Early history

Frankfurt is known to be inhabited from Roman times, when the road between Moguntisacum and Nida cut through the Main Valley. The city originated in the present Old Town, where a hill between Main’s river arms provided natural protection against any enemies.

The Romans are believed to have settled on the hill in the century BC, and since then several traces of their presence have been found. From the first centuries, there are remnants of Roman baths, which of course were associated with defense works. The military position was changed in the 200’s to, among other things, a villa with several farms.

The Roman history of Frankfurt ended in the years 259-260 when the Roman Empire’s border in the area was moved to the western bank of the Rhine.

 

City of Franks

In the centuries following the Roman retreat, little is known about the history of Frankfurt, which is once again known from 793. Here the city was mentioned in writing, which was repeated the following year.

794 was also the year in which Emperor Charlemagne made Frankfurt one of its residential towns. The emperor called the city of Franconovurd, which meant the fort of the Franks, and it immediately became the center of an ecclesiastical meeting among bishops from all over France, Italy, Aquitania and England. Pope Adrian I was also represented at the meeting.

After Charlemagne’s time, Ludwig came to the throne, and he chose Frankfurt as his residence city. Ludwig expanded Frankfurt with a larger palace from 828, and he expanded the city’s fortifications so that in 838 it was surrounded by defense works.

In 843, Frankfurt became the official capital of the Eastern Franc, which naturally gave rise to new activity and growth. Kings and emperors were often in the city, which was also the center of many important meetings. The Emperor of France no longer had a permanent residence, but Frankfurt maintained its imperial importance.

 

The German kings

After a time of decline in the importance of the city, Frankfurt again became the center of significant events in the 12th century. In a local church, Bernhard of Clairvaux initiated part of the Second Crusade, and he called King Konrad III of Hohenstaufen. This happened in 1147, when Konrad appointed his ten-year-old son as heir before the voyage. However, the son died before the father, and thus a new king was to be found.

Frederick Barbarossa was elected as the new king in 1152, and then Frankfurt became the hometown of ceremonies for coronations by German rulers; it was Frederick Barbarossa who instituted this tradition at his own coronation in the city.

Throughout the 12th century, Frankfurt developed significantly. The city had been a hub of trade since the Roman times, and Frankfurt’s trade fairs and markets had become so well-known and important that merchants from large parts of Europe came to them.

Frankfurt was a free city under the Hohenstaufen emperors, and its significant economic growth brought new rights for citizens. The citizens, for example, chose their own mayors and officials and thus had a great influence on the administration of Frankfurt.

 

The 1200-1400s

Frankfurt continued to develop rapidly after the 1100s, and it had become one of the most important German cities, not least due to extensive trade. Frederick II guaranteed the safety of transit through Frankfurt in 1240, providing further growth for the major trade fairs and general trade. Frankfurt was at that time the economic locomotive in the German area.

In 1356, after a while Frankfurt became the site of coronations by German kings. However, the city established its own city state 16 years later, and it was Freie Reichstadt Frankfurt. The formation of the city-state could be done after Frankfurt bought himself free of Karl IV. In this way, a high degree of autonomy prevailed, although the city was formally still subject to the emperor himself.

In 1405, the city council bought the two buildings that still today act as Frankfurt’s city hall. In the same century, the Jewish quarter of the city was built, and the supreme imperial court was founded in the city during this time. Frankfurt was not only a trading town, but also home to important institutions and traditions.

 

Reformation, books and Swedes

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Reformation was gradually introduced. However, it first became official in Frankfurt in 1533, when public practice of the Catholic faith was banned at the same time for a period of 15 years.

In 1585, Frankfurt’s financial stock exchange was established, and for the first time, the city came to decide on currency and financial resources. Frankfurt’s wealth at that time far exceeded that of most other German cities, and trade, arts and industry flourished.

The letterpress art had been established in nearby Mainz, and it got infected in Frankfurt, where knowledge and education became a priority. In addition, the most important book fair in Germany was held in Frankfurt for several centuries.

Over time, Frankfurt has been repeatedly occupied. In the years 1631-1635 Swedish troops came to the area in connection with the 30-year war, where Frankfurt otherwise maintained neutrality. The Swedish king Gustav Adolf demanded shelter and supplies for the Swedish troops, and the city was through diplomacy.

