Frankfurt am Main is the largest city in Hesse and the center of the Rhine-Main conurbation. The stock exchange, banking and trade fair location, with its many high-rise buildings, is the only major German city to have a skyline. The major Rhein-Main airport is one of the ten largest international airports in the world. Frankfurt goes back to a Roman settlement and has been a trading metropolis since the Middle Ages. The symbol of the city is the Roman. See intershippingrates.com for Europe’s largest cities.
The independent city of Frankfurt am Main lies on both sides of the lower Main.
With almost 680,000 residents (2010), the city is the largest municipality in Hesse and the economic and geographical center of the state. The urban area lies in the transition area from the Mainz Basin to the fertile Wetterau. The catchment area extends far into the Taunus, Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Spessart up to the Odenwald.
Frankfurt is the center of the Rhine-Main conurbation at the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers. Other centers in the metropolitan area are Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau, Darmstadt and the state capital of Hesse, Wiesbaden. The development of the diverse industry in the Rhine-Main area since the end of the 19th century was mainly promoted by the central location in domestic German and European traffic.
Frankfurt is known above all as the most important stock exchange, financial and trading center beyond Germany’s borders.
The city is the seat of the European Central Bank and the Deutsche Bundesbank. Almost all large German and many foreign banks as well as the most important German stock exchange are based here. There is also a foreign exchange and gold exchange as well as real estate, grain, power and commodity exchanges in Frankfurt. In addition, many German and international business and industrial associations, consulates and trade missions are represented in the city.
As the “City of Books”, the city of Frankfurt also houses the German Library. And the International Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s most important literary fair, takes place on the Rebstock exhibition grounds.
Other important trade fairs and exhibitions taking place in Frankfurt are the International Motor Show, the International Fur Fair and the spring and autumn fairs. Important old and new museums are lined up
on the so-called Museum Embankment. Well-known museums include the birthplace of JW v. GOETHE, the Senckenberg Natural History Museum and the Schirn art gallery. Furthermore, the cultural metropolis Frankfurt has an important opera and theater, a zoological garden and many sports facilities.
The hub of Europe
The international airport, also known as the hub of Europe, is one of the ten largest in the world.
In terms of passenger volume, it is the third largest airport in Europe after London-Heathrow and Paris-Charles de Gaulle and is ranked 9th in the world.
It is also an important regional economic factor and offers around 71,000 jobs at around 500 companies, such as Fraport AG, Deutsche Lufthansa or other international airlines.
Cityscape
The settlement core of Frankfurt am Main is the Domhügel am Main, around which the city developed.
In addition to numerous aristocratic palaces, the old town hall from the 15th century, the Roman and the old town dominate. Like almost the entire old town, the Römer was destroyed in the Second World War. The facade of the Roman, a row of houses on the Römerberg, the canvas house, the GOETHE house, the cathedral, the old opera, the Paulskirche steeped in history and other historical buildings were rebuilt.
Other well-known medieval buildings in the old town are the churches of St. Leonhard and St. Nikolai, the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew, the Church of Our Lady and the former Carmelite monastery. The Hauptwache and the Paulskirche date from the 18th century.
Today, Frankfurt am Main is the only German city with a skyline, characterized by high-rise banks, such as the 259 m high Commerzbank office building, the 331 m high telecommunications tower or the 256 m high “Messeturm”.
History
Almost 2000 years ago, there was a Roman military camp on the site of today’s Frankfurt, later the Roman civilian settlement of Nida.
Around 500 a Franconian royal court and since 794 the name “Franconovurd” (ford of the Franks) is documented.
Since the 12th century Frankfurt has been the site of elections for kings and since the completion of the cathedral (1562) it has also been the site of the imperial coronation.
In addition, the Free Imperial City developed into a supra-regional trading and exhibition center in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Frankfurt has also played an important role in the development of the German state for almost 200 years. In the years 1815/16the city was the seat of the German Bundestag and in 1848/49 the Frankfurt National Assembly, which met in the Paulskirche.
