Frankfurt

Monday June 16

Frankfurt

In the area of the Römer, Roman settlements were established, probably in the 1st century.  The name of Frankfurt on Main is derived from the Franconofurd of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; Furt (cf. English ford) where the river was shallow enough to be crossed by wading. Alemanni and Franks lived there and by 794 Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which Franconofurd (-furt -vurd) was first mentioned.

Frankfurt was one of the most important cities in the following Holy Roman Empire. From 855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned in Aachen. From 1562 the kings and emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximilian II being the first. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected, his coronation was deliberately held on Bastille Day, 14 July, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The elections and coronations took place in St. Bartholomäus Cathedral, known as the Kaiserdom (Emperor's Cathedral).

The Frankfurter Messe (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. The fair became particularly important when similar fairs in French Beaucaire lost attraction around 1380. Book trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt since 1478.

In 1372 Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt (Imperial Free City), directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.

In 1585 Frankfurt traders established a system of exchange rates for the various currencies that were circulating in the city to prevent cheating and extortion, laying the foundation for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.  Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years' War, but suffered from the bubonic plague that was brought to the city by refugees. 

When we pulled back the curtains this morning we were about to enter the first lock on the Main River having left the Moselle River and sailed along the Rhine River for a while, we must have passed Koblenz while we slept.

Houses in City Square

We must have made good time with our sailing during the night as we arrived in Frankfurt one hour early but had to wait for our guides to arrive.  During the war Frankfurt was extensively damaged but a lot of the medieval buildings have been rebuilt in the old style, particularly in the area surrounding squares.  Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany and many banks including the Euro Bank have there headquarters here.  The Stock Exchange is the third busiest in the world.

We walked through gardens along the edge of the river before walking to the town square with the Old Town Hall and several rebuilt medieval houses.  From here we walked to St Bartholomew’s Cathedral, this has never been the seat of a Bishop but from the 16^th century it has been called a 

 cathedral due to it being the place of the coronation of German Kings and Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.

Frankfurt Opera House

From the cathedral we walked past the building where the German /Constitution was developed in the 1880s, to St Catherine’s Church, the first protestant church in the city which was built in the early 1500s.  We then walked along a narrow street lined with shops of all the top fashion, jewellery and other expensive shops; it should probably be renamed Millionaire’s Row.  

This street brought us to the Frankfurt Opera House the last place on our tour where the guide left us to find our own way back to the river and the ship.