Bankenviertel

Bankenviertel (banking district) is the name of the central business district in Frankfurt, Germany. It designates an area in the city centre, where many banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions are located. It is the most important financial centre in Germany and one of the largest in Europe along with La Défense in the Paris aire urbaine and London's City and Canary Wharf.

Having no official or strict borders, it is commonly defined as the western part of the Innenstadt, the southern part of the Westend and the eastern part of the Bahnhofsviertel.

Panorama view seen from the Main Tower observation deck: Innenstadt (left), Bahnhofsviertel (middle) and Westend (right)

Location

Skyline at night

View over Zeil

Eurotower of the ECB

View from the Goethe Tower in the south

The Bankenviertel is not an official city district and has therefore no defined borders. It stretches across three city districts: the western part of the Innenstadt, the southern part of the Westend and the eastern part of the Bahnhofsviertel. Many of the largest banks in Germany, e.g. Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, DZ Bank and Helaba, have their corporate headquarters here, as well as many representation offices of foreign banks. It is also the place where most of Frankfurts high-rises and skyscrapers are located.

The heart of the Bankenviertel is located on both sides of the Taunus- and Gallusanlage, an inner-city parkway, and the surrounding streets (Neue Mainzer Straße, Junghofstraße, Kaiserstraße). Furthermore, the area on both sides of the Mainzer Landstraße from Taunusanlage to Platz der Republik and the Bockenheimer Landstraße, beginning at the Opernplatz, are part of the area. Also the Frankfurt Stock Exchange a few hundred meters east of Opernplatz can be regarded as part of Frankfurt's central business district, albeit geographically in the periphery of the Bankenviertel (but closer to the city centre proper).

Financial institutions

Financial Institution	Building	Street	City district
Bank of America	Main Tower	Neue Mainzer Straße 52–58	Innenstadt
Bank of China	Westend Duo	Bockenheimer Landstraße 24	Westend-Süd
Bank of Communications	Bürohaus an der Alten Oper	Neue Mainzer Straße 69–75	Innenstadt
Bank of Scotland	Japan Center	Taunustor 2	Innenstadt
Berenberg Bank	BoLa 25	Bockenheimer Landstraße 25	Westend-Süd
BHF Bank	BHF-Bank-Hochhaus	Bockenheimer Landstraße 10	Westend-Süd
Commerzbank	Commerzbank Tower Gallileo	Große Gallusstraße 17–19 Gallusanlage 7	Innenstadt Bahnhofsviertel
Crédit Agricole	Main Building	Taunusanlage 14–19	Westend-Süd
Credit Suisse	Junghof Plaza	Junghofstraße 16	Innenstadt
DekaBank	Trianon Skyper	Mainzer Landstraße 16–24 Taunusanlage 1	Westend-Süd Bahnhofsviertel
Deutsche Bank	Deutsche Bank Twin Towers Deutsche Bank IBCF	Taunusanlage 12 Große Gallusstraße 10–14	Westend-Süd Innenstadt
DZ Bank	Westend Tower City-Haus	Westendstraße 1 Platz der Republik 6	Westend-Süd Westend-Süd
European Central Bank	Eurotower Eurotheum Bürohaus Neue Mainzer Straße 32–36	Willy-Brandt-Platz 2 Neue Mainzer Straße 66–68 Neue Mainzer Straße 32–36	Innenstadt Innenstadt Innenstadt
Helaba	Main Tower	Neue Mainzer Straße 52–58	Innenstadt
HSBC Trinkaus	Skyper	Taunusanlage 1	Bahnhofsviertel
Houlihan Lokey	Skyper	Taunusanlage 1	Bahnhofsviertel
ICICI Bank		Mainzer Landstraße 69	Bahnhofsviertel
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	Junghof Plaza	Junghofstraße 14	Innenstadt
Merrill Lynch	Main Tower	Neue Mainzer Straße 52–58	Innenstadt
Metzler Bank	Metzler-Haus	Große Gallusstraße 18	Innenstadt
Mizuho Financial Group	Japan Center	Taunustor 2	Innenstadt
Morgan Stanley		Junghofstraße 13–15	Innenstadt
Nordea	Westend Windows	Bockenheimer Landstraße 33–35	Westend-Süd
Royal Bank of Scotland		Junghofstraße 22	Innenstadt
SEB		Ulmenstraße 30	Westend-Süd
Société Générale	Garden Tower	Neue Mainzer Straße 46–50	Innenstadt
Standard & Poor's	Main Tower	Neue Mainzer Straße 52–58	Innenstadt
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ		Junghofstraße 24	Innenstadt
UBS	Opernturm	Bockenheimer Landstraße 2–4	Westend-Süd
UniCredit		Mainzer Landstraße 23	Bahnhofsviertel

Public transport

The Bankenviertel is very well accessible with the public transport system. Eight of nine suburban S-Bahn lines (S1-S6, S8, S9) serve the stations Hauptwache, Taunusanlage and Frankfurt Central Station. All inner-city U-Bahn lines have stops within the area: U1-U3 at Willy-Brandt-Platz and Hauptwache, U4 and U5 at Willy-Brandt-Platz and Frankfurt Central Station, U6 and U7 at Hauptwache and Alte Oper. The tram line 12 stops at Frankfurt Central Station and Willy-Brandt-Platz, the lines 11, 16, 17 and 21 also serve the central station and Platz der Republik.