Offenbach am Main

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox German place

|name = Offenbach am Main

|type = City

|image_coa = Wappen Offenbach am Main.svg

|image_flag = Flagge Offenbach am Main.svg

|coordinates = {{coord|50.10466|N|8.76132|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|image_plan =

|state = Hessen

|region = Darmstadt

|district = urban

|elevation = 98

|area = 44.90

|Gemeindeschlüssel = 06413000

|postal_code = 63001 - 63075

|area_code = 069

|licence = OF

|website = [https://www.offenbach.de/ www.offenbach.de]

|mayor = Felix Schwenke

|leader_term = 2023–29

|Bürgermeistertitel = Lord Mayor

|party = SPD

|image_photo = Offenbach am main from drone.jpg

|image_caption = The downtown of Offenbach}}

Offenbach am Main ({{IPA|de|ˈɔfn̩bax ʔam ˈmaɪn|-|De-Offenbach_(Main).ogg}}) is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It has a population of 138,335 (December 2018).{{cite web|url=https://www.offenbach.de/medien/bindata/of/Statistik_und_wahlen_/dir-18/dir-37/VJB-2018-04_-_Jahreszahlen.pdf|title=Statistischer Vierteljahresbericht der Stadt Offenbach IV/2018|date=2018|website=Stadt Offenbach|publisher=Stadt Offenbach am Main, Amt für Arbeitsförderung, Statistik und Integration|access-date=15 July 2019}}

In the 20th century, the city's economy was built on machine-building, leather-making, typography and design, and the automobile and pharmaceutical industries.

History

File:Offenbach (Merian).jpg

File:Frankfurterstr-of.jpg

The first documented reference to a suburb of Offenbach appears in 770.{{cite web|last=Braun|first=Lothar|title=Offenbach und seine Vororte|url=http://offenbach.de/offenbach/themen/unterwegs-in-offenbach/stadtinfo/stadtteile/article/Vororte.html?pdfurl=http://offenbach.de/offenbach/themen/unterwegs-in-offenbach/stadtinfo/stadtteile/article/Vororte.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221201536/http://offenbach.de/offenbach/themen/unterwegs-in-offenbach/stadtinfo/stadtteile/article/Vororte.html?pdfurl=http%3A%2F%2Foffenbach.de%2Foffenbach%2Fthemen%2Funterwegs-in-offenbach%2Fstadtinfo%2Fstadtteile%2Farticle%2FVororte.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 February 2014|publisher=City of Offenbach|access-date=4 February 2014|date=12 February 2004}} In a document of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II dating to 977 exists the first mention of the place of Offenbach.{{cite web|title=Offenbach – Facts and Figures|url=http://www.offenbach.de/stepone/data/pdf/67/22/00/of-in-zahlen-2012_final_engl.pdf|publisher=City of Offenbach|access-date=4 February 2014|page=2|year=2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822010347/http://www.offenbach.de/stepone/data/pdf/67/22/00/of-in-zahlen-2012_final_engl.pdf|archive-date=22 August 2013}} During the Middle Ages Offenbach passed through many hands. Only in 1486 could the Count Ludwig of Isenburg finally take control of city for his family, and 1556 Count Reinhard of Isenburg relocated his Residence to Offenbach, building a palace, the Isenburger Schloß (Isenburg Palace), which was completed in 1559. It was destroyed by fire in 1564 and rebuilt in 1578.

In 1635, Offenbach was given to the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt, but it was returned to the Isenburg-Birstein Count (later Prince) in 1642. It remained in that principality until 1815, when the Congress of Vienna gave the city to the Austrian Emperor, Francis I. A year later it was given to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Always very close to the city centre of Frankfurt, Offenbach was a popular location for business. The town has its own trade fair, and many companies have opened facilities here because there are fewer restrictions and no closed businesses. French Protestants (Huguenots) came in the 17th century and settled in Offenbach and contributed to making Offenbach a prosperous city, e.g., bringing knowledge of tobacco with them and turning Offenbach into a centre for rolling cigars. The town was more cosmopolitan than Frankfurt; famous people such as Goethe and Mozart visited it several times.

