Römer

Frankfurt's Römer has served as city hall since 1405, its stepped-gable facade — reconstructed after wartime destruction and completed in its current form in 1986 — anchoring the historic Römerberg square. Between 1562 and 1792, every Holy Roman Emperor crowned in the nearby Frankfurt Cathedral was celebrated in the Kaisersaal upstairs, a ceremonial hall still hung with life-size portraits of all 52 emperors. The name itself remains disputed: several competing etymologies exist, none definitively established. Unlike many medieval town halls converted into museums, the Römer remains a working civic building — Frankfurt's city council still convenes here, conducting municipal politics surrounded by reconstructed Gothic stonework. The quiet interior courtyards, tucked behind the famous facade, are largely overlooked by the crowds filling Römerberg just steps away.

Gothic stepped-gable triplet on Römerberg, with the Kaisersaal portraits of every German emperor.