Frankfurt am Main for Gay and Lesbian Visitors
Frankfurt am Main ranks among the most popular urban centres of Europe’s gay community. It is estimated that somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 homosexual men and women live in the Main metropolis, and that’s not counting those living in the surrounding Rhine-Main area, many of whom commute to Frankfurt for business and pleasure.
Frankfurt matured into an international metropolis in the early post-war years of the forties and fifties. One significant reason for this development was Frankfurt International Airport, by far the largest airport in Germany and one of the world’s most frequented travel and transport hubs. More than 50 million passengers pass through “Fraport” each and every year. And that’s not counting the tens of thousands of employees who work at the airport, nor the crews of the 150-plus airlines who depart from Frankfurt to countless destinations all across the globe. Yet another key reason for Frankfurt’s internationality is the large number of banks, finance institutions and other businesses who have set up camp in the skyscraping high-rises and resplendent villas of the Main metropolis. Their employees now call Frankfurt Rhine-Main their home as well.
Art & Culture
Frankfurt is home to Germany’s most celebrated museum landscape, offering its guests a colourful variety of cultural highlights throughout the year. Set side by side like pearls on a string, the museums of Frankfurt’s famous museum embankment regularly present spectacular exhibitions of international renown.
"Must See" Museums
From the time-honoured Städel Museum and the impressive German Architecture Museum to the German Film Museum – the range of establishments is truly unique! The city’s many other first-class museums, such as Schirn Kunsthalle, the Museum of Modern Art and the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, are equally worth a visit, as are some of the more unusual museums, like the Struwwelpeter Museum, Caricatura Museum and Dialog Museum.
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When it comes to stage performances, Frankfurt ranks amongst the best that Europe has to offer, featuring concerts, opera and theatre of the highest order. The Playhouse (Schauspiel) and Oper Frankfurt at Willy-Brandt-Platz are just two of the city’s renowned performing-arts venues. International music stars, meanwhile, perform at Jahrhunderthalle Höchst and Festival Hall at the fairgrounds (Messe), while the Old Opera House (Alte Oper) presents performing arts of nearly every variety. Originally opened in 1880, the building was badly damaged during an air raid in March of 1944. After decades of disrepair and disuse, Alte Oper was finally reopened in August of 1981 after extensive reconstruction. The current programme consists not only of classical music concerts, opera and theatre performances, but also spectacular shows, revues and concerts featuring international rock and pop stars. With such a diverse offer of events, it is no surprise that Frankfurt attracts a great number of guests f whom the world’s culturally enthusiastic gay communities. A further gay favourite is the English Theatre, established in 1979. Each season, Europe’s largest English-language theatre presents an exciting blend of stage classics, crime stories and contemporary plays and musicals.
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Music & More 
Liberté, Egalité, VARIETÉ: The Tigerpalast Variety Theatre has gained fame far beyond Frankfurt’s city limits. Renowned far and wide as a cultural and culinary institution of the highest order, the Tigerpalast offers unforgettable nights of entertainment, featuring international variety stars from across the globe. Stylish wining and dining combined with variety artists close enough to touch, what more could one possibly ask for? The Tigerpalast has been offering first-class entertainment and finest cuisine in Frankfurt for over 20 years. Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and the Gallus Theatre are also well known for their unconventional performances, with countless gay artists attracting guests from the community to their ccolourful shows. Since its establishment in 1994, “Tits Theatre” has gained widespread renown for its top travesty entertainment, Hessian-style. Bäppi la Belle, the venue’s main attraction, has become an absolute cult figure in Frankfurt am Main, famous – some say infamous – far beyond the borders of the Main metropolis.
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Frankfurt Originals
A cult figure of another sort also called Frankfurt am Main his home, albeit centuries ago. His name? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Frankfurt’s Goethe-House is not only the birthplace of Germany’s most celebrated author and poet, it is also one of Germany’s most significant literary monuments. With its paintings and period furniture, the 18th-century bourgeois-style home portrays a vivid image of the time of Goethe’s youth. Next door, the Goethe Museum attracts visitors with an art gallery consisting of paintings from the era of the great poet.
