OpernTurm, Office skyscraper near Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany
The OpernTurm is a 170-metre office tower with 42 storeys and a seven-storey podium facing the Alte Oper, at the corner of Bockenheimer Landstraße and Reuterweg. Its yellow-beige stone cladding matches the buildings around Opernplatz, and an 18-metre-high lobby leads to the tower. The main tenant is UBS Europe SE.
The building was constructed between 2007 and 2009 on the site of the former Zürich-Haus, a 68-meter tower built in 1962. The new structure replaced this earlier building as part of Frankfurt's ongoing modernization of its financial district.
In the 18-metre-high lobby hangs Julian Schnabel's "Ahab", a 12-metre-tall, 13-metre-wide canvas made from used sailcloth. It shows a blood-stained black whale and a stylised white swan, reversing the finance terms "white whale" and "black swan". The first tenant, retailer Manufactum, moved into the podium building in November 2009.
The building is easily accessible by public transportation thanks to its location near Opernplatz in the city center. Since it is an active office building, visitor access to interior spaces may be restricted, though the lobby area is generally open to the public.
The lobby holds Julian Schnabel's Ahab, a 12-metre-high canvas made from used sailcloth, showing a blood-stained black whale and a stylised white swan. The images reverse the financial terms "white whale" and "black swan". The OpernTurm also has its own postcode, 60306.
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