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FRANKFORT

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 21 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FRANKFORT , the See also:

capital See also:city of See also:Kentucky, U.S.A., and the See also:county-seat of See also:Franklin county, on the Kentucky See also:river, about 55 m. E. of See also:Louisville. Pop. (189o) 7892; (1900) 9487, of whom 3316 were negroes; (1gio See also:census) 10,465. The city is served by the Chesapeake & See also:Ohio, the Louisville & See also:Nashville, and the Frankfort & See also:Cincinnati See also:railways, by the Central Kentucky See also:Traction Co. (electric), and by steamboat lines to Cincinnati, Louisville and other river ports. It is built among picturesque hills on both sides of the river, and is in the midst of the famous Kentucky " See also:blue grass region " and of a See also:rich See also:lumber-producing region. The most prominent See also:building is the Capitol, about 400 ft. See also:long and 185 ft. wide, built of See also:granite and See also:white See also:limestone in the See also:Italian See also:Renaissance See also:style, with 70 large Ionic columns, and adome 205 ft. above the See also:terrace See also:line, supported by 24 other columns. The Capitol was built in 1905-1907 at a cost of more than $2,000,000; in it are housed the See also:state library and the library of the Kentucky State See also:Historical Society. At Frankfort, also, are the state See also:arsenal, the state See also:penitentiary and the state See also:home for feeble-minded See also:children, and just outside the city limits is the state coloured normal school. The old capitol (first occupied in 1829) is still See also:standing. In Franklin See also:cemetery See also:rest the remains of See also:Daniel See also:Boone and of See also:Theodore O'Hara (1820-1867), a lawyer, soldier, journalist and poet, who served in the U.S. See also:army in 1846-1848 during the Mexican See also:War, took See also:part in filibustering expeditions to See also:Cuba, served in the Confederate army, and is best known as the author of " The See also:Bivouac of the Dead," a poem written for the See also:burial in Frankfort of some soldiers who had lost their lives at Buena Vista.

Here also are the See also:

graves of See also:Richard M. See also:Johnson, See also:vice-See also:president of the See also:United States in 1837-1841, and the sculptor See also:Joel T. See also:Hart (1810-1877). The city has a considerable See also:trade with the surrounding See also:country, in which large quantities of See also:tobacco and See also:hemp are produced; its manufactures include lumber, brooms, chairs, shoes, hemp twine, canned vegetables and See also:glass bottles. The See also:total value of the city's factory product in 1905 was $1,747,338, being 31.6% more than in 1900. Frankfort (said to have been named after See also:Stephen See also:Frank, one of an See also:early See also:pioneer party ambushed here by See also:Indians) was founded in 1786 by See also:General See also:James See also:Wilkinson, then deeply interested in trade with the See also:Spanish at New See also:Orleans, and in the midst of his Spanish intrigues. In 1792 the city was made the capital of the state. In 1862, during the famous See also:campaign in Kentucky of General Braxton See also:Bragg (Confederate) and General D. C. See also:Buell (Federal), Frankfort was occupied for a See also:short See also:time by Bragg, who, just before being forced out by Buell, took part in the inauguration of Richard J. See also:Hawes, chosen See also:governor by the Confederates of the state. Hawes, however, never discharged the duties of his See also:office.

During the See also:

bitter contest for the governor-See also:ship in 1900 between See also:William Goebel (Democrat) and William S. See also:Taylor (Republican), each of whom claimed the See also:election, Goebel was assassinated at Frankfort. (See also KENTUCKY.) Frankfort received a city See also:charter in 1839. FRANKFORT-ON-See also:MAIN (Ger. Frankfurt am Main), a city of See also:Germany, in the Prussian See also:province of See also:Hesse-See also:Nassau, principally on the right See also:bank of the Main, 24 M. above its confluence with the See also:Rhine at See also:Mainz, and 16 m. N. from See also:Darmstadt. Always a See also:place of See also:great trading importance, long the place of election for the See also:German See also:kings, and until 1866, together with See also:Hamburg, See also:Bremen and See also:Lubeck, one of the four See also:free cities of Germany, it still retains its position as one of the leading commercial centres of the German See also:empire. Its situation in the broad and fertile valley of the Main, the See also:northern See also:horizon formed by the soft outlines of the See also:Taunus range, is one of great natural beauty, the surrounding country being richly clad with See also:orchard and See also:forest. Frankfort is one of the most interesting, as it is also one of the wealthiest, of German cities. Apart from its commercial importance, its position, See also:close to the fashionable watering-places of Homburg, See also:Nauheim and See also:Wiesbaden, has rendered it " See also:cosmopolitan " in the best sense of the See also:term. The various stages in the development of the city are clearly indicated in its general See also:plan and the surviving names of many of its streets. The line of the See also:original 12th See also:century walls and See also:moat is marked by the streets of which the names end in -graben, from the Hirschgraben on the W. to the Wollgraben on the E.

