The normally quiet streets of Frankfurt’s financial district on a Sunday have been replaced by the sound of a loud explosion that echoed across the city.

Around 10,000 people gathered to see the 116 metre high Afe Tower being demolished. It’s the highest building in Europe to have been razed to the ground by explosives.

Nine-hundred-and-fifty kilograms of Nitropenta was used to bring down the disused academic building. Water canisters, each containing 1,000 litres, were also blown up to stop too much dust being produced.

The demolition has certainly caused conflicting emotions for some there to witness the moment.

Christina Basti said that she studied for many years in the tower and had “both good and bad memories of it.” She added that it reminds her of her time at university.

Two new high-rise office buildings are to be constructed on the site, previously the home of a faculty at the city’s Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.