Frankfurt Am Main-Stadtansicht von der Deutschherrnbruecke am fruehen Abend-20110808

Mainhattan is a term referring to Frankfurt's skyline, especially that of its central business district, the

Bankenviertel Bankenviertel (; ''banking quarter'') is the name of the central business district in Frankfurt, Germany where many banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions are located. It is the most important German financial hub, if not o ...

. The word is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsMain Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

, the river on which

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

lies, and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, a reference to the inner city area's visually impressive high rises and skyscrapers, a special feature for a European city. Together with the historically important Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew and St. Paul's Church, these buildings form the skyline of the city. The first tall buildings were built in the 1960s. Banks and other financial institutions settled there, which resulted in the district also being referred to as "Bankfurt" (''Bankford''). Originally, both expressions were sometimes used derisively, but the connotation has changed to a purely positive one. The seat of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centr ...

is located in Mainhattan. The Commerzbank Tower was the tallest building in the European Union until

the Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass, Shard London Bridge, and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of The Shard Quarter dev ...

in London was built. After the United Kingdom voted to withdraw from the European Union (Brexit), plans were made for several financial institutions to move from the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

to Mainhattan. However, a report by the think tank New Financial found that even after Brexit, there is still around five times more international financial activity in the UK than in France and Germany, suggesting that

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

will remain the most important financial centre on the European continent, ahead of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and Frankfurt.

References

External links

What does Mainhattan mean?
* {{Commons inline, Skylines in Frankfurt am Main, Mainhatttan Districts of Frankfurt Financial districts in Germany