Your Dortmund to Frankfurt Sossenheim train travel starts here

Frankfurt (officially: Frankfurt am Main (German: [ˈfʁaŋkfʊʁt ʔam ˈmaɪn]; Hessian: Frangford am Maa; lit. "Frank ford on the Main")) is a metropolis and the largest city of the German federal state of Hesse, and its 746,878 (2017) inhabitants make it the fifth-largest city in Germany. On the River Main (a tributary of the Rhine), it forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring city of Offenbach am Main, and its urban area has a population of 2.3 million. The city is at the centre of the larger Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.5 million and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr Region. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the geographic centre of the EU is about 40 km (25 mi) to the east of Frankfurt's central business district.

Like France and Franconia, the city is named after the FranksFrankfurt is the largest city in the Rhine Franconian dialect area (Franconian dialects), Frankfurt was one of the host cities of the official tournaments of the 1974 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Frankfurt was a city state, the Free City of Frankfurt, for nearly five centuries, and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire, as a site of imperial coronations; it lost its sovereignty upon the collapse of the empire in 1806 and then permanently in 1866, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. It has been part of the federal state of Hesse since 1945. Frankfurt is culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse, with half of its population, and a majority of young people, having a migration background. A quarter of the population consists of foreign nationals, including many expatriates. Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and transportation.

It is the site of many global and European corporate headquartersFrankfurt Airport is among the world's busiest. Frankfurt is the major financial centre of the European continent, with the headquarters of the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, KfW, Commerzbank, several cloud and fintech startups and other institutes. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media and creative industries complement the economic base. Frankfurt's DE-CIX is the world's largest internet exchange point.

Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fairsMajor fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world's largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to influential educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA, and graduate schools like the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europe's largest English theatre and many museums (e.g. the Museumsufer ensemble with Städel and Liebieghaus, Senckenberg Natural Museum, Goethe House, and the Schirn art venue at the old town). Frankfurt's skyline is shaped by some of Europe's tallest skyscrapers.

Dortmund (, also UK: US: , German: [ˈdɔʁtmʊnt]; Westphalian Low German: Düörpm [ˈdyːœɐ̯pm̩]; Latin: Tremonia) is with a population of 603,609 inhabitants as of 2020, the third-largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Germany's eighth-largest city. It is the largest city (by area and population) of the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area with some 5.1 million inhabitants, as well as the largest city of Westphalia. On the Emscher and Ruhr rivers (tributaries of the Rhine), it lies in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region and is considered the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of the eastern Ruhr. Dortmund is the second largest city in the Low German dialect area after Hamburg. Founded around 882, Dortmund became an Imperial Free City. Throughout the 13th to 14th centuries, it was the "chief city" of the Rhine, Westphalia, the Netherlands Circle of the Hanseatic League.

During the Thirty Years' War, the city was destroyed and decreased in significance until the onset of industrializationThe city then became one of Germany's most important coal, steel and beer centres. Dortmund consequently was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II. The devastating bombing raids of 12 March 1945 destroyed 98% of buildings in the inner city center. These bombing raids, with more than 1,110 aircraft, hold the record to a single target in World War II.The region has adapted since the collapse of its century-long steel and coal industries and shifted to high-technology biomedical technology, micro systems technology, and also services.

Dortmund was classified as a Node city in the Innovation Cities Index published by 2thinknow, ranked among the twelve innovation cities in European Unionand is the most sustainable and digital city in GermanyOther key sectors include retail, leisure and the visitor economy, creative industries and logistic. With its central station and airport, the third-busiest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia, Dortmund is an important transport junction, especially for the surrounding Ruhrarea as well as Europe (Benelux countries), and with the largest canal port in Europe it has a connection to important seaports on the North Sea.Dortmund is home to many cultural and educational institutions, including the Technical University of Dortmund and Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, International School of Management and other educational, cultural and administrative facilities with over 49,000 students, many museums, such as Museum Ostwall, Museum of Art and Cultural History, German Football Museum, as well as theatres and music venues like the Konzerthaus or the Opera House of Dortmund. The city is known as Westphalia's "green metropolis". Nearly half the municipal territory consists of waterways, woodland, agriculture and green spaces with spacious parks such as Westfalenpark and Rombergpark.