The Rumpenheim Palace and its park were a popular destination for monarchs in the 19th century. The city was thereafter ruled by Grand Dukes of Hesse and by Rhine until the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Offenbach became the center of the traditional design with figures such as the architect Hugo Eberhardt, the typographer Rudolf Koch, the bookbinder and designer Ignatz Wiemeler and Ernst Engel and the painter Karl Friedrich Lippmann.

During the Second World War, a third of the city was destroyed by Allied bombing, which claimed 467 lives. With the new district Lauterborn the city was expanded to the south in the 1960s. On the border with Frankfurt, the office district Kaiserlei was built. Offenbach is a so-called "Sozialer Brennpunkt" (deprived area) because of unemployment, poverty, gang related crime and migration.{{cite web|url=http://www.fnp.de/rhein-main/Gangster-Ghetto-Offenbach-was-ist-dran;art801,1166004|title=Nach dem Tod von Tugce A.|first=Frankfurter Neue|last=Presse|access-date=9 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080441/http://www.fnp.de/rhein-main/Gangster-Ghetto-Offenbach-was-ist-dran;art801,1166004|archive-date=11 February 2017|url-status=dead}}

Before its eradication in the Holocaust, the city had a Jewish population. Jews settled in the city as late as the late 16th century, and it is believed that out of the 871 residents of the town as of 1829, the 40 Jewish families accounted for nearly a quarter of the town's population. They also established their own cemetery.{{cite web |title=Ehemals große jüdische Landgemeinde mit langer Tradition |url=https://www.offenbach.de/kultur-und-tourismus/stadtgeschichte/veranstaltungen-27/juedisches-buergel.php |website=offenbach |access-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914034729/https://www.offenbach.de/kultur-und-tourismus/stadtgeschichte/veranstaltungen-27/juedisches-buergel.php |archive-date=14 September 2016 |language=de}}

Geography

=Subdivision=

The inner city area of Offenbach is quite large and consists of the historic center of the city and its expansions of the 1800s. Three formerly independent suburbs were incorporated in the first half of the 20th century: Bürgel being the first in 1908, then Bieber and Rumpenheim in 1938 and 1942.

South of the inner city area are the suburbs Lauterborn, Rosenhöhe and Tempelsee. Kaiserlei is a commercial district in the far west of the city bordering Frankfurt. In the west Waldheim is a residential neighborhood on the city limits with Mühlheim am Main. In 2010 the eastern part of the city center was officially named Mathildenviertel, as the area was already unofficially called by the locals.{{cite web|title=Antrag Magistratsvorlage Nr. 144/10|url=http://pio.offenbach.de/index.php?docid=2010-0015188&dsnummer=DS%20I%20(A)%20588|publisher=City of Offenbach|access-date=4 September 2016|date=21 April 2010}}

Unlike most larger cities in Germany, Offenbach was not completely divided into districts. Only the nine neighborhoods mentioned above were officially districts, leaving the largest parts of the city officially unnamed. Although specific names for neighborhoods and areas were already in use among the locals and residents.

In June 2019, the city council approved a new act that subdivides the city's area entirely into 21 districts. The nine existing districts largely remained the same, most of them were even expanded. The new districts were laid out after the already by locals commonly known neighborhoods, such as the Westend, the Nordend or Buchhügel. A completely new name was only needed to be found for one neighborhood south of the city center, which never had commonly used name before: Lindenfeld. The name derived from an old name of a land lot in this area, when it was still fields in agricultural use prior to the 1800s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hessenschau.de/politik/aus-9-mach-21-offenbach-verpasst-sich-12-neue-stadtteile,offenbach-stadtteile-100.html|title=Aus 9 mach 21: Offenbach verpasst sich 12 neue Stadtteile|last=Germany|first=hessenschau de, Frankfurt|date=28 June 2019|website=hessenschau.de|language=de|access-date=15 July 2019}}

As of July 2019, there are the following 21 districts:

