Museumsufer (Museum Embankment)

The Museumsufer, or Museum Embankment, is the stretch of the south bank of the Main along Schaumainkai in the Sachsenhausen district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where about a dozen museums stand side by side. It grew out of a cultural policy of the 1970s and 1980s that converted riverside villas and built new galleries along the water, and it now ranks among the densest museum concentrations in Europe. The anchor institution is the Städel Museum with its European painting from the Renaissance to the present, and nearby are the Liebieghaus sculpture collection in a villa park, the Deutsches Filmmuseum, the Museum Angewandte Kunst for applied arts, the Museum der Weltkulturen, and smaller houses covering architecture, communication and icons. The walk along the embankment is flat and tree-lined, with benches and views across the river to the skyline, and the Eiserner Steg and Holbeinsteg bridges link it to the old town on the north bank. Most museums open Tuesday to Sunday from about 10:00AM to 6:00PM and close on Mondays, with some staying open late on Wednesday or Thursday, so the opening days of each venue should be checked. Visitors can spend anything from half a day for two or three museums to two days for a broad sample. The MuseumsuferTicket, EUR 21, covers two consecutive days at 39 museums in Frankfurt and the region, with concessions and family tickets available, and museums are free to all on the last Saturday of each month, when queues are long. Late August brings the Museumsuferfest, a large riverside festival of music, food and open museums. Weekday mornings are quietest, and weekends in good weather are crowded. Cafés in the museum gardens and on the embankment provide breaks between visits.