Frankfurt, Germany
With its cobblestone lanes lined with half-timbered houses and water fountains, and lively squares crammed with pubs and bars, Frankfurt’s Old Sachsenhausen district is one of the city’s most atmospheric areas. This is the historic heart of the city, sprawling along the south bank of the Main River, and best known as Frankfurt’s Apple Wine Quarter, thanks to the abundance of traditional Apfelwein (apple wine) taverns (or Epelwoi).
The pedestrian streets of Rittergasse, Paradiesgasse and Klappergasse are the go-to place for sampling Frankfurt’s most famous beverage, a light and fizzy apple wine that has been produced in the region for more than 250 years. The taverns, marked by a symbolic pine wreath on the door if they produce their own variety, serve up Apple wine in its most traditional form, poured from a ‘Bembel’ (earthenware jug), drunk from a special ‘Gerippte’ glass and accompanied by warm pretzel or Handkäs cheese. So important is the Hessen drink to Frankfurters that Sachsenhausen hosts an annual weeklong Apple Wine Festival and a vintage streetcar known as the Apple Wine Express (Ebbelwei-Express) offers tours of the area during the summer months.
The district isn’t only known for its Apple Wine though, and heading west along the riverbank brings you to Sachsenhausen’s other claim to fame – the Museumsufer or Museum Embankment, where over a dozen of Frankfurt’s top museums stand shoulder-to-shoulder along the waterfront. The scenic stretch is lined with historic buildings, landscaped gardens and parklands, with museums including the Ethnological Museum, the German Film Museum, the German Architecture museum, the Museum of Applied Arts and the Städel art museum. The embankment is open all year round but the best time to visit is during the annual Long Night of Museums, when museums on both sides of the river stay open late and host special events and exhibitions. Nearby, Schweizer street is another one of the area’s main boulevards, home to top Apple wine taverns, Zum gemalten Haus and Wagner, as well as a wide variety of bars and nightclubs.
Exploring Frankfurt’s Old Sachsenhausen District from Germany Things to Do