The space enclosed by these and by the river on the S. is known as the " old See also:

town " (Altstadt). The so-called " new town " (See also:Neustadt), added in 1333, extends to the Anlagen, the beautiful gardens and promenades laid out (,8o6-1812) on the site of the 17th century fortifications, of which they faithfully preserve the general ground plan. Of the See also:medieval fortifications the picturesque Eschenheimer Tor, a See also:round See also:tower 155 ft. high, dating from 1400 to 1428, the Rententurm (1456) on the Main and the Kuhhirtenturm (c. 1490) in Sachsenhausen, are the See also:sole remains. Since the demolition of the fortifications the city has greatly See also:expanded. Sachsenhausen on the See also:south bank of the river, formerly the seat of a See also:commandery of the See also:Teutonic See also:Order (by treaty with See also:Austria in 1842 all See also:property and rights of the order in Frankfort territory were sold to the city, except the See also:church and See also:house), is now a See also:quarter of the city. In other directions also the expansion has been rapid; the See also:village of Bornheim was incorporated in Frankfort in 1877, the former See also:Hessian town of Bockenheim in 1895, and the suburbs of Niederrad, Oberrad and Seckbach in 1900. The main development of the city has been to the See also:north of the river, which is crossed by numerous See also:bridges and flanked by See also:fine quays and promenades. The Altstadt, though several broad streets have been opened through it, still preserves many of its narrow alleys and other medieval features. The Judengasse (See also:Ghetto), down to 18o6 the sole See also:Jews' quarter, has been pulled down, with the exception of the ancestral house of the See also:Rothschild family—No. 148—which has been restored and retains its See also:ancient See also:facade. As the Altstadt is mainly occupied by artisans and See also:petty tradesmen, so the Neustadt is the See also:principal business quarter of the city, containing the See also:chief public buildings and the principal hotels.

The main See also:

arteries of the city are the Zeil, a broad See also:street See also:running from the Friedberger Anlage to the Rossmarkt and thence continued, by the Kaiserstrasse, through the fine new quarter built after 1872, to the magnificent principal railway station; and the Steinweg and Goethestrasse, which See also:lead by the Bockenheimer Tor to the Bockenheimer Landstrasse, a broad See also:boulevard intersecting the fashionable residential suburb to the N.W. Churches.—The principal ecclesiastical building in Frankfort is the See also:cathedral (Dom). Built of red See also:sandstone, with a massive tower terminating in a richly ornamented See also:cupola and 300 ft. in height, it is the most conspicuous See also:object in the city. This building, in which the See also:Roman emperors were formerly elected and, since 1562, crowned, was founded in 852 by See also:King See also:Louis the German, and was later known as the Salvator Kirche. After its reconstruction (1235-1239), it was dedicated to St See also:Bartholomew. From this See also:period date the See also:nave and the See also:side aisles; the See also:choir was completed in 1315-1338 and the long transepts in 1346-1354. The cloisters were rebuilt in 1348-1447, and the electoral See also:chapel, on the south of the choir, was completed in 1355. The tower was begun in 1415, but remained unfinished. On the 15th of See also:August 1867 the tower and roof were destroyed by See also:fire and considerable damage was done to the rest of the edifice. The restoration was immediately taken in See also:hand, and the whole See also:work was finished in 1881, including the completion of the tower, according to the plans of the 15th century architect, Hans von See also:Ingelheim. In the interior is the See also:tomb of the German king See also:Gunther of See also:Schwarz-See also:burg, who died in Frankfort in 1349, and that of See also:Rudolph, the last See also:knight of Sachsenhausen, who died in 1371. Among the other Roman See also:Catholic churches are the Leonhardskirche, the Liebfrauenkirche (church of Our See also:Lady) and the Deutschordenskirche (14th century) in Sachsenhausen.

