Frankfurt
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Tour One: Westend
Frankfurt is a metropolis full of contradictions, and the inner-city district of Westend reflects this better than none. Thirty years ago, this exclusive area was dubbed "Wild Westend," as property developers and police fought pitched battles with students and squatters protesting about the demolition of the area's old town houses. The character of the neighborhood has slowly changed over the years, as families have moved out and young professionals have moved in. Today, modern business buildings exist side by side with 19th-century town houses and villas.
Our walk begins at the Alte Oper opera house on Opernplatz. Walking the length of Oberlindau Straße, we pass the monumental IG-Farben-Haus before reaching a row of narrow town houses built in 1880. One of these houses used to be the home of painter Wilhelm Steinhausen and now hosts a private museum.
Neurologist Heinrich Hoffmann—creator of the classic children's book Shock-headed Peter—once lived in the neighborhood, as well as the composer Engelbert Humperdinck. Today, these buildings stand in the shadow of the Hochhaus am Park, one of the many skyscrapers which now dominate Frankfurt's cityscape. Those looking for a bit of peace and quiet could pop into the Grüneburg Park and the Palm Garden, which are situated just behind the high-rise. As you stroll down Freiher-vom-Stein Straße, pass by the Synagogue Beth-Hamidrasch, the only surviving Jewish place of worship in the city, and head into Eppsteiner Straße to take a look at house no. 47, which was the first building to be occupied by students in the 1970s to help save it from demolition. The protest was obviously successful!
Passing the Siegmund Freud Institute at Kleiner Wiesenau 3, we arrive at Myliusstraße 32, on old town house which was once the home of composer and pianist Clara Schumann, and which is today a research institute. Crossing the Bockenheimer Landstraße, we can take a break at Café Laumer, an atmospheric café once frequented by philosopher Theodor Adorno. "Millionaires Row," as this street used to be called, is now dominated by modern office buildings, interspersed by a handful of palatial residences once occupied by famous people such as Hölderlin, Brentano and Bethmann.
Turning left into Schumannstraße, we enter an area known as the "composers' quarter." Highlights here include the Struwwelpeter Museum and a splendid turn-of-the-century building in Lindenstraße, which used to be a meeting place for unmarried daughters of the aristocracy, and which was used as the Gestapo headquarters during the Nazi era.
Following Kettenhofweg to the Pferdestall, a magnificent building erected in 1880, we can look out over the skyline of the city's financial district, the Bankenviertel. From the corner of Küblerstraße, we get a breathtaking view of the terracotta and glass skyscrapers rising high above a row of 19th-century villas.
Tour Two: Walking
This tour begins at Frankfurt's Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, one of Germany's most important cradles of learning. Walking along Bockenheimer Landstraße, we soon reach the Palm Garden, home to a wonderful landscape park and dotted with pavilions containing some amazing botanical specimens.
Jumping on the underground (line 6 or 7) to Konstablerwache, we cross the shopping thoroughfare Zeil, passing the huge Galeria Kaufhof department store, to reach Café Hauptwache, an impressive Baroque building dating from around 1730. Once a guard post and prison, the Hauptwache is now home to a popular restaurant.
Heading back to the Zeil and down Liebfrauenstraße, we come across two very different places nestling side by side—the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Dear Lady) and right next door, a ritzy new shopping center. A few hundred meters down Berliner Straße is the Dom (cathedral). The building is not actually a proper cathedral—as Frankfurt was never a diocese—but the title was bestowed on it because it has been used as the coronation site for German kings and emperors since 1562. Crossing Braubauchstraße, we reach the Römerberg—Frankfurt's main landmark. Mentioned in documents dating back to the 9th century, this was a court and the venue for the first international trade fairs. Destroyed during World War II, the square was rebuilt in the original style, with mixed results. The buildings next to the reconstructed Rathaus (town hall) ooze fifties practicality, while the Ostzeile von Römer (the Römer's eastern wing) boasts an intricate "wedding-cake style" facade. The center of the square is dominated by the Fountain of Justice.
Heading down to the riverside, we visit Alte Nikolaikirche (Old Nicholas Church). Built in 1290, the church contains a tower with 40 bells which are rung daily at 9a, Noon and 5p. Crossing the River Main on the famous Eiserner Steg bridge, we admire the fantastic views of the Frankfurt skyline. The skyscrapers are so reminiscent of New York that locals ironically refer to their city as "Mainhattan!" On the other side of the river is Museumsufer, home to world-class museums such as the Städel Museum and the National Film Museum. Heading down Schweizer Straße to the district of Sachsenhausen, our trip ends in one of Frankfurt's traditional cider pubs. Prost!
If you have more than one day in Frankfurt, take a trip to the fabulous city of Rüdescheim-am-Rhein. You'll enjoy a great cultural, historical and gastronomic journey.
