FRANKFORT-on-the-Main, in German Frankfurt or Frankfurth-am-Main, one of the principal cities of the German empire, in the circle of Wiesbaden, in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and till 1866 one of the four free cities of Germany. It lies about 330 feet above the level of the sea, in 50° 6' 43' , N. lat. and 8° 41' 9'' E. long., 22 miles E. of Mainz and 16 miles N. of Darmstadt. The position which it occupies is one of no small natural beauty in the broad and fertile valley of the Main, its northern horizon being formed by the soft outlines of the Taunus range. The surrounding country is richly clad with orchard and forest, and in the season of spring especially presents a prospect of indescribable luxuriance. In earlier times the city with its fortifications had the form of an irregular pentagon, of which the longest side was defined by the right bank of the river; but now that the fortifications have been demolished, new suburbs have spread out widely in all directions, and the village of Sachsenhausen on the opposite side of the stream has extended in a similar fashion, so that the whole area of architectural occupation measures about 2£ miles from E. to W., and about 2 miles from N. to S. Even within the old encincture great transformations have been effected, and much of the quaint domestic architecture and the intricate network of narrow streets and lanes has given way to modern improvements. Only one side, for example, of the famous Judengasse or Jews’ Street is now standing, the other having been demolished since 1870; but the visitor can still see the house where Ludwig Börne was born in 1786, and the dingy and unpretentious premises of No. 148 which saw the rise of the Rothschild family. When the whole of what remains of this street has been pulled down and rebuilt, as it must be ere long, there will still be many less celebrated parts of the old city of no small interest as eloquent relics of bygone conditions of life. In the modern quarters Frankfort will compare favourably, both in the general appearance of the streets and in the architectural character of individual buildings, with all except a very few of the greater cities of the Continent; and almost every year this is becoming more certainly true. Among the more spacious streets are the Schöne Aussicht or Beautiful Prospect along the Main, the Kaiser-Strasse or Emperor Street, and the Zeil. The business of the city is largely concentrated in the Zeil, the Rossmarkt or Horse Market, the Kaiser-Strasse, Friedens-Strasse, and their immediate vicinity.

The principal ecclesiastical building in Frankfort is the cathedral of St Bartholomew’s, which is situated not far from the river between the Domplatz on the N. and the Weekmarkt on the S. The date of its first foundation is not precisely known. A church called Salvator’s was erected on the site by Louis the German at least as early as 874 A.D., and he enriched it with considerable donations, and instituted a chapter of twelve priests and an abbot. Charles the Fat not only confirmed his father’s gifts in 882, but he added a nona or ninth of the produce of Frankfort, Trebur, Ingelheim, Kreiznach, and other royal domains. In the 12th century the church obtained possession of the skull of St Bartholomew, and by the early part of the 13th it appears to have been known as St Bartholomew’s church. The building was by that time in a very dilapidated condition; and consequently Pope Gregory IX. urged the faithful of the diocese of Mainz to contribute to its restoration. When in 1315 the church was appropriated to the religious ceremonies connected with the coronation of the emperors, it was found necessary to enlarge its dimensions. The eastern portion, consisting of the choir and two