Frankfurt Rhine-Main

Last updated
Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region
Rhein-Main-Gebiet
Frankfurter Altstadt mit Skyline 2019 (100MP).jpg
Offenbach am main from drone.jpg
Wiesbaden Luftbild Rathaus Landtag Marktkirche Wilhelmstrasse Kurhaus Neroberg Opelbad Griechische Kapelle.jpg
P2250381 Darmstadt in Frankfurt-Rhein-Main.jpg
Metropolregion FRM.jpg
Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region (in green)
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
14,755 km2 (5,697 sq mi)
Population
 (2022) [2]
   Metro
5,907,863
  Metro density400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
GDP
[3]
  Metro€300.868 billion (2021)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
Website region-frankfurt.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, Frankfurt/Rhein-Main or FrankfurtRheinMain, abbreviated FRM), is the third-largest metropolitan region in Germany after Rhine-Ruhr and Berlin-Brandenburg, 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 ]

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. [4]

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 [5] 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

Headquarters of Merck Group in Darmstadt, the world's oldest operating chemical and pharmaceutical company, as well as one of the largest pharmaceutical companies globally. Merck KGaA 01.jpg
Headquarters of Merck Group in Darmstadt, the world's oldest operating chemical and pharmaceutical company, as well as one of the largest pharmaceutical companies globally.

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, pharmaceutical and healthcare firms. Other such firms like Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Group, Biontech, Fresenius and Fresenius Medical Care are spread all over the Rhine-Main area. 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.

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.

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

References

  1. Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain. "Regionalverband FrankfurtRheinMain /". planungsverband.de.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. "Statistik-Viewer Metropolregion" (in German). 2022-12-31. Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  3. "Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) in den Metropolregionen* in Deutschland im Jahr 2021" (in German).
  4. 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 ]
  5. Die Region Frankfurt Rhein-Main in Zahlen und Fakten Archived 2019-02-01 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
  6. "Merck: Das älteste Chemieunternehmen der Welt". Manager Magazin (in German). 21 September 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  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