FRANKFURT
In the area of the Römer, Roman settlements were established,
probably in the first century; some artifacts from that era are found to this
day. The city district Bonames has a name probably dating back to Roman times
— it is thought to be derived from bona me(n)sa. Nida (Heddernheim) was
also a Roman civitas capital.
The name of Frankfurt on the Main is derived from the Franconofurt
of the Germanic tribe of the Franks; Furt (cf. English ford) denotes a low point
passage across a stream or river. Alemanni and Franks lived there and by 794
Charlemagne presided over an imperial assembly and church synod, at which Franconofurd
(-furt -vurd) is first mentioned.
In
the Holy Roman Empire, Frankfurt was one of the most important cities. From
855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned in Aachen.
From 1562 the kings/emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt, Maximilian II being
the first one. This tradition ended in 1792, when Franz II was elected. He was
crowned, on purpose, 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, or in its predecessors.
The Frankfurter Messe (en: 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. Since 1478 book
trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt, the Frankfurter Buchmesse being still
the most important in Germany and, some might say, the world. In
1372 Frankfurt became a Reichsstadt (en:Imperial city), i.e. directly subordinate
to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.
Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years'
War, but it suffered from the bubonic plague that was brought to the city by
refugees. After the end of the war, Frankfurt regained its wealth. In
the Napoleonic Wars Frankfurt was occupied or cannonaded several times by French
troops. It nevertheless still remained a free city until the total collapse
of the Holy Roman Empire in 1805/6. In 1806 it become part of the principality
of Aschaffenburg under the Fürstprimas ('Prince-Primate', 25 July 1806
– 19 October 1813: Karl Theodor Anton Maria Kämmerer von Worms, Reichsfreiherr
von Dalberg (b. 1744 – d. 1817), 1803–1806 Prince-archbishop of
Regensburg). This also meant, that Frankfurt was incorporated into the confederation
of the Rhine. In 1810 Dalberg adopted the title of a Grand Duke of Frankfurt.
Napoleon intended to make his adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais, already
prince de Venise ("prince of Venice", a newly established primogeniture
in Italy) Grand Duke of Frankfurt after Dalberg's death (since the latter as
a Catholic bishop didn't have legitimate heirs). The Grand Duchy remained a
short episode lasting from 1810 to 1813, when military tide turned in favor
of the Anglo-Prussian lead allies, which turns over the Napoleonic order of
central Europe. Dalberg abdicated in favor of Eugène de Beauharnais,
which of course was only a symbolic action, as the latter effectively never
did rule after the ruin of the French armies and Frankfurt being taken by the
allies!
After Napoleon's final defeat and abdication, the Congress
of Vienna (1812-1815, redrawing the map of Europe) dissolved the grand-duchy,
and Frankfurt entered the newly founded German Confederation (till 1866) as
a free city, becoming the seat of its Bundestag, the confederal parliament where
the nominally presiding Habsburg Emperor of Austria was represented by an Austrian
"presidential envoy". After the ill-fated revolution
of 1848, Frankfurt was home to the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung),
which resided in St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche) (see German Confederation for
details) and was opened on 18 May 1848. The institution failed in 1849 when
the Prussian king declared that he would not accept "a crown from the gutter".
In the year of its existence, the assembly developed a common constitution for
a unified Germany, with the Prussian king as its monarch.
Frankfurt lost its independence after Austro-Prussian War as
Prussia annexed in 1866 several smaller states, among them the free city of
Frankfurt. The Prussian administration incorporated Frankfurt into its province
of Hesse-Nassau. The formerly independent towns of Bornheim and Bockenheim were
incorporated in 1890.
Key identification notes: Frankfurt is usually spelled in
some form on all its higher denomination coins. Smaller coins may have (F) or
just the Frankfurt eagle.
Thalers
1 Albus
3 Kreuzer
1 Kreuzer
