Frankfurt
Introduction Of Frankfurt
Frankfurt is a metropolis and the largest city of the German state of Hesse. Its 753,056 inhabitants make it the fifth-largest city in Germany. On the River Main , it forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring city of Offenbach am Main and near to Bonn city which takes about 1 hour, 54 minutes to drive and also its urban area has a population of 2.3 million. The city is at the centre of the larger Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.5 million and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr Region. Between the 2013 enlargement of the European Union and the United Kingdom's withdrawal in 2020, the geographic centre of the EU was about 40 km to the east of Frankfurt's central business district. Like France and Franconia, the city is named after the Franks. Frankfurt is the largest city in the Rhine Franconian dialect area.
Frankfurt was a city state, the Free City of Frankfurt, for nearly five centuries and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire, as a site of imperial coronations; it lost its sovereignty upon the collapse of the empire in 1806, regained it in 1815 and then permanently in 1866, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. Frankfurt is culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse, with half of its population, and a majority of young people, having a migration background. A quarter of the population consists of foreign nationals, including many expatriates.
Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and transportation. It is the site of many global and European corporate headquarters. Frankfurt Airport is among the world's busiest. Frankfurt is the major financial centre of the European continent, with the headquarters of the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, KfW, Commerzbank, several cloud and fintech startups and other institutes. Major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world's largest motor show, the Music Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair.
Frankfurt is home to influential educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA and graduate schools like the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europe's largest English theatre and many museums . Frankfurt's skyline is shaped by some of Europe's tallest skyscrapers. The city is also characterised by various green areas and parks, including the central Wallanlagen, the City Forest, two major botanical gardens and the Frankfurt Zoo. In electronic music, Frankfurt has been a pioneering city since the 1980s, with renowned DJs including Sven Väth, Marc Trauner, Scot Project, Kai Tracid, and the clubs Dorian Gray, U60311, Omen and Cocoon.
Data and Facts
- The famous writer, humanist and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt in 1749. In 1860, it also became the final resting place of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
- Frankfurt has the largest inner-city forest in Germany, taking up around 80 sq. km. (a third of its territory), and the world-famous 20-hectare Palm Garden, which hosts plants from every climate zone on the planet.
- This city is home to two of the EU’s highest skyscrapers – the Commerzbank (259 m) and the tower of the Exhibition Centre
- Frankfurt’s airport is the largest in Germany. It is third largest in Europe in terms of the number of passengers flown, and the second in terms of transported cargo
- Phillipp Reis invented the first 'make and break telephone' in Frankfurt. It is a common misconception that Alexander Graham Bell or Thomas Edison came up with the idea, but Reis' work predates theirs
- The city’s name comes from Emperor Charlemagne, who referred to the settlement as “Franconovud”, or “Ford of the Franks”, in 794 when he built himself a royal council there
Administration
Frankfurt is one of five independent district-free cities (kreisfreie Städte) in Hesse, which means that it does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity, in this case it is not part of a Landkreis. The other four cities are the second to fifth largest cities in Hesse: Wiesbaden, Kassel, Darmstadt and Offenbach am Main. A kreisfreie Stadt has territorial sovereignty within its defined city limits. In 1995 Petra Roth of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) became Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeisterin), Frankfurt's municipal leader. In 2012, Peter Feldmann (SPD) succeeded Roth as Lord Mayor. The CDU and the Alliance '90/The Greens (Bündnis '90/Die Grünen) formed the government.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is an institution of the European Union and part of the European System of Financial Supervisors that was created in response to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It was established on 1 January 2011. Frankfurt is one of two locations of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, short: BaFin). The BaFin is an independent federal institution and acts as Germany's financial regulatory authority. Frankfurt is home to the German office of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank Group. The IFC promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries. Frankfurt is one of two sites of the German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek), the other being Leipzig. The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek is the largest universal library in Germany. Its task, unique in Germany, is to collect, permanently archive, comprehensively document and record bibliographically all German and German-language publications from 1913 on, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945, and to make them available to the public.
