The currency's default image
It became the standard press picture for any euro story worldwide.
Pedro from Maia (Porto), Portugal — CC BY 2.0 · Flocci Nivis — CC BY 4.0 · This image is a work by Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons user C.Suthorn. When reusing, credit me as described in the Licensing information below. I would appreciate being notified (wikimail, talk page, — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 7C0 — CC BY 2.0
A large sculpture of the euro symbol ringed by twelve stars, in Frankfurt's banking district, by the artist Ottmar Hörl, erected in 2001 a few months before the currency entered circulation. The sculpture became the default image for any news story about the euro or the European Central Bank in the world's press, and that alone makes it the best-known object in Frankfurt despite being a relatively recent work. Its location is the meaning: Frankfurt is the seat of the European Central Bank, which sets monetary policy for the twenty countries using the euro. The city is relatively small — under a million people — but it is the continent's financial centre, and its tower-filled skyline is entirely unusual for a European city, which is why it is nicknamed locally Mainhattan, from the river Main and Manhattan. A detail worth knowing: the sculpture no longer stands in front of the central bank. The ECB moved in 2014 to a new building east of the city, and the sculpture stayed at its original site in the banking district. Practical points: free and always open in public space. It is lit at night, which makes it clearer to photograph after dark.
It became the standard press picture for any euro story worldwide.
Erected in 2001, months before the euro entered circulation.
Frankfurt's towers are an exception on a continent of low cities.
The banking district, Frankfurt
Willy-Brandt-PlatzWilly-Brandt-Platz is a large square in central Frankfurt, best known for the eu1 min walk
Jewish Museum FrankfurtFrankfurt was for centuries among Europe's great Jewish cities — the Rothschilds3 min walk
Museum JudengasseThe Museum Judengasse is built around something that was never meant to be there3 min walk
German Romanticism MuseumThe German Romanticism Museum opened on the fourteenth of September twenty twent5 min walk
Main TowerThe Main Tower is a skyscraper in central Frankfurt and the only tower in the ci5 min walkFor accumulated reasons: it was a Free Imperial City and a trade fair centre from the Middle Ages, with an early stock exchange and banking families such as the Rothschilds. After the Second World War the Allies chose it as the seat of the German central bank instead of divided Berlin, and from that came its later selection for the European Central Bank. Institutions attracted institutions.
The Römer and the reconstructed old town square; the Museumsufer on the Main, with more than ten museums side by side; and the Main Tower platform for the skyline view. The city is a one or two day visit, and many people pass through its airport without seeing it.
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