The arcaded courtyard
Three storeys of carved arches — Italian architecture in a German town.
diba — CC BY-SA 2.0 de · Stadt Offenbach am Main — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dr. Johann Georg Schaefer (1823 - 1908) — Public domain · Unknown photographer — Public domain
It is not a tourist destination and that should be clear. It is a practical industrial town next to Frankfurt with little for a visitor: this palace, the leather museum reflecting its historic industry, and the Main riverbank. Come if you are staying in the area or interested in architecture, not as a day trip from Frankfurt.
Normally yes during the school's weekday working hours, but the building is not a visitor facility and access may be restricted on holidays or during exams and events. If you are coming from a distance, check ahead rather than relying on luck.
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A Renaissance palace in Offenbach on the Main, directly east of Frankfurt, counted among the most important Renaissance buildings north of the Alps. It was built in the mid-sixteenth century for the princes of Isenburg, and its outstanding feature is the inner courtyard: three storeys of open arcades on columns and arches carved with fine ornament, a kind of Italian architecture transplanted to Germany remarkably early. Seeing an Italianate courtyard this complete in a German industrial town is unexpected. The building today houses a design school, which is to say it is in use rather than preserved as a museum. That means the courtyard can normally be entered during working hours but the interior halls are not open to visitors. Offenbach adjoins Frankfurt and is minutes away by city train, but it is a different town with an entirely different character: industrial, practical and not courting visitors. That makes the trip a different experience from central Frankfurt. The stop is short and free, and is the best thing to add if you are in Offenbach for another reason.
Three storeys of carved arches — Italian architecture in a German town.
Among Germany's most important examples, and earlier than you expect.
A working school occupies it, so it lives rather than sits embalmed.
Offenbach on the Main, directly east of Frankfurt