Economy
Frankfurt is one of the world's most important financial centres and Germany's financial capital, followed by Munich. Frankfurt was ranked 8th at the International Financial Centers Development Index , 8th at the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index , 9th at the Global Financial Centres Index , 10th at the Global Power City Index , 11th at the Global City Competitiveness Index , 12th at the Innovation Cities Index , 14th at the World City Survey and 23rd at the Global Cities Index .
The city's importance as a financial centre has risen since the eurozone crisis. Indications are the establishment of two institutions of the European System of Financial Supervisors in 2011 and the Single Supervisory Mechanism by which the European Central Bank was to assume responsibility for specific supervisory tasks related to the financial stability of the biggest and most important Eurozone banks. According to an annual study by Cushman & Wakefield, the European Cities Monitor , Frankfurt has been one of the top three cities for international companies in Europe, after London and Paris, since the survey started in 1990. It is the only German city considered to be an alpha world city as listed by the Loughborough University group's 2010 inventory, which was a promotion from the group's 2008 inventory when it was ranked as an alpha minus world city .
With over 922 jobs per 1,000 inhabitants, Frankfurt has the highest concentration of jobs in Germany. On work days and Saturdays one million people commute from all over the Rhein-Main-Area. The city is expected to benefit from international banks relocating jobs from London to Frankfurt as a result of Brexit to retain access to the EU market. Thus far, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Standard Chartered Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc. announced they would move their EU headquarters to Frankfurt.
Business Environment
Whether you are travelling to Frankfurt by plane, train or car, the city will make sure you notice its importance long before you reach your destination. Frankfurt’s skyline is unique in Germany. Nowhere else in the country will you find a greater cluster of skyscrapers. Among the towers are Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, and the European Central Bank. The Deutsche Bundesbank is also headquartered in Frankfurt, as is the KfW. More than 200 banks can be found in Frankfurt. And then, of course, there is Deutsche Börse, the country’s most important stock exchange. Why is it that so many fintechs are located in Frankfurt?One reason may be that, for the time being, banks and fintechs don’t compete as much as is often said. They are also very knowledgeable in regulatory matters and have the required licenses. Also, both draw from the same workforce.
The banking sector relies heavily on technology and, because of regulatory and customer requirements, needs the highest levels of security, connectivity, and latency. This is true for those who run their business from the city’s skyscrapers and is at least as important for their tech-based challengers. In Frankfurt, these service levels are fulfilled by a number of data center providers. All the important providers are there; many have more than just one data center in the Frankfurt area; and all of them are expanding their capacities year after year to keep up with growing customer demand. The city’s data centers have recently surpassed Frankfurt’s airport in terms of energy consumption. According to Dr. Béla Waldhauser, CEO of Telehouse Deutschland and Leader of the Competence Group Datacenter Infrastructure in the eco Association, all of the larger, well-established data centers will be massively expanding their capacities in 2017, with figures of 5-10 MW of additional capacity per provider.
More than 700 national and international networks meet here to peer their Internet traffic. The amount of data handled by DE-CIX has been growing year after year, most recently peaking at 5.6 Terabit per second. It has got to the point where networks go to Frankfurt – because everybody goes there.Recently, another factor has emerged when opting for Frankfurt: BREXIT. Much has been written and speculated about BREXIT’s consequences for the UK and its economy as well as for London and its financial sector. Reuters estimates that as many as 9,000 jobs in the industry could move from the UK to other European countries as a direct consequence of BREXIT. Other estimates of job losses are higher; others are much higher.
Impact assessments like these tend to agree that London’s significance as the financial industry’s location will decrease, and that others will benefit. It is not a question of if, but of how much and when.
Infrastructure
The city can be accessed from around the world via Frankfurt Airport located 12 km southwest of the city centre. The airport has four runways and serves 265 non-stop destinations. Run by transport company Fraport it ranks among the world's busiest airports by passenger traffic and is the busiest airport by cargo traffic in Europe. The airport also serves as a hub for Condor and as the main hub for German flag carrier Lufthansa. It is the busiest aiport in Europe in terms of cargo traffic, and the fourth busiest in Europe in terms of passenger traffic behind London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport in 2018 was 69,510,269 passengers. A third terminal is being constructed . The third terminal will increase the capacity of the airport to over 90 million passengers per year. The airport can be reached by car or bus and has two railway stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. Passenger traffic at Hahn Airport in 2010 was 3.5 million. Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport is a busy general aviation airport located south-east of Frankfurt Airport, near Egelsbach.
