Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [460]
At the Museum Judengasse ( 297 7419; Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse 10; Konstablerwache; adult/student €2/1, incl same-day entry to Jüdisches Museum €5/2.50; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun, to 8pm Wed), along the northeastern boundaries of the old city fortifications, east of Altstadt, you can see the excavated remains of houses and ritual baths from the Jewish ghetto, most of which was destroyed by a French bombardment in 1796. Laws confining Jews to the ghetto were repealed in 1811.
Behind the Museum Judengasse, the western wall of the Jewish Cemetery, the Wand der Namen (Wall of Names) is studded with row upon row of metal cubes bearing the names of 11,000 Frankfurt Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Visitors often place pebbles atop the cubes to indicate, in accordance with Jewish tradition, that the deceased is still remembered. Inside the cemetery, many of the remaining tombstones lean at crazy angles.
MUSEUMSUFER
In the northwest corner of Sachsenhausen, museums crowd the south bank of the Main along the Museumsufer (Museum Embankment). The nearest U-Bahn stations are 1km or so away, so from the Hauptbahnhof you might want to take bus 46 or tram 16.
Many museums are free on the last Saturday of the month. Note that all of Frankfurt’s museums are closed on Monday except the Goethe-Haus and the Senckenberg Museum.
From west to east, the Museumsufer museums include the following:
Deutsches Architekturmuseum ( 2123 8844; www.dam-online.de; Schaumainkai 43; Schweizerplatz; adult/student €6/3; 11am-6pm Tue & Thu-Sun, 11am-8pm Wed) Puts on first-rate temporary exhibits on architecture from around the world. Not much relates to Frankfurt, though. Signs are in German and English.
Deutsches Filmmuseum ( 961 220 220; www.deutschesfilmmuseum.de, in German; Schaumainkai 41; Schweizerplatz; adult/student €2.50/1.30; 10am-5pm Tue, Thu & Fri, 10am-7pm Wed & Sun, 2-7pm Sat) A dynamic place with permanent and changing exhibitions on film-making, plus premieres and special film events (Click here). May close for renovations during the life of this guide.
Liebieghaus ( 650 0490; www.liebieghaus.de; Schaumainkai 71; Schweizerplatz; adult/under 12yr/student & senior/family €8/free/6/14; 10am-6pm Tue & Fri-Sun, 10am-9pm Wed & Thu) The place to come if you love sculpture. The superb collection includes Greek, Roman, medieval, Renaissance and baroque works, plus a recently redone Egyptian section and some items from East Asia.
Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts; 2123 4037; www.angewandtekunst-frankfurt.de; Schaumainkai 17; Schweizerplatz; adult/concession €5/2.50; 10am-5pm Tue & Thu-Sun, 10am-9pm Wed) Displays furniture, textiles, metalwork, glass and ceramics from Europe and Asia. Set in lovely gardens, with a smart cafe and outdoor seating.
Museum Giersch ( 6330 4128; www.museum-giersch.de, in German; Schaumainkai 83; Schweizerplatz; adult/student €5/2.50; noon-7pm Tue-Thu, noon-5pm Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun) Puts on special exhibitions of works by lesser-known Hesse artists from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Städel Museum ( 605 0980; www.staedelmuseum.de; Schaumainkai 63; Schweizerplatz; adult/under 12yr/student & senior/family €10/free/8/18, audioguide €4; 10am-6pm Tue & Fri-Sun, 10am-9pm Wed & Thu) This institution, founded in 1815, has a world-class collection of works by 14th- to 20th-century painters, including Botticelli, Dürer, Van Eyck, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Vermeer and Cézanne, plus Frankfurt natives such as Hans Holbein.
WESTEND
West of the Innenstadt, the well-heeled Westend ( Westend) – situated north and south of Bockenheimer Landstrasse – is known for its parks and tree-lined residential streets. The monumental IG-Farbenhaus (see the boxed text, opposite), on the area’s northern edge, anchors Frankfurt University’s new Westend campus. The last of the university departments is set to move here from Bockenheim by 2014.