The attractions found in Frankfurt include very modern high rises which are responsible for the nickname, Mainhattan. While you may not fall instantly in love with it, Frankfurt posses a lot of charm. You can take some time to explore the interesting museums and the historic buildings and then enjoy high quality dining, exclusive shopping, and a nightlight life that will excite anyone.

Attractions in Historical Frankfurt

Frankfurt has had a complete facelift and no longer resembles a city of its age. This Old Town was devastated by the bombs that were dropped in World War II so nearly all of the buildings were reconstructed. Here is a brief introduction to the most common attractions and the history behind them.

Roemerberg is the most important attraction as it is the oldest structure in the city and because of the cathedral that lies as a back drop to the attractively reconstructed houses.

Roemerberg, or "Frankfurt's Gut Stubb" meaning "good living room" in English, has played an important role for over a thousand years for executions and celebrations. The Christmas market that is held in December is truly amazing.

The Roemer is the Town Hall in Frankfurt and has been since 1405. While the building does house many of the municipal offices, including the office for registration, the visitors to the Hall can view the Emperor's Hall, or Kaisersaal, where many emperors and kings have held coronation banquets. Displayed proudly in the Kaisersaal are portraits of each of the fifty two emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

St. Bartholomaeus Imperial Cathedral (Kaiserdom) has never been the seat of a bishop. The title "Imperial Cathedral" was given because between the years of 1562 and 1792 ten emperors and kings had been crowned there.

The foundation of the old Salvator chapel was used to create the cathedral during the fourteenth and fifteenth century. For over five hundred years, the tower laid claim to the title of highest (95 m) building in Frankfurt.

As you move to the west away from the cathedral and towards Roemerberg you will find yourself on the exact same path that the emperors took after their coronation. The Archaeological Garden, or Archaologischer Garten, can be found just on the outside of the church and the foundations can still be seen that once was the Roman settlement and a Carolingian royal palatinate.

St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche) first opened its doors in 1789 as a Protestant church. This was also the year of the French Revolution, a coincidence?

The German revolutions that occurred in 1848 saw the citizens of fifty two different German states protesting for democracy and social freedom. The National Assembly, or Nationalvarsammlung, used the Paulskirche in Frankfurt as their meeting place from May 18th, 1848 until May 31st, 1849.

While the efforts put forth in the 1848 revolutions and with the National Assembly turned out to fail, a large portion of the Paulskirche Constitution was used to create the model for the Basic Constitution of the Federal Republik of Germany in 1949. The Paulskirche has been known even until today as the cradle of all democracy in Germany.

Goethe House, Grosser Hirschgraben 23-25. The most famous son in Frankfurt, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was born in this place on August 28th of 1749.

The Goethe House became one of the very first buildings that got reconstructed once the war was over. It was great to find that many of the items on the interior survived the war so people can now see actual artifacts of how people lived during the 18th century.

Contemporary and Cultural Frankfurt Attractions

The Bankfurt image is one that Frankfurt has pushed hard to move past. The Rhine-Main area has claimed Frankfurt as the cultural center.

The Mueumsufer (museum embankment) is found on the south side of the river Main, right alongside the Schaumainkai.

The Staedel Gallery is a very important art gallery as it puts on display work produced in the European schools of painting.

Liebighouse is the sculpture museum. There are displays of European baroque statues as well as ancient Greece and Egypt.

The Ethnological Museum, the German Architecture Museum, the German Film Museum and others can also be found at the Schaumainkai.

Every Saturday you can browse a very large flea market that is held at the river banks. The Museumsuferfest brings in millions of people each and every August. Here they find Museums that are open to the public, cabaret, music, and many food stalls with food from many parts of the world to bring an international flair to the event. Both banks of the river are used to celebrate this festival.

Sachsenhausen can be found across the river from the Roemerberg and the city center. While it is an old suburb it also plays host to Frankfurt's apple wine, or ebble woi, quarter. Schweizer Strasse is home to two of the best apple wine pubs around, "Wagner" and "Zum gemalten Haus" and is the main mile for shopping.

As you take a long stroll through Sachsenhausen you will begin to feel as if you have entered another world completely. There are cobblestone lanes that are very narrow, small pubs that serve apple wine and other areas that the locals tend to migrate and take in some "Stoeffche", "Grie Soss", and "Handkaes".

You can learn more about the apple wine culture that is found in Frankfurt and the flair that comes with the local apple wine pubs by watching this video.

Attractions in Frankfurt - Specialties in the Local Food

Ebble woi, Appler, and Stoeffche is all words that describe apple wine. Ebble woi is made by pressing a certain type of apple, the Speyerling. It is not a wine that everyone loves, as a matter of fact, it has been said that Ebble woi begins to taste better after each and every glass. Be sure you take it slow if you are not used to drinking apple wine though, especially when drinking the Rauscher. You could find that you have a run in with your bowels.

Grie Soss - green sauce is served cold and is made from seven different herbs, some mayonnaise, and some cooked eggs and is often times served with a side of potatoes. Grie Sauce was the favorite dish of Goethe. While there are several slight variations in the different recipes for this sauce, it absolutely must contain the seven herbs.

Handkas mit Musik - Hand cheese with music is made of sour milk cheese that has been marinated in a vinegar, oil and diced onion dressing. Some people use caraway seeds in their marinade but in most cases you will have to get the caraway seeds on the side so you can sprinkle a handful over your food. What exactly does music have to do with it? The music comes from your stomach as it reacts to the raw onions you have just eaten.

Sauerkraut and Rippche is yet another dish that you will find as a tradition in Frankfurt. Rippche is actually a cooked and cured pork cutlet that is served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes or bread. Of course it also is served with Ebble woi.

Frankfurter Wurstchen is produced only in Frankfurt or in one of the suburbs of Frankfurt and are pork sausages that are very thin. If they are produced anywhere else they are simply called sausages Frankfurter Art. This is true of Frankfurter Rindswurst as well. Rindswurst is a thicker, shorter sausage that is made of beef instead of pork. Both of the sausages are cooked in heated water, not boiled. The Frankfurter Rindswurst can also be grilled to bring out a fabulous taste as well. It is tradition to eat either of these sausages with bread and mustard or with some potato salad.

Frankfurt's Skyline is very unique in Germany. There is no other German city that has such a wonderful line of high rise buildings as you can find in Frankfurt.

Main Tower (200 m) happens to be the sole building that is open to the public. You can relax and enjoy the view of Frankfurt and the Taunus hills from the bar and restaurant that is found at the level of 187 m. You can visit the public viewing platform which is 200 m any day except if there are bad weather conditions. Be sure to take your camera!

There are many other areas in Frankfurt that can be of interest to nearly anyone. This includes shopping on the streets of Zeil and Goethestrasse. Fressgass offers a mile of awesome culinary experiences with restaurants and snack bars that offer a wide variety.

Frankfurt is proud to be a green city that offers many different parks in the center. The visitors as well as the locals also enjoy visiting the zoo and the botanical garden (Palmengarten).