Things to Do in Frankfurt

The Main River’s south bank is lined with museums, the most impressive being the Städel Museum. The Städel was founded in 1815 by the Frankfurt banker and merchant Johann Friedrich Städel and has grown to contain one of Europe’s finest collections of art. It is also an important historical site; in 1937, many of the museum’s paintings and prints were confiscated after being classified as degenerate art. Nowadays, the Städel’s collection is so extensive that it can only display 600 of the 2,700 paintings it owns.

The museum has a broad and exceptional collection of art, featuring European paintings from seven centuries. The span of artwork begins at the early 14th century, moving into Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods and ending in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some notable artists include Botticelli, Dürer, Van Eyck, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Vermeer and Cézanne.

With its crenellated turrets, ornate gables and fortifications, Schloss Stolzenfels exudes the sentimental beauty for which the Romantic Rhine is famed. Originally built in the 13th century to impose illegal river tolls, it had all the necessary features: a drawbridge, a keep, an impressive gateway and a chapel.

A Prussian king rebuilt the castle, ruined by the French, as his summer residence in 1823. Today, the rooms largely remain as the king left them. There is an impressive exhibit of armor and weaponry.

Römerberg (or Roman Mountain) is the historic heart of Frankfurt and often the first stop for tourists. The Town Hall, or Römer, is located on the west side of the square and consists of 3 pink colored buildings with gables built in Gothic style. Römerberg was ravaged by bombings during World War II and was later rebuilt to reflect its original Gothic style.

Römerberg is a beautiful square situated in Frankfurt's Old Town. It is flanked with half-timbered houses, a church, and the Town Hall. Since the 12th century, this square has played an integral role in trade fairs. Travelers came from Italy and France to attend trade fairs in Römerberg. In addition, it was the site major celebrations and festivities, such as the coronation of Holy Roman Emperors, held in the Town Hall.

The Naturmuseum Senckenberg in Frankfurt is the second largest natural history museum in all of Germany. Senckenberg contains the most comprehensive exhibition of large dinosaurs in Europe. Outside, you are greeted by enormous life-size representations of dinosaurs. Inside, you can trace the tracks of a Titanosaurus towards its skeleton on a covered patio. One particularly fascinating attraction is a dinosaur fossil with its scaled skin preserved.  These dinosaur exhibits are exceptionally popular with children.

Although its dinosaurs are the major attraction, the Senckenberg Museum also has an expansive collection of animal exhibits from every era. The museum boasts the world's most expansive collection of stuffed birds, featuring over 2,000 species. Another remarkable exhibit is a cast of the famous Lucy, a skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis, a hominid from 3.2 million years ago.