Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 12 and other Land Hessen, Germany Things to Do Tips

Frankfurter Büro Center

by Nemorino

Construction of the Frankfurter Buero Center was well underway in 1975, when the oil crisis brought work to a standstill. The building stood unfinished for four years while the financial and rental situation was sorted out. Then finally it was sold to a company called ECE Project Management, which completed the building in 1980 and found tenants to move in to the offices.

The building has 40 floors and is just over 142 meters tall, which makes it Frankfurt's 12th tallest building.

On the 15th floor there is a huge air conditioner provides cool air for the offices on all forty floors.

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Address: Mainzer Landstrasse 40-46
Website: http://www.ece.de/de/section/projekte/fbc/fbc.jsp?active=office

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 11

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Updated by Nemorino

on Apr 7, 2006

Eurotower

by Nemorino

The Eurotower, which is the current (temporary) headquarters of the European Central Bank, is Frankfurt's eleventh tallest building. It is 148 meters high, has 39 floors and was opened in 1977.

It got its name long before the Euro as a currency was even thought of. The building was originally built for a different bank entirely, the BfG or Bank fuer Gemeinwirtschaft, which used to belong to the German trade unions but moved to smaller quarters long before it was sold to the Swedish banking group SEB in 2000.

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Address: Eurotower, Kaiserstrasse 29, Frankfurt am Main
Directions: Opposite the Frankfurt Opera on Willy-Brandt-Platz.
Website: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=109674

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 10

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Updated by Nemorino

on Oct 28, 2005

Schiller ignoring Skyper

by Nemorino , 2 more photos

You might have thought Skyper was the name of an electronic information service. Well, it is, but it's also the (silly but official) name of Frankfurt's newest skyscraper, which was completed in December 2004. (I mean really, if you had just spent millions of Euros building an elegant new skyscraper, would you give it a silly name like "Skyper"? Of course you wouldn't.)

In the first photo the dramatist, poet and historian Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) can be seen gazing in admiration at the Frankfurt Opera, which is two blocks away, and scornfully ignoring the new Skyper building to his right. (Enlarge the photo to see the expression on his face.)

This "Skyper" has 38 floors and is 157 meters tall, which makes it the tenth tallest building in Frankfurt am Main. It's easy to recognize because of its partly rounded shape -- concave on this side, convex on the other.

It is connected to a nearby traditional building by a glass connecting hall which is nine meters tall. This new complex is in the banking district near the Silver Tower.

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Address: Taunusanlage 1
Website: http://www.mueller-altvatter.de/projekte/skyper_frankfurt/proj_skyper.htm

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 9

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Updated by Nemorino

on Apr 7, 2006

Deutsche Bank Towers from street

level

by Nemorino , 3 more photos

The twin towers of the Deutsche Bank, known locally as "Credit and Debit", are highly reflective buildings, in fact one of them is reflected in the other in the first photo. (Enlarge the picture to see this.)

When these reflective towers were completed in 1984 the neighbors in the Westend district were irritated because those on the east saw the sun rise in the west, and those on the west saw it set in the east. The local newspapers were full of this at the time.

Second photo: Friedrich Schiller turning his back on the blue Deutsche Bank Towers.

Third photo: Looking up at the blue Deutsche Bank Towers.

Fourth photo: Schiller still ignoring the Deutsche Bank Towers.

Because they are so reflective, the color of these buildings depends on where you are looking from. In these photos, taken at street level, they look blue because they reflect the sky, but from above -- what do you think they will look like?

See the next tip for the answer.

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Address: Deutsche Bank, Taunusanlage 12
Website: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=100241

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 8

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Updated by Nemorino

on Mar 28, 2005

Deutsche Bank Towers from Main

Tower

by Nemorino

From above they look black because they reflect the ground. I never really believed this until I went up to the top of the Main Tower one morning and looked for myself.

The two Deutsche Bank Towers are 155 meters high, which makes them the eighth and ninth tallest buildings in Frankfurt.

"Deutsche Bank" simply means "German Bank", but it is a private bank, not a government one, and in the current phase of globalization it isn't even particularly German any more. A couple years ago they were even considering moving their headquarters to London, which caused quite an outcry in Germany.

