TS3

2002-05-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

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Frankfurt. During a campaign against the Saxons, so the story goes, the gallant emperor suffered a reverse and was hotly pursued by a host of Saxon warriors. Traversing a large forest, the emperor and a few trusted followers suddenly found themselves on the marshy banks of a wide and deep river, the Main, with no crossing in sight.

2002-04-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

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Frankfurt as Residence of Frankish Kings and Emperors

The name Frankfurt means "Ford of the Franks". Before the modern days of river regulation, the wide valley of the river Main was full of bogs and marshy lands. But in the area where Frankfurt was built, the hills on both sides of the called close in on the river and connecting ridge of limestone formed a ford. For many miles around it provided the best crossing of the river. in 496 A.D., this ford and the country surrounding it were included in the territory of the Franks who, in the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, became one of the most powerful of the Germanic tribes. Starting out from the country on the lower reaches of the rivers Main and Rhine, the Franks succeeded in subjugating the Roman province of Gaul, which later became France, and they forced most of the other Germanic tribes to recognize their supremacy. Under Charles the Great, who is also known as Charlemagne, the Frankish realm comprised all the territories from the river Elbe to the river Ebro in northern Spain, and from the English Channel to half the length of the Italian peninsula. In 800, Charlemagne went to Rome and was crowned emperor by the Pope, thereby assuming the succession to the ancient Roman Empire.

The earliest known historical document on Frankfurt relates events which took place in 794. In that year Charles the Great spent several months in his palace in Frankfurt and presided over an assembly of great Frankish noblemen at which he accepted the submission of the Duke of the Bavarians, thereby incorporating Bavaria into his realm. He also convoked a council of the bishops of his empire who passed important resolutions on various ecclesiastical questions. His imperial palace stood on the site which is now occupied by the steeple of the Cathedral. Although Charlemagne's favorite place of residence was Aachen, he frequently stayed in his palace at Frankfurt. He particularly preferred to establish his headquarters in the town on the Main during the preparations for his numerous campaigns against the heathen Saxons whom he subdued and coverted to Christianity after 32 years of bitter fighting.

Charlemagne, one of the most capable and colorful rulers in European history, made a deep impression on his contemporaries and charmed the imagination of men throughout the ages. Thus he became the popular hero of many myths. In one of these he is celebrated as the founder of

2002-04-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

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(colored photo of the 'Riverside view of pre-war Frankfurt am Main.)

INTRODUCTION

For more than a thousand years Frankfurt am Main has been one of the major cities of Germany. Its name is associated with many outstanding events in German history. Aided by its favorable geographical position, the city developed, at an early date, into one of the principal economic and cultural centers of the country. In the field of history, Frankfurt is best known as the election and coronation city of the medieval Holy Roman Empire and as the seat of the first popularly elected National Assembly in 1848. In the economic sphere, it is ranked as Germany's leading commercial city in the Middle Ages and was noted in modern days for its stock exchange and banking establishments and as the center of Germany's biggest chemical trust. Since the discovery of the art of printing, Frankfurt has played an important role as one of the foremost publishing centers of the country. But the city on the Main is best known the world over as the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who ranks with Shakespeare as one of the greatest of poets.

2002-04-05T17:24:00.000-08:00

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CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Frankfurt as Residence of Frankish Kings and Emperors . . . . . . . . 6
The Electoral City of the Holy Roman Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Frankfurt, the Principal Fair of Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
The Free Imperial City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
The Period of Gothic Architechture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
The Coronation City of the Holy Roman Empire . . . . . . . . . . .35
The Birthplace of Goethe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Frankfurt in the Napoleonic Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
The Capital of the German Confederation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
The National Assembly of 1848 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
The Last Years of the Free City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Prosperity in the Days of the German Empire . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Frankfurt at the Time of the German Republic . . . . . . . . . . . .78
City Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside front cover
Sketch of Frankfurt and vicinity. . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover

2002-04-04T22:22:00.000-08:00

[Please note that the following post is not copywritable as it is transcribed verbatim from a US Government publication. And as such, most any errors in spelling are likely mine and will be corrected as I encounter them.]

FRANKFURT AM MAIN

USFET

HEADQUARTERS COMMAND
INFORMATION & EDUCATION, S-2, S-3 SECTION

Prepared and published under the direction of the Headquarters Commandant, by the Indoemation and Education Section of Headquarters Command.

Photos by Bill Cray, Army Pictorial Service; Dr. Rainer Emanuel, Max Goellner, Leonhard Kleeman, Carl Weiss and Dr. Paul Wolff, Frankfurt. Colored photos by Philipp Diehl. Maps by Heinrich Pauser, Frankfurt. Printing by W. Kramer & Co. Frankfurt.

Edited by Lt. Dean L. Stanley, I and E Officer, and Lt. Dwight L. Diller, Assistant I and E Officer.

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(Colored photo of the 'IG Farben Building, USFET Headquarters')

FOREWORD

Frankfurt am Main, one of Germany's historic cities, fell to the U. S. Third Army 29 March 1945. Shortly thereafter, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces established headquarters in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is centrally located in the American Occupation Zone, and although 65 per cent of the city was damaged by bombs, incendiary raids and artillery, that part of the city left intact has been occupied by the Headquarters of the United States Forces European Theater.

It is probable that upon his return home, the soldier who has been stationed in Frankfurt will be regarded as an expert concerning the present state of destruction and the signifigant cultural aspects of the city's past. It is with this in mind that the Information and Education Section of Headquarters Command, through extensive research, has compiled and edited this history in an endeavor to serve personnel who were members of the Headquarters. The contrast of Frankfurt's past with that of the known present has been illuminated by a text interwoven with pictorial sequences. transcriber's note: I will scan these pictures and post them in some fashion at a later date.

2002-04-04T09:21:00.000-08:00