Frankfurt (German: Frankfurt am Main) is a medium-sized, rich city in central Germany with 650.000 inhabitants.  city in Hesse, in Central Germany, known for its high-rises and international airport. Home of the European Central Bank, it is considered to be the financial capital of Europe. It is also birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

For many travellers coming from overseas it will be the first point of call in Europe, because of its airport, the leading freight airport in Europe and largest in terms of passengers on the european continent. Frankfurt is a city with two faces: on the one hand it is the cut-throat financial capital of Germany and on the other it is a civilized place which spends more per year on the arts than any other city in Europe. And although other German towns have done a better job in preserving their beautiful traditional city centres, a stay in Frankfurt will permit you to discover a very lively and international city with many things to do, both during daytime and at night.

In fact, Frankfurt is a thriving cultural centre for the whole of Hesse, with a good selection of theatres and galleries, and an even better range of museums, amongst them some architectural highlights. Over half of the city, including almost all of the centre, was destroyed during world war II and the rebuilders opted for innovation rather than restoration. The result is a skyline that smacks more of Chicago than of Germany.

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Texts partly derived from World 66