Frankfurt is a traffic hub for the German motorway system. The Frankfurter Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange close to the airport, where the Bundesautobahn 3 , Cologne to Würzburg, and the Bundesautobahn 5 , Basel to Hanover, meet. With approximately 320,000 cars passing through it every day it is Europe's most heavily used interchange. The Bundesautobahn 66 connects Frankfurt with Wiesbaden in the west and Fulda in the east. The Bundesautobahn 661 is mainly a commuter motorway which starts in the south , runs through the eastern part and ends in the north . The Bundesautobahn 648 is a very short motorway in the western part which primarily serves as a fast connection between the A 66 and the Frankfurt Trade Fair. The A5 in the west, the A3 in the south and the A661 in the north-east form a ring road around the inner city districts and define a Low-emission zone , meaning that vehicles have to meet certain emission criteria to enter the zone.
It is located between the Gallus, the Gutleutviertel and the Bahnhofsviertel district, not far away from the trade fair and the financial district. It serves as a major hub for long-distance trains and regional trains as well as for Frankfurt's public transport system. It is a stop for most of ICE high speed lines, making it Germany's most important ICE station. ICE Trains to London via the Channel Tunnel were planned for 2013. All Rhine-Main S-Bahn lines, two U-Bahn lines , several tram and bus lines stop there. Regional and local trains are integrated in the Public transport system Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund , the second largest integrated public transport systems in the world, after Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg. Frankfurt Airport can be accessed by two railway stations: Frankfurt Airport long-distance station is only for long-distance traffic and connects the airport to the main rail network, with most of the ICE services using the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line. The long-distance station is located outside the actual airport ground but has a connecting bridge for pedestrians to Terminal 1, concourse B. Frankfurt Airport regional station is for local S-Bahn trains and regional trains. The regional station is located within Terminal 1, concourse B. Frankfurt's third long-distance station is Frankfurt South station Frankfurt Südbahnhof, often abbreviated as Frankfurt , located in Sachsenhausen. It is an important destination for local trains and trams and the terminal stop for four U-Bahn lines and four S-Bahn lines .
Technology
Frankfurt is an ecosystem that is still in its infancy but still manages to punch above its weight with a growing number of successful startups. Some of the top Frankfurt startups for 2019 have emerged owing to the surge in investments in the region. Quite a few tech startups were in the spotlight in 2018 for the headline-worthy funding rounds they participated and for the promising growth they show.
Frankfurt has all the ingredients for the making of a thriving startup ecosystem – excellent connectivity, wealthy venture capital scenario, an array of incubators and accelerators, and an expat-friendly community. The tech sector in the region has outdone all the startup sectors in the city. Frankfurt is dubbed as the “Silicon Valley of Europe”, thanks to the soaring tech sector.
Acellere is a top startup in Frankfurt providing high quality and impactful software products using their flagship platform Gamma. The platform aids software developers in minimizing errors and bugs in the code to ensure smooth integration of the AI component. The Frankfurt based startup was created by Sudarshan Bhide and Vishal Rai in 2009. Till date, the company has completed one round of funding and raised 2.3 million in it, becoming one of the many highly funded companies and top Frankfurt startup for 2019. Covomo was founded by Karl Dieterich in 2015 and has raised ?2.1 million so far. The most recent funding round for this top startup in Frankfurt was a venture series round led by Michael Focking. Covomo had secured ?2 million in this round. This was the largest amount raised by the company to date. One of the top Frankfurt startups for 2019, it will be interesting to see how the company will put these funds to use. Covomo?s platform allows comparison of all kinds of insurance provided by various brands.Founded in 2015, Giroxx is a payment transfer platform that offers simple and secure transactions for international transfers. This top startup in the fintech segment targets companies that regularly send money overseas and offers several features to ensure that these transactions are conducted only by authorized employees on a secure channel. The Frankfurt based startup has received its first funding of ?900,000 this year. The platform is increasingly becoming popular owing to its easy to use interface and cheaper and safer processes. The company?s debut funding round has alerted the various fintech players in the city who are watching out for any new funding or other developments by Giroxx in the coming years.
