Frankfurt Map

• The famous old opera house (Alte Oper) was built in 1880 by the architect Richard Lucae. It was one of the major opera houses in Germany until it was heavily damaged in World War II. Until the late 1970s it was a ruin, nicknamed "Germany's Most Beautiful Ruin". There were even efforts to just blow it up. Former Frankfurt Lord Mayor Rudi Arndt called for blowing it up in the 1960s, which earned him the nicknamed "Dynamite-Rudi". (Later on, Arndt said he never had meant his suggestion seriously.)

• Due to public pressure, it was finally fully reconstructed and reopened in 1981. Today it functions as a concert hall, while operas are performed in the Oper Frankfurt.

• The inscription on the frieze of the Old Opera says: "Dem Wahren, Schönen, Guten" ("To the true, the beautiful, the good").

• Despite the name, Frankfurt Hahn Airport (Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn) is not located anywhere near Frankfurt but is instead situated approximately 120 km (75 mi) from the city in Lautzenhausen (Rhineland-Palatinate). This airport can only be reached by car or bus. An hourly bus service runs from Frankfurt Central Station, taking about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Last year over 4 Million Passengers used this airport in order to use Low Cost Airlines like Ryanair.

• Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport is a busy general aviation airport located south-east of Frankfurt International Airport, near the town of Egelsbach.

• With the stock exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) and XETRA, which belong to Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt has the second largest stock exchange in Europe after the London Stock Exchange. It is by far the largest stock exchange in Germany with over 90 percent turnover in the German market. In terms of market capitalisation, Deutsche Börse is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world.

• Most of the museums in Frankfurt are located either alongside the River Main in Sachsenhausen (south side) or in the old part of the city centre (north side). The area is therefore known as Museumsufer (Museums Riverbank).

• The street itself, Schaumainkai, is partially closed to traffic on Saturdays for Frankfurt's largest flea market.

• The Zeil is Frankfurt's main shopping street and one of the most crowded in Germany. The street is a pedestrian-only area and is bordered by two large plazas, Hauptwache in the west and Konstablerwache in the east. It is the second most expensive street for shops to rent in Germany after the Kaufingerstraße in Munich.

• During the month before Christmas, the extended pedestrian-only zone is host to one of the largest and oldest Christmas Markets in Germany.