{{Div col|colwidth=10em}}

  • Bieber
  • Bieberer Berg
  • Buchhügel
  • Buchrain
  • Bürgel
  • Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung
  • Hafen
  • Kaiserlei
  • Lauterborn
  • Lindenfeld
  • Mathildenviertel
  • Musikerviertel
  • Nordend
  • Offenbach-Ost
  • Rosenhöhe
  • Rumpenheim
  • Senefelderquartier
  • Tempelsee
  • Waldheim
  • Westend
  • Zentrum

{{div col end}}

=Climate=

Offenbach experiences a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). Due to its location in the Upper Rhine Plain, the whole Rhein-Main Metropolitan Region generally experiences one of the warmest climates in Germany, making it possible to grow plants such as vineyards, palm trees and olive trees.

Governance

= Mayor =

File:Felix Schwenke 01.jpg

The current mayor of Offenbach is Felix Schwenke of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was first elected in 2017,{{cite web|title=Rührung im Blitzlichtgewitter: Ära Schneider geht in die Ära Schwenke über|periodical=Op-online.de|url=https://www.op-online.de/offenbach/ruehrung-blitzlichtgewitter-9543003.html|access-date=20 January 2018|last=Thomas Kirstein|date=20 January 2018|language=de}} and was re-elected for a second term in 2023.[https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/region-und-hessen/ob-wahl-offenbach-amtsinhaber-schwenke-siegt-im-ersten-wahlgang-deutlich-19181379.html Amtsinhaber Schwenke siegt schon im ersten Wahlgang deutlich], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 17 September 2023.

The following is a list of mayors since 1824:

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}

  • 1824–1826: Peter Georg d'Orville
  • 1826–1834: Heinrich Philipp Schwaner
  • 1834–1837: Peter Georg d'Orville
  • 1837–1849: Jonas Budden
  • 1849–1859: Friedrich August Schäfer
  • 1859–1867: Johann Heinrich Dick
  • 1867–1874: Johann Martin Hirschmann
  • 1874–1882: Hermann Stölting
  • 1883–1907: Wilhelm Brink
  • 1907–1919: Andreas Dullo
  • 1919–1933: Max Granzin
  • 1947–1949: Johannes Rebholz
  • 1950–1957: Hans Klüber
  • 1957–1974: Georg Dietrich
  • 1974–1980: Walter Buckpesch
  • 1980–1986: Walter Suermann
  • 1986–1994: Wolfgang Reuter
  • 1994–2006: Gerhard Grandtke
  • 2006–2018: Horst Schneider
  • 2018–: Felix Schwenke

{{div col end}}

= City council =

The Offenbach city council (Stadtverordnetenversammlung) governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 March 2021, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}

! colspan=2| Party

! Lead candidate

! Votes

! %

! +/-

! Seats

! +/-

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}|

| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)

| align=left| Felix Schwenke

| 610,508

| 28.4

| {{increase}} 3.6

| 20

| {{increase}} 2

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}|

| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)

| align=left| Sybille Schumann

| 390,305

| 18.1

| {{increase}} 3.6

| 13

| {{increase}} 3

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}|

| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

| align=left| Roland Walter

| 389,099

| 18.1

| {{decrease}} 6.0

| 13

| {{decrease}} 4

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}|

| align=left| The Left ({{lang|de|Die Linke}})

| align=left| Sven Malsy

| 183,773

| 8.5

| {{increase}} 0.7

| 6

| ±0

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}|

| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)

| align=left| Christin Thüne

| 157,125

| 7.3

| {{decrease}} 1.7

| 5

| {{decrease}} 1

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}|

| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)

| align=left| Dominik Schwagereit

| 134,284

| 6.2

| {{decrease}} 3.3

| 4

| {{decrease}} 3

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Free Voters}}|

| align=left| Free Voters (FW)

| align=left| Dennis Lehmann

| 91,446

| 4.2

| {{increase}} 1.5

| 3

| {{increase}} 1

|-

|

| align=left| Forum New Offenbach (FNO)

| align=left| Muhsin Senol

| 57,626

| 2.7

| {{decrease}} 0.2

| 2

| ±0

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Pirate Party Germany}}|

| align=left| Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)

