General
The three pillars of Frankfurt's economy are finance, transport, and trade fairs. Frankfurt has been Germany's financial centre for centuries, and it is the home of a number of major banks and brokerages. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is by far Germany's largest, and is one of the world's most important. Frankfurt is also the seat of the European Central Bank which sets monetary policy for the Eurozone economy, and of the German Federal Bank. Over 300 national and international banks are represented including the headquarters of the major German banks.
In addition, many large trade fairs are held in Frankfurt each year, notably the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, the world's largest motor show, and the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the world's largest book fair,and Musikmesse world's largest music fair.
Population
As a major center of international commerce, Frankfurt is a multicultural city, home to people of 180 nationalities. In addition to the ethnic German majority, the city contain sizable immigrant populations from Turkey, Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, India, Pakistan, Italy, Spain, North African countries, Iran, and Lebanon. The Frankfurt area is also home to the second-largest Korean community in Europe, and to Germany's largest Sri Lankan Tamil community.
Trade fairs
Fairs have a very long tradition in Frankfurt. They were first mentioned in the 12th century. Today Frankfurt has the third-largest exhibition site in the world. The Messe Frankfurt corporation arranged 120 fairs in 40 countries in 2006. Hosted in Frankfurt are the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (the world's largest motor show), the Frankfurter Buchmesse (the world's largest book fair), the Ambiente (the world's largest consumer goods fair), the Achema (the world's largest plant engineering fair) and many more like Paperworld, Christmasworld, Beautyworld, Tendence Lifestyle or Light and Building.
Transportation and infrastructure
The city has two underground railway systems: the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, as well as an above-ground tram system. Information about the U and S Bahn can be found on the RMV website. Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (or short Ffm Hbf) is the largest train station in Germany by number of platforms and railway traffic.
The city has two underground railway systems: the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, as well as an above-ground tram system. Information about the U and S Bahn can be found on the RMV website.
Taxis can be found outside most S-Bahn or U-Bahn stations and major intersections. The normal way to obtain a taxi is to either call a taxi operator or go to a taxi rank. However, although not the norm, one can hail one on the street.
Deutsche Bahn also rent out bicycles to the public. One finds them at many major road intersections and railway stations. All one has to do is make a phone call to hire them for €0.06/min or they can be hired per day for €15,-. The bicycles are a bit heavy but they do have shock absorbers to ensure a smooth journey.
Sights
Frankfurt is the only German city with a significant number of skyscrapers, meaning buildings at least 150 metres tall. There are ten buildings, with two more (Opernturm, 170 m and Tower 185, 185 m) currently under construction. Only Bonn has also one building (Post Tower, 163 m) over 150 m. Most of the skyscrapers in Frankfurt are located in the western part of the city centre known as Bankenviertel.
The famous old opera house (Alte Oper) was built in 1880 by the architect Richard Lucae. It was one of the major opera houses in Germany until it was heavily damaged in World War II. Until the late 1970s it was a ruin, nicknamed "Germany's Most Beautiful Ruin". There were even efforts to just blow it up. Former Frankfurt Lord Mayor Rudi Arndt called for blowing it up in the 1960s, which earned him the nicknamed "Dynamite-Rudi". (Later on, Arndt said he never had meant his suggestion seriously.)
Saint Bartholomeus' Cathedral (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus) is a Gothic building which was constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries on the foundation of an earlier church from the Merovingian time. It is the main church of Frankfurt. From 1356 onwards, kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected in this church, and from 1562 to 1792, the roman-German emperors were crowned here.
Festivals
A major festival in the city is the Museumsuferfest (Museums Riverbank Festival). It is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Germany which attracts more than 3 million visitors over a period of 3 days. It takes place yearly at the end of August on both sides of the Main Riverbank in the city centre. More than 20 museums are located there and they are open far into the night. Furthermore there are special attractions like live-bands, dance shows, several booths for crafts, jewelry, clothes and food from all around the world. It ends with a spectacular firework display.
The Frankfurt Wäldchestag (Woods Day) is jocularly known as a regional holiday because until the 1990s it was common that Frankfurt's shops were closed on this day. Despite the name, the festival takes place over a period of four days after Pentecost with the actual Wäldchestag being Tuesday. What is special about this festival is its location in Frankfurt's city forest, south of the city centre in Niederrad.
Sources
The text refers to following source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_am_Main#Main_sights
On the following link you can see a list of the authors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frankfurt_am_Main&action=history
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