Friends of modern ballet, meanwhile, will be familiar with the Forsythe Company, which performs regularly at the Bockenheimer Depot. The choreographies of William Forsythe, the company’s director, convey a sternly mathematical yet sensual language of dance. Forsythe is known as one of the most important representatives of modern ballet.
Frankfurt’s cultural calendar also comprises many famous and traditional folk fairs and festivals, such as the Opera Square Festival, the Rheingau Wine Market and the Museum Embankment Festival, one of Europe’s biggest cultural festivals, held along the banks of the River Main and featuring a colourful abundance of cultural highlights, live acts and international cuisine. And there’s also the very popular “Wäldchestag”, a time-honoured folk festival held in the city forest near the Commerzbank Arena on the Whitsuntide weekend. No true Frankfurt native, whether straight or gay, misses this traditional four-day celebration, which lasts until “Whit Tuesday”, the original “Wäldchestag”.
Seasonal Sensations 
Twice a year, in spring and autumn, Frankfurt comes together to celebrate the “Dippemess”, the Rhine-main region’s largest folk fair, held at the Ratsweg Fairground. In the early days, the fair was in fact a sales market for pottery and ceramic
goods, “Dippe” being the Hessian term for “pot”. The absolute highlight for gays and friends is the popular “Pink Monday”, which featuries live music and a festive show programme held in the fair’s premier party pavilion, the “Dippodrom”.
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The Frankfurt Christmas Market, one of Germany’s largest and most popular Christmas markets, is well known for its festive atmosphere and old-world charm. Over 200 beautifully decorated stalls, the nostalgic backdrop of the Römerberg old town centre and St. Paul’s Square and the gigantic and ornately adorned Christmas tree combine to make the Frankfurt Christmas Market one of the most beautiful in all the lands.
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Wining & Dining
Frankfurt’s reputation as a multicultural metropolis is based on many aspects, not least of which is its great variety of restaurants. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to name a country or region whose cuisine is not available in Frankfurt am Main. For a comprehensive overview of Frankfurt’s culinary offerings, go to www.frankfurt-tourismus.de. There, under the category “Shopping & Restaurants”, you will find bars, pubs and restaurants classified according to city districts and styles of cuisine.
Gays are much-appreciated guests in Frankfurt am Main, a place where the term “gayfriendly” is more than just a sign of political correctness. Countless establishments are proud to count gays among their most faithful clientele. For more information on the most popular bars and restaurants, take a look at some of the many city magazines, including GAB and BLU, two popular gay publications. They are available at most newsagents, as well as Frankfurt’s tourist information offices.
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Frankfurt, as everyone knows, is the home of the world-famous “Frankfurter”. This sausage speciality was the culinary talk of the town as early as 1825, when it was served in the city’s first international hotels as a snack-sized delicacy. A further celebrated sausage emerged in the second half of the 19th century – the original Frankfurt “Rindswurst”, or beef sausage. Its culinary conquest originally began back in 1894, when the Frankfurt butcher, Karl Gref, and his wife, Wilhelmine, (née Völsing) created the famous Gref-Völsing beef sausage. Their backyard butchery still remains, with the actual butcher shop situated on Hanauer Landstraße (28). Sausages and other meat delicacies continue to be sold here as in bygone times. The shop has in the meantime become a popular lunchtime meeting place.
Think global eat local 
Typical Frankfurt specialities, such as “Handkäs’ mit Musik” (small pickled cheeses served in an onion vinaigrette), loin ribs with sauerkraut and the traditional “Green Sauce”, made from seven different herbs, are served throughout the region, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Sachsenhausen. This Frankfurt city district is particularly well known for its rustic apple wine pubs. Frankfurt apple wine, a delicious cider-like beverage, has been the locals’ beverage of choice for over 250 years. Many of the traditional pubs still make this refreshing alcoholic beverage themselves, according to their own recipes. It is particularly popular when served as a spritzer, that is, mixed with sparkling mineral water.
