Nizza

Visitors experience a hint of the Mediterranean on the northern bank of the Main river with palms, fig trees, lemon trees and southern European plants in the area between the Frieden Bridge and Untermain Bridge. Thanks to its southern position, the slipstream of the quay walls and the sunlight reflected on the river, in “Nizza” (Nizza) exotic plants can flourish in a Mediterranean microclimate. The 4.42-hectare site is one of the largest publicly accessible gardens of southern European plants north of the Alps. The current selection of plants does not need to be kept in an orangery during the winter, since frost-resistant varieties have been chosen. Wrapped up warmly, they remain here even during the cold season. The Nizza continues the Wallanlagen from its west arm to the Main riverbank.

The site of the current park was originally occupied by the “small Main” with a romantic Main island. It was the development of a railway on the riverbank between Westhafen and Osthafen that led to the creation of a garden. City gardener Sebastian Rinz (1782-1861) deserves thanks for preventing the filled-up Mainarm from being turned into a storage space for building materials in 1858. According to his vision, the Wallanlagen, which were Frankfurt’s first green spaces, were to end here at the Main in a small public park by the river. Initially, his ideas could not be implemented. However, in 1832 a restaurant called the “Mainlust” was opened, and its garden terrace, decorated with beautiful sycamores, became one of Frankfurt’s most popular attractions.

The park was given the name Nizza only after its redesign around 1875 by one of Sebastian Rinz’s grandchildren, Andreas Weber (1832-1901). The quay wall contains a likeness of the garden director. He brought exotic plants to the Main for the first time, many of which were stored in a greenhouse during the winter. The addition of the double staircases and the Grindbrunnen Pavilion on the site of what is now the Nizza Café and rows of sycamores extending to the river also helped determine the park’s character. 

The Nizza was redesigned two other times, around 1930 and around 1950, before being restored by the Urban Green Space Planning Office (Grünflächenamt) and provided with a Mediterranean plant concept by Rainer Gesell-Schulte in the year 2000. 

Size: 4.42 hectares