Coin Der
The Museum Embankment Festival
Frankfurt is more than the Mainhattan area, its banks and its enormous airport, even though those are the things that often come to mind when you think of this German city. To truly discover it, it might be an idea to visit Frankfurt from the 26th to the 28th of August during the Museum Embankment Festival (or the Frankfurter Museumsuferfest). This cultural marathon of huge proportions was conceived to bring the city’s museums closer to visitors and locals, alike.
The festival takes place on the banks of the Main River in an area of the city that is already very attractive, with sidewalk cafés, coffee houses and restaurants. All around these, the museums put up their informational tents and organise various activities. The site of the festival is a perfect place to relax and enjoy yourself in the company of other museum visitors, and Frankfurt definitely has museums to suit every taste.
To learn more about German history, and by extension, European history, you can begin your marathon at the Archäologisches Museum. There you will find interesting examples of the culture of the Franks, a Germanic people that inhabited the area before moving to France during the Roman Era. For lovers of antique books, this museum also mounts a street market with historic books during the festival. The Dommuseum (Museum of the Cathedral) houses the jewels that were used in the coronation of the emperors of the medieval Holy Roman Germanic Empire, who were proclaimed and anointed here.
From the Middle Ages to the National Socialist Occupation, Frankfurt had a significant Jewish community, which left its imprint on the city. To learn more about this world that no longer exists, there are two museums: the Jüdisches Museum, housed in the Rotschildpalais, which reflects the lives of the Jewish bourgeoisie, and another smaller but very interesting one, the Museum in der Judengasse.
As Frankfurt has always been a centre of banking and finances, there just had to be a museum dedicated to money, the Geldmuseum of Germany’s Central Bank, with an enormous collection of coins from every era, as well as paper currency.
The Fine Arts are reflected in the Frankfurt Kunstmuseum. The city also has one of the world’s largest private collections of orthodox icons, which you will find at the Ikonen Museum. For contemporary art, especially that of Germany, look no further than the famous MMK (Museum für moderne Kunst), which follows the trends of recent museums with its spectacular building.
If you’ve already had enough art and history, don’t worry. There are other themes: there’s the Museum of Comics (Museum für Komische Kunst) with a magnificent collection of mostly German comic books. Another option is the Museum of German Cinematography (Deutsches Filmmuseum) and a museum dedicated to ethnography and the cultures of the world (the Museum der Weltkulturen), which organises a wine tasting event during the festival in August, including wines from all over the world. For the little ones, the Kindermuseum provides interactive games involving light and sound.
During this three-day period, you will interactively experience all of Frankfurt’s art and culture in a festive and cosmopolitan atmosphere. The Museum Embankment Festival attracts huge crowds, so we recommend that you start looking now into the availability of hotels in Frankfurt for those dates.
Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
About the Author
Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
Mike van der Burg – Coins.