Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Historical Museum Frankfurt)

Where folding rules become skyscrapers and Frankfurt fits into a snow globe: City history told in a new way

Frankfurt in a snow globe. This is not a souvenir item in this house, but a spectacular art project. Eight artists have depicted eight faces of the city in an installation: Cosmopolitan city, city of money, Jewish city, hub or eternal building site – even here in the basement it is clear how multi-layered the city is. And the stories it has to tell. The Historical Museum is not only the oldest museum in Frankfurt, it is also one of the largest and most innovative city museums in the whole of Europe. The rooms alone show how history and the present meet here. Eight exhibitions are spread over 6,000 square metres of space, spread across the 800-year-old Saalhof and the striking new red building from 2017. The museum is dedicated to the major theme of "Frankfurt" with creativity and attention to detail. On the ground floor, for example, 100 objects are arranged chronologically to represent events and people from 1000 years of history. One of the public's favourites is the huge city model by Dutch artist Hermann Helle, in which board games are building plots, folding rules represent skyscrapers and green brushes become the city forest.