Sampling Frankfurt in 3 Short Days

The first thing I did was visit the Main Tower, a viewing platform on the top of one of the city’s many skyscrapers. It is open fairly late, so I was able to visit after getting something to eat when I arrive in the early evening. This is a great chance to get some nice panoramic photos of the city, which is just what I did.

I was on a very tight budget, so I spent a lot of my time just walking around. I explored the Römerberg area and took in many of the sights, and I can’t tell you how many times I walked across the river. But of course there’s only so much aimless wandering a person can do, so I finally ended up along the Museumsufer. The city is known for its museums, and there is an impressive range to choose from. I liked the Communication Museum well enough, and it would be a great place to take kids (plus it’s free). I also made a quick stop in the Städel Art Institute. I also checked out the Historisches Museum in Römerberg, and the Jüdisches Museum, which were both pretty good.

Quick Tips:

If you are an art lover, make a quick beeline for the southern riverbank streets Schaumainkai and Sachsenhäuser, which make up the Museumsufer zone, like a string with museums tied to it. There are also other museums throughout the city, like the Historisches Museum and the Jüdisches Museum. One thing to be prepared for is that many of the museums do not have information in anything other than German. The Jüdisches Museum, on the other hand, gave me a hefty 4-ring binder that had every panel on the top floors translated into English.

If you’re on a tight budget, you might just enjoy walking around the city. The city is overflowing with cafes and bars that have outside seating, and when I was there, I swear every third shop was an ice cream vendor. And then, because Frankfurt is a very international city, there are many other fine places to eat. See my other journal, Multiethnic Dining in Frankfurt for more information on the restaurants I tried (and about Frankfurt’s delectable local specialties!).

There are two main tourist information centers: one in the Hauptbahnhof and the other in Römerberg. You can also use the city’s informative website: http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/.

Best Way To Get Around:

You might expect a city that is the financial capital of Germany to be sprawling and hard to get around in, but Frankfurt’s actually very compact. There is an extensive tram network within the city for those visiting or staying in places outside the city center, but otherwise I found no need for anything but my feet.

Despite its name, this place appeared to me to be primarily a hostel, albeit an independent one. I think they may also run classes in German, English and/or computers, but it didn’t seem to be overrun with students of any type, except the foreign traveling type. When I arrived, there was a respectable-looking family (a couple and 3 kids) checking in at the same time, so it’s not just for students.

They offer beds in rooms with differing number of beds. Although I had signed up (online) for an 8-bedded dorm, the dorm I ended up staying in had 6, each with a chair next to it. From what I gather, the dorm rooms are all coed, and they all cost around 20 euro per night. There are also singles, doubles, triples and quads available, but of course these cost more.

While some of the other rooms have their own bathrooms and showers, the dorms don’t. But the shower and bathroom were right next door to my room, and there was another one around the corner on the same floor. The shower, bathroom and my room were all very clean.

The only complaint I had about my room was that the hall light was so incredibly bright, and there was no way to turn it off. The first night I spent there I had the room to myself, and when I turned the light off I wondered where the other light switch was. I couldn’t sleep, and ended up getting out a book and reading simply from the light from the hall (and no, it wasn’t bad for my eyes!). On my third night there, a guy stayed in the room who had stayed in another room on the same floor, and he said the other room was much better. So, I guess it’s the luck of the draw.

One very nice thing about this hostel is that they have 6 computers with internet, and it’s free! And only one time did I have to wait for a computer. There is also a bar in the room with the computers where they serve many cold drinks.

The other great thing about it is its location. It is across the street from the Hauptbahnhof, so it is convenient for everything in town. Of course, this also means you’ll be right in the middle of the shadier side of the city, which congregates around the main station, but I never had any problems at all.

Find out more about the non-dorm rooms at their website, http://www.room-frankfurt.de/, where you can also make a reservation. There does not seem to be info on their dorm rooms there, although you can find out about (and book) them at the independent hostel site for Europe, http://www.hostelseurope.com/germany/germanyhostels.html (scroll down to see the listing, and click on the Reservation button at the top to make one).

The Jewish Museum is large and impressive. It focuses on Frankfurt’s Jewish history, rather than all of Germany’s, but does put it in national context. There are three levels of the museum, each dedicated to a different aspect of Jewish life and history. There are also a café and a tiny bookshop (selling almost exclusively German-language books), which are both on the right side as you enter the front door.

To buy a ticket, head for the desk that is straight ahead when you enter. I paid 1.30 euro with a student discount, but regular admission is 2.60 euro. I asked if they had information in English, and the woman who sold me my ticket simply handed me a massive, heavy, 4-ring binder. I also had to put my backpack in one of the lockers, but this was free.

