“You should have chosen Munich over Frankfurt,” admonished scores of friends, immediately after I booked my Deutsche Bahn train tickets from Germany’s Black Forest region. “Frankfurt will be all banks, skyscrapers and, yes, boring,” they chimed in.
Throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead with my original plan anyway and realised how the city was the gift that keeps on giving. Frankfurt, known to the world as the new European Central Bank’s (ECB's) cosy residence, is not just money central. Nowhere does art and history get celebrated as much as this river city. You can devote entire afternoons to its art museums and yet manage to see only a fraction of their rotating and permanent exhibitions.
Frankfurt (full name: Frankfurt am Main) is the place where Romans settled as early as the first century. Their history has been excavated from areas around the current Römerberg square. However, in recent history, the World War II delivered punishing blows to this metropolis of global finance, reducing it to a pile of debris. Things changed after the ruinous global conflict came to an end. Since 1945, sections of Frankfurt have been rebuilt and reconstructed as the city marched ahead to become first West Germany’s and then present-day Germany’s hub of banking and insurance.
Modern Frankfurt, interestingly, has embraced nationalities from across the world. Both immigrants and Germans have shaped all kinds of experiences in this city. While offering statistics on the high percentage of non-Germans living in the city, Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB remarked in 2020: “Frankfurt has succeeded by being dynamic internally, but open externally; by being proud of its history and traditions, but welcoming of new people and ideas.” So, experience Frankfurt as the world reopens with a bang, with its fresh sounds and flavours that are as much about its storied history as its bright, bustling population.
Friday
10 am: Städel-Museum
Start early and walk over to the north bank of the Main River. Most sights in Frankfurt can be seen on foot, making it one of the most pedestrian friendly destinations of the world. Walk past the flame-coloured rows of autumn foliage, river cruises on the Main and the pedestrian bridge called Eiserner Steg that’s speckled with piles of love locks. Brush past the throngs of locals and tourists on the bridge to land in the Sachsenhausen neighbourhood. Lining the river along a tree-line promenade are multiple museums earning the area the nickname of Museumufer (Museum River Bank). Of course, the pole star is the Städel, where 700 years of European art has been splashed across prominent displays across multiple exhibitions for visitors to savour and introspect.
For me, standing in front of Sandro Botticelli’s ‘Idealised Portrait of a Lady’ was an emotional experience. Wander around larger than life portraits, landscapes, mythological compositions and get an impression of the scale and ambition of European art, right from the early fourteenth century to the present. Reserve at least four hours for a basic idea of the range of the museum galleries and buy prints of some of the headlining artworks exhibited here.
2 pm: Haus Wertheym
It is already lunch time. After working up an appetite post an exhaustive museum crawl, head to Haus Wertheym in Frankfurt’s old town for some traditional German nosh. The restaurant is housed in a traditional half-timbered structure believed to be the oldest in the area. It is the only house that escaped the catastrophic impact of air raids of the Second World War and is home to one of most atmospheric restaurants of the city. The current building, constructed around 1600, is a Renaissance-style, timber-framed house which has had past lives as a department store, customs house and quarters for the Frankfurt City Guard. You can’t go wrong with the pork schnitzel with Frankfurt green sauce (a vibrant sauce blending sour cream and herbs) and parsley potatoes here.
3.30 pm: River cruise on the Main
There is still light even as you finish a lazy lunch. Take a stroll along the north bank of the river and hop on to a sightseeing boat like the Nautilus (which can take up to 400 visitors) or Maria Sibylla Merian. Boats offer excursions (mostly of 50 minutes with departures every hour) with incredible views of the Frankfurt skyline dotted with some of the tallest skyscrapers of Europe and other defining monuments of the city. Sail downstream towards Griesheim lock to catch St Paul's Church (Paulskirche in German) a former Protestant church where the Frankfurt National Assembly, the first elected German parliament, convened in 1848. Along the water’s edge is another visual spectacle known as the Westhafen Tower, a highrise fondly nicknamed the “apple wine tower” as its glass triangle studded facade makes it look like a glass of apple wine.
6 pm: Zum Gemalten Haus
Slough off the day’s exhaustion at the traditional apple wine taverns lined along Schweizer Strasse. It’s a stretch that offers plenty of sensory distractions, including fashion boutiques and gourmet food stores. But for an all-night bender with friends, knock on the doors of the Zum Gemalten Haus. Inside the pub, the sharp-tasting apple wine, locally called Ebbelwoi flows like tap water from glazed ceramic jars called bembels. The tavern is fun, raucous and always full. Elbow past large groups of college kids out on the town, young couples and office goers winding down to find your own wooden table and Ebbelwoi glasses. Slightly vinegary in taste, apple wine is best sipped with hand kase or translucent cheese sprinkled with diced onions and traditional rye bread. Since Gemalten Haus has been offering a refuge to merry tipplers since the end of the 19th century, look for the bells and whistles of old Sachsenhausen pubs here — painted murals, stone sculptures and giant antlers perched on the wall.
Saturday
10 am: Römerberg
Frankfurt’s old central square post reconstruction has sparked off conversations on restoration and design among architects, historians and other thought bubbles. In medieval times, the area wedged between the Cathedral or Dom and Römer or main square, attracted droves of merchants plying diverse trades. However, the historical precincts — ancient buildings and alleyways — got completely wiped out by bombings of the Second World War.
Bowing down to demands for bringing back the town’s old architectural glory, the New Frankfurt Old Town or the Dom-Römer quarter was reconstructed between 2012 and 2018. It was presented to residents in mint condition, but stayed true to the town’s historical design principles and even original construction materials like red and yellow sandstone from the Rive Main.
Today, tourists can be seen all over the square, photographing the current version of the medieval town, historical townhouses, quaint alleyways and plazas. At the heart of the square is the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen, a bronze fountain showcasing goddess Justitia, the female champion of justice who can be seen wielding a sword and scales.
1 pm: Konstablerwache farmers’ market
It is afternoon and your tummy is growling. Head over to the Konstablerwache farmers’ market (open on Thursdays and Saturdays) bang in the middle of the city’s shopping quarters. Fall down a rabbit hole of organic produce, condiments, home-made ciders, wines, preserves and other delicious stuff. My first encounter with wild greengages (a rare variety of stone fruit) took place inside this fresh produce utopia. Juice dripping down my elbow, I devoured my free sampling of greengages and then went on to buy a whole bag of this confection like fruit. The produce is brought to Konstablerwache by the farmers themselves who will describe how they have grown your food if you ask them nicely. Entire stretches of the market are earmarked for freshly squeezed fruit juices, small-batch beer, wild honey, artisanal sausages, all served and eaten to the sound track of Schlager music and laughter.
5 pm: Zeil street
Over the weekend, the trendiest shopping drag of Frankfurt turns into an outdoor music venue. Vibrant Turkish bands and buskers line up along Zeil street to entertain waves of shoppers washing up to check out the best of haute couture, high street fashion and local boutiques. Restaurants crowd the high-octane shopping stretch, and you will find everything from the best seafood digs and gelato parlours to juicy hotdog and pretzel stands. Ask for a piping hot halal bratwurst or currywurst from one of the scores of Turkish vendors milling around to round off your retail pursuits.
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