Frankfurt Rhine-Main

Last updated
Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region
Rhein-Main-Gebiet
Frankfurter Altstadt mit Skyline 2019 (100MP).jpg
Downtown Frankfurt
Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region.png
Location of Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in Germany
CountryFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
States Flag of Hesse.svg  Hesse
Flag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg  Rhineland-Palatinate
Flag of Bavaria (striped).svg  Bavaria
Largest cities Frankfurt am Main
Wiesbaden
Mainz
Darmstadt
Government
[1]
 • TypeFrankfurt/Rhine-Main Conurbation Planning Association
 • VerbandsdirektorThomas Horn (CDU)
Area
 • Metro
14,800 km2 (5,700 sq mi)
Population
 (2019) [2]
 •  Metro
5,808,518
 • Metro density390/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
GDP
[3]
 • Metro€300.868 billion (2021)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
Website Planungsverband.de

The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: Rhein-Main-Gebiet or Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan region in Germany after Rhine-Ruhr, with a total population exceeding 5.8 million. The metropolitan region is located in the central-western part of Germany, and stretches over parts of three German states: Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Bavaria. The largest cities in the region are Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Worms, Hanau, and Aschaffenburg.

Contents

The polycentric region is named after its core city, Frankfurt, and the two rivers Rhine and Main. The Frankfurt Rhine-Main area is officially designated as a European Metropolitan region by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs and covers an area of roughly 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 sq mi).

The region is the 4th biggest by GDP in the European Union.

Subdivisions

Although Rhine-Main is considered to be a polycentric metropolitan region, the economic size and political weight of the city of Frankfurt sets it into a very monocentric relation with her commuter belt. Since the early 1970s, the Frankfurt am Main metropolitan area (German: Ballungsraum Frankfurt/Rhein-Main) is defined as the area encompassing the cities of Frankfurt and Offenbach and their directly neighboring districts.[ citation needed ] [4]

The Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt of the state of Hesse could be seen as the next administrative division, for it lies entirely within the metropolitan region and further includes the cities of Darmstadt and Wiesbaden along with a number of larger districts. Only on a level further, the metropolitan region also includes the cities and districts of Mainz and Aschaffenburg in the two adjoining federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria. [5]

Metropolitan region and larger urban zones

Eurostat's 'Urban Audit' splits the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region into four Larger Urban Zones (LUZ). These zones do exclude a number of districts in the metropolitan area.

Urban zoneMajor citiesPopulationArea
Frankfurt am Main urban zone [6] 2,729,5624,305 km2
Frankfurt am Main 773,068248 km2
Offenbach am Main 134,17045 km2
Wiesbaden urban zone462,0981,015 km2
Wiesbaden 283,083204 km2
Darmstadt urban zone439,084781 km2
Darmstadt 162,243122 km2
Mainz urban zone403,849704 km2
Mainz 218,57898 km2
Rhine-Main5,808,51814,755 km2

Cities and districts

PictureCity or districtAreaPopulation
Cityscape Frankfurt.jpg Frankfurt am Main 248 km2750,000
Hafen Offenbach am Main 2.JPG Offenbach am Main 45 km2118,245
Landkreis Offenbach 356 km2337,986
Hutten-Panorama-Blick.JPG Main-Kinzig-Kreis 1,397 km2411,956
Panorama lohrpark1.jpg Wetteraukreis 122 km2142,191
Bad Homburg-Panorama.jpg Hochtaunuskreis 482 km2233,427
Blick vom Grossen Mannstein am Staufen.jpg Main-Taunus-Kreis 122 km2142,191
Opper-darmstadt-marktplatz1.jpg Darmstadt 122 km2142,191
Darmstadt Panorama.jpg Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg 659 km2289,102
Ruesselsheim Luftbild.jpg Landkreis Groß-Gerau 453 km2253,502
MK 36878-82 Wiesbaden vom Neroberg.jpg Wiesbaden 204 km2275,489
RheinPanoNiederwaldD501m.jpg Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis 98 km2196,784
Subtotal Hesse 7,445 km23,778,689
Mainz May2007 cropped.jpg Mainz 98 km2196,784
Bingen2008 03.jpg Mainz-Bingen 606 km2201,451
Worms 01.jpg Worms 109 km281,784
— Landkreis Alzey-Worms 588 km2124,758
Subtotal Rhineland-Palatinate 1405 km2604,777
Panorama schloss johanissburg in aschaffenburg.jpg Aschaffenburg 63 km268,646
— Landkreis Aschaffenburg 699 km2173,946
Miltenberg Bahnbruecke 20090420 cropped.jpg Landkreis Miltenberg 716 km2130,009
Subtotal Bavaria 1,478 km2372,601
TotalFrankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region14,800 km25,800,000

Economy

Frankfurt Airport serves as a major gateway and logistical hub for the area and is Germany's busiest airport. AirportFrankfurt terminal1.jpg
Frankfurt Airport serves as a major gateway and logistical hub for the area and is Germany's busiest airport.

