"Walter Kolb" Main River Ferry

Höchst without its Main River ferry? Unthinkable, said the residents of this neighbourhood in western Frankfurt in the early 1990s, and they protested vehemently against its closure. After all, there had been a ferry connection between Höchst and Schwanheim on the other side of the Main for nearly 400 years; even the new Leuna Bridge wasn’t supposed to change that. And so the aging car ferry was replaced by the smaller “Walter Kolb” ferry; ever since, it has been taking pedestrians across the Main in just a few minutes. Bicycles can be brought along for free—the ferry is part of the GrünGürtel bike path. The “Walter Kolb” also makes regular trips to the city centre and to special events, such as the Christmas market. Who is the ferry named after? Walter Kolb served as Frankfurt’s first freely elected mayor after World War II, beginning in 1946. He was popular not only as a former opponent of the Nazis and a champion of democracy, but also because he advocated—in vain—for Frankfurt to become the capital of the new Federal Republic of Germany. Incidentally, Kolb had his own unique way of crossing the river: for many years, he swam across the Main every day.