So I went off with my notebook, pen and the self-defense binder under my arm. The binder actually held translations of almost all of the display panels. But on the ground floor there were no extensive panels to read. This level was devoted entirely to the work of Jewish artists. This ranged from some very early pieces to some very recent ones. I did not know enough to recognize any of the names, but I enjoyed looking. Many of the pieces were obviously based on religious themes, while others were not. Another room adjacent to this room held a display on the Rothschild’s, Frankfurt’s most famous Jewish family.

I moved further along and found the stairs, and I went all the way up to the second floor. This level is devoted to Jewish life and culture. I wandered around confused for a moment before realizing that all I needed to do was take a left from the stairs to find Panel 1, which dealt with written Jewish texts and had an illuminated manuscript on display. From there each room seemed to follow rather logically. I proceeded through the many rooms, learning about religious beliefs, practices, festivals, community, and more. In the room with Panel 8 was an entire wall of menorahs, which was quite interesting. They ranged from the simple and functional to the ornate and beautiful.

I moved down to the second floor, which was where the recent history of the Jews in Frankfurt and the rest of Germany is really told. The problem of ghettoes which plagued Jewish communities in Germany is demonstrated through documents, panels and artifacts. Their struggle for civil rights during the 1840s is detailed, followed by the German revolution which destroyed any gains. The panels tell the story of anti-Semitism through modern times in Germany. Finally there is a large section on WWII and its impact on Jews.

There is also a small exhibit on Medieval Frankfurt Jewish community on this floor. There are several written documents on display, and a wooden model of the city.

When I first entered this museum, I asked a couple questions at the main desk: first, if the museum was in fact free, and second, if they had any information in English. The museum is free. The woman handed me a small leaflet that described the museum in English, and had a map of each level. It’s open from 9-5 Tuesday-Friday.

The museum has three floors. The bottom (basement) is a permanent display devoted to the history of communication, which includes the postal service, radio, computing and more. The ground floor has the café. The first floor is devoted to kids and has a bunch of interactive areas. These include changing displays and workshops on writing and printing and other aspects of communication. The second floor is for temporary exhibitions.

Armed with my little leaflet, I climbed the stairs to the second floor. The exhibition here looked pretty interesting, but all of the panels were in German only so I could understand nothing. The theme seemed to be ‘networks’. This was interpreted quite liberally, as there were displays of everything from spiderwebs to a huge model of the brain. All the Germans seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I gave up after a while and went downstairs.

I skipped the kids’ floor and went straight to the basement. Here I got in trouble for having my backpack, which I was supposed to have put in the lockers on this floor, so I realized I was probably supposed to start in the basement, rather than the top floor. Oops.

The basement was pretty interesting, as I have an interest in many aspects of communication (but especially those involving electronics…). There was an interactive section to help you learn about how electricity works. I’m a total sucker for this kind of thing, and spent longer than someone my age probably should have spent there. There were also nice displays on radio and television, telephony and telegraphy. And then of course there were the postal service displays: some old mail delivery vans, bikes and carriages. Off in another corner were several computers hooked to the internet (with a sign requesting that you limit your time on them). To the side of these was a tiny display showing the evolution of personal computers and modems. I just loved this—I bought my first modem in 1992, a 2400 baud thing that was top-of-the-line at the time, but they had a couple that were even older. One was circa 1982, and was about 12-inches by 12-inches (!). You actually had to put the phone handset on one of the modems.

On my way out, I decided to ask at the desk how much the audio guides cost. They were available in several languages, but I figured they probably cost several euro, and I didn’t want to spend it. It turns out they were free, which would have been nice information to have had when I had asked if they had any information in English!

This museum is situated just off the southwest corner of the Römerberg. It is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, except Wednesday 4pm-8pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm. Admission is 4 euro for adults or 2 euro with the concession rate. I also had to check my backpack here.

This museum, like almost all the others I visited in Frankfurt, has three levels. The ground level only has one notable exhibit: two amazing scale models of the city, one before WWII, and one after the bombings that destroyed much of the town center. The post-bombing model is one of the most dramatic things I have ever seen. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to have lived through that. It must have been terrifying.