With its central location in southwestern Germany, the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region has been an important industrial and transport center since industrialization began in the mid-19th century. The region is a major financial center of both Germany and Europe, with the European Central Bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. In 2018, about 7.9% of Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) was generated in the region, as well as over three-fourths of the state of Hesse's GDP. [7]

In addition to banking and finance, the chemical industry has had a long established presence in the metropolitan region, with the Industriepark Höchst (Höchst Industrial Park) in the southwestern outskirts of Frankfurt am Main being one of the largest industrial parks in Germany and host to over 90 chemical and pharmaceutical firms. The automobile, construction, and real estate sectors also contribute to a significant sector of the regional economy, with the latter two accounting for 18% of the GDP. [8] Darmstadt and Wiesbaden are the site of headquarters and major offices for insurance firms.

Geographically situated in the middle of the European continent, Frankfurt Rhine-Main is one of the largest logistics hubs in the world, with major connections provided by Frankfurt Airport, Germany's and one of the world's busiest air hubs, and an extensive road and rail system. The Frankfurter Kreuz and Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof are among the busiest road and rail interchanges in Europe respectively. Other major rail stations include Mainz, Frankfurt Süd, and Frankfurt Airport.

Transport

The growth of the area is chiefly to be traced to the favorable communications that promoted an early industrialization. Today, however, the importance of industrial concerns has to a great extent been replaced by banking, trade and logistics. Frankfurt lies within the populous Blue Banana region of Europe, which here runs along the Rhine valley, and the city is also a stepping stone from and to various parts of Switzerland and Southern Germany. The Rhine-Ruhr is accessible via a one-hour trip on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line, and the air route Frankfurt–Berlin is the busiest in German domestic air travel.

Frankfurt Airport is the busiest airport by passenger traffic in Germany and one of the three busiest airports in Europe. Thereby, along with a strong railway connection, the area also serves as a major transportation hub.

Education

The Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region is home to five universities and over 20 partly postgraduate colleges, with a total of over 200,000 students. The region's three public research universities, the

make up the Rhine Main Universities alliance. Private universities in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main metropolitan region are

Notable colleges and universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainz</span> Capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Mainz is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 221,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in the Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region—Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr—which also encompasses the cities of Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, and Hanau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hesse</span> State in Germany

Hesse or Hessia, officially the State of Hesse, is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Darmstadt and Kassel. With an area of 21,114.73 square kilometers and a population of over six million, it ranks seventh and fifth, respectively, among the sixteen German states. Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Germany's second-largest metropolitan area, is mainly located in Hesse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiesbaden</span> Capital of Hesse, Germany

Wiesbaden is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden forms a conurbation with a population of around 500,000 with the neighbouring city of Mainz. This conurbation is in turn embedded in the Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region—Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr—which also includes the nearby cities of Frankfurt am Main, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, and Hanau, and has a combined population exceeding 5.8 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darmstadt</span> City in Hesse, Germany

Darmstadt is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area. Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse after Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, and Kassel.

Offenbach is a Kreis (district) in the south of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbouring districts are Main-Kinzig, Aschaffenburg, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Groß-Gerau and the cities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Offenbach.

Main-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the middle of Hessen, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region as well as the Frankfurt urban area. Neighboring districts are Hochtaunuskreis, district-free Frankfurt, Groß-Gerau, district-free Wiesbaden, Rheingau-Taunus. It is the second most densely populated rural district in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rödermark</span> Town in Hesse, Germany

Rödermark is a town in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, southeast of Frankfurt am Main and northeast of Darmstadt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groß-Gerau</span> Town in Hesse, Germany

Groß-Gerau is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhine-Neckar</span> Place in Germany

The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the North and the Stuttgart Region to the South-East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainz Hauptbahnhof</span> Railway station in Mainz, Germany

Mainz Hauptbahnhof is a railway station for the city of Mainz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is used by about 60,000 travelers and visitors each day and is therefore by far the busiest station in Rhineland-Palatinate. The station was a trial area for a CCTV scheme using automated face recognition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taunus Railway</span> Electrified railway in central western Germany

The Taunus Railway is a double-track electrified railway line, which connects Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany. It is 41.2 km long and follows the course of the Main on its north side, running quite close to it in some places. Its first stage was opened in September 1839 and is thus the oldest railway line in the German state of Hesse and one of the oldest in Germany. Today it is used by Regional-Express trains between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden and the trains of line S1 of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn between Frankfurt-Höchst and Wiesbaden. Between Frankfurt Hbf and Frankfurt-Höchst, they run on the line of the former Hessian Ludwig Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hessian Ludwig Railway</span> Transport company

The Hessian Ludwig Railway or HLB with its network of 697 kilometres of railway was one of the largest privately owned railway companies in Germany.

