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Frankfurt, situated on the River Main, is one of Germany's largest cities (population: about 650,000).
It can be considered the banking city of Germany and even of Europe,
as the ECB (European Central Bank) has its headquarters in one of Frankfurt's tallest skyscrapers (Eurotower).
In World War II, Frankfurt was almost completely destroyed,
and had to be rebuilt from scratch. In the early Seventies, the first skyscrapers appeared.
Although controversial at the beginning, nowadays the modern and distinctive looking
skyscrapers of Frankfurt are generally accepted and give the city something special.
At the moment, Frankfurt has just over 70 buildings taller than 50m/165f, and many more are planned.
Although people from London, Moscow, and Paris might not agree, Frankfurt can be considered
Europe's #1 skyscraper city. Without a doubt, it's the only city in Europe that has
a downtown area filled with quite a few (very tall) high-rises.
The fact that today Frankfurt loves its skyscrapers is best shown by a 'Wolkenkratzer'
Festival that the city holds every few years. The last Festival, in May of 2001, drew
thousands of people from Frankfurt and surrounding areas, but also from other German cities
and even some visitors from abroad. During the Wolkenkratzer Festival some
15 skyscrapers opened their doors to the public and in most of them the public could go to
one of the top floors and sometimes even the roof of the building.
The next Wolkenkratzer Festival will be held in May 2007.

On the pictures:
Above left: Frankfurt's skyline seen from the observatory of Henninger Turm.
Unfortunately, this observatory was closed down in November of 2002.
Above middle: MAIN TOWER (200m/656f) and Commerzbank Tower (259m/850f),
with Turm 1 (127m/417f, 23 stories, 1976) on the right next to MAIN TOWER,
and the greatly looking Japan Center (116m/381f), on the right next to Commerzbank Tower.
The picture was taken from the top of Trianon.
Above right: view from one of the bridges over River Main, with from left to right:
Eurotower (148m/486f), MesseTurm (257m/843f), Frankfurter Büro Center (142m/466f),
Commerzbank (109m/358f), Commerzbank Tower (259m/850f) and MAIN TOWER (200m/656f).






Above: Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt's tallest building (259m/850f, 56 stories, 1997).
It used to be Europe's tallest for over six years, but was overtaken in december 2003 by Moscow's Triump-Palace,
which was completed in 2005 and is 264m/866f tall, with 54 stories.
If the spiral on top is counted as well, the tower would be 299 metres (981 feet) tall!
Inside the building a large, triangular, atrium can be found, which rises through the entire building.
At various levels this atrium opens up inside the building and makes way for nine large gardens,
which makes the Commerzbank Tower one of the very few 'green' skyscrapers in the world.
The building is illuminated at night by a specially designed yellow light sheme (by Thomas Ende).
The skyscraper was designed by Foster and Partners.






Above: MesseTurm (257m/843f, 55 stories, 1990), Frankfurt's 2nd and Europe's 3rd tallest skyscraper.
From 1990 to 1997 it was Frankfurt's and Europe's tallest.
The tower lies next to the famous trade fair grounds of Frankfurt;
hence the name: Messe is German for trade fair.
The building was designed by Helmut Jahn.
On one of the pictures the sculpture 'Hammering Man' can be seen in front of the MesseTurm.
It's a sculpture (designed by Jonathan Borofsky) that can be found in several other cities as well
(NYC, Seattle, Dallas, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Basel, Washington D.C., and Seoul).
The Frankfurt version is the largest of all the Hammering Man sculptures.






Above: One of Frankfurt's strong skyscraper points is its diversity.
Among the tallest skyscrapers here you won't find any box shaped buildings;
each skyscraper has its own form and distinctiveness.
Another example of this is Westend Strasse #1, Frankfurt's 3rd tallest, here seen from a few different angles.
A skyscraper with grace, elegance and beauty.
The building is 208m tall (682f), has 53 stories and was completed in 1993.
The crown on top (weight: 95 metric tons) is heated in winters to avoid icing.




Above: MAIN TOWER seen from a few angles.
The building was completed at the end of the last century (200m/656f, 55 stories).
The tower's design features two towers packed together;
the circular (blue) glass tower and the cuboid shaped (brown) one.
The spire on top isn't included in the height of the building (with: 240m/787f).
It's the transmission mast of the Hessischer Rundfunk (hr), a TV broadcasting station.
MAIN TOWER is the only high-rise building in Frankfurt that is accessible to the public.
On the third picture, people are packed together on the roof to get a good view
during the Wolkenkratzer Festival of May 2001.
On top of the building one can have a great view over downtown Frankfurt.
Especially at night; costs to go up are €4,50.




Above: another greatly looking Frankfurt building: Trianon, 186m/610f, 45 stories, built in 1993.
Currently the city's 5th tallest building.
The tower is topped by an upside down pyramid suspended from the three corners.


Above: a few more skyline views.


On this page, the five tallest skyscrapers of Frankfurt were presented to you.
For pictures of the other skyscrapers of Frankfurt, please go to page 2:

Click here to go to page 2 of Frankfurt

or

click here to go to a special page of
the skyscrapers of Frankfurt at night,
with over 150 night pictures!



Frankfurt's 10 tallest skyscrapers:
1. COMMERZBANK TOWER 259m/850f, 56 stories, 1997
2. MESSETURM 257m/843f, 55 stories, 1990
3. WESTEND STRASSE 1 208m/682f, 53 stories, 1993
4. MAIN TOWER 200m/656f, 55 stories, 1999
5. TRIANON 186m/610f, 45 stories, 1993
6. SILVER TOWER 166m/546f, 32 stories, 1978
7. PLAZA BÜRO CENTER 159m/523f, 47 stories, 1976
8. DEUTSCHE BANK I 155m/509f, 40 stories, 1984
9. DEUTSCHE BANK II 155m/509f, 38 stories, 1984
10. SKYPER 154m/505f, 38 stories, 2004