Frankfurt - City of Germany

Frankfurt am Main is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine Main Region which has a population of 5.3 million and is Germany's second largest metropolitan area. In English, this city's name translates into "Frankfurt on the Main" . A part of early Franconia, the inhabitants were the early Franks. The city is located on an ancient ford on the river Main, which is a shallow crossing. The German word is "Furt". Thus the city's name receives its legacy as being the "ford of the Franks".

Among English speakers the city is commonly known simply as "Frankfurt", though Germans occasionally call it by its full name when it is necessary to distinguish it from the other "Frankfurt" in the state of Brandenburg, Frankfurt .

In the area of the Römer, Roman settlements were established, probably in the 1st century; some artifacts from that era are found even to this day. The city district Bonames has a name probably dating back to Roman times—it is thought to be derived from bona mesa. Nida was also a Roman civitas capital.

After World War I, Frankfurt was occupied by French troops in reprisal for having violated, from the French viewpoint, some details of the peace treaty of Versailles concerning the demilitarisation of the Rhineland. In 1924 Ludwig Landmann became the first Jewish Mayor of the city, and led a significant expansion during the following years. However, during the Nazi era, the synagogues of Frankfurt were destroyed.

During the 1970s, the city created one of Europe's most efficient underground transportation systems. That system includes a suburban rail system capable of reaching outlying communities as well as the city centre, and a deep underground light rail system with smaller coaches also capable of travelling above ground on street rails.

Since the postwar period Frankfurt has emerged once again as the financial and transportation centre of Germany.

A major festival in the city is the Museumsuferfest . 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 Wolkenkratzer Festival is unique in Germany. It takes place irregularly, the last time in May 2007. For two days most of the skyscrapers in downtown Frankfurt are open to the public, which is normally not the case, apart from the Maintower observation deck. Around 1,2 million visitors took the opportunity to see the city from above. Sky-divers, base jumpers, fireworks and laser shows were extra attractions. The next festival will not be held before 2010.

Most of the museums in Frankfurt are located on both sides of the River Main in Sachsenhausen and in the old part of the city centre . The area is therefore known as Museumsufer .

There are several museums on the south side between Eiserner Steg and Friedensbrücke, including:

-Ikonenmuseum
-Museum für Angewandte Kunst
-Museum der Weltkulturen
-Deutsches Filmmuseum
-Deutsche Architekturmuseum
-Museum für Kommunikation
-Städel, one of the most famous museums in Germany
-Liebieghaus
-Museum Giersch


In Frankfurt am Main, there are two universities and several specialist schools.

- Johann Wolfgang Goethe University: The oldest and most well-known university in the city is the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, with locations in Bockenheim, Westend, and Riedberg, and the university hospital in Niederrad.


- Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences: The Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences was created out of several older organizations in 1971, and offers over 38 study areas, in the arts, sciences, engineering and law. Some of the most important research projects: Planet Earth Simulator, Fraline-IT-School-Service, quantitativ analysis of methan in human corpses with the help of a mass spectrometer, Softwareengeneering , analysis of qualitative and quantitative gas in human lungs, long-term studies on photovoltaicmodules.

Over the past years the city of Frankfurt has been increasingly investing into the IT-infrastructure of its schools. As a result, schools in Frankfurt now rank among the best equipped schools nationwide as far as availability of PCs and other media facilities are concerned. In order to assure maintenance and support of the school PCs, the city of Frankfurt in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences has launched the project Fraline - IT-Schul-Service, an initiative employing students to provide basic school IT-support.