15 Best Sights in Altstadt, Frankfurt

Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse is the proper name of this pedestrian street, nicknamed \"Pig-Out Alley\" because of its amazing choice of restaurants and cafés, wine merchants and late night music clubs, offering everything from crumbly cheeses and smoked fish to vintage wines and chocolate creams. Check the side streets for additional cafés and restaurants, between Börsenstraße and Opernplatz.

Three individual patrician buildings make up the Römer, Frankfurt's town hall. The mercantile-minded Frankfurt burghers used the complex for political and ceremonial purposes and for trade fairs and other commercial ventures. Its gabled facade with an ornate balcony is widely recognized as the city's official emblem. The most important events to take place here were the festivities celebrating the coronations of the Holy Roman emperors. The first was in 1562 in the glittering Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall), the last in 1792 to celebrate the election of the emperor Francis II, who would later be forced by Napoléon to abdicate. Unless official business is being conducted, you can see the impressive, full-length 19th-century portraits of the 52 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, which line the walls of the reconstructed banquet hall, but you have to arrange a tour through a private local operator.

A pedestrian walkway and the first suspension bridge in Europe, the Eiserner Steg connects the city center with Sachsenhausen aross the Main River and offers great views of the Frankfurt skyline. Boat excursions leave from here.

Kaiser Wilhelm I traveled from Berlin for the gala opening of this opera house in 1880. Gutted in World War II, it remained a hollow shell for 40 years while controversy raged over its reconstruction. The exterior and lobby are faithful to the original, though the remainder of the building is more like a modern multipurpose hall. Although classical music and ballet performances are held here, most operas these days are staged at the Frankfurt Opera. Ninety-minute tours are offered on selected dates.

The soaring vaulted ceilings make the former Gothic Karmeliterkirche (Carmelite Church) an ideal setting for huge Roman columns and other local and regional artifacts, including Stone Age and Neolithic tools and ancient papyrus documents. Modern wings display Greek, Roman, and Persian pottery, carvings, and more. The main cloister displays the largest religious fresco north of the Alps, a 16th-century representation of Christ's birth and death by Jörg Ratgeb. Adjacent buildings house the Institut für Stadtgeschichte (Institute of City History). The basement, called Die Schmiere (The Grease), is a satirical theater.

The house where Germany's most famous poet was born is furnished with many original pieces that belonged to his family, including manuscripts in his own hand. The original house, which was destroyed by Allied bombing, has been carefully rebuilt and restored. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) studied law and became a member of the bar in Frankfurt, but he was quickly drawn to writing, and in this house he eventually wrote the first version of his masterpiece, Faust. The adjoining museum contains works of art that inspired Goethe (he was an amateur painter) and works associated with his literary contemporaries.

The attractive baroque building with a steeply sloping roof is the actual Hauptwache (Main Guardhouse), from which the square takes its name. The 1729 building was partly demolished to permit excavation for a vast underground shopping mall. It was then restored to its original appearance and is now considered the heart of the Frankfurt pedestrian shopping area. The outdoor patio of the building's restaurant-café is a popular people-watching spot on the Zeil.

This fascinating museum in a building in Römer Square that dates from the 1300s doubled in size with the addition of an adjoining wing in 2015. The city's oldest museum explores two millennia of Frankfurt history through a collection of some 630,000 objects, including what the city of the future might look like. Standout exhibits include scale models of historic Frankfurt at various periods, with every street, house, and church, plus photos of the devastation of World War II. The new wing blends in with the surrounding historic architecture with its gabled roof and carved sandstone sides, and offers both a café and city views from the top floor.

This modern stand-alone museum opened in 2018, replacing the Kindermuseum (Children's Museum) and part of the Historisches Museum. Interactive historical and cultural exhibits invite exploration (and it's free for children under 18).

Because the Holy Roman emperors were chosen and crowned here from the 16th to the 18th century, the church is known as the Kaiserdom (Imperial Cathedral), even though it isn't the seat of a bishop. Officially the Church of St. Bartholomew, but called simply \"The Dom\" by locals, it was built largely between the 13th and 15th centuries and survived World War II with most of its treasures intact. The most impressive exterior feature is the tall, red-sandstone tower (almost 300 feet high), which was added between 1415 and 1514. Climb it for a good view. The Dommuseum (Cathedral Museum) occupies the former Gothic cloister.

The peaceful, concealed courtyard of this Catholic church makes it hard to believe you're in the swirl of the shopping district. Dating from the 14th century, the late-Gothic church still has a fine relief over the south door and ornate rococo wood carvings and a magnificent organ inside.

Austrian architect Hans Hollein designed this distinctive triangular building, shaped like a wedge of cake. The collection features more than 5,000 works from 1904 to today by such artists as Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys. There are free guided tours in English on Saturday at 4 pm.

The first all-German parliament was held here in 1848 but lasted only a year, achieving little more than offering the Prussian king the crown of Germany. Today the church, which has been extensively restored, remains a symbol of German democracy and is used mainly for ceremonies. The most striking feature of the interior is a giant, completely circular mural showing an \"endless\" procession of the people's representatives into the Paulskirche. The plenary chamber upstairs is flanked by the flags of Germany, the 16 states, and the city of Frankfurt.

This large square a few blocks north of the Main River, restored after wartime bomb damage with historically accurate 17th- and 18th-century buildings, is the historical focal point of the city. The Römer, the Nikolaikirche, and the half-timber Ostzeile houses are all clustered around this huge plaza. The 16th-century Fountain of Justitia (Justice), which flows with wine on special occasions, stands in the center of the Römerberg. The square is also the site of many public festivals throughout the year, including the Christmas market in December. Surrounding streets are lined with restaurants, cafés, snack shops, and souvenir shops.

The heart of Frankfurt's shopping district is this bustling pedestrian street running east from Hauptwache Square. It is lined with a mix of large department stores and small boutiques, drugstores, camera and electronics shops, restaurants, and more. Stop in at the outdoor farmers' market every Thursday and Saturday for a freshly grilled Bratwurst and a beer.