Editing Frankfurt (section)

== Distinctions ==
Frankfurt is the largest financial hub in [[continental Europe]]. It is home to the [[European Central Bank]], {{lang|de|[[Deutsche Bundesbank]]|italic=no}}, [[Frankfurt Stock Exchange]] and several large commercial banks. Frankfurt has many [[Tower block|high-rise buildings]] that form its renowned [[List of tallest buildings in Frankfurt|Frankfurt skyline]]. In fact, it is one of the few cities in the [[European Union]] (EU) to have such a skyline. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the world's largest [[stock exchange]]s by [[market capitalization]] and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market.

In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had their registered offices in Frankfurt, including Germany's major banks, notably [[Deutsche Bank]], [[DZ Bank]], [[KfW]], [[Deka Bank]] and [[Commerzbank]], as well as 41 representative offices of international banks.<ref name="Internetredaktion-2012">{{cite web |author=Internetredaktion |url=http://www.bundesbank.de/download/hv/frankfurt/bankenplatz_frankfurt.pdf |title=Bundesbank: Bankenplatz Frankfurt |language=de |publisher=Bundesbank.de |date=23 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101073333/http://bundesbank.de/download/hv/frankfurt/bankenplatz_frankfurt.pdf |archive-date=1 January 2011}}</ref> Frankfurt has been nicknamed [[Mainhattan]] and [[Bankfurt]]. The city is also noted for its unique timber-framed [[Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main)|old town]]. The [[Römer]] area has been most recently in the [[Dom-Römer Project]] and hosts the [[Frankfurt Christmas Market]]. The [[Saalgasse]] complements the timbered romanticism with postmodern houses by 12 different architectural firms.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Freddy Langer |title=Frankfurt's New Old Town |date=2020 |publisher=Insel Verlag |isbn=9783458764380}}</ref>

Frankfurt is considered a [[global city]] as listed by the [[Globalization and World Cities Research Network|GaWC]] group's 2012 inventory.<ref name="The World According to GaWC Archived 30 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine">"[http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/gawcworlds.html The World According to GaWC] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130081552/http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/gawcworlds.html |date=30 November 2012}}". GaWC. Retrieved 4 November 2014.</ref> Among global cities it was ranked tenth by the [[Global city#Global Power City Index|Global Power City Index 2011]] and 11th by the [[Global city#Global City Competitiveness Index|Global City Competitiveness Index 2012]]. Among financial hubs, the city was ranked eighth by the [[Financial centre#Xinhua–Dow Jones Index (2010–2014)|International Financial Centers Development Index 2013]] and ninth in the 2013 [[Global Financial Centres Index]].

Its central location in Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, and road [[transport hub]]. [[Frankfurt Airport]] is one of the [[World's busiest airports by passenger traffic|world's busiest international airports by passenger traffic]] and the main hub for Germany's [[flag carrier]] [[Lufthansa]]. [[Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof|Frankfurt Central Station]] is one of the largest [[terminal station|rail station]]s in Europe and the busiest junction operated by [[Deutsche Bahn]], the German national railway company, with 342 trains a day to domestic and European destinations.<ref name="Bahnhof">[http://www.bahnhof.de/site/bahnhoefe/de/sued/frankfurt__hbf/daten__und__fakten/daten__und__fakten__.html Bahnhof.de Frankfurt Hbf] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215053841/http://www.bahnhof.de/site/bahnhoefe/de/sued/frankfurt__hbf/daten__und__fakten/daten__und__fakten__.html |date=15 February 2012}}. Retrieved 27 September 2011.</ref> [[Frankfurter Kreuz]], also known as the [[Autobahn]] [[Interchange (road)|interchange]] and located close to the airport, is the most-heavily used interchange in the EU, used by 320,000 cars daily.<ref name="Strassenwaerter Archived 2 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine">[http://www.strassenwaerter.de/strassen_und_autobahnmeisterei_frankfurt.htm Strassenwaerter] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050502202449/http://www.strassenwaerter.de/strassen_und_autobahnmeisterei_frankfurt.htm |date=2 May 2005}}</ref> In 2011 human-resource-consulting firm [[Mercer (consulting firm)|Mercer]] ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual 'Quality of Living' survey of cities around the world.<ref name="Mercer-2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.mercer.com/referencecontent.htm?idContent=1173105#Top_50_cities:_Quality_of_living |title=Mercer's Survey 2011 |date=29 November 2011 |publisher=[[Mercer (consulting firm)|Mercer]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502132638/http://www.mercer.com/referencecontent.htm?idContent=1173105#Top_50_cities:_Quality_of_living |archive-date=2 May 2014}}</ref> According to ''[[The Economist]]'' cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germany's most expensive city and the world's tenth most expensive.<ref name="The Economist">{{cite news |url=http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/15/worlds-most-expensive-place-to-live/?hpt=ieu_t4 |title=World's most expensive place to live is... |newspaper=The Economist |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219231307/http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/15/worlds-most-expensive-place-to-live/?hpt=ieu_t4 |archive-date=19 February 2012}}</ref>