towers, was pulled down and rebuilt on a larger scale about 1338, and in the same century the wings of the transepts and the imperial election chapel were added. The so-called Pfarrthurnι or Parson’s Tower was built between 1414 and 1512. In 1855 the interior was renovated; but on the night of the 14th August 1867 the whole building was laid in ruins by a conflagration. In 1869 F. J. Denziger, chief architect of the Ratisbon (or Regensburg) cathedral was entrusted with the work of restoration, and his task has been steadily prosecuted. The only portions of the enterprize uncompleted in 1878 were the cloister and the grand organ. In the interior are still to be seen the high altar at which after 1562 the imperial coronations were celebrated, the tombstone of the emperor Günther of Schwarzburg, who died in Frankfort in 1349, and the tombstone of Rudolph, the last knight of Sachsenhausen, who died in 1371. The other Catholic churches are Leonhardskirche and Liebfrauenkirche, and the Deutschhauskirche in Sachsenhausen. St Leonhard’s ranks second to the cathedral in point of antiquity, and is said to occupy the site of the palace of Charles the Great. It possesses a stained glass window above the high altar, with a Lord’s Supper by Hans Holbein. Our Lady’s Church was founded in 1322 by Schöffen Weigel of Wambach, was made collegiate in 1326, and underwent a restoration in the second half of the 18th century. St Paul’s (Paulskirche), the principal church of the Evangelical Lutherans, was built between 1786 and 1833 on the site of the old church of the Minorites, and is mainly interesting as the seat of the national parliament of 1848-49. The church of St Nicholas (Nicolaikirche) dates from the 13th century, and has a fine cast-iron spire erected in 1843. From 1570 to 1721, and again from 1813 to 1841, it was used as a warehouse. St Catherine’s was built about 1678-1680 on the site of an older building famous in Frankfort history as the place where the first Protestant sermon was preached in 1522. The principal synagogue—there are three altogether -—is a Mauro-Byzantine structure erected between 1855 and 1860 in room of an older synagogue of the 15th century. Of the secular buildings in Frankfort perhaps the most characteristic is the Rathhaus or Römer, which by a strange coincidence bears a name suggestive of, though not derived from, its principal historical associations. It was here, in the Wahlzimmer or election room, that the electors or their plenipotentiaries decided the choice of the emperors, and here, in the Kaisersaal or emperor’s hall, the coronation festival was held, at which the new recipient of the crown dined with the electors after having shown himself from the balcony to the people assembled in the Römerberg, as the open place in front of the building is called. The building dates from the 15th century, and occupies the site of the Golden Swan and two private houses which from time immemorial had borne the name of the Römer. The Kaisersaal retained its antique appearance till 1843; but it is now ornamented with a series of modern paintings by Veit, Jung, Ballenberger, and a score of other German artists representing the “German” emperors from Charlemagne to Francis II., in all fifty-two. The palace of the prince of Thurn and Taxis is a large building in the old French style of considerable historical interest: from 1806 to 1810 it was the residence of the “prince-primate,” or head of the confederation of the Rhine; after the battle of Leipsic it was occupied by Francis I. of Austria; and from 1816 to 1866 the parliament of the German confederation held its sessions within its walls. The Eschenheim Tower is a picturesque relic of the ancient fortifications dating from the middle of the 14th century.

