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FRANKFURT AM MAIN - GERMANY
Frankfurt am Main is a city in Hesse, Germany. Typically referred to among
English speakers as Frankfurt, though it was once known as Frankfort-on-Main
with English speakers. It should not be confused with another Frankfurt in
Germany: see Frankfurt an der Oder.
Situated at the Main river, it is the largest city in the German state of
Hesse and the fifth largest city of Germany. It has a population of
approximately 650,000.
Introduction
The three pillar industries of Frankfurt are finance, exhitibions and
transport; it is the transport hub of Germany. Frankfurt has been
Germany's financial capital for centuries. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange
is Germany's largest, the site of 85% of Germany's turnover in stocks,
and one of the world's biggest. Frankfurt is also the home of the
European Central Bank and the German Bundesbank. Many large trade fairs
also call Frankfurt home, notably Messe Frankfurt.
During WWII, Frankfurt was heavily bombed, though the city quickly
recovered.
Frankfurt is often called "Bankfurt" or "Mainhattan" (derived from the
local Main River). It is one of only three European cities that have a
significant number of high-rise skyscrapers. With 9 skyscrapers taller
than 150 meters (492 feet) in 2004, Frankfurt is second behind Paris (La
Défense and Montparnasse: 12 skyscrapers taller than 150 meters, not
counting the Eiffel Tower), but ahead of London (Canary Wharf and City:
8 skyscrapers taller than 150 meters). The city of Frankfurt contains
the tallest skyscraper in Europe, the Commerzbank. In Germany, only
Frankfurt and Düsseldorf have high-rise skyscrapers.
Frankfurt is renowned for its finance industry, on par with London and
Paris, as well as for its central location in Western Europe, surrounded
by the most populous areas of Europe. It has a first-class
infrastructure and a major international airport: Frankfurt
International Airport. It is the second or third-busiest in Europe,
depending on the data used. Passenger traffic at in 2003 was 48,351,664,
second in Europe behind London Heathrow Airport (63,487,136), almost in
a tie with Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (48,220,436).
Frankfurt has a huge number of institutions, among them its university,
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, as well as a number of museums, most
of them lined up along the Main river on the Museumsufer (museum shore)
and a large botanical garden, the Palmengarten. The best known museums
are the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, or short
Städel, and the Naturmuseum Senckenberg. The Museum für moderne Kunst (Museum
of Modern Art) and Schirn Kunsthalle (Schirn Art Galery) are also
notable.
History
In the area of the Römer roman settlements were established, probably in
the first century, with some artefacts remaining. Also, the city
district Bonames has a name probably dating back to Roman times, Bonames
is thought to be derived from bona me(n)sa. Nida (Heddernheim) was a
Roman civitas capital.
The name of Frankfurt on the Main river is derived from the Franconofurt
of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; Furt (cf. English ford) denotes a
low point passage across a stream or river. Alemanni and Franks lived
there and by 794 Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and
church synod, at which Franconofurd (-furt -vurd) is first mentioned.
However, since frank is also an old German word for frei (meaning
"free"), Frankfurt was a "free ford," an opportunity to cross the river
Main without paying bridgetoll.
In the Holy Roman Empire, Frankfurt was one of the most important cities.
Since 855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt,
Lothar II being the first one, and then crowned in Aachen. Since 1562
the kings/emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximilian II being
the first one. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected.
He was crowned, on purpose, on Bastille Day, July 14, the anniversary of
the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place
in the cathedral St. Bartholomäus, known as the Kaiserdom (en: Emperors
Cathedral), or in its predecessors.
The Frankfurter Messe (en: Frankfurt trade fair) was first mentioned in
1150. In 1240, Emperor Friedrich II. granted an Imperial privilege to
its visitors, meaning they would be protected by the Empire. Since 1478,
book trade fairs are held in Frankfurt, the Frankfurter Buchmesse still
is the most important in Germany and, some might say, the world.
In 1372 Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt (en:Imperial city), i.e. directly
subordinate to the emperor and not to a king or a local nobleman.
Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years' War, but it
suffered nonetheless from the plague that was brought to the city by
refugees. After the end of the war Frankfurt regained its wealth.
In the Napoleonic Wars Frankfurt was occupied or cannonaded several
times by French troops. The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, a vassal state of
France, remained a short episode that lasted only from 1810 to 1813. The
Congress of Vienna dissolved this entity, and Frankfurt entered the
newly founded German Confederation as a free city. It became the seat of
the Bundestag which was the parliament of the German Confederation.
After the ill-faithed revolution of 1848, Frankfurt was home to the
first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung), which resided in
St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche) (see German Confederation for details)
and was opened on May 18th, 1848. The institution failed in 1849 when
the Prussian king declared that he won't accept a "crown from the
gutter". In the year of its existence the assembly had developed a
common constitution for a unified Germany with the Prussian king as its
monarch.
Frankfurt lost its independence in 1866. The Austro-Prussian War was
over, and Prussia annexed several smaller states, among them the city of
Frankfurt. The Prussian administration incorporated Frankfurt into its
province of Hesse-Nassau.
In 1914, the citizens of Frankfurt founded the University of Frankfurt,
later called Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. This is the only civic
foundation of a university in Germany; it is today one of Germany's
largest.
During the Nazi era the synagogues of Frankfurt were destroyed. The city
of Frankfurt was severely bombed in World War II. After the end of the
war Frankfurt became a part of the newly founded state of Hesse.
Frankfurt was the original choice for the capital of West Germany, they
even went as far as constructing a new parliament building, never used
for its intended purpose and is now a TV studio. In the end, Konrad
Adenauer (the first post-war Chancellor) preferred the tiny city of
Bonn, for the most part because it was his hometown, but also for
another reason; at the time, the Germans feared that making Frankfurt
the capital of West Germany would give the Americans too much influence
over the German government, as Frankfurt was the headquarters city of
the United States zone of the Allied occupation.
People born in Frankfurt
Charles the Bald
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Bettina von Arnim
Otto Hahn
Erich Fromm
Theodor Adorno
Anne Frank
Martin Lawrence
Sights
Cathedral
The Cathedral Saint Bartholomeus (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus) is a Gothic
construction which was built in the 14th and 15th century on the
foundation of an earlier church from the Merovingian time. It is the
main church of Frankfurt. From 1356 on the kings of the Holy Roman
Empire were elected in this church, and from 1562 to 1792 the emperors
were crowned here.
Since the 18th century Saint Bartholomeus has been called "the
cathedral" by the people although it has never been a bishop's seat. In
1867 the cathedral was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in its present
style. The height of the cathedral is 95 m.
Römer
The name of the town hall means "Roman". It is in fact three houses
which were acquired by the city council in 1405 from a wealthy merchant
family. The middle house became the town hall and was later connected
with the neighbouring buildings. In the upper floor there is the
Kaisersaal ("Emperor's Hall") where the newly crowned emperors held
their banquets.
The Römer was destroyed in World War II, but rebuilt afterwards.
Saint Paul's Church
Saint Paul's Church (Paulskirche) is a rather new church. It was
established in 1789 as a Protestant church but not finished until 1833.
Its importance has its root in the Frankfurt Parliament which was held
here in 1848/49 in order to develop a constitution for a united Germany.
The institution failed because the monarchs of Prussia and Austria did
not want lose power; in 1849 Prussian troops ended the democratic
experiment by force of arms, and the parliament was dissolved.
Afterwards the building was used for church services again.
Saint Paul was completely destroyed in World War II but quickly rebuilt.
Today it is not used as a sacral building anymore but for exhibitions.
In 1963 US president John F. Kennedy made a speech in Saint Paul during
his visit to Frankfurt.
Opera
The famous opera house of Frankfurt (Alte Oper) was built in 1880 by the
architect Richard Lucae. It was one of the major opera housed of Germany
until its destruction in World War II. It was not until 1981 that the
old opera was eventually rebuilt and opened. Today it is a concert hall
while operas are performed in a building from 1951.
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