The Mainzer Landstraße is one of the main

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

s in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, running west from the city centre to the outlying suburbs of the city. The road runs largely parallel with the

River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...

along its northern bank, and at in length is Frankfurt's second longest road.

History

The road was built between 1746 and 1750 as part of the longer route between

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. As one of the most heavily used roads in Frankfurt, factories soon sprang up along its length as Germany

industrialised Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

in the 19th century, including the headquarters of Adler and Tenovis. A

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way, the modern day lines 11 and 21, soon followed, supported by the industries along its length. By the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, there were around 40 factories along the length of the road, with more along the many side roads that branch off it. With the opening of Bundesautobahn 66, Mainzer Landstraße has become less important for long distance travel and now mostly facilitates travel around the west end of the city. Accordingly, it was downgraded from a regional road ( Landesstraße) to a district road (

Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ...

Route

From the Innenstadt, Mainzer Landstraße runs through Westend, Bahnhofsviertel, Gallus, Griesheim and Nied on the way to Höchst. The road begins at Taunusanlage station, close to the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers. Between Taunusanlage and the crossroads at Platz der Republik, it passes the Westend Tower, the Frankfurter Büro Center and the City-Haus. The tramlines join Mainzer Landstraße at Platz der Republik, and the road then continues into Gallus, where it passes under Galluswarte

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

station and past the Galluswarte watch tower, which marks the historic walls of Frankfurt. The section of the road in Gallus is known for its high concentration of car dealerships and garages. An alternative tram route to the south lets trams bypass part of Mainzer Landstraße around Galluswarte and a

headshunt A headshunt (or escape track in the United States) is a short length of Rail tracks, track provided to release locomotives at Terminal station, terminal platforms, or to allow Shunt (rail), shunting to take place clear of main lines. Terminal hea ...

tram siding at Mönchhofstraße on the outskirts of Gallus let trams stop and reverse there at off-peak times. At the border between Gallus and Griesheim, the road passes under

Bundesautobahn 5 is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection (with the Bundesautobahn 7, A 7). The southern end is at the Switzerland, Swiss border near Basel. It runs through the Germa ...

before it meets

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...

40, which connects

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport ( ) , is Germany's busiest international airport by passenger numbers, located in Frankfurt, Germany's fifth-largest city. Its official name according to the German Aeronautical Information Publication is Frankfurt Main Airpor ...

with the city centre and Bundesautobahn 66, near Nied. The tramway runs on a special

overpass An overpass, called an overbridge or flyover (for a road only) in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that is over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and '' underpa ...

above the junction, and a

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

at Nied Kirche (Nied Church) allows the 21 line to terminate there. The road then crosses the River Nidda, and terminates in Höchst where it meets Bolongarostraße. This road, and its continuation Brüningstraße, runs through the old town and Industriepark Höchst, the headquarters of

Hoechst AG Hoechst AG () was a German chemicals, later life sciences, company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiar ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainzer Landstrasse Roads in Hesse Streets in Frankfurt