Banking in Frankfurt, Germany – Part 1: The City you never knew you Liked

Dear London bankers, we hope you will enjoy our little series of posts about Banking in Frankfurt, Germany! In the first part we look at life in the city of Frankfurt.

First and foremost, forget, what you heard. Size does not matter.  

Coming from the great City of London it must be a dull prospect to move to a backwater like Frankfurt. We get that. London has about twelve times as many residents living in an area about six to seven times bigger than Frankfurt’s. We also know that London is this huge cultural hub with lots of great sights, music, shopping and such. Heck, some of us have been there, and we love it! Meanwhile, Frankfurt is known for its Skyscrapers, but that aside its image is rather boring.

Even most Germans who don’t live here see grey streets and a sad train station in their mind’s eye when they hear the city’s name. But we assure you, this notion couldn’t be farther from the truth. In actuality, living in Frankfurt is a real blast.

By and large, Frankfurt provides you with a great quality of living!

Don’t believe us?  Frankfurt is actually consistently ranking 7^th in Mercer’s Quality of Living Report. This report analyzes every major city in the world, by the way! And once you live here, you will know why. Because, while Frankfurt is quite small, it offers anything a real metropolis needs.

Let’s examine this claim bit by bit, shall we?

1. Cityscape

You probably have seen pictures and know all the skyscrapers already. This is what people are presented with when they look from the outside in. But did you know that Frankfurt is actually very green? There are lots of parks, big municipal woods and a green belt around the city centre. Through the middle of the city flows the Main River where you can go for a walk, sporting activities or relax in the summer sun with a cool drink. There even is a nice little café there that will lend you a canvas chair. (But please don’t tell anyone!) That aside, Frankfurt is very clean and with the exception of some districts you won’t find a lot of litter on the streets. Within the city, moving from point A to point B is no hassle at all. Since it is so dense and doesn’t cover a huge area you can even walk most distances or take the tram.

2. Culture in Frankfurt

In terms of culture you can check all the boxes for Frankfurt. There are well-known cultural establishments like the Festhalle, The English Theatre, lots and lots of museums, the Alte Oper and the local Commerzbank-Arena, where our football team plays and concerts are being organised. But that aside, there are many hidden gems between the skyscrapers people from outside the city don’t know about.

Inside of the Commerzbank Arena.

Frankfurt’s historic city centre.

First and foremost, there is a typical Frankfurt culture surrounding food and drinks you won’t get anywhere else in the world. Not even in Germany. The food consists of hearty dishes with lots of sausages, meat, bread, our famous Green sauce and our – now pay attention – “Hand Cheese with Music”. Also there is Apfelwein, which is a sour tasting wine made from apples. But in our opinion, if you really want to try something tasty, consider ordering a “Mispelsche”. The food is typically served in special types of pubs you will find all over the city („Apfelweinwirtschaften“), but especially in the historic district of Sachsenhausen. The word is that Sachsenhausen is a great after-work destination.

The typical Frankfurt culture aside, you can find many other interesting places in the city. There is hardly a district that doesn’t feature multiple bars, theatres, clubs, cultural institutions and sports facilities. Many places offer English events, some of them exclusively, and there is something for everybody’s leisure time. Last but not least, Frankfurt may be small, but it is embedded in a rich metropolitan area. There are interesting towns like Darmstadt, Marburg or Wiesbaden, and the countryside also has some nice places to explore.

Fountain in front of Frankfurt’s opera.

3. Commerce and Infrastructure

Frankfurt is a well-connected economic hub. There is a huge exhibition-centre, one of Europe’s biggest shopping streets, and a lively, diverse local economy with many international companies. Of course, the financial sector is also a thing in Frankfurt, and we’ll address this in a future blog post. One of the most important things about Frankfurt is probably how well connected it is. There is a big international airport, a central train station providing direct lines to every major German and most major European cities, and two of the biggest German autobahns. Did you know, by the way, that Frankfurt also has the world’s biggest internet exchange point?

So, about Banking in Frankfurt and Germany

In case you want to know more about Banking in Frankfurt, we comprised a nice little presentation about the reasons why you just might like it over here. Feel free to browse through it, you might be surprised!