The Rhine-Main Railway, is a railway line in southern Germany from Mainz via Darmstadt to Aschaffenburg. It was built by the Hessian Ludwig Railway and opened on 1 August 1858 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany. Until 1862, when the railway bridge over the Rhine river constructed and assembled by MAN-Werk Gustavsburg was finished, a train ferry operated on the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rüsselsheim station</span>

Rüsselsheim station is a transit station in the town of Rüsselsheim in the German state of Hesse on the Main Railway from Mainz to Frankfurt am Main. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station. The station is served by the Rhine-Main S-Bahn and by regional trains. There is another station in Rüsselsheim, Rüsselsheim-Opelwerk station, which is served by S-Bahn trains only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainz-Bischofsheim station</span> Railway station in Bischofsheim, Germany

Mainz-Bischofsheim station is the station of the town of Bischofsheim in the German state of Hesse on the Main Railway from Mainz to Frankfurt am Main. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station. The station is served by the S-Bahn and regional trains. The station was opened at its current location in 1904.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainz-Gustavsburg station</span> Railway station in Ginsheim-Gustavsburg, Germany

Mainz-Gustavsburg station is the station of the town of Ginsheim-Gustavsburg in the German state of Hesse on the Main Railway from Mainz to Frankfurt am Main. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station. The station is served by the S-Bahn and some regional trains. The station was opened at its current location in 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groß Gerau station</span>

Groß Gerau station is located approximately 500 metres north of the centre of the town of Groß-Gerau in the German state of Hesse on the Rhine-Main Railway, running from Wiesbaden and Mainz to Darmstadt and Aschaffenburg. A curve branches off near the station connecting to the nearby Groß-Gerau-Dornberg station on the Mannheim–Frankfurt railway. The station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station. The station name has no hyphen unlike the town it is in, following a Prussian government order of 1910, which applied because of Prussian finance for the line, even though the station was in the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darmstadt Nord station</span>

Darmstadt Nord (north) station is a junction station in the city of Darmstadt in the German state of Hesse. The passenger station, which is served by trains of the Odenwald Railway and the Rhine-Main Railway (Rhine-Main-Bahn), has four platform tracks. Running parallel and north of the station are two additional tracks for freight traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority</span> Cooperation body of the administratively fragmented Frankfurt urban area

The Regional Authority of Frankfurt Rhein-Main is the cooperation body of the administratively fragmented Frankfurt am Main urban area and the common authority for Frankfurt am Main and its 75 neighboring communities. It manages and coordinates the regional development of Frankfurt am Main and its suburbs. It also represents the Frankfurt urban area nationally and internationally and is responsible for the strategic alignment of the local decision-making, for the development of a common regional image and an improved regional harmonisation. The authority draws up and updates the regional preparatory land use plans, local development and zoning plans, and carries out an intensive regional monitoring to coordinate the development of the urban region.

The IT cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar, also known as Silicon Valley of Germany, is one of the most important locations of the IT and high-tech industry worldwide. It is concentrated in the Rhine-Main and Rhine-Neckar metropolitan regions. The IT cluster Rhine-Main-Neckar is the largest IT cluster in Europe. 50 percent of the worldwide revenue of the hundred largest European software companies is generated by companies in this region. The Rhine-Main-Neckar region also has one of the most important biopharmaceutical, fintech, finance and consulting clusters in Europe.

References

  1. ↑ Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain. "Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain /". planungsverband.de.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Statistik-Viewer Metropolregion". 2019-12-31. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  3. ↑ "Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) in den Metropolregionen* in Deutschland im Jahr 2021" (in German).
  4. ↑ https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/frankfurt-metropolitan-area/m0bgtry?categoryid=place
  5. ↑ Adams, Tracy (2010). The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-1-4214-2799-7. Project MUSE   book 477.[ page needed ]
  6. ↑ Die Region Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Zahlen und Fakten Archived 2019-02-01 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
  7. ↑ "Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Zahlen" [Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Figures]. IHK Frankfurt am Main. (in German)
  8. ↑ Bau- und Immobilienstudie (Construction and Real Estate Study), IHK-Forum Rhein-Main. (in German)

50°06′N8°42′E / 50.1°N 8.7°E / 50.1; 8.7

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