St. Paul’s Church, Frankfurt

St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt tickets: which one to buy

Saint Paul's Church, the Paulskirche, stands in the centre of Frankfurt, near the Romerberg square and the Town Hall, and entry is free. It is no longer used as a church but as a national memorial and venue for events, because it was the seat of the first freely elected German parliament in 1848 and 1849. The building houses an exhibition about the history of democracy in Germany.

Walking tours of Frankfurt's old town include the Paulskirche along with the Romerberg, the reconstructed New Old Town, Frankfurt Cathedral, the Main river and the museums on the south bank. The building is sometimes closed for official ceremonies, such as the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, awarded here every October. It is a short walk from the Dom/Romer U-Bahn station. Information about opening times and events is posted at the entrance and on the city's website.

Visiting St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt: what to see

The church was built between 1789 and 1833 as a Lutheran church, with an oval plan and a tower, in a neoclassical style. In May 1848, during the revolutions that swept Europe, the Frankfurt National Assembly met here, the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany, and it drafted a constitution guaranteeing basic rights; the attempt failed when the Prussian king refused the crown offered to him. The church was destroyed by bombing in 1944 and was the first major building in Frankfurt to be rebuilt, in a simplified form, as a symbol of the new democracy, and it reopened in 1948 for the hundredth anniversary. Inside, the upper hall, used for ceremonies, is plain and bright, with flags of the German states.

The lower floor holds an exhibition and a large mural by Johannes Grutzke, showing the procession of the parliamentarians. The circular hall of the Paulskirche is used for official ceremonies and major speeches, and it holds a large organ. The exhibition on the ground floor includes portraits of members of the 1848 parliament and documents of the constitution. The tower can sometimes be visited on guided tours. A bell in the tower, the Burgerglocke, rings for special occasions. Memorial plaques outside commemorate important figures, including John F. Kennedy, who spoke here in 1963. The building's plain interior was designed to express simplicity and openness.

St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt opening hours and the best time to go

The Paulskirche is open daily, except during events. The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade ceremony in October, during the Frankfurt Book Fair, is broadcast nationally. Frankfurt is busy during trade fairs, when hotels are expensive. The Christmas market fills the Romerberg and the streets around the Paulskirche in December. Summer brings the Museum Embankment Festival along the river. Allow about twenty minutes for the building and the exhibition, and walk to the Romerberg and Frankfurt Cathedral, a few minutes away. The Stadel Museum, across the river, holds one of Germany's finest art collections and is about fifteen minutes' walk away.