Frankfurt; Saturday, 24 July, 2004

After the cloudbursts of last night it was almost fitting that Saturday should dawn with barely a cloud in the sky. First stop of the morning after Breakfast was back to the Römer and to look at one of the oldest surviving churches in the city the Alte Nikolaikirche.

From there it is a short walk past the Archaeological Gardens, some of the remains of an Roman encampment, to the cathedral. The cathedral itself is quite plain, not helped by the fact that most of it is covered in scaffolding. Despite my guidebook, written in 2002 claiming that the repairs were almost complete and that the tower would reopen (as would being able to climb to the top) later that summer!

After looking around the Cathedral I decided to chance the Main Tower again, this time it was open and, unlike the Cathedral which would have been over 300 steps, took the lift to the roof. The views over the whole of the city are stunning, and the contrasts between the modern high rise and the ancient city are clear. Despite all the damage that was inflicted on the city during the war, and subsequently as the financial capital of mainland Europe, there are still a large number of older buildings and original streets still around, along with a few small smatterings of the old city walls.

Leaving Main Tower I wandered back through the Römer and down to what gives Frankfurt am Main part of its name, the Main. The river runs right behind the historic old square and Cathedral. Regular boats tour up and down the river, so I took advantage of one to get a better view of the city and to take the weight of my feet.

From the river you can see why the towers that make up Frankfurt have given it the nickname Mainhatten. Thankfully, most of them are quite elegant so it's not too harsh on the landscape. The boat cruise lasted just over the hour after which I decided to quickly stop for a bite to eat before heading on.

The next stop was the Museum Judengasse. Located on the ground floor of the council offices this museum is built over the remains of Frankfurt's Jewish Ghetto, destroyed during W.W.II. This really interesting museum tells the history of the Jews in Frankfurt, their persecution (not just in the recent past but going back over hundreds of years), their culture and in the ruins details on daily life in the Ghetto. In addition a small exhibition at the end explains how the community has attempted to rebuild itself since 1945.

Behind the museum is the old Jewish Cemetery and on the wall surrounding it 10,000 blocks. Each block has a name on it, a date of birth, and the date an location where they died. They represent the Jewish population of Frankfurt that died between 1939 and 1945 and can't help but move you.