| align=left| Gregory Engels

| 46,459

| 2.2

| {{increase}} 0.5

| 2

| {{increase}} 1

|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Die PARTEI}}|

| align=left| Die PARTEI (PARTEI)

| align=left| Daniel Pfeiffer

| 34,957

| 1.6

| {{increase}} 1.1

| 1

| {{increase}} 1

|-

|

| align=left| Young Offenbach (JO)

| align=left| Dominik Imeraj

| 28,525

| 1.3

| {{steady}} 0.0

| 1

| ±0

|-

|

| align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)

| align=left| Fikri Türet

| 27,574

| 1.3

| New

| 1

| New

|-

! colspan=3| Valid votes

! 32,424

! 96.1

!

!

!

|-

! colspan=3| Invalid votes

! 1,308

! 3.9

!

!

!

|-

! colspan=3| Total

! 33,732

! 100.0

!

! 71

! ±0

|-

! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout

! 94,827

! 35.6

! {{increase}} 2.7

!

!

|-

| colspan=8| Source: [https://wahlen.statistik.hessen.de/k_2021/html/Gemeindewahl/VG413000 Statistics Hesse]

|}

Twin towns – sister cities

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}

Offenbach am Main is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Offenbach und seine Partnerstädte|url=https://www.offenbach.de/rathaus/stadtinfo/staedtepartnerschaften/staedtepartnerschaften-intro.php|website=offenbach.de|publisher=Offenbach am Main|language=de|access-date=4 March 2021}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

  • {{flagicon|CHN}} Yangzhou, China (1997)

{{div col end}}

Demographics

Offenbach has a large non-German population. In 2016, foreign nationals made up 37% of the population.{{Cite web |url=https://www.offenbach.de/medien/bindata/of/Statistik_und_wahlen_/dir-18/dir-29/BEV3-2016_-_Nichtdeutschenanteil_seit_2009_Grafiken.pdf |title=Official statistics |access-date=28 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329050435/https://www.offenbach.de/medien/bindata/of/Statistik_und_wahlen_/dir-18/dir-29/BEV3-2016_-_Nichtdeutschenanteil_seit_2009_Grafiken.pdf |archive-date=29 March 2017 |url-status=dead }} The largest communities are, in that order, from Turkey, Greece, Romania, Poland and Italy.[https://www.offenbach.de/medien/bindata/of/Statistik_und_wahlen_/dir-18/dir-29/BEV3-Aktuell_Nationalitaeten.pdf Official statistics for nationalities in 2016]

As of 2019, residents with a migration background enumerated 88,608, or 63.4% of the population, while Germans without a migration background enumerated 51,241 residents.{{Cite web |title=Statistische Publikationen |url=https://www.offenbach.de/buerger_innen/rathaus-politik/offenbach-in-zahlen/statistikveroeffentlichung.php |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Stadt Offenbach |language=de}} Nearly one-in-three, 29.5%, of foreign residents originate from Europe, particularly from countries like Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia and Italy.

According to census data, Offenbach{{Cite web |date=2023-03-06 |title=Rund 14 Prozent der Offenbacher sind Muslime |url=https://www.op-online.de/offenbach/offenbach-prozent-sind-muslime-4648763.html |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=www.op-online.de |language=de}} and Duisburg had the highest share of Muslim migrants of all German districts in 2011. Muslims were between 14% and 17% of the city's population as of 2011.{{cite web|url=https://kartenseite.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/muslime-in-deutschland-landkreise/ |title=Kartenseite: Muslime in Deutschland – Landkreise |publisher=kartenseite.wordpress.com |date=5 April 2017 |access-date=29 April 2017}}{{Cite web |last=Hahn |first=Michael |date=9 May 2011 |title=Muslime in den Großstädten beim Zensus 2011 |url=https://kartenseite.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/brd_muslime_in_den_grossstaedten_beim_zensus2011_sortiert_nach_muslimanteil-1.pdf |access-date=24 October 2023 |website=kartenseite files wordpress.com}}{{Cite web |date=2017-04-05 |title=Muslime in Deutschland 2011 – Zahlen für die Großstädte |url=https://kartenseite.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/muslime-in-deutschland-2011-zahlen-fuer-die-grossstaedte/ |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Kartenseite |language=de-DE}}{{Cite web |date=2017-04-05 |title=Muslime in Deutschland 2011 – Landkreise – Karte (Islam-Karte) |url=https://kartenseite.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/muslime-in-deutschland-landkreise/ |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Kartenseite |language=de-DE}}{{Cite web |title=ZENSUS2011 - Press - 2011 Census: 80.2 million inhabitants lived in Germany on 9 May 2011 |url=https://www.zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Pressreleases/2013_Archiv/PR187_80_2_million_inhabitants_lived_in_Germany_on_9_May_2011.html |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=www.zensus2011.de}} Turks made up 11% of the city's population in 2019.

