Frankfurt City Guide - Culture

Although it is often considered a dreary place of all work and no play, Frankfurt in fact offers visitors a lively and impressive cultural scene that provides a welcome diversion from its hard-nosed business activities. The city's most famous son undoubtedly is Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) and the city's pride in this man is reflected in the fact that the university takes his name. Another famous Frankfurter is the artist Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610) who played a key role in the development of 17th-century landscape painting - the Städel Gallery (see Key Attractions), Dürerstrasse 2, houses his Altarpiece of the Cross (1604-06). Also born in the city were Paul Ehrlich and Arthur Schopenhauer.

The Schirn Kunsthalle (often shortened to Kulturschirn), Römerberg (tel: (069) 299 8820; website: www.schirn.de), displays innovative art exhibitions. Frankfurt is an important port of call on the European jazz circuit, with a number of excellent venues attracting international stars (see Nightlife).

Most performance venues are closed during July and August. There are a number of ticket outlets in the city, the main one being Frankfurt Ticket, Hanauer Landstrasse 417 (tel: (069) 134 0400; website: www.frankfurt-ticket.de).

Papers that list cultural events are Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (especially the extensive Sunday edition, website: www.faz.net), Frankfurter Neue Presse, Frankfurter Rundschau and Journal Frankfurt. An excellent source of information and listings is available from the online service for Frankfurter Neue Presse and Journal Frankfurt (website: www.rhein-main.net).

Music: Rebuilt in its original style in 1981, the elegant Alte Oper (Old Opera), Opernplatz (tel: (069) 13400; website: www.alteoper.de), is the city's most important and best-loved concert hall; tickets are available from Frankfurt Ticket (see above). The Frankfurt Museum Orchestra and touring companies perform here. Opera performances by Oper Frankfurt (tel: (069) 21202; website: www.oper-frankfurt.de), however, are to be found at the Städtische Bühnen (municipal stages), Untermainanlage 11 (tel: (069) 2123 7000).

Theatre: Goethe wrote the original versions of Faust (Urfaust and Götz von Berlichingen) while he lived in Frankfurt. Top-class German theatre, including work by Goethe, is performed by Schauspielfrankfurt at one of the Städtische Bühnen, Untermainanlage 11 (tel: (069) 2123 7000; website: www.schauspielfrankfurt.de).

Excellent English productions, including musicals, can be enjoyed in the rather unprepossessing surroundings of The English Theatre, Gallusanlage 7 (tel: (069) 2423 1620; website: www.english-theatre.org). Volkstheater Frankfurt ('the people's theatre'), Grosser Hirschgraben 21 (tel: (069) 288 598; website: www.volkstheater-frankfurt.de), shows classic plays by Goethe and Shakespeare, as well as music and dance theatre on a more traditional level. In summer, performances take place in the backyard with ebbelwei (apple wine) and brezeln (pretzels).

Dance: The Forsythe Company, Bockenheimer Depot, Carlo-Schmid-Platz 1 (tel: (069) 2123 7586; website: www.theforsythecompany.de), which took over from Ballett Frankfurt in January 2005 and is directed by William Forsythe, is the city's premier dance company.

Film: The Deutsches Filmmuseum, Schaumainkai 41 (tel: (069) 9612 20220; website: www.deutsches-filmmuseum.de), is the best of its kind in Germany. Permanent exhibitions are supplemented by screenings of classic and independent films in the Kommunales Kino, every day except Monday. The Chaplin Archiv, Klarastrasse 5 (tel: (069) 9529 4477), is a free permanent exhibition on two floors, which gives a true impression of the late actor Charlie Chaplin, his work and life. On show are 450 rare film documents and 6,000 remarkable pieces like old books, magazines, pictures, advertising materials and records related to the artist.

Mal sehn, Adlerflychtstrasse 6 (tel: (069) 597 0845; website: www.malsehnkino.de), Orfeo's Erben, Hamburger Allee 45 (tel: (069) 7076 9100; website: www.orfeos.de), Valentin, Windthorstrasse 84 (tel: (069) 308 6927; website: www.filmtheater-valentin.de) and Turmpalast, Eschenheimer Turm (tel: (069) 281 787), offer movies in English.

Most mainstream cinemas are located in the centre around Zeil, such as E-Kinos, Hauptwache (tel: (069) 285 205; website: www.ekinos-frankfurt.de), which is a really big movie house on the Hauptwache end of Zeil.

Literary Notes: Written while the author lived in Frankfurt, Die Leiden des jungen Werther - The Sufferings of Young Werther (1771) is one of Goethe's best-known works. The epistolary novel traces the tragic love of Werther for the beautiful but unobtainable Lotte. Goethe's literary output was prodigious and eclectic, including collections of poetry, novels, plays and scientific works.

Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-94) was born in Frankfurt and became the leading doctor at the municipal madhouse. His writing includes lyrical poems, ballads, comic and satirical works and, most famously, Struwwelpeter (1848), a series of gruesome pictorial and poetic cautionary tales for children. There is a dedicated Heinrich-Hoffmann Museum, Schubertstrasse 20 (tel: (069) 747 969; website: www.struwwelpeter-haus.de).

A more recent German novel that offers a taste of the city is Regula Venske's Double für eine Leiche - Double for a Corpse (1998), which features the comings and goings at the International Book Fair.