per year. The airport can be reached by car or bus and has two railway stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 departing at the regional station take 10–15 minutes from the airport to Frankfurt Central Station and onwards to Hauptwache station downtown. The IC and ICE trains departing at the long-distance station take 10 minutes to Frankfurt Central Station. Frankfurt Hahn AirportDespite the name, Frankfurt Hahn Airport is situated approximately from the city in Lautzenhausen. Hahn Airport is a major base for low-cost carrier Ryanair. This airport can only be reached by car or bus. An hourly bus service runs from Frankfurt Central Station, taking just over 2 hours. Passenger traffic at Hahn Airport in 2010 was 3.5 million.Frankfurt Egelsbach Airportis a busy general aviation airport located south-east of Frankfurt Airport, near Egelsbach.RoadsFrankfurt is a traffic hub for the German motorway system. The Frankfurter Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange close to the airport, where the Bundesautobahn 3, Cologne to Würzburg, and the Bundesautobahn 5, Basel to Hanover, meet. With approximately 320,000 cars passing through it every day, it is Europe's most heavily used interchange. The Bundesautobahn 66 connects Frankfurt with Wiesbaden in the west and Fulda in the east. The Bundesautobahn 661 is mainly a commuter motorway that starts in the south, runs through the eastern part and ends in the north. The Bundesautobahn 648 is a very short motorway in the western part which primarily serves as a fast connection between the A 66 and the Frankfurt Trade Fair. The A5 in the west, the A3 in the south and the A661 in the northeast form a ring road around the inner city districts and define a Low-emission zone, meaning that vehicles have to meet certain emission criteria to enter the zone.The streets of central Frankfurt are usually congested with cars during rush hour. Some areas, especially around the shopping streets Zeil, Goethestraße and Freßgass, are pedestrian-only streets. Railway stationsFrankfurt Central StationFrankfurt Hauptbahnhof '' is the largest railway station in Germany by railway traffic. By daily passenger volume, it ranks second after Hamburg Central Station. It is located between the Gallus, the Gutleutviertel and the Bahnhofsviertel district, not far away from the trade fair and the financial district. It serves as a major hub for long-distance trains and regional trains as well as for Frankfurt's public transport system. It is a stop for most of ICE high-speed lines, making it Germany's most important ICE station. ICE Trains to London via the Channel Tunnel were planned for 2013. All Rhine-Main S-Bahn lines, two U-Bahn lines, several tram and bus lines stop there. Regional and local trains are integrated in the Public transport system Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, the second-largest integrated public transport system in the world, after Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg.Frankfurt Airport stationsFrankfurt Airport can be accessed by two railway stations: Frankfurt Airport long-distance station is only for long-distance traffic and connects the airport to the main rail network, with most of the ICE services using the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line. The long-distance station is located outside the actual airport ground but has a connecting bridge for pedestrians to Terminal 1, concourse B. Frankfurt Airport regional station is for local S-Bahn trains and regional trains. The regional station is located within Terminal 1, concourse B.Frankfurt South stationFrankfurt's third long-distance station is Frankfurt South station, located in Sachsenhausen. It is an important destination for local trains and trams and the terminal stop for four U-Bahn lines as well as three S-Bahn lines. Line S6 also serves the station.Messe stationsThe Frankfurt Trade Fair offers two railway stations: Messe station is for local S-Bahn trains and is centrally located amid trade fair premises, while Festhalle/Messe station is served by U-Bahn line U4 and is located at the north-east corner of the premises.Konstablerwache station and Hauptwache stationTwo other major downtown railway stations are Konstablerwache and Hauptwache, located on each end of the Zeil. They are the main stations to change from east-to-west-bound S-Bahn trains to north-to-south-bound U-Bahn trains. Konstablerwache station is the second-busiest railway station regarding daily passenger volume after the central station. The third-busiest railway station is Hauptwache station.Frankfurt West StationThis Station, located in Bockenheim, is served by north-heading Long-Distance ICE trains, multiple regional trains, and four commuter S-Bahn lines. Additionally, it is an important terminal stop for three "Metrobus" lines.Coach stationsThere are three stations for intercity bus services in Frankfurt: one at the south side of the Central Station, one at the Terminal 2 of the airport and another one at Stephanstraße.Public transportThe city has two rapid transit systems: the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, as well as an above-ground tram system. Information about the U- and S-Bahn can be found on the website of the RMV.S-BahnNine S-Bahn lines connect Frankfurt with the densely populated Rhine Main Region. Most routes have at least 15-minute service during the day, either by one line running every 15 minutes, or by two lines servicing one route at a 30-minute interval. All lines, except line S7, run through the Frankfurt City Tunnel and serve stations at Ostendstraße station|Ostendstraße], Konstablerwache, Hauptwache, Taunusanlage