I'm a simple emigrant, and I met a bull with a bear in Frankfurt

If you literally walk two minutes away from the main shopping street in Frankfurt, you can reach a small square, on which stand two huge bronze beasts. A bull and a bear. Anyone who is at all familiar with the financial world will immediately understand that these are symbols of the stock market. This sculpture was commissioned to the sculptor Reinhard Dahlauer in honor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's 400th anniversary. In 1988 it was installed and gifted to the city: the bull was placed closer to the building, with its back to it and in a fighting stance, as if it protects us all from the bear. This is done because the bull symbolizes market growth, and the bear — decline. You probably know the bull statue in New York; there are many such bulls around the world, but in Germany they stood out and decided to be more realistic. Here they showed that the market is not only endless growth and joy, but sometimes the loss of savings and pain. Since then these statues have regularly been used in performances by activists and artists. For example, in 2007 the statues were painted green in honor of the cooperation between the Frankfurt and Swiss stock exchanges. And in 2008, after the crisis, a bronze turtle was placed nearby as a call for safe investments in government securities. The following year farmers brought a live pig there with the words "Banks are easy for bankers, hard for farmers," protesting against agricultural policy. I will post all the photos in the comments. And, of course, for good luck people rub the bear's nose, the bull's horns, and a few other things—guess what? Behind the animals is the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is one of the largest and most important exchanges in the world. Every day billions of euros are traded on it; for example, in April this year the average daily trading volume was 4.57 billion euros. Although most trading is now electronic, live trading is also conducted here, which you can watch from the viewing gallery. The building itself is very beautiful with sculptures symbolizing each continent. But the facade is currently under renovation, so you can't fully enjoy it. But you can view the Frankfurt Stock Exchange not only from the outside — the exchange has a visitors' center. Every day you can simply walk in and look at the exchange from the inside. To do this you need to register on their center's website; there you can also visit exhibitions, interactive activities, lectures about the market, and even a trading simulator, completely free. Just don't forget to dress a bit nicer — they say you might not be admitted in shorts. In general, I personally like that the Germans included the bear in the composition so that we don’t forget that investing is unpredictable, and investors' emotions even more so. #frankfurt #money