After admiring the models for a while, I finally went upstairs to the first floor. There was a small booklet for sale (drop a coin in the box and take it, honor system), with the various panels translated into English. This permanent exhibit was called "Frankfurt in the Late Middle Ages: Churches, Donors, Piety". Of course everything tied in with religion somehow, but that is not too much of a distortion of medieval reality. The exhibit has several focuses: the clergy, worship, altarpieces, donations, piety, private devotion and portraits. A section of this level is devoted to each of these. Naturally there were many items on display that I found interesting, but one of my favorites was part of an ornate choir seat. The crouching lion carved into the armrest looked almost like a Chinese dragon to me. I also found it amazing that I could still see the bright colors painted on several of the wooden epitaphs, though most had faded. The various altarpieces were also quite interesting, almost hidden in far-away places. A large early 16th century wooden piece called "Christ on the Cross" was also quite impressive, at about 15 feet tall.

The floor above this one had panels only in German, and there were no booklets available in English. It was still interesting enough, clearly focusing on life since the Middle Ages. There were countless artifacts from various aspects of life, such as mercantilism (early modern coins, porcelain, spices, sugars and other imports, weights and measures). Other displays had to do with the military and soldiers’ lives, women’s clothing and jewelry, and scientific pursuits (there was a nice model of the solar system, charmingly showing Saturn with 7 moons rather than rings).

This floor was very big, and I was tired and couldn’t understand any of the information they were giving me about the artifacts, but I still enjoyed looking. I just didn’t linger too long. Instead I went back downstairs and looked some more at the city models. These were definitely the highlight of the museum’s offerings, but the rest wasn’t bad either.

This tower is one of Frankfurt’s most recently built. In a moment of cleverness, they decided to install a viewing platform. So although there are taller buildings, this is the one that brings in the cash from the tourists.

It offers excellent views of the city, as you might expect. It cost 2 euro with my student ID card (3 euro otherwise). After I bought my ticket, my backpack was searched, and then I was directed toward the elevators. Fortunately there was an elevator operator for one of the two there, and he loaded it up and took us all up. We stopped first on I think the 51st story and some people got off to go to the restaurant. Then we went up one more level and the rest of us got out to go up to the viewing platform. There were still some stairs to climb, but not too many.

Once I was on the actual viewing platform, I took some pictures and eventually leaned on one of the walls. I’m not too fond of heights, and had all these morbid thoughts in my height. I was happy to find that if I did happen to fall, it would only be one or two stories, rather than the whole height of the building, as the viewing platform was not the width of the whole structure. I figured this was to prevent high-profile suicides. Good for them.

Since it was my first night in Frankfurt, I didn’t recognize much yet. I did easily find the Hauptbahnhof, easy to spot with all its train tracks clumped together and then splitting off in all directions. And of course the river was also easy to see, and I watched boats coming and going. I finally spotted the Frankfurter Dom, and knew that Römerberg was right in front of it. So it was kind of fun to spot these things, which I knew I’d be seeing up close and personal in the next few days. But I think saving the tower for later would have been nice, too, since I would have recognized many more landmarks, and could have probably found many of them.

The viewing platform is open late, which means you can save it for the end of the day. It opens at 10am and closes at 9pm every day.

Römerberg is the old town square, attached to the Römer (the old town hall). Like most town centers it is quite picturesque and generally charming, and should be the heart of any exploration you do on foot. The majority of the center was destroyed in WWII bombings, but Römerberg has since been largely reconstructed. 60 years ago the originals were still there, but what you see now is the reconstructed 14th and 15th century-style buildings.

The square is a must-see, so of course there were many tourists wandering around. But it never felt overrun with tourists, and it also seemed like a gathering place for locals. The many cafes and restaurants provide a good chance to people-watch, so it’s probably a good place to relax before heading for the Frankfurter Dom or the Historisches Museum.

Römerberg is very close to the river, and when I first stepped into it, I came from a walk along the river. To my right was the Historisches Museum, and an outside cafe and a tourist shop to the left. There were also some seats arranged in a circle around a small tree, and two young artists were perched there sketching Römerberg scenes.

Further along I could see the bright tan, reconstructed Römer, which currently serves as the registry and the mayor’s office. It lies on the western side of the square. Normally you can visit Kaisersaal and see portraits of several rulers, but sometimes the building is closed for official functions, and I believe the day I was there was such a day. The flags outside are supposed to indicate this, but I also saw formal-looking activity happening on the steps of the right-most entrance, and a crowd standing around watching and snapping photos. Leave it to me to run out of film at all the wrong moments…

The tourist information center is also along this side of the square, next to the Römer. It is a fairly small info center, but they have several leaflets, and maps. The woman I spoke to wasn’t exactly overly helpful, but maybe I wasn’t asking the right questions.

In front of the Römer, in the center of the square, is a fountain called Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen (the ‘Font of Justice’). The fountain harbors a large statue of a woman holding the scales of justice (surprise!) in her left hand. She is facing the Römer.

