The timber row
The colourful stepped gables — Frankfurt's postcard alive.
Dontworry — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thomas Wolf (Der Wolf im Wald) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright pr — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thomas Wolf (Der Wolf im Wald) — CC0
The Römerberg is the Frankfurt picture you know before you arrive: the square of colourful stepped-gable timber houses facing the Römer — the city's town hall for six centuries with its famous triple front — and the Justice fountain between. Here Holy Roman Emperors were crowned, and the city feasted their coronations. The truth that deepens rather than diminishes it: all of this was flattened in the bombing of 1944, the timber houses meticulously rebuilt in the 1980s — so the square witnesses twice over: to imperial Frankfurt, and to the will that revived it. Steps away lie the newly rebuilt New Old Town and the cathedral. It is Frankfurt's undisputed tourist heart: cafés beneath the painted gables, the famous Christmas market filling it in December, and the banking towers rising behind in Frankfurt's signature contrast — medieval timber against glass.
The colourful stepped gables — Frankfurt's postcard alive.
Six centuries of town hall behind the triple front — emperors were feted here.
Medieval timber with banking towers behind, in one frame.
One of Germany's most famous fills the square each December.
Römerberg, 60311 Frankfurt
Fountain of JusticeThe Fountain of Justice stands at the centre of Römerberg in front of the Römer,1 minute walk4.8
Old St Nicholas ChurchThe small red-roofed church on the south side of the Roemerberg is older than th1 minute walk4.7
RömerThe Römer has been Frankfurt's city hall since 1405, and its three stepped gable1 minute walk4.6
Frankfurter KunstvereinThe Frankfurter Kunstverein is a contemporary art institution in the Steinernes 1 minute walk4.4
Historical Museum FrankfurtThe Historical Museum Frankfurt tells the city's story from the Middle Ages to t1 minute walk4.2Frankfurt's big question: the original was wholly destroyed in 1944, and today's houses are faithful 1983-86 reconstructions in the old crafts. For some visitors that dents the magic; for most, the story itself — a city refusing to lose its face — is the magic.
It is the perfect hub: cathedral and coronation way east, the New Old Town between, the famous Iron Bridge south on the river, the museum embankment across it. A complete walking half-day starts and ends at its cafés.
Early morning for empty photos, evening for life and light. December is another world — the Christmas market fills it with tree, stalls and lights, worth its crowds.