Population history

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung in Offenbach.png

Until the end of the 17th century, Offenbach remained a small town with less than a thousand inhabitants. With the coming into power of the count Johann Philipp in 1685, the city began to develop and the population rose steadily. In the 19th century the city became industrialized and the population increased even tenfold.{{cite web|title=Offenbach – die kleine Großstadt am Main|url=http://www.offenbach.de/offenbach/themen/unterwegs-in-offenbach/stadtinfo/article/ofportrait.html|publisher=City of Offenbach|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219072938/http://www.offenbach.de/offenbach/themen/unterwegs-in-offenbach/stadtinfo/article/ofportrait.html|archive-date=19 February 2014}}

Offenbach is one of the German cities where Germans without migrant background make up a minority of the population. As of 31 December 2012, approx. 44.3% of residents or 55,047 people had no foreign background. In contrast to that, there were 55.7% or 69,214 people with at least one non-German grandparent.{{cite web|title=Einwohner mit Migrationshintergrund am 31.12.2012|url=http://www.offenbach.de/stepone/data/pdf/e0/21/00/migrationshintergrund-migra-pro-seit-2009.pdf|publisher=Melderegister Offenbach, MigraPro|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109180449/http://www.offenbach.de/stepone/data/pdf/e0/21/00/migrationshintergrund-migra-pro-seit-2009.pdf|archive-date=9 November 2013}} The largest of those groups are:{{cite web |url=http://www.offenbach.de/stepone/data/pdf/3a/1e/00/bevoelkerung-mit-migrationshintergrund-1-2012.pdf |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund in Offenbach am Main : Erhebungsmethode und Ergebnisse |publisher=Offenbach.de |access-date=17 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201052018/http://www.offenbach.de/stepone/data/pdf/3a/1e/00/bevoelkerung-mit-migrationshintergrund-1-2012.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2012 }}

class="wikitable floatright"

|+Largest groups of foreign residents by 2022

Country|| Population
{{flag|Turkey}}6,179
{{flag|Romania}}5,631
{{flag|Syria}}5,416
{{flag|Greece}}5,180
{{flag|Bulgaria}}4,984
{{flag|Poland}}4,112
{{flag|Croatia}}4,052
{{flag|Italy}}3,919
{{flag|Ukraine}}3,469
{{flag|Serbia}}3,127
{{flag|Afghanistan}}2,715
{{flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}2,380
{{flag|Iraq}}1,807
{{flag|Morocco}}1,386
{{flag|Spain}}1,234

class="wikitable"
style="background:#efefef;"

! Year

! Population

1540style="text-align:right;"|480
1685style="text-align:right;"|600
1718style="text-align:right;"|1,500
1800style="text-align:right;"|5,000
1816style="text-align:right;"|6,210
1825style="text-align:right;"|7,147
1828style="text-align:right;"|7,466
1830style="text-align:right;"|7,498
1 December 1834style="text-align:right;"|9,433
1 December 1840style="text-align:right;"|9,597
3 December 1843style="text-align:right;"|9,883
3 December 1846style="text-align:right;"|11,565
3 December 1852style="text-align:right;"|11,087
3 December 1855style="text-align:right;"|13,724
3 December 1861style="text-align:right;"|16,708
3 December 1864style="text-align:right;"|19,390

class="wikitable"
style="background:#efefef;"

