Germany Guide
Hesse
The Römerberg
Steep gables, half-timbered facades and the picturesque sixteenth-century Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen or Justice Fountain make spacious Römerberg, the old central square, the focal point of Frankfurt's Altstadt and the very image of a medieval town square. It's the perfect setting for the city's Christmas market, just as it has been the scene for major events since the Middle Ages. What you see is, however, in part an illusion. The old town went up in flames during an air raid on the night of March 22, 1944, and the much-photographed half-timbered houses on the east side are modern reconstructions. On the west side, the stately Römer – Frankfurt's Rathaus – is genuine enough, though it was grievously damaged during the war. Its three central gables were "improved" by the addition of neo-Gothic elements in the nineteenth century, but the oldest bits of the rambling complex date back to 1322. Cross the main courtyard – accessed via Limpurgergasse on the south side – to visit the Kaisersaal (daily 10am–1pm & 2–5pm; €2) on the first floor, with its 52 nineteenth-century portraits of kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, from Charlemagne to Franz II. It was here that the Electors would hold their concluding banquet after the selection of a new emperor, and the reconstructed hall is still used for VIP receptions. It has a touch of postwar blandness about it, however, and the graceful Renaissance staircase you climb to reach it is rather more appealing. The one genuine half-timbered house on Römerberg is Haus Wertheim in the southwest corner, which dates from around 1600 and was spared destruction in the 1944 raid.