Hardly any fact about Frankfort is more familiar to the reader of Goethe than that it has an old bridge over the Main, and that on the bridge there has been for centuries an iron crucifix surmounted by a somewhat insignificant figure of a cock, commemorating, according to tradition, the unfortunate fowl which first crossed the bridge, and thus fell a prey to the devil who, in hope of a nobler victim, had sold his assistance to the original architect. The first distinct mention of a bridge over the river occurs in 1222, and the present structure dates from the 14th century. As late at least as 1475 the central span was not arched over. There are now fourteen arches in all, the total length of the bridge being 869 feet. The cock and crucifix are mentioned as early as 1405, and antiquaries assert that it probably marks the spot where criminals in the olden time were flung into the river. About half a mile below the old bridge a new bridge, called the “Unter-Main Brücke,” was constructed by P. Schmick, between 1872 and 1874; and about midway between the two lies the footbridge or “Steg,” erected by the same engineer in 1868-69, and the first example of its kind in Germany. The “Ober-Main” or Upper-Main Bridge was opened to traffic in the spring of 1878. Several other bridges for railway purposes are projected.

Few cities of the same size as Frankfort are so richly furnished with literary, scientific, and artistic institutions, or possess so many handsome buildings appropriated to their service. The town theatre was built between 1780 and 1827 in a Dutch-French style, and was restored in 1855; and as it has proved too small for the wants of the people, a new opera house has been erected near the Bockenheim gate, after the plans of Professor Lucä of Berlin. There is a public picture-gallery in the Saalhof, containing works by Hans Holbein, Grünewald, Vandyck, Teniers, Van der Neer, Hans von Culmbach, Lucas Cranach, Martin Schön, &c. The nucleus of the collection is of very ancient date; considerable additions were made in 1803 at the secularization of the monasteries; in 1839 Ernst Fr. K. Prehn’s cabinet of more than 850 small oil-paintings was presented by his heirs, and 220 that had belonged to Johann G. Chr. Daems were added in 1856, in terms of his bequest. The Städel Art Institute (Städel’sche Kunst Institut) takes its name from Johann Friedrich Städel, who not only left his collection of paintings, engravings, and other property to the town, but appropriated a million marks to the erection of an institute and college. Its picture gallery and cabinet of engravings are both extremely rich in works of German art: the latter in 1874 had 54,300 plates. In the town library, which is kept in a building erected between 1820 and 1825, there are upwards of 100,000 volumes; and among its rarer treasures are a Gutenberg Bible printed at Mainz between 1450 and 1455, another on parchment dated 1462, the Institutiones Justiniani, Mainz, 1468, the Theuer∙ Dank, with woodcuts by Hans Scheufelein, Abyssinian manuscripts presented by the African traveller Rüppel, and autographs of Luther, Melanchthon, Wallenstein, Napoleon I., Goethe, Schiller, &c. The Bethmann Museum owes its celebrity principally to Dannecker’s Ariadne, but it also possesses the original plaster model of Thorwaldsen ’ s Entrance of Alexander the Great into Babylon. Among the scientific institutions perhaps the chief place belongs to those named after J. Chr. Senckenberg, the physician. Senckenberg himself founded both the Bürger or citizens’ hospital and the medical institute, with an anatomical theatre, botanical garden, and library; and a society of natural science (Senckenbergsehe Naturforschende Gesellschaft) was instituted in his honour in 1817, and now possesses an extensive and valuable museum. Large gardens were opened for the patients of the citizens’hospital in 1851, and in 1875 new buildings were added. A physical association was founded in 1824, an association for geography and statistics in 1836, a medical association in 1845, the association for history and archaeology in 1857, and the free German institute for science, art, and general culture in 1859. An association for the cultivation of classical and especially of church music (the Cäcilien-Verein) was instituted by Scheible in 1818, and a similar association (the Rühl’sche Verein) by Rühl in 1851; and there are several other musical unions, such as the Philharmonische Verein, the Liederkranz, &c. In 1858 a zoological garden was opened by a joint stock company near the Bockenheim Road; and in 1873 it was transferred to a new site on the Pfingstweide or Pentecost Meadow, and assigned to a new company. When in 1868 the duke of Nassau offered the plants of his winter garden for sale, a company, the Palm Garden Company, was formed at Frankfort, which purchased the collection, and established what is now the most beautiful of all the pleasure-grounds in the city.

Besides the Bürger Hospital already mentioned, Frankfort has several large institutions for the sick and infirm. The Holy Ghost Hospital, originally founded in 1278 for invalid pilgrims, is now appropriated to the servants and apprentices of Frankfort citizens. Its convalescent hospital, opened in 1868 at the Mainkur, was the first establishment of the kind in Germany. It maintains in each of the fourteen quarters of the town a physician, a surgeon, and an apothecary for the gratuitous assistance of the poor. The new asylum for the insane, with room for 200 patients, was erected between 1859 and 1863, partly by public subscription, and partly by a donation of 100,000 florins from Herr von Wiesenhütten. For its deaf and dumb institution the town is indebted to Ludwig Kosel, who in 1827 started with three pupils; and it was at his suggestion that the blind asylum was established by the society for the furtherance of the useful arts. The Waisenhaus or orphan asylum erected in 1829 is no longer employed for its original purpose, as it has since 1860 been thought'better to board the orphan children with families in the neighbouring villages of Lieh, Wächtersbach, &c. It is sufficient to mention the Jewish infirmary, built at the expense of the Rothschilds; the new Jewish hospital, erected in 1874; Dr Christ’s children’s hospital, originated in 1835; and the maternity hospital, opened in,1855. Among thenumerous associations for benevolent purposes are the Frauen- Verein or ladies’ union, founded in 1813 for the assistance of sick families and women in childbed; the Jewish ladies’ union for the education of orphan girls; the association originated in 1851 for taking charge of infants during the working hours; the Pestalozzi union (1846) for the education of neglected children, and its auxiliary the Schuboth institute for Protestant boys (1865); the prison association, dating from 1868; and the Martha asylum, dating from 1866.