! Year

! Population

3 December 1867style="text-align:right;"|20,322
1 December 1871style="text-align:right;"|22,689
1 December 1875style="text-align:right;"|26,012
1 December 1880style="text-align:right;"|28,597
1 December 1885style="text-align:right;"|31,704
1 December 1890style="text-align:right;"|35,064
2 December 1895style="text-align:right;"|39,388
1 December 1900style="text-align:right;"|50,468
1 December 1905style="text-align:right;"|59,765
1 December 1910style="text-align:right;"|75,583
1 December 1916style="text-align:right;"|67,197
5 December 1917style="text-align:right;"|67,483
8 October 1919style="text-align:right;"|75,380
16 June 1925style="text-align:right;"|79,362
16 June 1933style="text-align:right;"|81,329
17 May 1939style="text-align:right;"|85,140

class="wikitable"
style="background:#efefef;"

! Year

! Population

31 December 1945style="text-align:right;"|70,600
29 October 1946style="text-align:right;"|75,479
13 September 1950style="text-align:right;"|89,030
25 September 1956style="text-align:right;"|104,283
6 June 1961style="text-align:right;"|116,195
31 December 1965style="text-align:right;"|117,893
27 May 1970style="text-align:right;"|117,306
31 December 1975style="text-align:right;"|115,251
31 December 1980style="text-align:right;"|110,993
31 December 1985style="text-align:right;"|107,090
25 May 1987style="text-align:right;"|111,386
31 December 1990style="text-align:right;"|114,992
31 December 1995style="text-align:right;"|116,533
31 December 2000style="text-align:right;"|117,535
30 September 2005style="text-align:right;"|119,833
31 March 2007style="text-align:right;"|117,224

class="wikitable"
style="background:#efefef;"

! Year

! Population

31 December 2008style="text-align:right;"|118,103
31 December 2009style="text-align:right;"|117,718
31 December 2010style="text-align:right;"|119,734
31 December 2011style="text-align:right;"|121,970
31 December 2012style="text-align:right;"|116,945
31 December 2013style="text-align:right;"|126,934

Economy

File:City Tower Nordseite2.jpg.]]

Until the early 1970s, Offenbach was dominated by the machine-building and leather industries.{{cn|date=February 2025}} The city hosts the German Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies to this day. The Deutscher Wetterdienst, commonly abbreviated as DWD, (translated from German as German Meteorological Service), residing in the Westend district.

Offenbach was also the European center of typography, with Gebr. Klingspor and Linotype (inventors of Optima or Palatino typeface) moving to nearby Eschborn in the 1970s and MAN Roland printing machines still a major employer today. Typography and design still remain important with a cluster of graphic design and industrial design companies, as well as the university level Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main (HfG) design school and the Klingspor Museum.

In recent years Offenbach has become a popular location for a wide array of services, especially from the transport sectors. Offenbach is the host to the European headquarters of Honda,{{Cite web|title=Kontakt|url=https://www.honda.de/cars/useful-links/contact-us.html|access-date=8 January 2023|website=www.honda.de|language=de}}{{failed verification|date=May 2023}} Hyundai Motors"[http://www.hyundai.com/eu/en/NewsEvent/NewsEvents/096795.html News & Events] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211112934/http://www.hyundai.com/eu/en/NewsEvent/NewsEvents/096795.html |date=2012-02-11 }}." Hyundai. Retrieved on 22 April 2012. "Kaiserleipromenade 5 63067 Offenbach" and Kumho Tires."[http://www.kumhotire.de/metanavigation/impressum.html Impressum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104173456/http://www.kumhotire.de/metanavigation/impressum.html |date=2011-11-04 }}." Kumho Tyres. Retrieved on 9 November 2011. "Brüsseler Platz 1 63067 Offenbach am Main"

Omega-haus01.JPG|An office building in Offenbach-Kaiserlei

Zeitungsrollenoffsetdruck-COLORMAN.jpg|A printing machine produced by Manroland

Honda Small Hybrid Sports Concept.jpg|Honda Small Hybrid Sports Concept developed in Offenbach