and Frankfurt Central Station. When leaving the city the S-Bahn travels above ground. It provides access to the trade fair, the airport, the stadium and nearby cities such as Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Rüsselsheim, Hanau, Offenbach am Main, Oberursel, Bad Homburg, Kronberg, Friedberg and smaller towns that are on the way. The S8/S9 runs 24/7.U-BahnThe U-Bahn has nine lines serving Frankfurt and the larger suburbs of Bad Homburg and Oberursel in the north. The trains that run on the U-Bahn are in fact light rail as many lines travel along a track in the middle of the street instead of underground. The minimum service interval is 2.5 minutes, although the usual pattern is that each line runs at 7.5- to 10-minute intervals, which produce between 3- and 5-minute intervals on downtown tracks shared by more than one line.TramFrankfurt has ten tram lines, with trams arriving usually every 10 minutes. Many sections are served by two lines, combining to run at 5-minute intervals during rush-hour. Trams only run above ground and serve more stops than the U-Bahn or the S-Bahn.BusA number of bus lines complete the Frankfurt public transport system. Night buses replace U-Bahn and tram services between 1:30 am and 3:30 am. The central junction for the night bus service is at the downtown square of Konstablerwache, where all night bus lines start and end.Taxiss can usually be found outside the major S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations, at the central station, the south station, the airport, the trade fair and in the crowded inner-city shopping streets. The common way to obtain a taxi is to either call a taxi operator or to go to a taxi rank. However, although not the norm, one can hail a passing taxi on the street.Uber ceased operations in Frankfurt on 9 November 2015 after operating in the city for 18 months. However, UberX and local cabs are available through the Uber app. Bicyclesmakes bicycles available for hire through their Call a Bike service. The bicycles are stationed all over the city, including at selected railway stations. They can easily be spotted because of their eye-catching silver-red color. To rent a specific bike, riders either call a service number to get an unlock code or reserve the bike via the smartphone application. To return the bike, the rider locks it within a designated return area.Nextbike also makes bicycles available for hire in Frankfurt. They are stationed all over the city. These can be spotted with their blue color scheme. Cycle rickshaws, a type of tricycle designed to carry passengers in addition to the driver, are also available. These are allowed to operate in pedestrian-only areas and are therefore practical for sightseeing. Frankfurt has a network of cycle routes. Many long-distance bike routes into the city have cycle tracks that are separate from motor vehicle traffic. A number of downtown roads are "bicycle streets" where the cyclist has the right of way and where motorized vehicles are only allowed access if they do not disrupt the cycle users. In addition, cyclists are allowed to ride many cramped one-way streets in both directions., 15 percent of citizens used bicycles. E-ScootersSince 15 June 2019, the use of e-scooters was officially permitted by the German federal government. In Frankfurt, companies like Lime, TIER, Bird, voi., Dott or Bolt are offering their electric micro mobility vehicles for lease. However, their use is being regarded with increasing weariness due to frequent abuse and has sparked a public debate about the need of further regulation of the e-scooter market.Courts of justiceSeveral courts are located in Frankfurt, including:
Financial authoritiesEuropean Insurance and Occupational Pensions AuthorityThe European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority is an institution of the EU and part of the European System of Financial Supervisors that was created in response to the 2008 financial crisis. It was established on 1 January 2011.Federal Financial Supervisory AuthorityFrankfurt is one of two locations of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. The BaFin is an independent federal institution and acts as Germany's financial regulatory authority.Anti-Money Laundering AuthorityThe Anti-Money Laundering Authority of the European Union is based in Frankfurt.International relationsInternational Finance CorporationFrankfurt is home to the German office of the International Finance Corporation, which is part of the World Bank Group. The IFC promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.ConsulatesAs a profoundly international city, Frankfurt hosts 93 diplomatic missions. The Consulate General of the United States in Eckenheim is the largest American consulate in the world.Education and researchUniversities and schoolsFrankfurt hosts two universities and several specialist schools. The two business schools are Goethe University Frankfurt's Goethe Business School and Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.Johann Wolfgang Goethe UniversityThe oldest and best-known university is the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, with locations in Bockenheim, Westend, and Riedberg, and the university hospital in Niederrad. Goethe Business School is part of the university's House of Finance at Campus Westend. The Business School's Full-Time MBA program has over 70% international students.Frankfurt University of Applied SciencesThe Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences was created out of several older organisations in 1971, and offers over 38 study areas, in the arts, sciences, engineering