The Leonhardskirche (restored in 1882) was begun in 1219, it is said on the site of the See also:

palace of See also:Charlemagne. It was originally a three-aisled See also:basilica, but is now a five-aisled Hallenkirche; the choir was added in 1314. It has two Romanesque towers. The Liebfrauenkirche is first mentioned in 1314 as a collegiate church; the nave was consecrated in 1340. The choir was added in 1506-1509 and the whole church thoroughly restored in the second See also:half of the 18th century, when the tower was built (1790). Of the See also:Protestant churches the See also:oldest is the Nikolaikirche, which See also:dates from the 13th century; the fine See also:cast-See also:iron See also:spire erected in 1843 had to be taken down in 1901. The Paulskirche, the principal Evangelical (Lutheran) church, built between 1786 and 1833, is a red See also:sand-See also:stone edifice of no architectural pretensions, but interesting as the seat of the See also:national See also:parliament of 1848-1849. The Katharinenkirche, built 1678-1681 on the site of an older building, is famous in Frankfort See also:history as the place where the first Protestant See also:sermon was preached in 1522. Among the more noteworthy of the newer Protestant churches are the Peterskirche (1892-1895) in the North German Renaissance style, with a tower 256 ft. high, standing north from the Zeil, the Christuskirche (1883) and the Lutherkirche (1889-1893). An See also:English church, in Early English See also:Gothic style, situated adjacent to the Bockenheimer Landstrasse, was completed and consecrated in 1906. Of the five synagogues, the chief (or Hauptsynagoge), lying in the Bornestrasse, is an attractive building of red sandstone in the Moorish-See also:Byzantine style. Public Buildings.—Of the See also:secular buildings in Frankfort, the Romer, for almost five See also:hundred years the Rathaus (town See also:hall) of the city, is of See also:prime historical See also:interest.

It lies on the Romer-See also:

berg, a square flanked by curious medieval houses. It is first mentioned in 1322, was bought with the adjacent hostelry in 1405 by the city and rearranged as a town hall, and has since, from time to time, been enlarged by the See also:purchase of adjoining patrician houses, forming a complex of buildings of various styles and dates surmounted by a See also:clock tower. The facade was rebuilt (1896-1898) in See also:late Gothic style. It was here, in the Wahlzimmer (or election-chamber) that the See also:electors or their plenipotentiaries See also:chose the German kings, and here in the Kaisersaal (emperors' hall) that the See also:coronation festival was held, at which the new king or See also:emperor dined with the electors after having shown himself from the See also:balcony to the See also:people. The Kaisersaal retained its See also:antique See also:appearance until 1843, when, as also again in 1904, it was restored and redecorated; it is now furnished with a See also:series of See also:modern paintings representing the German kings and Roman emperors from Charlemagne to See also:Francis II., in all fifty-two, and a statue of the first German emperor, William I. New municipal buildings adjoining the " Romer " on the north side were erected in 1900-1903 in German Renaissance style, with a handsome tower 220 ft. high; beneath it is a public See also:wine-cellar, and on the first See also:storey a See also:grand municipal hall. The palace of the princes of Thurn and Taxis in the Eschenheimer Gasse was built (1732-1741) from the designs of See also:Robert de Cotte, chief architect to Louis XIV. of See also:France. From r8o6 to 1810 it was the See also:residence of Karl von See also:Dalberg, See also:prince-See also:primate of the See also:Confederation of the Rhine, with whose dominions Frankfort had been incorporated by See also:Napoleon. From 1816 to 1866 it was the seat of the German federal See also:diet, It is now annexed to the principal See also:post office (built 1892-1894), which lies close to it on the Zeil. The Saalhof, built on the site of the palace erected by Louis the Pious in 822, overlooking the Main, has a chapel of the 12th century, the substructure dating from Carolingian times. This is the oldest building in Frankfort. The facade of the Saalhof in the Saalgasse dates from 16o4, the See also:southern wing with the two gables from 1715 to 1717.

Of numerous other medieval buildings maybe mentioned the Leinwandhaus (linendrapers' hall), a 15th century building reconstructed in 1892 as a municipal museum. In the Grosser Hirschgraben is the Goethehaus, a 16th century building which came into the See also:

possession of the See also:Goethe See also:family in 1733. Here Goethe lived from his See also:birth in 1749 until 1775. In 1863 the house was acquired by the Freies deutsche Hochstift and was opened to the public. It has been restored, from Goethe's See also:account of it in Dichtung and Wahrheit, as nearly as possible to its See also:condition in the poet's See also:day, and is now connected with a Goethemuseum (1897), with archives and a library of 25,000 volumes representative of the Goethe period of German literature. See also:Literary and Scientific Institutions.—Few cities of the same See also:size as Frankfort are so richly endowed with literary, scientific and See also:artistic institutions, or possess so many handsome buildings appropriated to their service. The See also:opera-house, erected near the Bockenheimer Tor in 1873-188o, is a magnificent edifice in the style of the Italian Renaissance and ranks among the finest theatres in See also:Europe. There are also a See also:theatre (Schauspielhaus) in modern Renaissance style (1899-1902), devoted especially to See also:drama, a splendid See also:concert hall (Saalbau), opened in 1861, and numerous See also:minor places of theatrical entertainment. The public picture See also:gallery in the Saalhof possesses See also:works by Hans See also:Holbein, Griinewald, See also:Van Dyck, See also:Teniers, Van der See also:Neer, Hans von See also:Kulmbach, See also:Lucas See also:Cranach and other masters. The Stadel See also:Art See also:Institute (Stadel'sches Kunstinstitut) in Sachsenhausen, founded by the banker J. F. Stadel in 1816, contains a picture gallery and a See also:cabinet of engravings extremely rich in works of German art.