 

The 18th century and Napoleon

Frankfurt became imperial residence in the German-Roman Empire 1742-1745 when Karl VII moved his court to this. A few years later, in 1749, one of the city’s great sons was born; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose works later became world famous.

The city was constantly evolving, but it was also a time of several French occupations. During the Seven Years’ War, France conquered the city in the years 1759-1763, and only a few decades later French forces returned during the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1792, the last imperial coronation took place in Frankfurt. It was Franz II’s inauguration ceremony in the city, which at that time housed 35,000 inhabitants. That same year, Frankfurt was occupied by French troops from October to December.

A few years later, the city could develop further geographically, as old defenses were eroded and converted into parks in 1804, but the time as a sanctuary did not last long afterwards. In 1806, the German-Roman Empire fell, and Frankfurt was again occupied by France, which ended the city’s status by granting it to Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg, who ruled it until 1810, when Frankfurt was made Grand Duchy.

After Napoleon’s fall, the German territory was divided into more than 30 urban states and smaller rural areas. Frankfurt in 1816 became the seat of the German Reichstag under the German Confederation, while the city itself had been confirmed its status as a free city at the Vienna Congress.

 

Revolution and the German Empire

1848 became a landmark for Frankfurt and for the German states. This year, a number of people met in Frankfurt’s Paul Church on May 18. It was the first free parliamentary session in Germany, and it was to be the start of the later German democratization process.

Frankfurt was the center of political life for the many German states, but there was also an uproar among the city’s inhabitants. Throughout 1848, the burgeoning revolutions were knocked down several times, and it was not least in the Sachsenhausen neighborhood, it smoldered.

The 19th century was also other than politics. Economically, the city was developed through industry, commerce and transportation. The first railroad opened in 1839, and many new projects saw the light of day. For example, the railways were expanded, a zoo established, and the Frankfurter Zeitung starts in the following decades when Frankfurt grew to a population of 71,000 in 1861.

In 1863, a series of political meetings for closer German unity began in Frankfurt. It came to reforms that made it possible to approximate one another among the German states, but as Prussia did not support the reforms, the project declined. In 1866, instead, the Prussian-Austrian war broke out, with the states fighting for power in the German Confederation. Prussia won over Austria and occupied Frankfurt, which was made part of the province of Hessen-Nassau, which served as a province until 1918.

 

20th century and World War II

In the first decades of the 20th century, several institutions were established in Frankfurt, such as the Museum der Weltkulturen in 1904 and the city’s university ten years later. The same year as the university’s founding, World War I broke out, which ended the German empire. Germany became a republic after the war, and Frankfurt was naturally part of it.

In time, more than 400,000 people lived in Frankfurt, which continued to evolve. Large facilities such as the new Frankfurt Airport and the industrial giant IG Farben’s headquarters were established in 1926 and 1931 respectively.

At the Nazi takeover of the country in 1933, changes immediately occurred in Frankfurt. The city’s Jewish mayor was replaced by NSDAP member Friedrich Krebs, who was in office until 1945. Five years later, most of Frankfurt’s synagogues were destroyed during the Crystal Night, and eventually World War II drew near.

During World War II, Frankfurt was subject to severe fighting and countless aerial bombardments, which destroyed 80% of the city. The area’s most important trade and industry had been wiped out, and a colossal reconstruction was underway after the end of the war in 1945.

 

New economic locomotive

The new Germany in the 1940s became two states; West Germany and East Germany. The former free city of Frankfurt became part of the state of Hesse, whose capital was Wiesbaden. Instead, Frankfurt was a candidate to become the West German capital, but after close polls Bonn gained this status.

In the years that followed, Frankfurt became one of the symbols of the German Wirtschaftswunder, which was the term for the explosive economic development. Modern neighborhoods and financial institutions shot up in the city, whose skyline with the many glass and steel skyscrapers became unique in Europe through the latter half of the 20th century.

At the same time, a reconstruction of Frankfurt’s Old Town around Römerberg was completed, where you can experience the atmosphere of earlier centuries. It was decided to save the street network from before the Second World War to build on old and traditional Frankfurt. Together with Hamburg and Munich, Frankfurt became the leader in West Germany, and the city’s airport grew into one of the largest in the world.

Today, Frankfurt is one of the continent’s most international cities, and it is the financial center for not only Germany, but for transactions in large parts of the world.