Directly across from the Römer are several reconstructed townhouses, and more cafes with outside seating. There are six distinct houses, of different heights, colors and design. Beside them is a walkway that leads back to several restaurants, cafes, the Frankfurter Dom and more. You can see my entry Walking Through Frankfurt for more about what’s off in this direction. The Dom can be seen quite easily from the square, but unfortunately when I was visiting, it was covered in scaffolding.

When I first arrived in Frankfurt, it was already evening and I was completely starving. So I checked into the hostel and went in search of food. I was staying on Kaiserstrasse, less than half a block east of the Hauptbahnhof. I hadn’t noticed it on the way to my hostel, but when I came out I saw that there were several food stands lining the end of Kaiserstrasse, serving such things as pretzels, sausages and the like. I pondered stopping there, but really wanted to sit down. I finally found a place (read all about my dining experiences in my other Frankfurt journal, Multiethnic Dining in Frankfurt).

After that first meal, I walked around rather aimlessly, until finally ending up at Main Tower. But before I reached it, I saw all sorts of interesting things around my hostel. For one thing, almost right next door to it was a sex shop. Now, I come from Oklahoma, and we just don’t have things like that… But then I walked on and saw another one, on a corner, which reached out and grabbed me with a vicious wafting urine odor. I was actually a bit curious about this. The entrance was a double door, and both were open, and I wondered where exactly the stench was coming from. So I ended up standing off to the side, trying to figure this out, but in the process also observed the people going in and out of this shop. And I was quite shocked to notice that they all appeared normal. Normal people go to sex shops? Well, I’ll be.

I never did figure out the exact origin of the smell, but I did also notice another shop within view, called "AMERICA – Peep Show". Um, why? Americans are far more prudish than Europeans. Maybe that’s part of the attraction?

So I moved on. It wasn’t long before I came to something even more interesting. Between Rossmarkt and Berliner Strasse, at Bethmannstrasse, was a giant, plastic euro. It made me think of Oral Roberts’ gigantic Praying Hands, which are less than a mile from my parents’ house in Tulsa. A bit much, but perhaps extremely telling. It’s Frankfurt: the euro, that’s what it’s all about…

That night, I ended up going back to the hostel, but the next day I went walking along the river, towards Römerberg. There are several nice areas to rest along the river and admire the view, or to buy tickets for a cruise. I noticed that the main pedestrian bridge (Eiserner Steg), which was quite ornate and quite inviting, was rather unattractively closed off with metal fencing. I wondered why.

Römerberg itself was nice, but I found some cool things on the eastern end of it. After wandering around the square for a while, I headed of toward the Dom. Before I reached it, I found the Historischer Garten. This is a small archeological excavation site. They found Roman and Carolingian foundations. It’s not particularly impressive, but there are a couple of nice model reconstructions showing how the Carolingian buildings would have looked, and how the site looked when it was excavated.

I glanced at the Dom, which was unfortunately under construction, and covered in scaffolding. I ended up walking back toward the square, and then I found the strangest thing: a burned out car, covered in sand. Now, why on earth was that still here? This was ostensibly a completely pedestrianized area. And the car was situated (not parked, exactly) along the walk to a museum. I couldn’t help wondering if there was not something quite sinister about the whole scene.

Past the car was a museum, and I saw that they had an exhibition on called "Das Rätsel der Kelten", or something like that, which I knew had something to do with Celtic history or archeology. (Later I found out it meant "The Mysteries of the Celts".) Now, I’m quite interested in Celtic "stuff" as it pertains to the British Isles, and I really wanted to see this exhibition. But, I went inside and was told that the audio guides were only in German, there was no printed English material… The guy selling tickets was able to tell me all this in perfect English, though. I declined the 4-euro ticket, sorely disappointed.

On Saturday morning I was really lazy and didn’t get up and around until quite late. I had decided to head to Museumsufer. Just after I crossed the river on the pedestrian bridge Holbeinsteg, I could see that there was all sorts of buying and selling activity along the Museumsufer. I had stumbled across the Sachsenhauser Ufer Flohmarkt (fleamarket). There were several vendors selling some of the strangest things: one guy had an extensive display of tools, from large power tools down to screws and nails. I bought some cheap batteries. But as I ambled amongst the stalls, most were shutting down and packing up—it was about 2:15 in the afternoon.

The Museumsufer is Frankfurt’s convenient linear offering of museums. There are ten museums lining the riverfront street of Schaumainkai as it turns into Sachsenhäuser Ufer. "Museumsufer" literally means "museum embankment".

