Cafe/Restaurant Hauptwache

International Restaurant

The former police station is one of Frankfurt’s best-known landmarks. In the 18th century, the square-shaped, Baroque building with its columned arcades was built as a police station and prison, when it housed many famous but reluctant guests (such as the councilor Johannes Erasmus Senckenberg and the legendary robber Schinderhannes). In April 1833, a crowd of intellectuals occupied the building and freed the inmates as a signal for the introduction of a republic. The conspiracy was soon quashed. In 1904, the building fell into disuse and in the 1970s it was demolished to make room for the construction of the underground railway, but was later rebuilt. Hauptwache Café now attracts guests with hearty meals and desserts, and with outdoor seating in the summer.