Sheraton-offenbach.jpg|The Sheraton Offenbach

01 Ring Center shopping mall, Offenbach am Main, Germany.jpg|Einkaufszentrum Ring Center

Arts and culture

=Attractions=

File:Klingspor-Museum.jpg

File:Park-of.JPG

File:Offenbach 18.04.2014 19-49-55.jpg

In Offenbach there is no specific Old Town, but there are several buildings which survived bombing during the war and have been restored. One of them is the Neo-baroque palace Büsingpalais with the Büsingpark, reconstructed in the 1980s. Today it is used as a congress center close to the Sheraton hotel. Between the shopping area and the Main, is the Lilipark and the Lilitemple, named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's fiancée Lili Schönemann. The most important building is the {{Interlanguage link|Isenburger Schloss|de}} (Isenburg Palace), a renaissance palace from 1576. It is today used by the Offenbach Design University which is next to it. There is also a neoclassic palace in the borough Rumpenheim, the Rumpenheimer Schloss it now serves exclusively as domestic dwellings but the park is public.

  • Isenburger Schloss, a Renaissance building, now used by the Offenbach Design University
  • Büsingpalais with Büsingpark
  • Wilhelmsplatz a square with coffee houses and three times a week a market.
  • Buildings of the French Protestant Church and the French Protestant Community.
  • Rumpenheim Palace.
  • Former Synagogue "Capitol" (now a concert hall next to the new Synagogue).
  • The Westend Quarter (19th century).
  • Several art deco apartment houses.
  • Buildings by early 20th century architect Hugo Eberhardt: "Heyne" Factory, main building of the Design University, AOK Insurance building.
  • Prefabricated houses by Egon Eiermann in Lauterborn

=Events=

There are several festivals in Offenbach, some of these are:

  • Lichterfest im Büsing-Park (festival of lights in the park of the Büsing palais)
  • Nacht der Museen (with Frankfurt)
  • Mainuferfest
  • Cross Media Night

=Museums=

Sports

File:Diba stadion offenbach 06.JPG stadium "Bieberer Berg"]]

Kickers Offenbach football club was founded in 1901.

Transport

=Roads=

The streets of central Offenbach are usually congested with cars during the rush hour. Some areas, especially around the shopping streets, are pedestrian-only streets. There are numerous car parks located throughout the city. The Offenbacher Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange where the Autobahnen A 3 (Cologne-Würzburg) and A 661 meet. The A661 crosses the A 3 (Cologne-Würzburg) and A 5 (Basel-Hannover).

=Public transport=

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The city is connected by a major line of the S-Bahn railway system to Frankfurt. The station in the city center is Marktplatz. In general, six stations are located in Offenbach: Offenbach-Kaiserlei, Offenbach-Ledermuseum, Offenbach-Marktplatz, Offenbach-Ost, Offenbach-Bieber, Offenbach-Waldhof. Trains run every 5–10 minutes between Offenbach and Frankfurt. A 24 hours Service between both cities was introduced in 2013. The journey from Offenbach Marktplatz to Frankfurt Main Station takes 15 minutes, Frankfurt Airport can be reached within 26 minutes.

Suburban trains run underground in downtown Offenbach. The city tunnel was opened in 1996. Services split up at Offenbach-Ost Station to Hanau (S8 and S9 trains), Rödermark (S1) and Dietzenbach (S2).

An often-addressed problem is that there is no direct interchange between regional and suburban trains in Offenbach, since the lines were separated when the tunnel was built. Therefore, residents and city officials have proposed several times that platforms for regional trains should be added to the Offenbach-Ost Station.

The city's municipal public transportation services are operated by the "Offenbacher Verkehrsbetriebe" (OVB) and its subcontractors.

Nine routes (numbered 101–108 and 120) connect all boroughs with the major train stations at Marktplatz, Offenbach-Ost and Kaiserlei as well as the Central Station. The bus network has very good coverage and frequency of service. All routes except for number 102 and number 107 busses stop at Marktplatz station, making it the most important transit hub in the city. Buses usually run with a 15-minute headway on working days and a 30-minute headway on Sundays, public holidays and after 8:00 pm.

