Frankfurt am Main is a city in the southern part of the German state of Hesse. It is the largest city in the state and the fifth largest city inGermany. It lies on the Main River. Frankfurt was a city state--the Free City of Frankfurt--for nearly five centuries, and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire. It lost its sovereignty in 1866 with the disbandment of the Holy Roman Empire. Frankfurt is a multicultural city with a touch of America. Its character is often compared to New York, so the Germans often nickname it “The Big Ebble". Another nickname of Frankfurt is "Bankfurt," since it is the financial heart of Europe and home to world-class banking institutions. This area of Frankfurt is located on one side of the Main River and is referred to as "Mainhattan". Frankfurt am Main is an important trade city and a major transport and Internet hub of Europe. With about seven hundred thousand inhabitants, Frankfurt am Main is the fifth largest city in Germany, right after Berlin (3.5 million), Hamburg (1.8 million), Munich (1.5 million), and Cologne (980,000 inhabitants). 2.3 million people live in its urban area. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.5 million and is Germany's second largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. People from at least 180 nations live in Frankfurt. Foreigners are estimated to make up a quarter of the total population. Frankfurt is also known as the city with the largest share of singles - more than half of households have only one member. A Brief History Frankfurt am Main was first mentioned in 794 in a letter from Charlemagne to the Regensburg Monastery. In this document, it was written in Latin: "... Actum super fluvium Moine in loco nuncupante Franconofurd" - "built on the river Main, at a place called Frankfurt." The earliest settlements in the area is date back to the Stone Age. On a place of a former Roman military camp, a Frankish royal court later emerged in Merovian times (6th Century). In 843, Frankfurt temporarily became the most important of the Frankish cities. Elections of the Holy Roman Emperors were held here – and also the seat of the Imperial Diet. In 1220, Frankfurt became a Free Imperial City. The Golden Bull from 1356 named Frankfurt as the permanent electoral city of the Roman Empero. Since the 12th Century, the vast majority of the elections were held in the city. From 1562, the new Holy Roman Emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt. The last one was Franz II in 1792. In 1585, Frankfurt traders established a system of exchange rates for the various currencies that were circulating to prevent cheating and extortion. Therein lay the early roots for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the Thirty Years' War, but suffered from the bubonic plague that refugees brought to the city. After the war, Frankfurt regained its wealth. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Frankfurt came under the rule of several insignificant local rulers. There was even the short-lived (1810-1813) Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. With the collapse of the Napoleonic system, Frankfurt was under the temporary administration of the victorious allies of Carl von Günderrod. At the Congress of Vienna, the Bavarian Kingdom planned to annex Frankfurt. But the outcome was to restore the status of Frankfurt as a free city within the German League. In addition to Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, this was one of the four free cities that retained their traditional urban freedom until modern times. The Federal Assembly of Germany was established here. In 1848 there was a revolution in German states. The summoned National Assembly met in the St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt. In the Austro-Prussian War, Frankfurt remained faithful to the German League. However, public opinion was more on the side of Austria and its emperor. However, voices were heard from Frankfurt, which, for economic and foreign policy reasons, defended a voluntary connection with Prussia instead. On July 18th, the city was occupied by the Prussian army and was burdened with a great deal of money for war reparations, only to be annexed by Prussia on October 2, after which it finally lost its status to the city state. Frankfurt was assigned to the Wiesbaden district of Hessen-Nassau. The annexation had its advantages—it led to Frankfurt’s economic development into an industrial city with rapid population growth. Frankfurt absorbed a number of nearby towns and cities in the coming decades, roughly doubling its area by 1900. It even became the largest city in Germany in the early 20th century. During the Second World War, targeted air attacks almost completely destroyed the Old Town (Altstadt) and the Inner Town (Innenstadt). Up to 1944, the almost purely medieval character of the city was irreversibly lost. Where once aisles stretched between adjacent half-timbered houses, nowadays large parts of the former historic core are formed by concrete structures from the 1950‘s. After the end of the war, the US Army established its HQ in in the city. Frankfurt very tightly lost against nearby Bonn to become the new capital of Western Germany after WWII. At that time the Parliament building in Frankfurt became the seat of the Hessen State Radio. In the post-war era, the city became the economic capital again, and in 1999, the seat of the European Central Bank. The Jews Of Frankfurt Frankfurt had one of the most important Jewish communities in Germany that dates back to the 12th century. At that time, a small group of Jewish merchants from Worms settled in the town, quickly prospered and grew wealthy. Jews had been in Frankfurt prior to this period as well, but never as official residents. Frankfurt had long been a market town, and Jews visited to trade there as early as the tenth century. Jewish community had flourished here together with the town, but it was not without tragedies. The dates 1241, 1349, 1616, 1624, 1711 all mark bloody pogroms, expulsions or terrible fires in the Jewish Ghetto (Judengasse). The emancipation came only in the second half of the 19th Century. By the 1900s, Jews in Frankfurt were extremely prosperous and influential. They became active both in business and politics. Many of the Jews fought for Germany in World War I. But during the holocaust, 9,000 Jews of the city were deported to concentration and extermination camps from Frankfurt. Only a handful of those came back at the end of the war. However, the Jewish Community was renewed once again in July 1945, and it exists until this day – it belongs to one of the most active Jewish communities in all of Germany. One very special cultural highlight of Jewish life in Frankfurt is the Westend Synagogue on Freiherr-vom-Stein-Straße. The temple was erected between 1908 and 1910. The massive dome is particularly striking, being visible from afar. The gable at the entrance side of the building features a medallion with a lion holding with its paw and a shield adorned with the Star of David. The synagogue's interior is richly decorated with ornaments featuring the colours of blue and yellow gold. The main area is able to accommodate up to 1,000 worshippers. Other rooms and chambers include various administrative rooms, several flats, a prayer room and a second prayer chamber that may also be used as a lecture hall. Westend Synagogue is one of the few Jewish places of worship that survived the Second World War, although it was greatly damaged by fire. It was reconstructed in 1950 and once more in 1994. Today, it serves not only as a religious centre, but a memorial. Like many parts of Germany, Frankfurt has a rich history with the Jews, albeit one that is stained heavily with blood. For any Jewish traveler making their way here, it is recommended that they take a kosher tour to fully appreciate the Jewish heritage in the city.
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