Frankfurt Old Town Guided Walking Tour in German

Römerberg and the Römer

The walk starts on Römerberg, the central square of old Frankfurt that has hosted markets, fairs, coronation banquets and today the Christmas market for more than seven hundred years. On its west side stands the Römer, the city hall since 1405, whose facade of three stepped gables is the emblem of Frankfurt; inside, the Kaisersaal is hung with portraits of all the Holy Roman emperors who were elected and, from 1562, crowned in the city. Opposite, the half-timbered Ostzeile houses were rebuilt in 1983 on their old foundations after the square was destroyed in 1944, and the Fountain of Justice of 1543 stands in the middle of the square.

Your certified guide meets the group in front of the Tourist Information on the square, explains the Römer, the Old St Nicholas Church with its carillon and the square's role in the city's history, and takes about fifteen minutes before leading you east into the lanes.

The New Old Town

Between Römerberg and the cathedral lies the Neue Altstadt, the New Old Town, the most talked-about urban project in Germany of recent years. The medieval quarter that stood here was lost in 1944 and replaced in the 1970s by a concrete technical town hall; that was demolished, and between 2012 and 2018 the old street plan was rebuilt with a mix of exact reconstructions of lost houses, such as the Golden Scales with its roof garden, and new houses in traditional proportions. The result is the Hühnermarkt square, the Coronation Way along which the emperors walked from the cathedral to the Römer, and lanes of half-timbered facades, carved beams and gilded signs.

The guide spends about twenty-five minutes here, pointing out which houses are copies and which are new, the Stoltze fountain and the Struwwelpeter museum, and explaining the debate about rebuilding the past. For a Frankfurt new old town tour this is the heart of the walk.

Frankfurt Cathedral, the Kaiserdom

At the eastern end of the Coronation Way rises the Imperial Cathedral of St Bartholomew, a Gothic church of red sandstone begun in the fourteenth century on the site where, from 1356, the electors chose the kings of the Holy Roman Empire and, from 1562 to 1792, the emperors were crowned in front of the high altar. Its 95-metre tower, completed only in 1877, survived the war and can be climbed by a staircase for a view over the river and the skyline. Inside are the election chapel, late Gothic altars and the cathedral museum in the cloister.

The guide explains the cathedral from outside, including the coronation procession and the great fire of 1867 that gutted it, in about ten minutes. Entry is not included but is usually free during opening hours, so you can return after the tour; the tower climb has its own ticket.

St Paul's Church, where German democracy began

A few minutes west of Römerberg stands the Paulskirche, an oval classical church of red sandstone completed in 1833 that became famous not for services but for politics: in 1848 and 1849 the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany met here and drafted a constitution with basic rights that influenced the one in force today. Burned out in 1944, it was the first building in Frankfurt to be rebuilt, in 1948, and now serves as a memorial and a hall of state where prizes are awarded and ceremonies held. Inside, a long mural wraps around the ground floor and the plain upper hall is lit by a ring of windows.

The guide covers the building and the revolution of 1848 in about ten minutes from outside; entry is free during opening hours if you want to see the hall afterwards.

Eiserner Steg and the Museumsufer

From Römerberg the walk heads down to the river and onto the Eiserner Steg, the iron footbridge first built in 1869 by the citizens themselves, blown up in 1945 and rebuilt, and renovated again in 1993. Its railings are covered in padlocks and the middle of the bridge gives the picture everybody takes in Frankfurt: the towers of the financial district rising behind the cathedral and the old town roofs, with the Main below, a skyline that earned the city the nickname Mainhattan.

On the south bank the tour ends at the Museumsufer, the museum embankment of Sachsenhausen, where a row of museums in villas and modern buildings lines the river between the bridges: the Städel art gallery, the museums of applied arts, architecture, world cultures and communication among them. The guide points out which is which in about fifteen minutes and leaves you here after roughly 1.5 hours, with the river promenade, the Sachsenhausen lanes and the Römer all within a ten-minute walk.