Bankenviertel (Frankfurt am Main)

The Bankenviertel ("banking district" or "financial district") is an area in the city centre of Frankfurt, Germany.

It is not an official city district but it is a commonly used designation to describe the not exactly defined area where most of Germanys major banks have their headquarters and where many foreign banks have their representation offices. It is also the place where most of Frankfurts skyscrapers are located. The Bankenviertel stretches across the eastern part of the Innenstadt, the southern part of the Westend and the western part of the Bahnhofsviertel.

Most of the financial institutions in the Innenstadt district are located at Neue Mainzer Straße, Große Gallusstraße, Junghofstraße and the surrounding streets. The European Central Bank, Commerzbank, Citibank, Helaba and Frankfurter Sparkasse are some of the well-known institutions based here. Frankfurts tallest building, the Commerzbank Tower with a height of 259 meters, is located at Kaiserplatz. The Maintower at Neue Mainzer Straße is the only skyscraper in the city with an observation desk open to the public.

Other institutions are based in the Westend district on both sides of Mainzer Landstraße between Platz der Republik and Opernplatz, including Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank and DekaBank. The tallest building is Westendstraße 1 with 208 meters, the headquarters of DZ Bank.

The Bahnhofsviertel district is dominated by Dresdner Bank with two skyscrapers, Silver Tower and Gallileo. JPMorgan Chase is also located here.

The area is very well accessible with the public transport system. Eight of nine suburban S-Bahn lines serve the stations "Hauptwache", "Taunusanlage" and "Frankfurt Central Station". All inner-city U-Bahn lines have stops within the area: U1 to U3 at "Willy-Brandt-Platz" and "Hauptwache", U4 and U5 at "Willy-Brandt-Platz" and "Frankfurt Central Station", U6 and U7 at "Hauptwache" and "Alte Oper". The tram line 12 stops at "Frankfurt Central Station" and "Willy-Brandt-Platz", the lines 11, 16, 17 and 21 also serve the central station and "Platz der Republik".

References