Frankfort has always been much more of a commercial than an industrial town, and at present it manufactures little else but Frankfort black, waxcloth, jewellery, gold and silver thread, tapestry, and such like articles. Bockenheim, however, a small town with which it is connected by tramway lines, is a flourishing manufacturing centre; and the Frankfort capitalists are connected with the industrial enterprises of Wiesbaden, Hanau, Offenbach, &c. There are two great fairs held in the town,—the Ostermesse or spring fair, and the Herbstmesse or autumn fair. The former, which was the original nucleus of all the commercial prosperity of the city, begins on the second Wednesday before Easter; and the latter on the second Wednesday before the 8th of September. They last three weeks, and the last day save one, called the Nickelchestag, is distinguished by the influx of people from the neighbouring country. The trade in leather is of great and growing importance. A horse fair has been held twice a year since 1862 under the patronage of the agricultural society; and the wool market was reinstituted in 1872 by the German Trade Society. Frankfort has long been famous as one of the principal banking centres of Europe; and throughout the city there are upwards of 220 banking offices. The so-called “Frankfort Bank” was founded in 1854, with a capital of 10,000,000 gulden. The exchange occupies a building opposite the Paulskirche, erected since 1840 according to the plans of Stüler of Berlin; and it is remarkable for the large business that is done in Government stock. In the 17th century the town was the seat of a great booktrade; but it has long been distanced in this department by Leipsic. The Frankfurter Journal was founded in 1615, the Postzeitung in 1616, the Neue Frankfurter Zeitung in 1859, and the Frankfurter Presse in 1866. The zoological garden company publish a monthly magazine devoted to the popularization of natural history; and the Senckenberg society have issued Transactions since 1854-5.

There are four railway stations in Frankfort: by the Weser station the traveller leaves for Nauheim and Cassel, for Homburg, for Kronberg, and the north generally; from the Taunus station he proceeds along the right bank of the river to Mainz; from the Neckar station he leaves for Darmstadt and the south, and for Mainz by the line along the left bank of the river; and from the Hanau station he proceeds eastwards. In Sachsenhausen there is the Offenbach-Hanau station. The Neckar railway crosses the river by a bridge erected in 1846-48, which is also used by the Offenbach and the “Linksmainisch” lines, Several other bridges across the river are projected in connexion with the scheme for centralizing the railway systems. Communication within the town is facilitated by tramways; and there is also a line all the way to Bockenheim.

Frankfort has been the birthplace of not a few of the most celebrated men of Germany. J. G. Schlosser the historian, Feuerbach the philosopher, Kirchner the scholar and naturalist, Clement Brentano, Bettina von Arnim, and Ludwig Börne, are all in the list; but what the city considers its highest literary distinction is the fact that Johann Wolfgang Goethe was born in 1749 at No. 23 Hirschgraben. In 1863 the house was purchased for 56,000 florins by the Free German “Hochstift” (or Grand Association) for the sciences, arts, and general culture, and thus made for ever the common property of the German people. The society consists of members in all parts of the world, associated by admiration of the poet. Under the direction of Otto Volga the house has been as much as possible put into the state in which it was in Goethe’s youth; and at the same time the rooms are turned into so many little museums of Goethe literature and art. On the high grounds to the south of the river there is a spot, now known as the Gothe Ruhe, or Goethe’s Rest, where the poet is said to have admired the prospect of his native town, and there a tasteful wooden tower in the Swiss chalet style was built in 1877 by the Verschönerungs-Verein, or association for the beautifying of the city. The Goethe statue was erected in 1844 in what is now the Goethe Platz to the north of the Rossmarkt; it was designed by Schwanthaler, and cast in the royal foundry at Munich.

Of memorial monuments the largest and most elaborate in Frankfort is that erected in 1858 in honour of the early German printers. It was modelled by Ed. von der Lausitz and executed by Herr von Kreis. The statues of Gutenberg, Fust, and Schöffer form a group on the top; an ornamented frieze presents medallions of a number of famous printers; below these are figures representing the towns of Mainz, Strasburg, Venice, and Frankfort; and on the corners of the pedestal are allegorical statues of theology, poetry, science, and industry. The Schiller statue, erected in 1863, is the work of a Frankfort artist, Dielmann. A monument in the Bockenheim Anlage, dated 1837, preserves the memory of Guiollet, the burgomaster, to whom the town is mainly indebted for the beautiful promenades which occupy the site of the old fortification; and similar monuments have been reared to Senckenberg (1863), Bethmann, and Wiesenhütten. A statue of Charlemagne adorns the old Main bridge.

The...

See K. R. Hausen, Gesch. der Universität und Stadt Frankfurth, 1806, and the Gesch. der Stadt Frankfurt, of Sachse (1830), Spieker (1853), and Philippi (1865).