History
The main valley in today’s urban area is severely narrowed by a nest of tertiary sediments on both sides of the Main. The favorable transition possibilities already led to settlement in prehistoric times. In today’s Höchst district, a fort was built under Roman rule at the confluence of the Main and Nidda rivers; in the late 1st century AD, another fort was built in today’s Heddernheim district. The Roman civil settlement of Nida, which was built after 110, was abandoned by the Romans in the 3rd century, then taken over or settled by the Alemanni and around 500 by the Franks.
Developed on the Main Island in the 6th / 7th. Century a Merovingian settlement and Palatinate. 794 in a document from Charles I the Great, for the first time as Franconovurd (“Furt der Franken”) mentioned, the Carolingian royal palace was the preferred residence of the rulers in the 9th century and before 1000 it was fortified along with the palace settlement. In the Hohenstaufen period (12th / 13th century) the new Palatinate (Saalhof) was built on the banks of the Main. In place of the old one, a walled market settlement developed in the middle of the 12th century, which became a city before 1200 (own city legal family; recorded only in 1297) and since the 12th century (confirmed by the Golden Bull in 1356; until 1806) a permanent place of choice for the Romans Was kings (since 1562 the cathedral also the site of the imperial coronation). The autumn fair, attested since the 12th century, was accompanied by the spring fair in 1330; in the 15th – 17th In the 19th century, the Frankfurt Book Fair was important (again since 1949). With the purchase of the mayor’s office, which had been pledged up to then, the city, which in 1333 more than doubled its urban area according to the imperial approval, gained imperial immediacy in 1372. In 1533 Frankfurt declared itself to be Protestant, in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–47 it was initially on the Protestant side; Dutch refugees brought new businesses to the city and primarily established Frankfurt’s reputation as a banking and stock exchange center. In the “Fettmilch Uprising” (1612–16), the guilds’ attempt to gain a share in the city regiment failed. In 1792, 1796, 1800 and 1806 French troops occupied the city, which in 1806 lost its independence from the imperial city and, when the Confederation of the Rhine was founded, to princes Karl Theodor von Dalberg fell. 1810-13 capital of the newly created Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, which included the office of Aschaffenburg, Wetzlar, the principalities of Fulda and Hanau, in 1815 Frankfurt became a Free City and a member of the German Confederation and seat of the German Bundestag. The “Frankfurt Wachensturm” (1833) was supposed to trigger a survey to shake off the old state systems in Germany. The Frankfurt National Assembly, which metin the Paulskirche in 1848/49,carried the hopes of the liberal and democratic bourgeoisie (September 18, 1848 suppression of an uprising).
After the German War in 1866, Prussia annexed Frankfurt and incorporated the city into the province of Hessen-Nassau. In the 19th century, Frankfurt finally developed into a leading European banking and stock exchange metropolis (including the work of the Bethmann and Rothschild families), but at the same time gained importance as an industrial city thanks to its central location. The increasing population (1817: 41,500 residents; 1866: 78,000 residents; 1871: 91,000 residents; 1900: 289,000 residents; 1933: 550,000 residents) combined with expanding settlement and extensive incorporations, e.g. B. Bornheim 1877, Bockenheim 1895, Höchst and Fechenheim 1928, Bergen-Enkheim 1977. During the Second World War, the old town was almost completely destroyed (especially in March 1944). In 1949, Frankfurt was narrowly defeated by Bonn in the election of the federal capital.
Economy
As the core city of the second largest German metropolitan area, Frankfurt is the most important industrial location in Hesse. The chemistry, pharmacy, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering groups lead by far. However, it is primarily the service sector that determines the structure of the city. Even of the industrial workers, only half work in production, the other half in management, administration, research and development. Frankfurt is one of the German strongholds in the advertising industry.
As a trade and trade fair city, Frankfurt organizes large international trade fairs at regular intervals, including Spring and autumn fairs such as the Frankfurt Book Fair (annually), the International Motor Show (IAA; annually), ACHEMA (leading trade fair for the process industry; every three years) or Ambiente (consumer goods; annually). The trade fair and the large number of conferences and congresses make Frankfurt a magnet for visitors. In 2017 the city had 5.6 million guests, 42% of them from abroad.