The municipal library, with 300,000 volumes, boasts among its rarer treasures a See also:

Gutenberg See also:Bible printed at Mainz between 1450 and 1455, another on See also:parchment dated 1462, the Institutiones Justiniani (Mainz, 1468), the Theuerdank, with woodcuts by Hans Schaufelein, and numerous valuable See also:autographs. It also contains a fine collection of coins. The Bethmann Museum owes its celebrity principally to See also:Dannecker's " See also:Ariadne," but it also possesses the original See also:plaster See also:model of See also:Thorwaldsen's " Entrance of See also:Alexander the Great into See also:Babylon." There may also be mentioned the See also:Industrial Art See also:Exhibition of the See also:Polytechnic Association and two conservatories of See also:music. Among the scientific institutions the first place belongs to the Senckenberg'sches naturhistorische Museum, containing valuable collections of birds and shells. Next must be mentioned the Kunstgewerbe (museum of arts and crafts) and the Musical Museum, with valuable See also:MSS. and portraits. Besides the municipal library (Stadtbibliothek) mentioned above there are three others of importance, the Rothschild, the Senckenberg and the Jewish library (with a well-appointed See also:reading-See also:room). There are numerous high-grade See also:schools, musical and other learned See also:societies and excellent hospitals. The last include the large municipal infirmary and the Senckenberg'sches Stift, a See also:hospital and almshouses founded by a See also:doctor, Johann C. Senckenberg (d. 1772). The Royal Institute for experimental See also:therapeutics (Konigl.Institut fiir experimentelle Therapie) , moved to Frankfort in 1899, attracts numerous See also:foreign students, and is especially concerned with the study of See also:bacteriology and serums. Bridges.—Seven bridges (of which two are railway) See also:cross the Main.

The most interesting of these is the Alte Mainbrucke, a red sandstone structure of fourteen See also:

arches, 815 ft. long, dating from the 14th century. On it are a See also:mill, a statue of Charlemagne and an iron crucifix surmounted by a gilded See also:cock. The latter commemorates, according to tradition, the See also:fowl which was the first living being to cross the See also:bridge and thus See also:fell a See also:prey to the See also:devil, who in See also:hope of a nobler victim had sold his assistance to the architect. Antiquaries, however, assert that it probably marks the spot where criminals were in olden times flung into the river. Other bridges are the Obermainbrucke of five iron arches, opened in 1878; an iron See also:foot (suspension) bridge, the Untermainbrucke; the Wilhelmsbrucke, a fine structure, which from 1849 to 1890 served as a railway bridge and was then opened as a road bridge; and two new iron bridges at Gutleuthof and Niederrad (below the city), which carry the railway See also:traffic from the south to the north bank of the Main, where all lines converge in a central station of the Prussian state railways. This station, which was built in 1883–1888 and has replaced the three stations belonging to private companies, which formerly stood in juxtaposition on the Anlagen (or promenades) near the Mainzer Tor, lies some half-mile to the See also:west. The intervening ground upon which the railway lines and buildings stood was sold for building sites, the sum obtained being more than sufficient to See also:cover the cost of the majestic central See also:terminus (the third largest in the See also:world) , which, in addition to spacious and handsome halls for passenger See also:accommodation, has three glass-covered spans of 18o ft. width each. Yet the exigencies of traffic demand further extensions, and another large station was in 1909 in See also:process of construction at the See also:east end of the city, devised to receive the See also:local traffic of lines running eastward, while a through station for the north to south traffic was projected on a site farther west of the central terminus. Frankfort lies at the junction of lines of railway connecting it directly with all the important cities of south and central Germany. Here cross and unite the lines from See also:Berlin to See also:Basel, from See also:Cologne to See also:Wurzburg and See also:Vienna, from Hamburg and See also:Cassel, and from See also:Dresden and See also:Leipzig to France and See also:Switzerland. The river Main has been dredged so as to afford heavy See also:barge traffic with the towns of the upper Main and with the Rhine, and See also:cargo boats load and unload alongside its busy quays. A well-devised See also:system of electric tramways provides for local communication within the city and with the outlying suburbs.

