Historisches Museum Frankfurt

The Historisches Museum Frankfurt stands at Saalhof 1 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on the bank of the Main below the Römerberg. The museum was founded in 1878 and is housed in the Saalhof, a complex that grew from a Staufer imperial palace of the 12th century and now combines buildings from several periods. The oldest surviving parts include the Saalhof chapel, built around 1200, and the Rententurm, together with the Burnitzbau and the 18th-century Bernusbau. These historic buildings were joined by a new museum building completed in 2017 by the architects Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei, whose contemporary design opens the site to the river and the old town. The collections follow the history of the city from its early beginnings to the present, with Roman and medieval objects, art connected to the imperial city, and objects from the age of the free city, the 19th century and the modern period. A major draw is the city model of the pre-war old town, which shows the dense timber-framed alleys destroyed in the air raids of 1944 and helps visitors understand how much of the area has been rebuilt. The Staufer chapel provides a rare chance to stand inside a space dating from the age of the medieval emperors. The approach mixes chronological displays with themed sections, and the museum also includes a section for children and families. After the Second World War the old buildings were repaired and later restored, and the new construction links old and new parts. The museum is a good first stop for visitors who want to understand Frankfurt's development from an imperial town to a modern financial centre, and it sits only a few minutes' walk from the Römer and the Kaiserdom, so it combines easily with the other historic sites of the old town. The riverside terrace outside also offers a view across the Main toward Sachsenhausen.