Paris1972-Versailles2003

I have been to Germanyseveral times ,and on business trips many times to Frankfurt, pictures are few but the memories lingered. It is one of those places came by plane and then rental car to my final destination there in Darmstadt,(see posts), Years later came more with the family on personal visits and much enjoyed it I found me one old paper picture in my albums, that made me do this post for you and me, Therefore, here is my take on this is Frankfurt am Main !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I,

The Frankfurt am Main, usually called simply Frankfurt, is sometimes nicknamed the European Manhattan, in reference to the Main river, which flows through it. It is 327 km from Basel, 220 km from Strasbourg, 402 km from Brussels, 440 km from Amsterdam, 551 km from Berlin, 573 km from Paris, and 28 km from Darmstadt ,where I always stayed. Nearby cities include, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, and Hanau. I came here by the airport and then rental car to office buildings of our branch in Wiesbaden and Darmstadt, The airport Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof was opened in 1999. The Frankfurter Kreuz, an interchange between the north-south (A5) and east-west (A3) highways, which also serves the airport, is the busiest highway junction in Europe. I never encounter this so call traffic , I drove from the airport about 28 km along the A5 highway to exit 42 Darmstadt Nord and continue same road into Darmstadt on the Grafenhauser street bearing left onto the Pallaswiesenstrabe continue then right into Kasinostrabe dir TU Darmstadt then left onto Bismarckstrabe then right onto MathildeEsplanade continue ahead to the nice central Luisenplatz.

There are many things to see here sadly I was on business trips assingments and hardly anytime to see much on tourism However, I did passed by the Old Opera House, one of its most prestigious concert halls.  The Old Opera House was almost completely destroyed by bombing in 1944 .A citizens’ initiative campaigned to collect funds from reconstruction after 1953 ,and the Opera was reopened on August 28, 1981, Today the Opera or Alte Oper consists of the Grosser Saal Hall (Great Hall), the Mozart-Saal, and other smaller halls , used for conventions. Because the new Frankfurt Opera House had already been built in 1951, the old opera house was designed for use as a concert hall from the start of its reconstruction. Today, it regularly hosts concerts and plays.

Other things to see are the St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral; On the very typical Römerberg Square, you’ll find the City Hall (the Römer), the Paulskirche (St. Paul’s Church), where the Frankfurt Parliament (the first parliament in German history) convened in 1848, and St. Catherine’s Church. The Hauptwache (Main Square) is one of the city’s main squares. Frankfurt boasts numerous museums, most of which are located on the Schaumainkai along the Main river. The Städel Museum (Städelsches Kunstinstitut) houses major works by Dürer, Cranach, Hans Holbein the Younger, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Cézanne, Renoir, Beckmann, Kirchner, Dix, and Goethe’s Roman Countryside by Tischbein. The Senckenberg Museum is the largest museum in Germany. It displays the most extensive collection of large dinosaurs in Europe.

A bit of history I like tell us that Frankfurt is first mentioned under this name in 794 in a document by Charlemagne, as Franconofurd, meaning “the ford of the Franks” . Charlemagne built a palace there. The city quickly became one of the largest cities of the Holy Roman Empire. From 855 onward, the German emperors were appointed there before being crowned in Aachen (old Aix-la-Chapelle). From 1562 until 1792, the emperors were crowned in the cathedral built during the 13C. This privilege remained theirs until the dissolution of the Reich in 1806. The city’s contemporary history is marked by numerous conflicts. In 1792, during the French revolutionary Wars, the city was briefly occupied by General Custine (from October 22 to December 2) before being liberated by Prussian and Hessian troops. Then, during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1806, Frankfurt was attacked and occupied by French forces commanded by Augereau. The following year, the city was incorporated into the Confederation of the Rhine and became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna restored Frankfurt’s status as a free city by attaching it to the German Confederation. The following year, Frankfurt became the seat of the Bundestag (the German parliament). In 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War, Frankfurt was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia and incorporated into the province of Hesse-Nassau. On May 10, 1871, the peace treaty ending the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 was signed in Frankfurt (Treaty of Frankfurt). On April 6, 1920, the city was occupied by French troops of the 30th Army Corps under General Mordacq, commanded by General Degoutte. During WWII, the city was almost entirely destroyed by Allied bombing. On March 22, 1944, a British attack destroyed almost the entire historic center. In 1949, following the elections for the first German Bundestag, Bonn was chosen over Frankfurt as the capital of West Germany. Despite this, Frankfurt quickly regained its leading economic position to this day.

The city of Frankfurt on its heritage: https://frankfurt.de/frankfurt-entdecken-und-erleben/sehenswuerdigkeiten

The Frankfurt tourist office on its heritage: https://www.visitfrankfurt.travel/en/experience/discover/highlights

There you go folks, this is an interesting city and one that needs more visits to fully enjoy it. One big city bypassed for smaller ones but deserves to be back, eventually, Again hope you enjoy the post on this is Frankfurt am Main !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!