Mainhattan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frankfurt skyline
Frankfurt skyline in the evening light
Lower Manhattan skyline
"Mainhattan" from the air

Mainhattan (also Mainhatten ) is a trunk word made up of “ Main ” and “ Manhattan ”. It is occasionally used as a name for the city of Frankfurt am Main .

Concept emergence

Frankfurt am Main is one of the few cities in Europe and the only city in Germany that allows the construction of high-rise buildings in the city center. As a result, a characteristic cityscape, the Frankfurt skyline, has grown since the 1960s . The name Mainhattan , which originated at that time, was originally - like the names Bankfurt and Krankfurt , which appeared at the same time - as a dysphemism for the city on the Main. At the time of the house-to-house war in Frankfurt at the beginning of the 1970s, he stood for urban planning that was exclusively geared towards investor interests, for the deliberate destruction of grown urban districts and the unbridled pursuit of profit at the expense of the long-established population.

Change of meaning

Since the 1980s, the Frankfurt skyline has gradually developed into a symbol of prosperity and future orientation, and subsequently to the city's landmark. The population increasingly identified with their high-rise buildings. The Skyscraper Festival has been celebrated at irregular intervals since 1996 . The SkyArena , a multimedia production of the Frankfurt skyline, was broadcast worldwide for the opening of the 2006 World Cup .

At the same time, the term Mainhattan lost its originally negative meaning and changed from a swear word to an honorary title . Today it is used as a friendly nickname for Frankfurt by both locals and guests, and only a few take offense at the fact that Frankfurt, which is much smaller than New York City, compares itself to the US metropolis.

The change in meaning of the original swear word means that Mainhattan can now be used as a synonym for Frankfurt in advertising, for example for urban tourism . Clubs and institutions also use it in their name, for example the Mainhatten Skywheelers sports club .

Web links

Commons : Skylines in Frankfurt am Main  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Herding: Destruction of living space, squatting, ecological turnaround and skyline: public learning process in Frankfurt am Main. ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Campus-Verlag, Berlin 2000
  2. ↑ Dieter Bartetzko : Frankfurts high houses , Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2001. ISBN 3-458-34353-9