Frankfurt - Frankfurt guide, attractions and pictures
Frankfurt is a city of opposites, the new, futuristic skyscrapers, awkwardly at times, juxtaposed against the old
Germany. Frankfurt am Main, this thriving metropolis of 650,000 culturally diverse souls, situated along the Main River, is home to world class museums, modern skyscrapers and Germany's financial center, alongside restored medieval buildings bombed during World War II, their quaint, half-timbered, brightly colored exteriors, a startling contrast to the steel and glass skyscrapers dominating Frankfurt's skyline. Frankfurt is so much like the
United States', the City of
Manhattan; it is nicknamed "Mainhatten".
Frankfurt sponsors annual, international trade fairs, such as the Book Fair, Automobile Trade Show and countless folk festivals centered on the imbibing of local beers and the local specialty, Äbbelwoi, or apple wine. With outstanding shopping at the
Zeil, Frankfurt's shopping district, traditional dining in beer gardens and apple wine taverns, to international and ethnic cuisine, and top-notch museums, Frankfurt has much to offer.
Many travelers find themselves on layovers in Frankfurt, from one of the largest airports in Europe,
Frankfurt International Airport, and decide to venture out on a short train ride to the city center; pleasantly surprised at the many cultural and sightseeing attractions Frankfurt has to offer. The sleek, modern financial center with the German Stock Exchange, European Central Bank, Bundesbank and the
Commerzbank Tower, the second tallest building in the European continent, offers a visitor a taste of the flurry of business activity expected in a world-class center of commerce.
The startlingly detailed, restored exteriors of the
Alte Oper house,
The Romer - Frankfurt's city hall building, the
Paulskirche -St. Paul's Church, and the baroque style row houses in Römerberg, Frankfurt's old town, offer a charming perspective of Frankfurt's medieval past. Once inside however, the interiors of these ornate, painstakingly restored, monuments to the past, are quite modern, yet another paradox to be found in this thriving city.
Savvy travelers will purchase a Frankfurt card, for the price of a few Euros that provides unlimited public transportation and discounted museum entrance fees. The cluster of museums located on the south bank of the Main River termed, Museumsufer is home to art, history, communication, and film museums to name a few. The Stadel Art Museum offers two floors of exhibitions and an exquisite, permanent collection of European masterpieces, including, Botticelli's, "Depiction of Idealized Beauty", Vermeer's, "The Geographer" and Claude Monet's, "The Luncheon", along with twentieth century works from, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckman and Pablo Picasso.
After a museum tour and perhaps a stop for refreshment of a Tasse Kaffee and Schwarzwälderkirschtorte, Black Forest Cake, beautiful public parks and gardens await for a leisurely stroll to view the tropical plants in a massive greenhouse at the
Palmengarten, rare plant species in the Botanical Garden, and a lovely Chinese garden at
Bethmann Park. As Frankfurt is the birthplace of famed German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a museum and restored
Goethe family home, is worth a visit to view the interior where Goethe penned his famous work, "The Sorrows of Young Werther".
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