Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [458]
TOURIST INFORMATION
Tourist office ( 2123 8800, for hotel reservations 2123 0808; www.frankfurt-tourismus.de) Hauptbahnhof ( Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof; 8am-9pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat & Sun) Behind track 13; Altstadt (Römerberg 27, inside Römer; Dom/Römer; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-4pm Sat & Sun)
Verkehrsinsel ( 01805-069 960; Zeil 129, Innenstadt; Hauptwache; 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-6pm Sat) In a round, glass pavilion. Provides public transport information and sells tickets. Staff are also happy to provide tourist information.
TRAVEL AGENCIES
Hapag-Lloyd Reisebüro ( 216 216; Kaiserstrasse 22, Innenstadt; Willy-Brandt-Platz)
STA Travel ( 7430 3292; Berger Strasse 118, Nordend; Höhenstrasse) Student travel agency.
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Dangers & Annoyances
The area northeast of the Hauptbahnhof is a base for Frankfurt’s trade in sex and illegal drugs, and has Druckräume, special rooms where needles are distributed and the drug dependent can shoot up. Women in particular might want to avoid Elbestrasse and Taunusstrasse, the main red-light district. Frequent police and private security patrols of the station and the surrounding Bahnhofsviertel keep things under control, but it’s always advisable to use big-city common sense.
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Sights & Activities
MAIN TOWER
A good place to start getting a feel for the city is 200m above it, on the viewing platform atop the Main Tower ( 3650 4777; www.maintower-restaurant.de; Neue Mainzer Strasse 52-58; Alte Oper; elevator fee adult/student & senior €5/3.50; 10am-9pm Sun-Thu, 10am-11pm Fri & Sat late Mar-late Oct, 10am-7pm Sun-Thu, 10am-9pm Fri & Sat late Oct-late Mar, weather permitting). The 53rd floor has a cocktail bar ( 5.30pm-1am, to 2am Fri & Sat, often closed for private events); you have to reserve ahead for the restaurant.
From the platform, to the southeast you can see the medieval-style Römerberg, reconstructed after the war; beyond it, across the river, is Sachsenhausen. To the north and northeast is the banking district, with its ever-changing vista of towers. The Commerzbank Tower, Europe’s tallest office block at 258m high (298m including the antenna), stands aloof at Kaiserplatz. Off to the west is the 256m-high Messeturm, which locals call the Bleistift (pencil).
ALTSTADT
The Frankfurter Dom (cathedral; www.dom-frankfurt.de, in German; Dom/Römer officially 9am-noon & 2.30-6pm, often opens earlier, closes later & stays open at noon), one of the few structures to survive the 1944 bombing, is dominated by an elegant, Gothic-style tower (95m), begun in the 1400s and completed in the 1860s. Abutting the Dom’s west side is the Historischer Garten (Historical Garden), where you can wander through excavated Roman and Carolingian foundations.
On the cathedral’s southern side is the small Wahlkapelle (Voting Chapel), where seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire chose the emperor from 1356 onwards. Adjoining it is a choir with beautiful wooden stalls.
The Dommuseum (cathedral museum; 1337 6816; www.dommuseum-frankfurt.de, in German; adult/student €3/2; 10am-5pm Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat, Sun & holidays) has a collection of precious liturgical objects and sells tickets for Dom tours (in German; adult/student €3/2; 3pm Tue-Sun).
The Römerberg ( Dom/Römer), a long block west of the Dom, is Frankfurt’s old central square, where postwar-restored 14th- and 15th-century buildings, including the early Gothic, Protestant Alte Nikolaikirche, provide a glimpse of how beautiful the city once was. In the centre is the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen (Font of Justice); in 1612, at the coronation of Matthias, the fountain ran with wine! The Römerberg is especially lovely during December’s Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market).
The old town hall, or Römer, in the northwestern corner of Römerberg, is made up of three recreated step-gabled 15th-century houses. In the time of the Holy Roman Empire, it was the site of celebrations during the election