Willy-Brandt-Platz
Willy brandt square lies within the so-called banking district adjacent to the ramparts of Frankfurt. The ramparts form a ring-like park around the inner city of Frankfurt am Main. They were created at the beginning of the 19th century on the grounds of the former city fortifications of Frankfurt. The Frankfurt Anlagenring runs around the ramparts. The ramparts are divided into seven sections, which primarily bear the names of the former city gates. These are the Untermainanlage, the Gallusanlage, the Taunusanlage, the Bockenheimer Anlage, the Eschenheimer Anlage, the Friedberger Anlage, and the Obermainanlage.
Willy-Brandt-Platz and the Städtische Bühnen are located along the Untermainanlage.
Städtische Bühnen
At Willy-Brandt-Platz, the former Theaterplatz, you will find the Städtische Bühnen, a new building constructed from 1951 to 1963. The Städtische Bühnen house the municipal theatre companies in Frankfurt am Main and is the largest facility of its kind in the state of Hessen. It is divided into the opera house with 1,400 seats, the theatre with 710 seats, and the playhouse with 200 seats.
The Frankfurt Opera was named Opera House of the Year in 1995 and 2003 by the magazine “Opernwelt”.
Frankfurt Fairytale Fountain
The Fairytale Fountain, an Art Nouveau fountain by Ernst Friedrich Hausmann, is located in front of the Städtische Bühnen. The fountain was completed in 1910. The bronze figures at the foot of the 8 metre fountain were melted down during World War II and finally reconstructed in 2006 based on photographs from the twenties.
The Eurotower
The European Central Bank with its headquarters in the 148 m tall Eurotower is located on the right side directly across from the Städtische Bühne. The 40-storey building was previously known as the BfG skyscraper, Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft. The skyscraper was later used by the European Monetary Institute. On June 1, 1998, this became the European Central Bank, or ECB for short. In the 90s, there was a shopping arcade with access to the Theaterplatz subway station on the lower three levels. Today, there is aninformation office of the ECB on the ground floor. The basement houses a club with a restaurant, the Living XXL.
The new main headquarters of the ECB are currently being built on the former Großmarkt grounds in Ostend. The protected, historic Großmarkthalle will be preserved and the twin Skytowers, which will be finished by the end of 2014, will add two additional skyscrapers to the skyline of Frankfurt.