Inaugurated in 1880, the Italian Renaissance-style Alte Oper anchors the western end of the Zeil-Fressgass pedestrian zone. Burnt out in 1944, it narrowly avoided being razed and replaced with 1960s cubes. It was finally reconstructed between 1976 and 1981 to resemble the original, with statues of Goethe and Mozart gracing its ornate facade. Other than the mosaics in the lobby, the interior – closed except during concerts – is modern.
Getty Images/Westend61
Alte Oper
Frankfurt am Main
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.69 MILES
Frankfurt’s red-sandstone cathedral is dominated by a 95m-high Gothic tower, which can be climbed via 328 steps. Construction began in the 13th century;…
0.86 MILES
Founded in 1815, this world-renowned art gallery has an outstanding collection of European art from masters including Dürer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir,…
0.87 MILES
Life-size dinosaur mock-ups guard the front of Frankfurt’s natural history museum. Inside the early 1900s neo-baroque building, exhibits cover…
0.57 MILES
The Römerberg is Frankfurt’s old central square. Ornately gabled half-timbered buildings, reconstructed after WWII, give an idea of how beautiful the city…
14.42 MILES
A Unesco World Heritage Site, this one-time coal and oil shale quarry 10km northeast of Darmstadt is renowned for its superbly preserved animal and plant…
19.38 MILES
A heady experience for book lovers, the Gutenberg Museum commemorates native son Johannes Gutenberg, who in the 15th century ushered in the information…
Heiligtum der Isis und Mater Magna
19.63 MILES
In a darkened, dungeon-like space, a glass walkway leads you around this extraordinary Roman archaeological site, which was discovered in 1999 during the…
19.57 MILES
Highlights of this well laid-out state museum include an ensemble of exquisite Jugendstil pieces, outstanding collections of Renaissance and 20th-century…
Nearby Frankfurt am Main attractions
0.21 MILES
Frankfurt's skyline wouldn't be the same without the Main Tower, one of the tallest and most distinctive high-rises in town. A great place to get a feel…
0.27 MILES
The famous old Börse, built in 1843, is an impressively colonnaded neoclassical structure. The porch is decorated with allegorical statues of the five…
0.27 MILES
In the square out the front of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, a sculpture entitled Bulle und Bär depicts a showdown between a bull and a bear in which the…
0.35 MILES
A local landmark, this 47m-high, early-15th-century tower was a city gate that formed part of Frankfurt's medieval fortifications, and is one of the city…
0.42 MILES
Completely rebuilt after WWII (only the cellar survived Allied bombing), the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is furnished in the…
0.46 MILES
Frankfurt's largest synagogue was built between 1908 and 1910 by Lichtenstein-born architect Franz Roeckle (1879–1953), who trained in Stuttgart before…
0.54 MILES
The photogenic Römer (old town hall) consists of three step-gabled 15th-century houses. In the time of the Holy Roman Empire, it was the site of…
0.55 MILES
Reached from Limpurgergasse (around the south side of Römer) via a small courtyard and a spiral staircase made of carved red sandstone, the barrel-vaulted…