Trade, See also:

Commerce and See also:Industries.—Frankfort has always been more of a commercial than an industrial town, and though of late years it has somewhat lost its pre-eminent position See also:asa banking centre it has counterbalanced the loss in increased industrial development. The suburbs of Sachsenhausen and Bockenheim have particularly See also:developed considerable industrial activity, especially in See also:publishing and See also:printing, See also:brewing and the manufacture of See also:quinine. Other See also:sources of employment are the cutting of See also:hair for making hats, the See also:production of See also:fancy goods, type, machinery, See also:soap and See also:perfumery, ready-made clothing, chemicals, electro-technical apparatus, See also:jewelry and See also:metal wares. See also:Market gardening is extensively carried on in the neighbourhood and See also:cider largely manufactured. There are two great fairs held in the town,—the Ostermesse, or See also:spring See also:fair, and the Herbstmesse, or autumn fair. The former, which was the original See also:nucleus of all the commercial prosperity of the city, begins on the second Wednesday before See also:Easter; and the latter on the second Wednesday before the 8th of See also:September. They last three See also:weeks, and the last day See also:save one, called the Nickelchestag, is distinguished by the influx of people from the neighbouring country. The trade in See also:leather is of great and growing importance. A See also:horse fair has been held twice a See also:year since 1862 under the patronage of the agricultural society; and the See also:wool market was reinstituted in 1872 by the German Trade Society (Deutscher Handelsverein). Frankfort has long been famous as one of the principal banking centres of Europe, and is now only second to Berlin, in this respect, among German cities, and it is remarkable for the large business that is done in See also:government stock. In the 17th century the town was the seat of a great See also:book-trade; but it has long been distanced in this See also:department by Leipzig. The Frankfurter See also:Journal was founded in 1615, the Postzeitung in 1616, the Neue Frankfurter Zei`ung in 1859, and the Frankfurter Presse in 1866.

Of memorial monuments the largest and most elaborate in Frankfort is that erected in 1858 in See also:

honour of the early German printers. It was modelled by Ed. von der Launitz and executed by Herr von Kreis. The statues of Gutenberg, See also:Fust and Schoffer See also:form a See also:group on the See also:top; an ornamented See also:frieze presents medallions of a number of famous printers; below these are figures representing the towns cf Mainz, See also:Strassburg, See also:Venice and Frankfort; and on the corners of the See also:pedestal are allegorical statues of See also:theology, See also:poetry, See also:science and See also:industry. The statue of Goethe (1844) in the Goetheplatz is by See also:Ludwig von See also:Schwanthaler. The See also:Schiller statue, erected in 1863, is the work of a Frankfort artist, Johann See also:Dielmann. A See also:monument in the Bockenheim Anlage, dated 1837, preserves the memory of Guiollett, the burgomaster, to whom the town is mainly indebted for the beautiful promenades which occupy the site of the old fortifications; and similar monuments have been reared to Senckenberg (1863), See also:Schopenhauer, Klemens See also:Brentano the poet and See also:Samuel See also:Thomas Sommerring (1755–1830), the anatomist and inventor of an electric See also:telegraph. In the Opernplatz is an equestrian statue of the emperor Wilhelm I. by Buscher. Cemeteries.—The new cemetery (opened in 1828) contains the graves of See also:Arthur Schopenhauer and See also:Feuerbach, of Passavant the biographer of See also:Raphael, Ballenberger the artist, Hessemer the architect, Sommerring, and Johann See also:Friedrich See also:Bohmer the historian. The Bethmann vault attracts See also:attention by three bas-reliefs from the See also:chisel of Thorwaldsen; and the See also:Reichenbach See also:mausoleum is a vast See also:pile designed by Hessemer at the command of William II. of Hesse, and adorned with sculptures by Zwerger and von der Lausitz. In the Jewish See also:section, which is walled off from the rest of the burying-ground, the most remarkable tombs are those of the Rothschild family. Parks.—In addition to the See also:park in the south-western See also:district, Frankfort possesses two delightful See also:pleasure grounds, which attract large See also:numbers of visitors, the Palmengarten in the west and the zoological See also:garden in the east of the city.. The former is remarkable for the collection of palms See also:purchased in 1868 from the deposed See also:duke Adolph of Nassau.

