Discover Frankfurt, Germany with Europe-Cities

It is said Frankfurt should long have been the capital of Germany. It is the main communication hub of the country, its airport second only to Heathrow in Europe. It also is the financial centre of the European Union's biggest economy ? no wonder the Bundesbank, the National Bank of Germany, and the German Stock Exchange (yes, the home of DAX stock exchange index) are located there. What is more, the city is the heart of the European Union's finances, too: the European Central Bank operates in Frankfurt. Given all that, it is unsurprising that both the deutschmark and the €o were born in Frankfurt. The city is also home to the world's largest book fair (the first one took place when the world's books could possibly fit one library: in 1480). Fairs in general have a long tradition in Frankfurt: they began under the Romans.
Despite all this, Frankfurt has remained relatively modest in terms of population. All of its importance did not blow it beyond unreasonable limits. It still has only 600 thousand people. The city is pleasantly located on the banks of the river Main. In terms of sightseeing, there is slightly less to wonder at, for what used to be Germany's most impressive Old Town, was swept away by couple of allied air raids in 1944. It was reconstructed after the war, yet the practical Germans did not sweat too much to bring it to its original shape, except for a few major monuments. Making the past serve the present better was the idea. Frankfurt is then a city that is all about the present day, yet with an atmosphere of its long history put gently in the background.
And the history is long indeed. It was a part of the Roman Empire, the proof of which is in the Archaeological Gardens where the remains of a thermal bath are worth seeing. Frankfurt was the residential city of Charlemagne in the 8th century. It was granted the status of a free city in the 14th century, a major advantage over chaotic principalities. It remained an important city throughout Germany's tempestuous history. Even after allied bombers razed it to the ground, it quickly recovered to what it is now: a modern city of finance and arts.