Hauptwache

Hauptwache is a central plaza in Frankfurt, Germany, where a Baroque building stands among modern architecture, shops, and transport routes. The building dates from 1730.

It originally served as headquarters for Frankfurt’s city militia and also contained a prison during the city-state period. The square once carried the name Paradeplatz. After its military role ended, the building became a police station before taking on its café function. War damage altered the building.

Reconstruction reopened it with a modified roof, and later work rebuilt it above the underground station beneath the plaza. St Catherine’s Church dominates the surrounding square. A sunken terrace leads towards the underground pedestrian area, where shops and the transport station connect Hauptwache with Frankfurt’s city centre. Locals call this lower space das Loch.

The plaza was formerly known as Schillerplatz and later became a meeting point for shopping streets such as the Zeil. Modern buildings reflect wartime destruction. The failed Frankfurter Wachensturm brought revolutionary action to the Hauptwache and nearby Konstablerwache in the nineteenth century. The site joins history, shopping, and underground transport.