Frankfurt

Mainhattan

Frankfurt is one of the largest financial centers in Europe. It is the seat of the European Central Bank, the German Federal Bank and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. More than 300 national and international banks are represented in the city. Many of these banks have their headquarters in highrises. With a height of 850 ft. the Commerzbank tower is the highest office building in Europe. The large number of skyscrapers has earned Frankfurt the nickname “Mainhattan”.

Copyright: Nicolas Scheuer

Germany’s Hub

Frankfurt is the largest traffic hub in Germany. Frankfurt Airport with passenger traffic of 60 million per year is one of the world’s 10 busiest airports. Frankfurts “Hauptbahnhof” is with 350,000 passengers the busiest train station in Germany. The “Frankfurter Kreuz” where Germany’s major Autobahns intersect symbolizes Frankfurt's good connections to the world. With approximately 320,000 cars daily, it is the most heavily used interchange in Europe.

Copyright: Lutz-R. Frank

A Fair City

Frankfurt hosts some of the world's most important trade fairs. The International Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) has a rich history of introducing cutting-edge automotive concepts.The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest book and media fair in the world - with around 7500 exhibitors from over 110 countries. The Musikmesse is an international fair for musical instruments, music production and music business.

The Land of Poets and Thinkers

The city’s most famous son is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who was born in Frankfurt in 1749. Goethe is one of the most important writers and thinkers in Western culture. His works span the fields of literature, theology, philosophy and science. The Goethe-Institut, which has a branch in Frankfurt, is named after this polymath.

Multi-Kulti

Frankfurt is a multicultural city, home to people of 180 nationalities. It has the highest percentage of immigrants in Germany. About 25% of Frankfurt’s 670,000 inhabitants have no German passport and another 10% are naturalized German citizens.

True Frankfurters

While in the US the terms hot dog, wiener and frankfurter are used interchangeably, an authentic German "frankfurter" is something quite unique. The Frankfurter Würstchen is a thin, boiled sausage of pure pork in a casing of mutton's intestine.Traditionally, it is served with bread, mustard, horseradish and potato salad. Since 1929 the name "Frankfurter Würstchen" is only allowed to be used for sausages that are produced in the area of Frankfurt am Main.

Crime in the City

Frankfurt is regularly dubbed Germany's crime capital. Many of the crimes, however, are committed by some of the 53 million passengers who pass through Frankfurt Airport every year. Frankfurt's 3 homicides per 100.000 persons pale in comparison to New Orleans' average annual homicide rate of 52 per 100.000 people, which ranks highest in the U.S.

Harmony Frankfurt

Frankfurt’s top soccer team, Eintracht Frankfurt, has won the German championship just once. It has enjoyed more success in competition outside the Bundesliga. Eintracht lost the European Cup final (predecessor of the Champions League) to Real Madrid in 1960 at Glasgow’s Hampden Park 7-3 in front of 127,621 spectators. It is one of the most talked about European matches of all time.

World Player of the Year

Birgit Prinz is considered by many to be Europe's finest female soccer player of the 1990s and 2000s. With her club team FFC Frankfurt she won six German national championships. At age 16 she made her international debut for the German national women's team. In addition to three consecutive FIFA Player of the Year awards (2003–05) and three Olympic bronze medals (2000, 2004, and 2008), Prinz secured two Women’s World Cup trophies. She retired in 2012.

The Championship Game

The Commerzbank Arena holds 51,500 spectators and is known for its electrifying atmosphere throughout Germany. It hosted five games of the 2006 Soccer World Cup and was the venue for the final of the 2011 Women’s World Cup.