Both sides were in need of a boost going into this one, and it was Frankfurt who got it almost immediately.
Ritsu Doan’s cross was nodded back into the middle of the box by Nathaniel Brown, where Arnaud Kalimuendo was lurking to inventively flick over Mio Backhaus with just 51 seconds gone.
The new loan signing from Nottingham Forest would have expected his first goal for the club to spur them on, but Werder responded well and began to challenge at the other end.
Justin Njinmah fired a warning shot when racing onto Jens Stage’s ball and pulling his effort just wide, but he made up for it from almost identical circumstances less than 10 minutes later.
This time it was Yukinari Sugawara’s ball which sent him through, before Njinmah touched it away from Nnamdi Collins and placed it under Kaua Santos to level the scores.
The hosts then looked the likelier side to take the lead in the aftermath, but the interval came to the rescue of Frankfurt’s league-worst away defence.
Werder looked to build on their first goal in four matches, but they instead found themselves behind 10 minutes into the second half. Fares Chaibi looped a hopeful ball into the area, allowing Collins to dart in and get there first to toe it past Backhaus.
Chaibi then squandered a chance of his own, a miss that the visitors would come to rue as their opponents turned the game on its head in the space of just three minutes.
Stage restored parity for his side, as he rose highest to meet Samuel Mbangula’s free-kick delivery and loop it into the net over Santos.
Then, with 10 minutes remaining, Romano Schmid burst through, but cleverly chose to cut back and lay it off for substitute Jovan Milosevic, who swept into the near corner on just his second appearance for the club.
But there was heartbreak around the Weserstadion deep into stoppage time when Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab pulled it back for Ansgar Knauff to slot in from the centre of the area.
Neither side will be delighted with the point, especially as they both still endure lengthy winless streaks, but Frankfurt may be the happier after the last-second reprieve.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jens Stage (Werder Bremen)