Government.—The See also:

present municipal constitution of the city dates from 1867 and presents some points of difference from the See also:ordinary Prussian system. See also:Bismarck was desirous of giving the city, in view of its former freedom, a more liberal constitution than is usual in ordinary cases. Formerly fifty-four representatives were elected, but See also:provision was made (in thg constitution) for increasing the number, and they at present number sixty-four, elected for six years. Every two years a third of the number retire, but they are eligible for re-election. These sixty-four representatives elect twenty town-councillors, ten of whom receive a See also:salary and ten do not. The chief burgomaster (Oberburgermeister) is nominated by the emperor for twelve years, and the second burgomaster must receive the emperor's approval. Since r885 the city has been supplied with See also:water of excellent quality from the Stadtwald, Goldstein and Hinkelstein, and the favourable sanitary condition of the town is seen in the See also:low See also:death See also:rate. See also:Population.—The population of Frankfort has steadily increased since the beginning of the 19th century; it amounted in 1817 to 41,458; (1840) 55,269; (1864) 77,372; (1871) 59,265; (1875) 103,136; (1890) 179,985; and (1905), including the incorporated suburban districts, 334,951, of whom 175,909 were Protestants, 88,457 Roman Catholics and 21,974 Jews. History.—Excavations around the cathedral have incontestably proved that Frankfort-on-Main (Trajectum ad Moenum) was a See also:settlement in Roman times and was probably founded in the 1st century of the See also:Christian era. It may thus be accounted one of the earliest German—the so-called " Roman "—towns. Numerous places in the valley of the Main are mentioned in See also:chronicles anterior to the time that Frankfort is first noticed. Disregarding popular tradition, which connects the origin of the town with a See also:legend that Charlemagne, when retreating before the See also:Saxons, was safely conducted across the river by a doe, it may be- asserted that the first genuine historical See also:notice of the town occurs in 793, when See also:Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer, tells us that he spent the See also:winter in the See also:villa Frankonovurd.

Next year there is mention more than once of a royal palace here, and the early importance of the place is indicated by the fact that in this year it was chosen as the seat of the ecclesiastical See also:

council by which See also:image-See also:worship was condemned. The name Frankfort is also found in several See also:official documents of Charlemagne's reign; and from the notices that occur in the early chronicles and charters it would appear that the place was the most populous at least of the numerous villages of the Main district. During the Carolingian period it was the seat of no fewer than 16 imperial See also:councils or colloquies. The town was probably at first built on an See also:island in the river. It was originally governed by the royal officer or actor dominicus, and down even to the close of the Empire it remained a purely imperial or royal town. It gradually acquired various privileges, and by the close of the r4th century the only See also:mark of dependence was the See also:payment of a yearly tax. Louis the Pious dwelt more frequently at Frankfort than his See also:father Charlemagne had done, and about 823 he built himself a new palace, the basis of the later Saalhof. In 822 and 823 two great diets were held in the palace, and at the former there were present deputies from the eastern Slays, the See also:Avars and the See also:Normans. The place continued to be a favourite residence with Louis the German, who died there in 876, and was the capital of the East Frankish See also:kingdom. By the rest of the Carolingian kings it was less frequently visited, and this neglect was naturally greater during the period of the Saxon and Salic emperors from 919 to 1137. Diets, however, were held in the town in 951, ror5, 1069 and 1109, and councils in moo and roo6. From a See also:privilege of See also:Henry IV., in 1074, granting the city of See also:Worms freedom from tax in their trade with several royal cities, it appears that Frankfort was even then a place of some commercial importance.

Under the Hohenstaufens many brilliant diets were held within its walls. That of 1147 saw, also, the first election of a German king at Frankfort, in the See also:

person of Henry, son of See also:Conrad III. But as the father outlived the son, it was See also:Frederick I., See also:Barbarossa, who was actually the first reigning king to be elected here (in 1152). With the beginning of the 13th century the municipal constitution appears to have taken definite shape. The chief official was the royal See also:bailiff (Schultheiss), who is first mentioned in 1193, and whose See also:powers were subsequently enlarged by the abolition, in 1219, of the office of the royal See also:Vogt or advotalus. About this time a See also:body of Schofen (scabini, jurats), fourteen in number, was formed to assist in the See also:control of municipal affairs, and with their See also:appointment the first step was taken towards civic representative government. Soon, however, the activity of the Schoien became specifically confined to the determination of legal disputes, and in their place a new body (Collegium) of counsellors—Ratmannen—also fourteen in number, was appointed for the general See also:administration of local matters. In 131 I, the two burgomasters, now chiefs of the See also:municipality, take the place of the royal Schultheiss. In the 13th century, the Frankfort Fair, which is first mentioned in 1150, and the origin of which must have been long anterior to that date, is referred to as being largely frequented. No fewer than ro new churches were erected in the years from 1220 to 1270. It was about the same period, probably in 1240, that the Jews first settled in the town. In the contest which Louis the Bavarian maintained with the papacy Frankfort sided with the emperor, and it was consequently placed under an See also:interdict for 20 years from 1329 to 1349.

