Verkehrsmuseum Frankfurt am Main

Verkehrsmuseum Frankfurt am Main stands in Schwanheim, tracing urban public transport across Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region. The museum forms part of the Route of Industrial Culture Rhine-Main and serves as a company museum for Stadtwerke Frankfurt and Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt. Covered halls and an outdoor area bring together trams, railway vehicles, signal systems and model tracks.

The collection grew from vehicles rescued from scrapping, including a motor car and trailer from the Frankfurt-Offenbacher Tramway Company. Hidden beneath tarpaulins at Eckenheim depot, those cars survived wartime air raids and resurfaced in 1950 through tram worker Ernst Lebek. Restoration followed, preserving examples from almost every retired Frankfurt tram series and creating a near-continuous record of the city’s tram development. The West Hall opened in 1984, while the East Hall followed in 1987 with about 2,200 square metres of covered exhibition space. Fire-safety problems have kept the museum closed since early 2022.

Among the vehicles, electric tram motor car number 8 dates from 1884 and ranks as the world’s oldest preserved example. Trailer number 13 accompanies it, while a 1923 low-floor trailer shows how early accessible design entered tram history. The DUEWAG U1 prototype, presented in 1965, represents the first true light-rail motor car.