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What you need to know about visiting Main Tower in Frankfurt


What you need to know about visiting Main Tower • Frankfurt, Germany • Tourist is a Dirty Word Blog

To experience the best ear popping, sweeping aerial views of Frankfurt, you have to go to the top of Main Tower (pronounced roughly MINE Tower). The high-rise building is named after the nearby river Main, which runs through Frankfurt's city center. All in all, Frankfurt has 19 buildings higher than 164 ft / 50 m, making it the only city in Germany with a skyline. This is why locals often refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, a play on the Main river and it's many skyscrapers, comparing Frankfurt to Manhattan in New York City. Although the Main Tower is not the highest skyscraper in Frankfurt, 656 ft / 200 m compared to Commerzbank Tower's 850 ft / 259 m, it is the tallest tower open to the public.

There are two ways to enjoy the 360 degree views of Frankfurt's skyline: you can either take the elevator up, for 6.50 Euros, to the observation deck OR enjoy a cocktail and/or meal at the fine dining Main Tower Restaurant & Lounge, located on the 53rd floor of the tower. If you dine at the restaurant, the cost of the elevator ride will be credited against your bill, so hold onto your receipt, or if you make a reservation the elevator operator will not charge you for the ride. Most of the other floors are rented out as office spaces to different companies for a total of 2,000 people working in the Main Tower.
The Main Tower was designed by Schweger und Partner, who won the architectural competition in 1991, started building in 1996, and finished in 1999. But be warned, the building architect loved glass so much, that he incorporated a lot of it into the design of the viewing platform and the restaurant. If you are afraid of heights, you might want to stand a few feet back from the glass surround on the viewing platform or not sit right by the window at the restaurant.

Have you been to other high-rise observation decks? Tell us about it in the comments below. If you visited the tower, share your photos via link in the comments below. We'd love to see them! The photos above are from a class trip I took.


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Thank you For Reading! Denise & Sebastian | Photo by Irene Fiedler