Europese Centrale Bank verhuist in 2010 (en)

The European Central Bank is set to move its headquarters in Frankfurt to a new building costing 500 million euro.

Construction works on the 100 000 square-metre building, consisting of two interlocking towers 184 meters tall, are planned to start next year and be finished by 2010.

The ECB chose the final design by Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au last week - President Jean-Claude Trichet called it a future "global icon".

The new headquarters will be located in a historical area of Grossmarkthalle in the east of Frankfurt, which was used as a collection site for Jews to be deported to concentration camps by the Nazis. A new memorial close to the ECB building will commemorate them.

Due to the purchase of the historical site and other additional elements, the total investment costs are likely to be higher than 500 million euro, the ECB suggested.