Seventy-four thousand six hundred and thirty-two souls. That’s how many people call Innenstadt 2 home. This vibrant district isn’t just a collection of houses and streets. It’s a living tapestry woven from centuries of history. Innenstadt 2 is one of Frankfurt’s most dynamic Ortsbezirke encompassing the neighborhoods of Bockenheim Westend-Nord and Westend-Süd.
Imagine this area before the 14th century. It lay outside Frankfurt’s protective walls. Despite the lack of fortifications people were already building here. A row of houses sprang up north of the walled city near a bustling cattle market. This market gave its name to the area’s most famous street: the Zeil. East and west of the Zeil roads led from the city gates. Houses and gardens blossomed along these pathways.
Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian’s decision in 1333 changed everything. He tripled the city’s area. Frankfurt built new fortifications with five landward gates. The Gallustor the Bockenheimer Tor the Eschenheimer Tor the Friedberger Tor and the Allerheiligentor. The new area filled with streets and buildings. Wealthy cloth merchants especially sought properties here. They desired grand homes outside the cramped Altstadt. In 1428 the magnificent Eschenheimer Turm the finest of the new gates was completed.
The Neustadt as it was then called became a mixture of old and new. Two small chapels appeared near the Bockenheimer Pforte. The Heiligkreuzkapelle of an almshouse in 1346 and the nearby monastery chapel of St Catherine and St Barbara in 1354. The latter grew into the large Katharinenkirche by the 17th century. To the north the Peterskirche emerged in 1381. It served as the Neustadt’s parish church from 1453. In 1452 a cemetery was established there. It was the only cemetery on the right bank of the Main after 1508.
Despite its growth the Neustadt retained open spaces and gardens. The Altstadt remained the preferred residential area. The Neustadt attracted people moving from the countryside into the growing city. By the 16th century the old city moat between the Alt- and Neustadt was filled in. The Hirschgraben was the last to be filled in 1584.
Innenstadt 2 transformed greatly over time. New townhouses of wealthy citizens appeared. These served as quarters for princely delegations during imperial coronations. The most famous was the Palais Thurn und Taxis in the Große Eschenheimer Straße. The main guardhouse in the heart of the Neustadt was built a few years earlier in 1730. The 18th century saw grand citizen houses and palaces along the Zeil.
The Goethe-Haus in the Großer Hirschgraben exemplifies the elegance of the Classical period. A municipal stable was built on the Römerberg in 1755. Frankfurt’s first permanent theater building the Komödienhaus opened on what is now Rathenauplatz in 1782. The development of Fischerfeld began in 1792. The city library opened there in 1825 designed by city architect Johann Georg Christian Hess.
The city council ordered the demolition of the city fortifications in 1804 during the Napoleonic Wars. The present Wallanlagen were created in their place. The Wallservitut of 1807 protects these green spaces from development. The Neustadt was the site of revolutionary events in 1833. The Frankfurt National Assembly met in the Paulskirche in the Altstadt in 1848-49.
Innenstadt 2 stands as a monument to Frankfurt’s growth and resilience. From a humble market outside the city walls it’s become a bustling center of life. It’s a place where history lives and breathes in every building and every street. So explore its unique districts and let the spirit of Innenstadt 2 captivate you.