Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany’s fifth largest city, straddles the River Main where its downtown cluster of glittering office towers have earned the city the nickname ‘Mainhattan’. The most prominent wolkenkratzer (literally ‘cloud-scraper’) is the 259-metre-high Commerzbank tower, the headquarters of the European Central Bank. Frankfurt is the financial capital of Europe, and some 400 financial institutions are established here, including the Börse (stock exchange) and the Bundesbank (German Federal Bank). Thirty percent of Frankfurt’s residents are of foreign citizenship, making it the most multicultural city in Germany. Thanks to its wealth, the city can afford to invest in culture in the form of excellent museums and world-class opera. Its annual Book Fair—the world’s largest—is a magnet for the publishing industry.

All this high-profile international and commercial activity gives Frankfurt a modern feel, and locals tend to have a cosmopolitan attitude.