Historical Museum Frankfurt

Brief information

The Historical Museum Frankfurt occupies not a neutral museum box, but the Saalhof palace complex in the city's historic center. Its location itself functions as an exhibit: the 12th-century palace stands between the Römer town hall and the main riverfront, and a new museum section has appeared next to it. As a result, the history of Frankfurt here can be read not only from the display cases, but also from the junction between the old buildings and the modern extension.

An important turning point is connected with the fact that the museum's previous modern building, constructed in 1969-1972, provoked protests and was dismantled in 2011. In its place, by 2017, a low-rise building with a classic gabled roof was created. This fact changes the way one views the complex: the new architecture here does not argue directly with its surroundings, but tries to adapt to the medieval urban fabric.

What to notice first

It makes sense to compare three levels of the museum's organization. The first is the five historic buildings of the Saalhof: they remind us that the museum grew inside an already existing palace complex. The second is the new low-rise building with a gabled roof: its form was chosen as a response to the proximity of medieval buildings. The third is the replacement of the previous wing itself, because the demolished 1969-1972 building left behind not a form, but a decision to make the museum visually calmer for this location.

In the exhibition, three city models created by the brothers Hermann and Robert Treuner between 1926 and 1955 are especially revealing. They show not a single "view of Frankfurt," but three states of the center: the medieval city, the destruction after the bombings of 1944, and reconstruction. These models help one see the museum complex more broadly: alongside the real buildings, a reduced version of the city appears, making it clear how the historical fabric can disappear and be assembled anew.