If you don’t mind spending just a half an hour at each museum, or you have discovered a way to distort time to your advantage (please let me know if you have), you could start at one end of the Museumsufer, walk a few steps and visit the next one, and finish at the other end in a day. However, this would probably not be the best way to appreciate anything. More likely, you will want to select a few to visit. You can still use the arrangement of the Museumsufer to your advantage, starting at one end and finishing at the other.

If you start at the west end of the street, this is the order you would find them in:

• Haus Girsch – Museum Regionaler Kunst (Haus Girsch – Museum of Regional Art): Schaumainkai 83
  http://www.haus-giersch.de/ (German only)
  Tuesday-Friday noon-7pm; Saturday-Sunday 11am-5pm
• Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus – Musuem alter Plastik (Municipal Gallery Liebieghaus – Museum of Ancient Sculpture): Schaumainkai 71
  http://www.liebieghaus.de/ (German only)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm
• Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie (Städel Art Institute and Gallery): Schaumainkai 63
  http://www.staedelmuseum.de/ (German only, English under construction)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm
• Museum für Kommunikation (Communication Museum): Schaumainkai 53
  http://www.museumsstiftung.de/ (German only)
  Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm; Saturday-Sunday 11am-7pm
• Deutsches Architektur-Museum (German Architecture Museum): Schaumainkai 43
  http://www.dam-online.de (in English and German)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm
• Deutsches Filmmuseum (German Film Museum): Schaumainkai 41
  http://www.deutsches-filmmuseum.de/ (German only)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm; Saturday 2pm-8pm
• Museum der Weltkulturen und Galerie 37 (Museum of World Cultures and Gallery 37): Schaumainkai 29
  http://www.mdw.frankfurt.de/ (German only)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm; Saturday 2pm-8pm
• Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts): Schaumainkai 17
  www.mak.frankfurt.de (German and English)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-8pm
• Ikonen-Museum (Icon Museum): Brückenstrasse 3-7
  http://ikonenmuseum.inm.de/ (German and English)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm (they close every day from 1-1:30pm)

There are of course other museums in the city. Across the river from the Museumsufer are several, notably:

• Judisches Museum (Jewish Museum): Untermainkai 14/15
  http://www.juedischesmuseum.de (German and English)
  Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 10am-8pm
• Historisches Museum (Historical Museum): Saalgasse 19http://www.historisches-museum.frankfurt.de (German only)
  Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm; Wednesday 4pm-8pm; Sunday 1pm-5pm

There are also a couple that could serve as a diversion off the Museumsufer: along Schulstrasse, the street right after the Museum of Applied Arts. For (much) more information about other museums in Frankfurt, try these websites:

• Kultur in Frankfurt am Main All about culture in the city in general. (German and English)
• Verbund Frankfurter Museumsbibliotheken Information about the libraries in some of the museums and galleries in Frankfurt. (German and English)
• Galerien in Frankfurt und Rhein-Main (German only)

If you are planning to visit only one or two of them, you can just pay the admission fee at the entrance. Otherwise, there are a few options for the true museum junkies amongst you. You can buy the Frankfurt Card, which is good for either 1 day or 2 days, and costs 7.50 euro and 11 euro respectively. This includes unlimited public transport within the city and as far as the airport, 50% discount on admission to 17 museums, and other discounts on city tours and river tours. These can be purchased at the tourist information centers, or you can buy it online, at http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/ (click on the first link under Sightseeing on the top of the page, and then click on the Frankfurt Card link to the left). The museums included are:

• Deutches Architektur-Museum (German Architecture Museum)
• Deutsches Filmmuseum (The German Film Museum)
• Explora – Museum + Wissenschaft + Technik (Explora – Museum + Science + Technology)
• Frankfurt Foundation Dr. Schmidt-Voigt
• Goethe-Museum/Goethe-Haus (Goethe Museum/Goethe House)
• Heinrich Hoffman Museum
• Historisches Museum (Historical Museum)
• Ikonen-Museum (Icon Museum)
• Institut für Stadtgeschichte (Institute for City History)
• Judisches Museum (Jewish Museum)
• Museum Judengasse
• Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Karmeliterkloster (Museum of Archeology)
• Museum für Moderne Kunst (Museum of Modern Art)
• Museum der Volkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology)
• Museum Regionaler Kunst (Haus Girsch – Museum of Regional Art)
• Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Senckenberg Museum of Natural History)
• Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Schirn Art Hall Frankfurt)
• Städelsches Kunstinstitut (Städel Art Institute)
• Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus – Musuem alter Plastik (Municipal Gallery Liebieghaus – Museum of Ancient Sculpture)