This Year Marks the 100th Birthday of ‘New Frankfurt’
The revolutionary urban planning programme ‘New Frankfurt’ celebrates its 100th birthday in 2025. The city of Frankfurt is celebrating this anniversary with numerous exhibitions and events. Several Frankfurt museums, including the Museum Angewandte Kunst (MAK), the German Museum of Architecture (“Deutsches Architekturmuseum” (DAM)) and the Stadtlabor in the Historical Museum Frankfurt (HMF), have teamed up to explore the topic of ‘New Frankfurt’ from various angles.
What’s behind ‘New Frankfurt’?
The term ‘New Frankfurt’ (“Neues Frankfurt”) refers to an urban development movement that addressed the post-World War I housing crisis in Frankfurt. Between 1925 and 1930, more than 12,000 flats were built in cooperation between the public sector and private developers under the leadership of the Frankfurt city planner Ernst May. With a team of architects, urban planners, and designers, they set new standards in housing development.
The movement combined social reform, architectural innovation, and urban design to provide affordable, functional, and modern living spaces for working-class families. To achieve this, they incorporated the teachings of the Bauhaus into the design of the flats. The famous ‘Frankfurt Kitchen’ for example, designed by architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, also dates from this period. Genuine ‘Frankfurt kitchens’ can still be seen today in the MAK and the Ernst May House.
The Gesellschaftshaus Palmengarten, the IG Farben Haus, and the Frauenfriedenskirche also date from the New Frankfurt period.
Exhibitions and Events
- Starting 10 May, the Museum Angewandte Kunst (MAK) will be showing the significance of the urban planning movement and the ideas and protagonists that formed the foundation for it in the core exhibition "100 Years of New Frankfurt"External Link. Complementary exhibitions include "Yes, we care!"External Link focusing on social welfare, and “SPORTLICH,” exploring the relationship between sport and modernity, highlighting its connections to design, art, and media.
- From 28 June, the German Architecture Museum (DAM) will be showing the exhibition "Building Cities Today – The challenge of newurban neighbourhoods in Germany"External Link. It examines how principles from the New Frankfurt era can inspire contemporary urban design.
- From 18 June, the exhibition at the CityLab at the Historical Museum, "Everyday housing issues. On privatisation, refurbishment and protest"External Link, will take a look at the past, present and future of the housing issue and will also allow residents from three Frankfurt housing estates to share their views.
