Serving as the city hall of Frankfurt am Main for over 600 years, the Römer is situated in the Altstadt and is one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks. The three-story complex consists of nine houses encircling six courtyards and exhib-its medieval architectural elements, including its iconic stepped gable facade.
The Alt-Limpurg building displays the Frankfurtia, which is the female embodi-ment of the city, while the Haus Römer exhibits the four kaisers of the Holy Ro-man Empire - Frederick Barbarossa, Louis the Bavarian, Charles IV and Maximilian II. It also features a balcony that was added after the rebuild-ing of the Römer in 1900 and is used as a public stage for official visits and to honor sporting heroes in the city.
The Wanebach and Salzhaus were reconstructed using a design that combines modern architectural elements with medieval timber framing. Of particular note are the mosaics depicting a phoenix motif, which has come to symbolize Frank-furt’s rebirth after the war.
The oldest surviving rooms in the Römer are the Römerhalle and the Schwanen-halle, which have remained largely unchanged throughout the building’s 600-year history. Once used to host the first Frankfurt book fair, they have also been oc-cupied by gold and silversmiths hawking their wares.
But the most famous room in the Römer is the Kaisersaal, or Emperor Hall, which is positioned on the second floor above the Römerhalle. It’s here that lav-ish coronation banquets took place during the Holy Roman Empire and it’s now adorned with an impressive collection of 19th-century portraits depicting each of the emperors.