On Louis' death it refused to accept the papal conditions of See also:

pardon, and only yielded to See also:Charles IV., the papal nominee, when Gunther of Schwarzburg thought it more prudent to abdicate in his favour. Charles granted the city a full See also:amnesty, and confirmed its liberties and privileges. By the famous See also:Golden See also:Bull of 1356 Frankfort was declared the seat of the imperial elections, and it still preserves an official contemporaneous copy of the original document as the most See also:precious of the eight imperial bulls in its possession. From the date of the bull to the close of the Empire Frankfort retained the position of " Wahlstadt," and only five of the two-and-twenty monarchs who ruled during that period were elected elsewhere. In 1388–1389 Frankfort assisted the South German towns in their See also:wars with the princes and nobles (the Stadtekrieg), and in a consequent See also:battle with the troops of the See also:Palatinate, the town banner was lost and carried to Kronberg, where it was long preserved as a See also:trophy. On See also:peace being concluded in 1391, the town had to pay 12,562 florins, and this brought it into great See also:financial difficulties. In the course of the next 50 years See also:debt was contracted to the amount of 126,772 florins. The diet at Worms in 1495 chose Frankfort as the seat of the newly instituted imperial chamber, or " Reichskammergerickt," and it was not till 1527 that the chamber was removed to See also:Spires. At the See also:Reformation Frankfort heartily joined the Protestant party, and in consequence it was hardly treated both by the emperor Charles V. and by the See also:archbishop of Mainz. It refused to subscribe the See also:Augsburg See also:Recess, but at the same time it was not till 1536 that it was persuaded to join the See also:League of See also:Schmalkalden. On the failure of this confederation it opened its See also:gates to the imperial general Buren on the 29th of See also:December 1546, although he had passed by the city, which he considered too strong for the forces under his command. The emperor was merciful enough to leave it in possession of its privileges, but he inflicted a fine of 8o,000 See also:gold gulden, and until See also:October 1547 the citizens had to endure the presence of from 8000 to Io,000 soldiers.

This resulted in a pestilence which not only lessened the population, but threatened to give the death-See also:

blow to the great See also:annual fairs; and at the close of the war it was found that it had cost the city no less than 228,931 gulden. In 1552 Frankfort was invested for three weeks by See also:Maurice of See also:Saxony, who was still in arms against the emperor Charles V., but it continued to hold out till peace was concluded between the principal combatants. Between 1612 and 1616 occurred the great Fettmilch insurrection, perhaps the most remarkable See also:episode in the See also:internal history of Frankfort. The magistracy had been acquiring more and more the See also:character of an See also:oligarchy; all See also:power was practically in the hands of a few closely-related families; and the gravest peculation and malversation took place without hindrance. The ordinary citizens were roused to assert their rights, and they found a See also:leader in Vincenz Fettmilch, who carried the contest to dangerous excesses, but lacked ability to bring it to a successful issue. An imperial See also:commission was ultimately appointed, and the three principal culprits and several of their associates were executed in 1616. It was not till 18oi that the last mouldering See also:head of the Fettmilch See also:company dropped unnoticed from the Rententurm, the old tower near the bridge. In the words of Dr Kriegk, Geschichte von Frankfurt, (1871), the insurrection completely destroyed the See also:political power of the See also:gilds, gave new strength to the supremacy of the patriciate, and brought no further See also:advantage to the rest of the citizens than a few improvements in the organization and administration of the magistracy. The Jews, who had been attacked by the popular party, were solemnly reinstated by imperial command in all their previous privileges, and received full See also:compensation for their losses. During the See also:Thirty Years' War Frankfort did not See also:escape. In 1631 Gustavus See also:Adolphus garrisoned it with 600 men, who remained in possession till they were expelled four years later by the imperial general Lamboy. In 1792 the citizens had to pay 2,000,000 gulden to the See also:French general See also:Custine; and in 1796 Kleber exacted 8,000,000 francs.

