Frankfurt am Main may be the city's official name but it's often referred to as Bankfurt or Mainhattan. That's hardly surprising: the city has more than 40 gleaming skyscrapers, the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world (the Börse) and 400 banking institutions including the European Central Bank.

Frankfurt also has the second largest airport in Europe and hosts some of the biggest trade fairs in the world, including the Frankfurt Book Fair. It's no wonder that most people who come here are on business.

Finding its cultural soul

What the passers-through often miss, though, is the city's incredible art scene. Spurred by critics who said this financial capital lacked a cultural soul, wealthy locals poured money into the arts, funding a museum-building boom in the early 90s.

This medium-sized city of 650,000 spends more money per year on the arts -- up to 10 percent of the city budget -- ´more than Paris, London or any other major city in Europe. And even if the airport is all you see, there's an art gallery there as well.

Along with the power-house museums, an independent gallery scene has cropped up, giving the city a respectable alternative edge and acting as a counterweight to the suits and ties.

Ten years ago Frankfurt wasn't mentioned in the same breath as "fine art," but things have since changed dramatically. After a thorough remodelling and expansion under the guidance of architect Johannes Krahn, the 125-year-old Städelsches Kunstinstitut (Städel Art Institute) reopened in 1999 as the city's flagship for classical painting and sculpture. The Städel houses an impressive collection of works by Van Eyck, Rubens, Vermeer and others.

The Museum for Modern Art is another noteworthy new addition to the city. Completed in 1991, the triangular modern structure was designed by Austrian-born architect Hans Hollein and displays a modern collection, including Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg and Joseph Beuys.

The endless list of cultural highlights -- Frankfurt has over 40 museums in all -- includes the Communications Museum, Museum of Applied Arts, Jewish Museum and the German Museum of Film. But Frankfurt's flourishing cultural scene extends beyond its powerhouse museums.

On the Main

The "Main" part of Frankfurt's name comes from the river that bisects the city running east to west. The north half could be Chicago's sister city with its sky-high glass towers marking the metropolitan banking and business sector. Among the towers leading the skyline is the Commerzbank building. Completed in 1997, it was designed by Sir Norman Foster, who also gave the Reichstag parliament building a facelift in Berlin.

The bustling banking center doesn't go to sleep at the end of business hours, but buzzes well into the night -- until the stock exchange bell rings in New York five hours later.

Things are a little more relaxed outside of the concrete jungle, down towards the river in Römerberg, the Altstadt (Old Town) district. In extreme contrast to the banking area, Römerberg has some of the only remaining medieval and historically significant buildings in the city that survived Allied bombing during World War II.

German democracy was born in Paulskirche, where the first constitution was written in the middle of the 19th century. The Kaiserdom, an imperial cathedral, is where 10 German emperors and kings were crowned.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the father of modern German literature, was born in Frankfurt almost 250 years ago, and his timber-framed house -- where he penned "The Sorrows of Young Werther" and "Faust" -- is also just minutes away from the Altstadt and is open to tourists.

The local flavors

After a day of meandering through the Old Town or pondering artwork in Frankfurt's many museums, a good place to start off the evening is at any of the apple wine taverns throughout the city. Apple wine -- called Ebbelwoi in the Hessian dialect -- is a local specialty often enjoyed with Handkäse mit Musik, select cheese with onions.

The neighborhoods to the south, Römerberg and Sachsenhausen, offer abundant dining and nightlife opportunities. Berger Strasse in Frankfurt's Bornheim district is home to a thriving bar, restaurant and café scene, where you are as likely to bump into young flight attendants from Lufthansa as you are up-and-coming bankers in their casual weekend wear.