Exemptions are routes 103, 107 and 120 which run every 30 minutes. Number 103 and 120 buses share most of their route, creating a 15-minute headway on the shared section in downtown Offenbach. Those two routes also connect the city of Offenbach with its surrounding towns, Frankfurt am Main, Mühlheim am Main and Obertshausen.

Out of all municipal bus services the number 101 bus is the most frequented route. It runs every 7 or 8 minutes Mondays through Fridays. Service on the other most frequented routes (104 and 105) is also increased to a 7/8-minute headway during rush hours.

In addition to the municipal bus services there are regional buses that serve the city. Two express bus routes connect Offenbach to the city of Langen (route X83) and Bad Vilbel (X97). Other services are the number OF-30 bus to Heusenstamm, the 41 bus to Fechenheim as well as the 551 to Gravenbruch, Enkheim and Bad Vilbel.

Regional trains stop at the Offenbach Central Station in the city's center. The station is on the Frankfurt-Hanau main line which is one of railway with the most traffic in Germany. Mostly hourly service for Wächsersbach, Fulda, Würzburg and Erbach call at the Offenbach Central Station.

There is no long-distance train service at central station, although many high-speed trains pass through on their way from Frankfurt to Munich, Berlin or Hamburg.

The station lost most of its importance when the suburban trains were re-routed through the newly build tunnel beneath Berliner Straße. Nonetheless a train ride from Offenbach Central Station to Frankfurt Central Station takes only ten minutes.

=Frankfurt Airport=

The city is accessed from around the world via the Frankfurt Airport, (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) which is located {{convert|12|km|abbr=off}} from Offenbach. The airport can be reached by car or bus and has two train stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 (direction "Offenbach Ost or "Hanau"), departing from the regional traffic station, take 25 minutes from the airport to get to Offenbach.

Notable people

File:JohannAndreKomponistS46.jpg

File:Salomon Formstecher Rabbiner aus Offenbach am Main.JPG

File:Böhm-2.jpg

{{Further|Category:People from Offenbach am Main}}

=Notable residents=

  • Jacob Frank (1726–1791), Jewish religious leader
  • Abraham Bing (1752–1841), rabbi
  • Rudolf Koch (1876–1934), typeface designer, calligrapher and university professor
  • Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970), official and justice inspector, attended Goethschule here
  • Heinrich Kaminski (1886–1946), composer, worked here
  • Ignatz Wiemeler (1895–1952), bookbinder and university professor{{Cite web|title=Ignatz Wiemeler and his ingenious bindings. A highlight in the collections of the Klingspor Museum Offenbach|url=https://www.aepm.eu/publications/conference-proceedings-2/conference-proceedings/rosita-nenno-ignatz-wiemeler-and-his-ingenious-bindings/|access-date=8 February 2021|website=Association of European Printing Museums}}
  • Fritz Kredel (1900–1973), German-American artist and graphic designer, studied here
  • Regina Jonas (1902–1944), first female Rabbi, ordained in Offenbach
  • Karlgeorg Hoefer (1914–2000), calligrapher and typographer
  • Cornelia Hanisch (born 1952), fencer, Olympic winner
  • Dieter Müller (born 1954), footballer
  • Rudi Völler (born 1960), football player and manager
  • Götz Otto (born 1967), actor
  • Anthony Rother (born 1972), electronic musician

Gallery

Offenbach Isenburger Schloss c.jpg|Isenburger Schloss

Büsing Palais d.jpg|Büsingpalais

Offenbach Rumpenheimer Schloss a.jpg|Rumpenheimer Schloss

OFwochenmarkt.jpg|The market on Wilhelmsplatz

Hfg-offenbach-germany.jpg|Detail at the building of the HfG, designed by Hugo Eberhardt

Darmstädter-straße.jpg|A typical street in Offenbach

Klinikum-offenbach-2010.JPG|The municipal hospital

Buchrainweg29.jpg|The house where Rudolf Koch lived, one of the art deco houses in the southwestern part of the town

Offenbach Hills.jpg|Offenbach hills

References

{{reflist|30em}}