Frankfurt's
commercial
tradition goes back to Roman
times, when its importance as a
river crossing point and
junction between north and south
Germany was first recognized.
Charlemagne had a fortress built
on the old Roman site during the
eighth century, and by the
twelfth century Frankfurt was
well established as a trading
centre. This market evolved
gradually into the Frankfurt
fair which flourishes to this
day, albeit in new premises just
outside the centre. The stock
exchange was opened in 1585 and
Meyer Amschel Rothschild founded
a financial dynasty here at the
beginning of the nineteenth
century. Frankfurt was also the
main centre of the postwar
German economic recovery. It was
here that the Americans set in
motion the currency reform that
put the shattered nation back on
its feet - overnight, on June
20, 1948, they introduced DM10.7
billion worth of new currency,
printed in the US and delivered
to Frankfurt under armed guard,
to replace the vastly inflated
Reichsmark
. With the introduction of the
euro as a replacement for some
of the continent's most
respected currencies, Frankfurt,
as the headquarters of its
central bank, is set to become a
financial centre of
ever-increasing importance.
The city's political role
has been similarly prominent,
albeit with more variable
results: its failure to
establish itself as the nation's
capital symbolizes the tragedy
of German history, in which
authoritarianism has so often
triumphed. In 1356, Frankfurt
gained permanent status as the
place where the Electors met to
choose the Holy Roman emperor,
and in 1562 it supplanted Aachen
as the scene of the imperial
coronations. After the
Napoleonic wars it was one of
only four of the erstwhile Free
Imperial Cities to preserve its
status, and it was chosen as the
seat of the National Assembly.
However, hopes that it might
provide neutral, liberal-minded
leadership of a united Germany
incorporating both Prussia and
Austria were dashed in the
aftermath of the revolutions of
1848-49. The city was annexed by
Prussia in 1866 and has never
been so much as a regional
capital since. After World War
II, it seemed to be the natural
choice as capital of West
Germany, but lost out on the
casting vote of Chancellor
Adenauer, who had campaigned in
favour of Bonn, the city nearest
his own home, in an alliance
with Berliners who feared that
Frankfurt would be strong enough
to thwart Berlin's chances of
ever regaining capital status.
