Germany Guide
Hesse
Mainhattan: the financial district
A giant illuminated Euro symbol stands in front of the European Central Bank at Willy-Brandt-Platz, marking the start of Frankfurt's banking quarter. At the foot of the bank there's an information centre, café and shop (Mon– Fri 9am–6.30pm, Sat 10am–2pm) where the souvenirs on sale include briquettes made from recycled Euro notes – literally, money to burn.
For the full canyon-like Mainhattan effect of towering skyscrapers, take a stroll up Neue Mainzer Strasse. Much the most interesting architecturally is the 299m Commerzbank by British architect Norman Foster. Completed in 1997, it's the tallest office building in Europe and looks its best at night, when its pinnacles glow an unearthly yellow, creating a geometric lightshow whose resemblance to the Art Deco style of Fritz Lang's Metropolis is surely intentional. You can't visit the Commerzbank, but you can ascend to the viewing platform of its neighbour, the 200m Maintower (summer Mon– Thurs & Sun 10am–9pm, Fri & Sat 10am–11pm; winter Mon– Thurs & Sun 10am–7pm, Fri & Sat 10am–9pm; €4.60). The views are most magical at sunset, and there's a smart restaurant one floor down from the platform.
A few minutes' walk to the north, the handsome neo-Renaissance Alte Oper straddles the Taunusanlage at the western end of Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse. The opera house was a ruined shell for many years after World War II before finally being restored in the early 1980s. To the east on Börseplatz, bronzes of a bull and bear symbolize rising and falling markets in front of the Börse, Germany's principal stock exchange (introductory talks on floor and Xetra trading Mon– Fri 10am & 11am; free; www.deutsche-boerse.com).