| Messeturm | |
| Location: | Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49 Frankfurt Hesse, Germany |
| Coordinates: | 50.1122°N 8.6528°W |
| Mapframe-Marker: | building |
| Status: | Completed |
| Roof: | 2570NaN0 |
| Top Floor: | 228m (748feet) |
| Floor Count: | 63 2 below ground |
| Start Date: | 13 July 1988 |
| Opening: | October 1990 |
| Building Type: | Commercial offices |
| Floor Area: | 61711-2NaN-2 |
| Cost: | DM500 million |
| Developer: | Tishman Speyer Properties CitiBank |
| Owner: | Tishman Speyer Properties |
| Architectural Style: | Art Deco, Postmodern |
| Architect: | Helmut Jahn Richard Murphy |
| Structural Engineer: | Ingenieurbüro Fritz Nötzold |
| Main Contractor: | HOCHTIEF AG |
| References: | [1] |
The Messeturm, or Trade Fair Tower, is a 63-storey, 257m (843feet)[2] skyscraper in the Westend-Süd district of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the second tallest building in Frankfurt, the second tallest building in Germany and the third tallest building in the European Union. It was the tallest building in Europe from its completion in 1990 until 1997 when it was surpassed by the Commerzbank Tower, which is also located in Frankfurt.
The Messeturm is located near the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds. Helmut Jahn designed the Messeturm in a postmodern architectural style. It is regarded as one of the design classics among European skyscrapers. Despite its name, the Messeturm is not used for trade fair exhibitions but as an office building. It is one of the few buildings in Germany with their own postal code (60308), the others being Opernturm, another Frankfurt skyscraper, and the summit station on Zugspitze.
When Germany submitted its application to have Frankfurt selected as the seat of the European Union's Anti-money-laundering authority (AMLA) in 2023, the Messeturm was one of three options – alongside Tower 185 – presented as potential location for the new agency.[3]
The Messeturm is similar in design to towers by other architects including the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia and Key Tower (1991) in Cleveland, Ohio. Frankfurters often call it Bleistift ("pencil") due to its shape. The construction of the building's foundation set a world record for the longest continuous concrete pour. Ninety trucks poured concrete for 78 hours into the 6m (20feet) deep foundation. Its ground floor area is just 1681m2, and features a 36.31NaN1 pyramid at the top.
The tower uses numerous geometric shapes in its design such as the square footprint which is the main shape used throughout the tower. It then rises to a cylindrical shape which finally completes in a pyramid.
There are 900 parking places in a public parking garage and a direct connection to the subway.