The Deutsche Bank should not be confused with the Deutsche Bundesbank, which is in fact the German Federal Bank and belongs to the federal government. It is also located in Frankfurt, about two and a half kilometers north of here.

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Address: Deutsche Bank, Taunusanlage 12
Website: http://germany.archiseek.com/hesse/frankfurt/deutschebank.html

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 7

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Updated by Nemorino

on Mar 18, 2009

Plaza Büro Center

by Nemorino , 1 more photos

If you ask some local person how to get to the Plaza Buero Center, they probably won't know what you are talking about. We all just call it the Marriott, which is no wonder since the word Marriott lights up the nighttime sky in big red letters at the top of the building.

It turns out, though, that the Marriott Hotel is only one of several tenants. The building was completed in 1976, but the Marriott didn't move in until 1989. They now have 588 hotel rooms on 19 floors, namely on levels 26 to 44.

The building is 159 meters tall, which makes it Frankfurt's seventh tallest building. It is located just across the street from the Fairgrounds (Messe), which makes it possible for them to jack up their prices considerably during the book fair.

I took the second photo from the fairgrounds during the book fair 2004. If you enlarge it you can see part of the Convention Center in the foreground.

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Address: Hamburger Allee 2-10
Website: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=109784

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 6

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Updated by Nemorino

on Apr 7, 2006

Silver Tower

by Nemorino , 3 more photos

The Silver Tower belongs to the Dresdner Bank, which has its headquarters there. Construction was completed in 1978. The tower has 32 floors and is 166 meters tall, which makes it Frankfurt's sixth tallest building. It is unusual because of its aluminum facade with curved corners. To me, this makes it look somewhat antiquated, like a 1950s automobile.

Originally there was a (private) swimming pool on the top floor, but it was later replaced by a large conference room.

The second photo shows the Silver Tower and the Gallileo Tower (# 14), as seen from one of the back windows of the Jewish Museum.

The third photo shows Skyper (# 10) and the Silver Tower from the northwest, in the evening sun.

In the fourth photo we can see poor Friedrich Schiller grimly ignoring the Silver Tower.

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Address: Juergen-Ponto-Platz 1
Website: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=109755

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 5

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Updated by Nemorino

on Apr 7, 2006

Schiller ignoring Trianon

by Nemorino , 2 more photos

The Trianon got its name because of its triangular shape and because of the upside-down pyramid which is (or seems to be) suspended from the three corners at the top. It is 186 meters tall, which makes it Frankfurt's fifth tallest building. It has 45 floors and was completed in 1993.

It replaced an earlier high-rise building, the twelve-story BfG Bank, which was built on this site in 1964 and demolished twenty-four years later in 1988.

Second photo: Trianon as seen from the Frankfurt Opera at Willy-Brandt-Platz, with part of the Gallileo Tower visible on the left.

Third photo: Schiller still ignoring Trianon.

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Address: Mainzer Landstrasse 16-24, Frankfurt am Main
Website: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=109678

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, # 4

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Updated by Nemorino

on Dec 12, 2007

Main Tower

by Nemorino , 4 more photos

Most Frankfurt skyscrapers are not open to the public, so we are very glad that the Main Tower, which was completed in the year 2000, has an observation deck at the top, on the 54th floor (actually the 56th after you have climbed the last two flights of stairs), which is open to the public and on a clear day provides nice views of Frankfurt and vicinity.

The Main Tower consists of a round tower facing south and a slightly smaller square tower facing north. "Heleba" means Hessische Landesbank, the State Bank of Hessen.

Second photo: Main Tower from the northeast.

Third photo: Main Tower from below.

In the fourth photo, from left to right: Eurotheum (# 22), Main Tower, Garden Towers (# 16), Commerzbank Tower, Japan Center (# 19).

Fifth photo: Schiller ignoring the Main Tower and the Garden Towers.

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Address: Main Tower, Neue Mainzer Strasse 52 - 58
Directions:

The next four tips of the Frankfurt Skyline Countdown all have to do with the Main Tower (# 4). This is of course a commonly used dramaturgical device designed to build up suspense to a fever pitch before finally going on to the Top Three.

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Things To Do: Frankfurt Skyline Countdown, roof of # 4

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Updated by Nemorino

on Apr 7, 2006

People on the Main Tower

observation deck

by Nemorino , 3 more photos