The See also:

independence of Frankfort was brought to an end in ,8o6, on the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine; and in 1810 it was made the capital of the grand-duchy of Frankfort, which had an See also:area of 3215 sq.m. with 302,100 inhabitants, and was divided into the four districts of Frankfort, See also:Aschaffenburg, See also:Fulda and See also:Hanau. On the reconstitution of Germany in 1815 it again became a free city, and in the following year it was declared the seat of the German Confederation. In See also:April 1833 occurred what is known as the Frankfort Insurrection (Frankfurter Attentat), in which a number of insurgents led by Georg See also:Bunsen attempted to break up the diet. The city joined the German See also:Zollverein in 1836. During the revolutionary period of 1848 the people of Frankfort, where the united German parliament held its sessions, took a chief part in political movements, and the streets of the town were more than once the See also:scene of conflict. In the war of 1866 they were on the See also:Austrian side. On the 16th of See also:July the Prussian troops, under General See also:Vogel von Falkenstein, entered the town, and on the 18th of October it was formally incorporated with the Prussian state. A fine of 6,000,000 florins was exacted. In 1871 the treaty which concluded the Franco-German War was signed in the See also:Swan Hotel by Prince Bismarck and Jules See also:Favre, and it is consequently known as the peace of Frankfort. FRANKFORT-ON-See also:ODER, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of See also:Brandenburg, 50 M. S.E. from Berlin on the main line of railway to See also:Breslau and at the junction of lines to Ciistrin, See also:Posen and See also:Grossenhain. Pop.

(1905) 64,943. The town proper lies on the See also:

left bank of the river Oder and is connected by a stone bridge (replacing the old historical wooden structure) goo ft. long, with the suburb of Damm. The town is agreeably situated and has broad and handsome streets, among them the " See also:Linden," a spacious See also:avenue. Above, on the western side, and partly lying on the site of the old ramparts, is the residential quarter, consisting mainly of villas and commanding a fine prospect of the Oder valley. Between this suburb and the town lies the park, in which is a monument to the poet See also:Ewald Christian von See also:Kleist, who died here of wounds received in the battle of See also:Kunersdorf. Among the more important public buildings must be noticed the Evangelical Marienkirche (Oberkirche), a handsome See also:brick edifice of the 13th century with five aisles, the Roman Catholic church, the Rathhaus dating from 1607, and bearing on its southern gable the See also:device of a member of the Hanseatic League, the government offices and the theatre. The university of Frankfort, founded in 15o6 by See also:Joachim I., elector of Brandenburg, was removed to Breslau in 1811, and the academical buildings are now occupied by a school. To compensate it for the loss of its university, Frankfort-on-Oder was long the seatof the See also:court of See also:appeal for the province, but of this it was deprived in 1899. There are several handsome public monuments, notably that to Duke See also:Leopold of See also:Brunswick, who was drowned in the Oder while attempting to save See also:life, on the 27th of April 1785. The town has a large See also:garrison, consisting of nearly all arms. Its industries are considerable, including the manufacture of machinery, metal See also:ware, chemicals, See also:paper, leather and See also:sugar. Situated on the high road from Berlin to See also:Silesia, and having an extensive system of water communication by means of the Oder and its canals to the See also:Vistula and the See also:Elbe, and being an important railway centre, it has a lively export trade, which is further fostered by its three annual fairs, held respectively at Reminiscere (the second See also:Sunday in See also:Lent), St See also:Margaret's day and at Martinmas.

In the neighbourhood are extensive See also:

coal See also:fields. Frankfort-on-the-Oder owes its origin and name to a settlement of Franconian merchants here, in the 13th century, on See also:land conquered by the See also:margrave of Brandenburg from the See also:Wends. In 1253 it was raised to the See also:rank of a town by the margrave See also:John I. and borrowed from Berlin the See also:Magdeburg civic constitution. In 1379 it received from King See also:Sigismund, then margrave of Brandenburg, the right to free See also:navigation of the Oder; and from 1368 to about 1450 it belonged to the Hanseatic League. The university, which is referred to above, was opened by the elector Joachim I. in 1506, was removed in 1516 to Kottbus and restored again to Frankfort in 1539, at which date the Reformation was introduced. It was dispersed during the Thirty Years' War and again restored by the Great Elector, but finally transferred to Breslau in 1811. Frankfort has suffered much from the vicissitudes of war. In the 15th century it successfully withstood sieges by the See also:Hussites (1429 and 1432), by the Poles (1450) and by the duke of See also:Sagan (1477). In the Thirty Years' War it was successively taken by Gustavus Adolphus (1631), by See also:Wallenstein (1633), by the elector of Brandenburg (1634), and again by the Swedes, who held it from 164o to 1644. During the Seven Years' War it was taken by the Russians (1759). In 1812 it was occupied by the French, who remained till See also:March 1813, when the Russians marched in. See K.

R. Hausen, Geschichte der Universitat and Stadt Frankfurt (18o6), and Bieder and Gurnik, Bilder aus der Geschichte der Stadt Frankfurt-an-der-Oder (1898).

End of Article: FRANKFORT

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