ENGLAND’S Euros adventure has moved on to Frankfurt, a city that could not be more different to Gelsenkirchen, the venue for their first game.

Whereas Gelsenkirchen is a small industrial town, situated in Germany’s north, Frankfurt is the nation’s financial powerhouse, located in the central state of Hesse.

Sitting on the river Main, it has the nickname ‘Mainhattan’ because of all the towering skyscrapers that form its financial district and house the European Central Bank, the German Bundesbank and the world-renowned Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Some of the skyscrapers are the tallest in Europe, and with the Main running through the centre of the city, there are definite similarities to London with Frankfurt’s financial district resembling Canary Wharf.

Like most of Germany’s major cities, Frankfurt was heavily bombed during the Second World War, but around half of the buildings that existed prior to the start of the war still exist, ensuring the city centre has retained much of its historic feel.

After the somewhat low-key feel of Gelsenkirchen, it’s been nice for England fans to pitch up in one of Germany most famous cities – Frankfurt is the fifth-biggest in the country – and they were mingling with the large Danish contingent that has also descended on the city in the build-up to the game.

England supporters might well remember the city from the 2006 World Cup, when Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side played their first game of the tournament in Frankfurt, beating Paraguay 1-0.

Like Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt’s main stadium lies a fair way outside the city centre, in a heavily wooded park area, so getting to the ground for this evening’s game will once again be something of a logistical challenge.

Deutsche Bank Park, as Frankfurt’s stadium is now known, is home to Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished sixth in last season’s Bundesliga, and is generally regarded as one of Germany’s best. Like Wembley and Tottenham’s new stadium, it hosts international matches in the NFL.


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IF you’re in Frankfurt, you’ve got to have a frankfurter. But was the hot dog actually invented here?

Frankfurt certainly thinks so, proudly touting itself as the home of a snack that has subsequently gone worldwide.

As ever with these things, there’s a bit of debate about the actual origin of the highly-seasoned pork and beef sausage, but the tale that Frankfurt likes to tell the world is that the frankfurter was invented in the city in 1484, eight years before Columbus set sail for the United States.

Another story claims that the frankfurter was actually invented much later, in the 17th Century, when a local butcher called Johann Georghehner came up with the distinctive sausage and began selling it from his Frankfurt shop.

Either way, mass emigration from Germany to the United States meant frankfurters started appearing in the US in the early Nineteenth Century and quickly became a national snack on the other side of the Atlantic. And the rest is hot-dog history.


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I TRAVELLED from Essen to Frankfurt by train, with the route taking me along the banks of the Rhein and taking in some of the most dramatic scenery in Europe.

Sweeping hills, huge forests and distinctive German-style castles perched on rocky outcrops – it was basically a Rhein river cruise without having to get out onto the water.

We went through small towns and villages as well as cities such as Cologne, Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz, and wherever we were, it was easy to tell that the Euros were taking place.

Flags were flying, posters were here, there and everywhere and the bigger towns or cities all had designated fan areas where people could congregate to watch the games. Germany has always been a football-mad nation, but it certainly seems to have bought into this tournament. You imagine the excitement will only become more intense if the German national side continue to win their games.


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GIVEN that the train I was on was going through Cologne, where Scotland were to play out their 1-1 draw with Switzerland a few hours later, it was no surprise to be surrounded by kilts for the first half of the journey. The Scots are here in force – complete with sporrans and bagpipes.

The banter between England and Scotland fans has been a key part of my German experience so far, and it’s always been good-natured. We think ‘they get battered everywhere they go’, they think they’re going to send us home ‘tae think again’. Deep down, though, I think there’s a fair bit of mutual respect and admiration for the commitment and dedication of both nations’ travelling support.