Fancy something sweet to finish off with? “Frankfurter Kranz” is a popular and very rich cake speciality, very similar to pound cake. Made from a biscuit dough, it is baked in a wreath-like form, cut lengthways and filled with butter cream or red jam. At the end, it is completely covered with butter cream and nut brittle. Anyone interested in trying this delicious confectionery is urged to drop into one of Frankfurt’s traditional coffeehouses, such as downtown’s Café Wacker or Café Laumer in Frankfurt’s West End.
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Shopping
Like to shop? No worries! Frankfurt am Main is a shopper’s paradise, once again doing justice to its reputation. Large-scale department stores, retail chains, specialist shops and designer boutiques offer both locals and visitors a comprehensive range of products, including many regionally produced wares. Most major international brand names are represented on the Zeil – Frankfurt’s popular pedestrian promenade and Germany’s most profitable shopping street – with at least one outlet. “MyZeil”, a brand-new American-style mall, is just one of many excellent shopping destinations, featuring a diversified mix of retail stores spread out over eight levels as well as spectacular architecture.
Shopaholics welcome
Luxury articles, including designer fashion, jewellery and elegant footwear, are available on Goethestraße. Arts and crafts as well as chic accessories, created by Frankfurt’s up-and-coming designers, meanwhile, are on sale in the many side streets of downtown Frankfurt and on Sachsenhausen’s Brückenstraße, which is now home to a quaint little fashion scene. Home accessories, interior design articles and the like are to be found on Berliner Straße and Hanauer Landstraße, for example. Those looking for knick-knacks, second-hand bargains and miscellany should check out Frankfurt’s famous flea market, which alternates between the southern Main embankment near Eiserne Steg footbridge and East Harbour every second Saturday. Over the past few years, a number of small, owner-operated shops has established itself in the fashion metropolis of Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt’s West End district, for example, is home to a plethora of chic boutiques, trendy eateries and specialist shops, attracting well-to-do clients such as bankers and business people from nearby finance institutions and law firms to shopping streets like Grüneburgweg or Bockenheimer Landstraße. And let’s not forget the nearly 3-km-long Berger Straße, Frankfurt’s longest shopping street. Running through the North End and Bornheim, it features a colourful, diverse, original and sometimes unusual range of boutiques and shops. Whatever your preference, Frankfurt has something for every taste and every pocketbook.
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Lovers of fine food will find themselves in good company at the weekly farmers’ markets in Bornheim, Sachsenhausen and many other city districts. Held throughout the year, these grocery markets offer fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables, meat, sausage and cheese specialities, bread and baked goods and many other delicacies from Frankfurt and its surroundings. At the famous Kleinmarkthalle, an indoor farmers’ market in downtown Frankfurt, every day is market day. The historical hall is known to be a gourmet’s treasure trove. It’s not only the 50-plus stalls that make the Kleinmarkthalle so popular, it’s also the high quality of the wares on offer.
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Scene & Accommodation
The area known to be most popular amongst Frankfurt’s gay community is the downtown domain between Konstablerwache, Bleichstraße and Eschenheimer Turm. Featuring classic pubs like “Zum Schweijk”, popular bars and clubs such as the “Piper Red Lounge”, “Pulse”, “Lucky´s LM 27”, “Friends” and “Bar Central”, the gay and lesbian book shop, “Oscar Wilde”, the LIBS Lesbian Information Centre (50) and Germany’s only exclusive sex female shop, “InsideHer”, this district is definitely the place to be!
