Bahama Maintal/Frankfurt (D)

Maintal-Dörnigheim

Name origin

valley on the Main (the name was chosen when the town was founded in 1974)

First documented mention

1974 AD

Population

40,000

Area

32.4 km²

Federal state

Hessen

Administrative region

Darmstadt

District

Main-Kinzig-Kreis

Vehicle registration

MKK, GN, HU, SLÜ

River

Main

Der Club Bahama near Frankfurt is located in Maintal-Dörnigheim.

Frankfurt am Main:

420 km to Berlin, 390 km to Hamburg, 150 km to Köln and 200 km to München (each as the crow flies): Frankfurt am Main is an ancient trading city at the heart of Germany, with around 750,000 inhabitants smaller than the four German million-plus metropolises, yet in many respects a city of superlatives that by far outshines all other German cities in importance.

That's true even in the literal sense: the impressive skyline of Frankfurt's skyscrapers is unique in Germany. The ten tallest buildings in Germany are, without exception, located in Frankfurt, including the Commerzbank Tower, the Messeturm, the Main Tower and the EZB building.

But beyond that, Frankfurt is one of the most important business centres in the entire world; many German or former German major corporations have or had their headquarters there, including the once world's largest chemical company Hoechst, Metallgesellschaft, VDM, Cassella, Hartmann & Braun, Degussa, VDO or Deutsche Bahn, as well as of course numerous banks and financial institutions, above all Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Deutsche Börse AG. Frankfurt is home to Germany's largest financial exchange, the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank. In line with the significance of the old trade routes, the Frankfurter Autobahnkreuz is the busiest traffic junction in Europe, Frankfurt Airport is one of the world's most important aviation hubs and naturally you'll also find one of Germany's most important trade fair venues here.

According to surveys, the bustling trading metropolis ranks among the big cities with the highest quality of life even by international comparison, even though negative aspects like a relatively high crime rate and rents somewhat cloud the overall impression. In any case, Frankfurt isn't just a must for business travellers, but also draws visitors for tourism thanks to its many attractions. That starts with the historic old-town backdrop near the banks of the Main with the Kaiserdom, Römerberg, Goethe-Haus and Paulskirche, all the more so as the city has now had an ensemble of 15 buildings around the historic Krönungsweg reconstructed and another 20 built in a historic style, on a seven-hectare site as part of a 200-million-euro project. From 1562 onwards – after the site of royal election and coronation moved from Aachen to Frankfurt – the Roman-German emperors took this route on their way to the Kaiserdom, right up until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. The Frankfurter Dom – built between 1250 and 1514 – is thus one of the most significant structures in German imperial history. In the nearby Paulskirche, meanwhile, the Deutsche Nationalversammlung sat from May 1848 to May 1849, attempting for the first time on German soil to establish a democratic-parliamentary German nation-state.

A hundred years later, the city – first documented in 794 AD as a former Free Imperial City – nearly became the capital of the young Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Even though that didn't happen, the city has grown at a rapid pace in recent decades and brought great prosperity to its citizens. In the city centre, the above-average purchasing power of the public is reflected in the temples of consumption along one of Germany's largest shopping streets: the Frankfurter Zeil with the adjoining Goethestraße. Meanwhile, anyone who can afford it and wants to escape the big-city hustle seeks a home in the idyllically situated spa towns of the neighbouring Hochtaunus: Königstein, Bad Homburg or Kronberg are home to numerous well-earning Frankfurters and rank among the wealthiest municipalities in Germany.

Anyone who prefers to stay in the city gets plenty on offer when it comes to culture and leisure alone: the Oper Frankfurt, the Theater am Turm or the long-established Gallus Theater, the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen side of the Main with houses like the Städel, the Liebighaus or the Museum der Weltkulturen, as well as, beyond that, a pulsating nightlife. Frankfurt isn't just home to the storied football club Eintracht Frankfurt, but also to the headquarters of Germany's most important sports federations such as the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB), Deutscher Turner-Bund (DTB) or Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB).

Among Frankfurt's famous sons and daughters are numerous members of the banking dynasties Rothschild and Oppenheim(er), Caspar & Maria Sibylla Merian as well as Theodor W. Adorno, Bettina von Arnim, Heinrich Hoffmann, Friedrich Wöhler, Otto Emil Hahn, Arthur Schopenhauer and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Hoffmann, Erich Fromm, Anne Frank, Wolfdietrich Schnurre, Albert Mangelsdorff, Dieter Wedel, Wolfgang Spier, Marika Kilius, Jean Frankfurter, Michael Groß, Thor Kunkel, Hans Zimmer, Peter Kloeppel, Hannes Jaenicke, Birgit Prinz, Jessica Wahls, Namika, Sonya Kraus, Moses Pelham and Sabrina Setlur.

Maintal:

The town was formed on 1 July 1974 as part of the Hessische Gebietsreform from the town of Dörnigheim and the municipalities of Bischofsheim, Hochstadt and Wachenbuchen. In a survey conducted before the merger, most citizens suggested the name "Mainstadt". The town of Maintal belongs to the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, where it is the second-largest town after Hanau. Maintal is located roughly 10-15 kilometres east of Frankfurt am Main.