The automated backload startup has completed five rounds of funding since its establishment in 2016 by Murat Karakaya, raising total funds worth ?263,000. CargoSteps has grown to become a top startup in Franfurt and partners with the likes of ?Huawei, Volkswagen, and STI Security and Training.Founded in 2015 by Benedikt Kramer, Philipp Neub, and Roland Claussen, awamo is an emerging Frankfurt based startup in the fintech segment. The startup offers fintech solutions in the areas of lending and credit that is targeted for users at the grass-root level. This top startup from Frankfurt offers its services in the sub-Saharan African regions empowering its users in these markets with access to microfinance services which was not available previously.? Till date, awamo has completed three seed funding rounds; the most recent round was in September 2018 in which the company has raised an undisclosed seven-figure amount from FinLab AG. The new funds make it one of the top Frankfurt startups for 2019 that is expected to bring in the heat owing to the stronger capital backing.
Frankfurt based startup, bettervest is a crowdinvesting platform founded in 2012 by Evgenij Terehov, Marilyn Heib, Patrick Mijnals, and Torsten Schreiber. The platform is exclusively for energy efficiency projects and is the first one in the world to offer such services. The startup made headlines as a growing company joining the ranks of top Frankfurt startups for 2019 after it received an undisclosed amount in investment from Triodos Investment Management. The company has played a significant role in bringing private investors into play in the energy efficiency market.Innoplexus is a leading data-as-a-service startup in Frankfurt that is one of the top Frankfurt startups for 2019 expected to show remarkable developments in the coming year.
Social Wellness and Human Resources
With a population of 732,688 within its administrative boundaries and of 2,300,000 in the actual urban area, Frankfurt is the fifth largest city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. Central Frankfurt has been a Großstadt since 1875. With 414,576 residents in 1910, it was the ninth largest city in Germany and the number of inhabitants grew to 553,464 before World War II. After the war, at the end of the year 1945, the number had dropped to 358,000. In the following years, the population grew again and reached an all-time-high of 691,257 in 1963. It dropped again to 592,411 in 1986 but has increased since then. According to the demographic forecasts for central Frankfurt, the city will have a population up to 825,000 within its administrative boundaries in 2020 and more than 2.5 million inhabitants in its urban area.
This would have made Frankfurt officially the second largest city in Germany after Berlin with up to 3 million inhabitants. However, because local authorities did not agree the administrative territory is still much smaller than its actual urban area. According to data from the city register of residents, 51.2% of the population had a migration background as of 2015, which means that a person or at least one or both of their parents was born with foreign citizenship. For the first time, a majority of the city residents had an at least part non-German background. Moreover, three of four children in the city under the age of six had immigrant backgrounds. and 27.7% of residents had a foreign citizenship.According to statistics, 46.7% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from other countries in The European Union, 24.5% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from European countries that are not part of the EU, 15.7% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from Asia , 7.3% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from Africa, 3.4% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from North America , 0.2% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from Australia and Zealandia, 2.3% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from South America and 1.1% of immigrants in Frankfurt come from The Pacific Island Nations. Two synagogues operate there. Due to the growing immigration of people from Muslim countries beginning in the 1960s, Frankfurt has a large Muslim community. The Ahmadiyya Noor Mosque, constructed in 1959, is the city's largest mosque and the third largest in Germany.As of 2013, the largest Christian denominations were Catholicism and Protestantism, especially Lutheranism . Estimations put the share of Muslim inhabitants at approximately 12% . According to calculations based on census data for 21 countries of origin, the number of Muslim migrants in Frankfurt amounted to about 84,000 in 2011, making up 12.6 percent of the population.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt
https://www.britannica.com/place/Frankfurt-am-Main
https://www.travelonspot.com/en_LT/article/top-10-interesting-facts-about-frankfurt
https://www.thelocal.de/20170926/10-surprising-facts-about-frankfurt
https://hexgn.com/top-frankfurt-startups-to-watch-out-for-in-2019/
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46 city districts (Stadtteile)