A Frankfurt there are not only banks! The cultural side of Frankfurt is truly considerable: from the most famous Shore of museums (Museumsufer), which runs through the entire district of Sachsenhausen along the river Main, up to the museums in the historic center, the city offers many opportunities for one or more interesting visits.
I recommend 5, but the list is long and varied: the museums in the city are more than 30, and deal with the most disparate topics. In short, depending on your tastes, you will surely find what is right for you! And here's my low cost advice: with the MuseumsUferTicket you will have the opportunity to visit 34 museums during two days, and the price is really affordable (€ 18 full, € 10 reduced).
Städel Museum
The first one that I recommend is a large art museum that spans several centuries: from the first floor, where the works created between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries are located, you gradually descend to the ground floor, where paintings and sculptures of modern art (1800-1900), in addition to the temporary exhibitions in the two wings. Going down to the basement, you can admire a curious and vast collection of contemporary art. In short, it is really worth it: in a single visit you can cross them well 9 centuries of art! The Städel is located on the Museum Bank, right at the end of the curious Holbeinsteg pedestrian bridge.
Jüdisches Museum and Museum Judengasse
On the other side of the Main, a little further along the bank, is the Jewish Museum. Frankfurt was, until the Second World War, the seat of an important community of Jews, the second largest in Germany. The museum tells its story together with that of the city in those difficult years, retracing the most important stages and giving a voice to the survivors through interactive interviews. The displaced headquarters of the Judengasse (the name of the street on which it is located, which means “street of the Jews”), instead, brings to light the ruins of the ancient houses, the baths and the market, where once there was the Jewish quarter.
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Lo Schirn it is located in the heart of the historic center, opposite the Town Hall. This modern museum houses several temporary exhibitions. Die bohème in Paris um 1900 collects works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Suzanne Valadon, Edgar Degas and many others. From the center of Frankfurt you are like this catapulted into the heart of bohemian Paris, through the scent of absinthe, wine, splashes of color and the music of street artists. The paintings, posters and photographs portray a truly unique Paris, suspended between wealth and misery, which makes you think and dream.
Goethe-Haus + Goethe-Museum
How not to visit the Goethe's house, where the poet lived all his youth? It is exciting to climb the creaking steps of the internal staircase, browse through his father's collection of books and sit at the desk where he wrote the famous work "The pains of young Werther". The house-museum is filled with curious relics that leak stories, such as the magnificent calendar-clock on the second floor. Next to the poet's house is the museum with private collection: I was surprised to find several well-known works there, including Füssli's “The Nightmare”. The house and museum are located in the historic center, a few steps from the Hauptwache.
Deutsches Filmmuseum
In addition to culture, it also takes some good fun! And to combine both, I recommend the German Cinema Museum. This museum is also located on the Museumsufer, 5 minutes away from the Städel Museum. Walking through its many floors, you will discover the techniques to bewitch young and old in eighteenth-century Europe, you will learn how the first films were made and you will (re) meet more or less known actors. The interactive part is very wide: adults and children will have a lot of fun in becoming the protagonists of various movie scenes, in mixing music and in cutting the scenes of a film at the right time.
The museum also has a library and a small cinema, where films from various festivals are shown.
