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FRANKFURT AN DER ODER
- GERMANY
Frankfurt (Oder) is a town in Brandenburg,
Germany, located on the river Oder, on the German-Polish border. Population:
66,151 (June 30, 2004).
The town of Frankfurt (Oder) was founded in the 13th century (local
government charter in 1253) at the river crossing known as the Brandendamm.
The early settlers lived on the western banks of the Oder; later the town
was extended to the eastern banks (which are today Polish). In late medieval
times the town dominated the trade on the river between Wroclaw (Breslau)
and Szczecin (Stettin). In 1430 Frankfurt joined the Hanseatic League, but
was a member only for a short time.
In the 19th century, Frankfurt (Oder) played
an important role in trade. Centrally positioned in the Kingdom of Prussia
between Berlin and Poznan (Poland), and on the trafficked river Oder, the
city housed the second largest annual trade fair (Messe) of the German Reich,
surpassed only by that in Leipzig. This is in sharp contrast to the
Frankfurt (Oder) of the Cold War.
There was intense fighting for the city in 1945 when the Germans made it a
fortress blocking the Soviets from taking the direct route to Berlin. After
World War II Frankfurt was located on the new Polish border; the quarters on
the eastern banks became the Polish town of Slubice.
Both towns are now in friendly relations and run several common projects and
facilities. After Poland joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, Frankfurt
(Oder) stopped being a border town. Despite this in the post-communist era
the town has been quite poor with high unemployment. Its population has
fallen significantly from around 87,000 at the time of German reunification
in 1990.
Frankfurt housed a university between 1506 and 1811. It was refounded in
1991 under the old name, but with a European emphasis, as the Viadrina
European University, which in several respects is a common German-Polish
university.
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