The city of Frankfurt, known officially as Frankfurt am Main, is situated on the River Main, which is a tributary of the Rhine in the state of Hesse.
There were Roman settlements in what is now Frankfurt as far back as the first century, occupied by Franks and Alemanni, both of which were confederations of Germanic tribes.
In 794, Charlemagne convened and presided over an imperial assembly known as the Council of Frankfurt to address concerns about the Spain's Adoptionist movement and the Second Council of Nicaea and numerous other theological positions. It was for this reason the name Franconofurt was mentioned in writing for the first time.
Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious chose Frankfurt as his seat, expanded the palatinate and built a bigger palace. In 838, Louis had the entire city encircled by walls and moats.
Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800, which made Frankfurt an important city, and in short order, a royal settlement grew up around the city, which became the royal residence of the East Frankish kings from the ninth century into the middle ages. Frankfurt became the capital of East Francia and the principal seat of the eastern realm after the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Emperors and kings often stayed in the city, and church councils and Imperial Diet were held there.
In 1146, the pope sent the French abbott Bernard of Clairvaux out to preach thee Second Crusade. Bernard arrived at a Frankfurt in 1147 and called various men, among them Hohenstaufen King Conrad III, to the Crusade. Prior to Conrad's departure for Jerusalem, he chose his ten-year-old son as his heir. Sadly, the boy died shortly thereafter. Because of this, an election to replace the heir was held five years later in Frankfurt, the Hohenstaufen ruler Frederick Barbarossa was elected king Frederick I. Frankfurt was thereafter the customary place for elections and coronation. In 1356, the Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV, the equivalent of the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, named Frankfurt as the permanent place for the election of German kings.
In 1372, Frankfurt became a free imperial city, which is to say, a city subject to the authority of the German king, a status retained by the city until 1806, at which time Napoleon I designated it the seat of government. It became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, which was a confederacy created in 1810 by Napoleon, consisting of all of Germany except for Prussia and Austria, as well as the kingdoms of Wurttemberg and Bavaria, Saxony, and the states of Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Baden, and Berg. The Grand Duchy failed in 1813 when the military turned its loyalty to the Anglo-Prussia alliance.
Frankfurt once again became a free city when Napoleon fell in 1815, and in 1848-49, the Frankfurt National Assembly met in the city. Frankfurt am Main was the seat of the German Federal Diet, or Bundestag, hence making it the capital of Germany in 1816. Frankfurt was conquered and annexed by Prussia after the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, losing the city's status as a free city.
Frankfurt's Old Town was the largest medieval city in Germany, but during the Second World War, it was virtually destroyed by Allied bombing campaigns. It has since been rebuilt with more modern buildings mixed in with the rebuilt older buildings.
Today, it is a leading center of high technology, finances, and commerce. And of course, its quality sausages, known as frankfurters, live on.
Recommended Resources
Contains details about Frankfurt, and living in Frankfurt, which is important due to the fact that 1 in three people who live there do not hold a German passport. Articles about Goethe University and other educational institutions are addressed here. Information about city hall and local government are also found here, along with the history and culture of the city. You cannot go directly to the English translation, but click on the British flat at the upper right of the page.
http://www.frankfurt.de/
Information about the travel industry in Frankfurt as well as being a tourist, including hotels, tours, festivals and other events, restaurants, and places in the city which are specifically for children are all discussed on this web site. Also lists various places to shop, whether for food or clothing or pretty much anything else, and there is an entire section dedicated to places to swim.
https://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/en
The topic of this site is rental houses and apartments, both furnished and unfurnished. Each rental listed displays photographs of the rental as well as when it is available, a description, along with how much living space it has, and whether it is furnished or not. Additionally shares what equipment and facilities are included, the amount of rent, and which utilities are paid by the tenant. They also have descriptions of the surrounding area and what public transport is available.
https://web.frankfurtrentals.de/en
This website is about a 144-room hotel which has two categories of rooms, Standard and Comfort. The site lists the amenities, and there are photos of the hotel's swimming pool, sauna, steam bath, and jogging trails afforded by the fitness club, and there is an outline of their restaurant which serves breakfast and snacks, and their bar. One may book a room from any page on the website, and contact information is available at the bottom of each page.
https://www.savoyhotel.de/en/
The American Chamber of Commerce in Germany
Touts "AmCham Germany" and doles out details about the organisation's mission which is to enhance global economic and trade relations through partnership with the United States. Established in 1903, AmCham has a diverse media library and a press section. The site gives dates and times of the annual membership meeting as well as the itinerary and a list of speakers. The Members section lists the benefits of membership, including discounts and promotions of an ever-changing list of businesses.
https://www.amcham.de
