Frankfurt, birthplace of Goethe, with about 700,000 residents within the city wouldn’t seem to be among the largest of the German cities; the metropolitan area, though, is more extensive with about 2 million inhabitants and if we include the adjacent urban areas of Mainz-Wiesbaden there are more than 5 million residents, thereby making this one of the largest urban areas in Europe.
Frankfurt is the location for the principal stock exchange and the busiest airport in Germany, both of which are among the largest in Europe; it has been the headquarters of the European Central Bank since its formation (1999) and has become the economic and financial capital of the Eurozone.
Traffic is therefore very heavy, but the downtown of the city is saved by having various pedestrian zones or areas of low traffic.
The network of bike routes is quite extensive although the focus remains the Mainradweg, the bike path that runs along the river Main.
Frankfurt was one of the first cities to experiment with the so-called Fahrradstrasse, streets where automobile traffic is tolerated but must give right of way to bikes.
As in other German cities, bicycle usage is very widespread but far from the level of use in Holland or Denmark.
