Europe Travel Guides

Points of interest

Alte Oper

Frankfurt's Old Opera House is a totally reconstructed version of the original, destroyed in WWII. All those arches, pediments and fleshy statues would have been replaced by a concrete 1960s cube if people power hadn't won the day; Frankfurt's population voted in favour of rebuilding the facade brick by brick to resemble the original rather than starting with a new design from scratch. The interior is modern, though.

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Goethe-Haus & Goethemuseum

'He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.' Goethe's parents' house is a wonderful example of how Frankfurt's well-to-do lived in the 18th century. It was Goethe's birthplace, and he lived here until moving to Weimar in 1775, an act that many Frankfurters found hard to forgive.

It was here that Goethe penned his ode to suicide, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and began work on Faust. The rooms are nicely decorated with a mix of reproduction and original furniture, offering a glimpse of 18th-century domestic life.

Don't miss Goethe's original writing desk and the library on the top floor. The museum illustrates the various stations of his long life with paintings from the late Baroque to the Biedermeier periods. The gorgeous little garden is perfect for getting away from all that Sturm und Drang.

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Deutsches Architekturmuseum

Renowned architect Oswald Mathias Ungers transformed this patrician villa in 1984 with his 'house within a house' concept. The museum has a groovy hands-on approach and topical exhibitions dissecting the virtues and vulgarities of architecture. The permanent exhibit consists of 24 large-scale models tracing the history of construction and urban planning from prehistoric times to the 21st century. Frankfurt's own town planning is frequently fodder for debate.

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