When it comes to festive events, Frankfurt is at the top of the list. Every July, downtown’s Konstablerwache plays host to “CSD Frankfurt” (Christopher Street Day). This three-day gay-pride festival, which consists of a massive parade, a street festival and a colourful live-music programme, is without a doubt one of Germany’s biggest and best gay parties, attracting over 200,000 visitors, all of whom take to the city streets to promote their cause.
Out & About
But Frankfurt is not just about parties and festivals. The Main metropolis offers members of both local and out-of-town gay communities a highly diverse programme of events as well as a wide variety of clubs, bars, saunas, cafés and trendy meeting places and hot spots that is open all year round. As service offers, special events, business hours and contact details are subject to change without notice, it is always a good idea to take a look at the monthly city magazines, GAB and BLU Frankfurt. There are also plenty of websites providing up-todate information.
www.gab.publigayte.com
www.frankfurt.gay-web.de
Party-Tipps für Gays
Bed time stories
Whether it’s a simple guesthouse or a five-star luxury hotel, Frankfurt Rhine-Main offers accommodation of every category and every price range. Most major hotel chains have representations in downtown Frankfurt. Fans of boutique and design hotels will also find a large selection of unique accommodation establishments in Frankfurt am Main, such as the
25hours Hotel Frankfurt tailored by Levi’s
The Pure
Turm Hotel
Roomers
Art Hotel Robert Mayer and the
Innside by Meliã Frankfurt Eurotheum.
The latter hotel, some 22 storeys high, offers guests spectacular views of the Frankfurt skyline thanks to the extra-large panorama windows that are a feature of each and every guest-room. All of the hotels are of course “gay-friendly”. However, overnight guests looking to remain amongst their “peers” will find the Downtown Hotel and Villa Orange particularly to their liking. A special gay room allocation service for private accommodation is available at www.ebab.de.
Positive & Political
Frankfurt offers many contact points, help centres and hotlines for questions concerning AIDS. These services are available to victims as well as their friends and families, often around the clock. They include:
Switchboard - Info-Cafe of the Frankfurt AIDS Help
Alte Gasse 36
60316 Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0) 69/28 35 35
AIDS Information Centre of the City of Frankfurt am Main offering anonymous counselling and antibody testing
Breite Gasse 28
60311 Frankfurt
Tel. +49(0) 69/21 23 39 70
LSKH Gay Cultural House
Klingerstraße 6
60313 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. +49(0) 69/29 77 29 6
Run for more time
The annual “Run for More Time”, which has become a mainstay of the city’s many charity events, raises money for HIV and AIDS support. Recreational joggers and topclass runners gather for a 5km fundraising race through the city centre.
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Commemorative Site 
In 1994, a memorial commemorating the persecution and murder of homosexuals during the reign of the National Socialists was erected in Frankfurt am Main, the first of its kind in all of Germany. It can be found at Klaus-Mann-Platz, near the intersection of Schäfergasse and Alte Gasse. The ”Frankfurt Angel” was realised with the kind assistance of the City of Frankfurt am Main, the Hessian Cultural Foundation and the Hannchen-Mehrzweck Foundation, not to mention the generous donations of thousands of private individuals. The sculpture of an angel represents the centrepiece of the memorial. It remains a place of remembrance and quiet contemplation in the heart of the city.
Johann Boltz died at Dachau Concentration Camp on 04th March 1942, just one of thousands of homosexuals who paid for their sexual orientation with their lives. Thanks to the efforts of the gay magazine, “GAB”, a local initiative and the artist, Gunter Demnig, a memorial stone was laid at Savignystraße 55 (62), Boltz’s former residence, marking the first public commemoration of an individual homosexual victim of the oppressive Nazi regime.
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Memorial
An AIDS memorial, situated in the former cemetery of St. Peter’s Church, remembers those who have passed away. Created by Tom Fechter, the memorial is entitled “Verletzte Liebe” – “Injured Love”. Nails driven into the cemetery walls symbolically represent each AIDS victim of Frankfurt am Main.
