A visit to Frankfurt’s museums and galleries is an essential experience of this cultural city. The Museumsufer, or Museum Embankment, offers a bevy of museums located within easy walking distance.
Museumsufer
On the southern bank of the Main river is a museum lover’s nirvana. With over a dozen museums in this spot alone, you could wander for days through the history and art of the region.
Städel-Museum
One not-to-miss Frankfurt museum here is the Städel-Museum (Schaumainkai 63). Its stars are world-famous artists as Cézanne, Delacroix, Van Gogh, Botticelli and Germany’s own Beckmann.
Museum Giersch
Another highlight of the Museum Embankment is the Museum Giersch (Schaumainkai 83). Focusing on art of the immediate Rhine-Main region, these exhibitions are housed in a neoclassical building from the early twentieth century.
German Film Museum
An interesting stop along the Embankment is the Deutsche Filmmuseum (Schaumainkai 41). It provides a unique documentation of the evolution of this media and offers a daily film for your viewing pleasure.
German Architecture Museum
This Frankfurt museum, the Deutsche Architekturmuseum (Schaumainkai 43), is a showcase of the world of architecture. As its slogan states, you can learn about the history “from Primordial Hut to Skyscraper.”
Other Frankfurt Museums
While the Museumsufer has the largest concentration of museums in Frankfurt, let’s not forget about the others.
Frankfurt Goethe-Museum and Goethe-House
Visit the birthplace of Germany’s national writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at this House-Museum (Großer Hirschgraben 23-25). This 18th century building shows decorations and art from the time of Goethe’s childhood.
Jewish Museum
This memorial museum (Untermainkai 14-15) preserves the horrors of life in the Frankfurt ghetto and during the Holocaust. But it also looks to the future with an exhibit about the Jewish culture’s resurgence following the tragedy.
Dialogue Museum
For a “slightly different” kind of museum experience — one with nothing to see — head over to the Dialogue Museum (Hanauer Landstrasse 139-145). The blind museum offers a pitch-black exhibit in which visitors must rely on their other senses to “see” them through.
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History
Dinosaurs are always a big museum draw, and the Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Senckenberganlage 25) isn’t lacking in that department. Huge triceratops skulls and the Edmontosaurus “dinosaur-mummy” are popular attractions. ;-)
