Forever New: Frankfurts Old Town

Nowhere else in Frankfurt boasts such a rich history in terms of architecture and its exploitation for identity and tradition as the city’s old town. The advent of Modernism called for a new city hall and a breakthrough to Braubachstrasse. Plans dating from the Ernst May era to brighten up the bleakness of this densely built-up area were implemented by the Nazis, who referred to their measures as “Altstadtgesundung”. After the area was destroyed in 1944, a heated debate about its reconstruction flared up. The 1950s saw the construction of modern structures, and the year 1974 of the Technisches Rathaus. The first reconstruction work started on the Römerberg in 1983 — at the same time as Postmodernism appeared in the form of the Schirn and the Saalgasse.
In 2005, the decision to demolish the Technisches Rathaus led to a dispute about what to replace it with. How this resulted in the new old town is a major theme of the exhibition. The walk through history reveals the scope of the debate about (old town) reconstruction.