The Frankfurt old town between Dom and Römer presents a tense and politically charged construction history like no other area of the city: starting with the onset of modernity, when new means of transport required the forging of roads through the small-scale building developments of the old town, to the housing development during the New Frankfurt area, to the almost complete destruction in the Second World War. The modern reconstruction plans in the 1950s and 1960s were fraught with disputes about whether the architecture should be rebuilt or newly built as modern. In the 1970s, Frankfurt built the Technical Town Hall and the Historical Museum in the style of brutalism on Römerberg, followed in the 1980s by postmodern buildings and reconstructions. Since 2013, other large areas of the historical old town are being newly developed after the demolition of the Technical Town Hall.

This book provides an account of the constructional development of the old town, based on representative buildings and construction projects. A look at urban developments in Germany and Europe allow a comparison of the specific Frankfurt situation. There is a particular focus on the debate about the pros and cons of old town reconstruction, as well as its significance for identity and tradition.