and law. Some of the most important research projects: Planet Earth Simulator, FraLine-IT-School-Service, quantitative analysis of methane in human corpses with the help of a mass spectrometer, software engineering, analysis of qualitative and quantitative gas in human lungs, long-term studies on photovoltaic modules.Frankfurt School of Finance and ManagementThe city is also home to a business school, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, formerly known as the Hochschule für Bankwirtschaft, with its new campus near Deutsche Nationalbibliothek U-Bahn stop. In 2001, it became a specialist institution for Economics and Management, or FOM. Frankfurt School is consistently ranked among the best business schools in the world, attributed to its high research output and quality of undergraduate and graduate training.StädelschuleFrankfurt has the State Institution of Higher Learning for Artistic Education known as the Städelschule, founded in 1817 by Johann Friedrich Städel. It was taken over by the city in 1942 and turned into a state art school.Music schools and conservatoryMusic institutions are the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, and the Hoch Conservatory which was founded in 1878. The International Ensemble Modern Academy is a significant institution for the study of contemporary music.Other notable schoolsThe Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology, a private institution with membership in the German Jesuit Association, has been located in Sachsenhausen since 1950.Education and mediaFrankfurt schools rank among the best-equipped schools nationwide for the availability of PCs and other media facilities. In order to assure maintenance and support of the school PCs, the city in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences launched the project Fraline – IT-Schul-Service, an initiative employing students to provide basic school IT-support.Research institutesThe city is home to three Max Planck Society institutes: the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Max Planck Institute for Biophysics, and the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research.The Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, sponsored by several institutional and private sources, is involved in theoretical research in physics, chemistry, neuroscience, and computer science. Frankfurt is host to the Römisch-Germanische-Kommission, the German Archaeological Institute branch for prehistoric archeology in Germany and Europe. The RGK is involved in a variety of research projects. Its library, with over 200,000 items, is one of the largest archeological libraries in the world. Goethe University and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences are involved in the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence. Trade unions and associationsFrankfurt is home to multiple trade unions and associations, including:
MediaNewspapersTwo important daily newspapers are published. The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, also known as FAZ, was founded in 1949 and is the German newspaper with the widest circulation outside of Germany, with its editors claiming to deliver the newspaper to 148 countries every day. The FAZ has a circulation of over 380,000 copies daily. The other important newspaper, the Frankfurter Rundschau, was first published in 1945 and has a daily circulation of over 181,000.MagazinesSeveral magazines also originate from Frankfurt. The local Journal Frankfurt is the best-known magazine for events, parties, and "insider tips". Öko-Test is a consumer-oriented magazine that focuses on ecological topics. Titanic is a well-known and often criticized satirical magazine with a circulation of approximately 100,000.Radio and TVFrankfurt's first radio station was the Südwestdeutsche Rundfunkdienst AG, founded in 1924. Its successor service is the public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk. It is located at the "Funkhaus am Dornbusch" in the Dornbusch district and is one of the most important radio and television broadcasters in Hesse, with additional studios in Kassel, Darmstadt and Fulda.Bloomberg TV and RTL Television have regional studios. Other radio broadcasters include Main FM and Radio X. From August 1945 to October 2004, the American Forces Network had broadcast from Frankfurt. Due to troop reductions the AFN's location has been closed with AFN now broadcasting from Mannheim. News agencyFrankfurt is home to the German office of Reuters, a global news agency. Associated Press and US-based international news agency Feature Story News have bureaux in Frankfurt.SportsFrankfurt is home to several professional sports teams. Some of them have won German Championships. Basketball side Skyliners Frankfurt won the German Basketball Championship in 2004 and the German Cup in 2000. Football sides Eintracht Frankfurt is one of Germany's most successful clubs in women's football, with a shared record of title-holders of the Frauen-Bundesliga, while Eintracht Frankfurt are one of Germany's most traditional clubs in men's football, being one-time German champions, five-times winners of the DFB-Pokal, two time winners of the UEFA Europa League in 1980 and 2022 and one time runner-up of the UEFA Champions League in 1959-60 and UEFA Super Cup in 2022. Other following sports teams or clubs in Frankfurt include:
Sights in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main areaBesides the tourist attractions in central Frankfurt many internationally famous sites are within 80 km of the city, such as:North
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