Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main)

The Altstadt is a city district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the Ortsbezirk Innenstadt I.The Altstadt is located on the northern Main river bank. It is completely surrounded by the Innenstadt district, Frankfurt's present-day city centre. On the opposite side of the Main is the district of Sachsenhausen.As the historical center of Frankfurt, the Altstadt has existed from Frankfurt's beginnings, dating back to 794 . It used to be part of the original Innenstadt area, which lay inside of the city walls, the Staufenmauer. Only very small sections of the Altstadt were rebuilt after World War II and so only a few old buildings are actually preserved. The Altstadt contains many of Frankfurt's most important sights, including the Römerberg plaza with the famed Römer city hall and many other middle-age style buildings which are mostly actually reconstructions. Nearby is the St. Bartholomäus Cathedral and the Paulskirche, the short-lived seat of the German National Assembly in 1848-49.The Dom-Römer Project is a current reconstruction project for the old town quarter between the Römer square and the Frankfurt Cathedral.