Frankfurt/Main: Big City Living with Friendly Hometown Style
Frankfurt on the River Main is often referred to as "Mainhattan" because of its distinctive skyline. Frankfurt is Europe's financial center, an important transportation hub and hosts the continent's second largest airport with some 56 million passengers entering and leaving annually. Frankfurt's main train station is Germany's busiest station with over 350,000 passengers per day.
Located at the crossroads of ancient trade routes, Frankfurt's history goes back to Roman times. The Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations including Karl der Grosse (Charlemagne) were crowned at Frankfurt's cathedral.
The Frankfurt trade-fair grounds with 10 exhibition halls as well as the Festival and Congress Halls, distinctive administration building and 110-storey Fair Tower hosts more than a dozen major tradeshows a year.
Upscale shopping featuring big international name brands and "made to measure" specialty items are offered in Frankfurt.
Every major hotel chain in all price categories, many with distinguished restaurants, is represented, too. Frankfurt's culinary scene is all encompassing as befits an international metropolis: French haute cuisine, rustic dining, nouvelle German and all-time traditional favorites like Frankfurt's "Green Sauce", and others, like Italian, Greek, and Chinese.
Culturally, Frankfurt boasts the finest live musical entertainment. The stately renovated "Alte Oper" is a multi-theater venue for various musical performances and other activities. Distinguished productions of theater, ballet and opera are presented at the Opera house. Other entertainment venues include the English Theater, cabarets and clubs, and international high level variety at the "Tigerpalast Variet".The Hessian Radio & TV Network with its vast live concert and cultural offerings is headquartered here.
On the south bank of the Main, the Museum Mile houses "The Staedel" and a dozen other spacious museums featuring classical, modern and contemporary collections. The Jewish Museum near the "Zeil" and on the north bank are also notable. The Frankfurt "Museum Festival" is one of Europe's foremost cultural festivals, serving as a presentation platform for Frankfurt museums as well as a variety of groups and individuals engaged in the cultural sector.
Outdoor dining in addition to more staid taverns, pubs, guesthouses and restaurants can be found in Sachsenhausen, the hometown of Frankfurt's famous beverage Apple Wine or "Ebbelwoi" - fermented apple juice - is drunk straight or cut with mineral water.
Frankfurt is big on sports, too. Soccer is played at the totally reconstructed Commerzbank Arena. The Frankfurt's professional soccer team Eintracht Frankfurt is a member of the Premiere German National Football League. Frankfurt is also famous for ice hockey, basketball and triathlon. Every year the Opel Ironman Germany, one of the most important European triathlon competitions, takes place in throughout Frankfurt and in the surrounding area.
Frankfurt's local parks are augmented by a Green Belt formed by the Taunus Mountains and preserve to the north, the Odenwald forest to the south. All are readily accessible by subway, light rail, tram and/or bus, usually within 25-minutes ride from the City center. Boating, canoeing, kayaking as well as river cruises on the Main are famous leisure activities.
For a major metropolis and a world financial center, Frankfurt's quality of life is truly unsurpassed. High tech engineering and manufactures, numerous industrial parks, and pulsating commerce help guarantee this extraordinary collection of integrated villages. It seems only natural that Germany's greatest poet and all-around genius Johann Wolfgang von Goethe should have been born and raised here.
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