Download Frankfurt: city profile Frankfurt am Main, the fifth

Frankfurt: city profile
Frankfurt am Main, the fifth-largest city in Germany (population: 646,900) and largest city in Hessen,
is a major manufacturing, financial, commercial, and transportation center, served by rail lines and
the Rhine-Main Airport, the most important in Germany. Manufactures include machinery, electrical
equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, clothing, and printed materials.
International trade fairs, including the world's largest annual book fair, are held in the city.
Frankfurt is divided into an old town, or Altstadt, bordering the river, and a new town, or Neustadt,
north of the older section. The old town, inhabited mainly by tradespeople and skilled artisans,
retains many medieval characteristics. The new town contains the business quarter and the most
important public buildings. A cluster of Gothic houses, the Römer, was used as the town hall for
nearly 600 years. It forms the nucleus of the Römerberg, a square flanked by medieval houses of
various dates. Other places of interest are the Leinwandhaus, or linen drapers' hall, of the 14th
century; the Eschenheimer Turm, a tower once part of the city's old fortifications; the palace of the
princes of Thurn and Taxis, which was the meeting place of the diet of the German Confederation
from 1816 to 1866; and the house (now a museum) where the German poet and writer Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe spent his youth.
The outstanding church of Frankfurt is the Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew. It was constructed in the
13th century on the site of a 9th-century church and was the seat of the elections of emperors of the
Holy Roman Empire and, after 1562, of the imperial coronations. Also notable are Saint Paul's Church
(18th-19th century), where the Frankfurt Parliament, the first German national assembly, met from
1848 to 1849; Saint Leonard's Church (15th-16th century); and Saint Michael's Church (1953). Seven
museums make up the Museum Embankment, a major construction project first planned in the late
1970s and completed only recently. Across the river but generally mentioned in conjunction with the
embankment is the Jewish Museum, which depicts the history of Jews in Germany from the Middle
Ages to the present and focuses on Frankfurt's Jewish ghetto. The city also has a large zoo and a
botanical garden and is the seat of a university (1914). The famous Zeil pedestrian zone is Germany’s
biggest selling shopping street.
History
Though the area was settled as early as the Stone Age, Frankfurt was probably established as a
Roman settlement about the 1st century ad. In the late 8th century, it was referred to as
Frankonovurd by Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne. During Charlemagne's reign (800-814) a
number of imperial councils were held in Frankfurt. The Golden Bull of 1356 established Frankfurt as
the seat of the imperial elections, and it was made a free imperial city in 1372. About 1530 the city
became an important stronghold of Protestantism. Upon the formation of the Confederation of the
Rhine in 1806, Frankfurt became subordinate to the confederation. It regained the status of a free
city in 1815, and it was the unofficial capital of the confederation until 1866. In the same year, during
the Seven Weeks' War, Frankfurt was seized by Prussia. During World War II (1939-1945), the city
was badly damaged by bombing, but it has since been rebuilt. In 1993 Frankfurt was chosen as the
site of the European Monetary Institute, the European Union body that is the forerunner of the
European Central Bank.
Government
The city of Frankfurt is governed by the Magistrat, as the city government is called. The members of
the city government, with the exception of the mayor, are elected by the city council. It consists of
the mayor of Frankfurt, currently the Conservative Petra Roth, the borough mayors, the city
treasurer and seven full-time as well as fourteen voluntary aldermen. The full-time aldermen are
responsible for their own departments (Dezernat). Decisions in the Magistrat are taken by majority
rule.
The city council (Stadtverordnetenversammlung) is the highest authority in Frankfurt, comprising 93
members who serve on a voluntary basis and are elected on five-year terms. Currently, the
Conservative CDU holds the majority in the city council, governing in a coalition with the Greens,
making Frankfurt the biggest city in Germany to be governed by a coalition between Greens and
Conservatives. The city council sits in the 700-year old Römer, which has served as Frankfurt’s city
hall since the year 1405.
Economy
Frankfurt is the centre of the FrankfurtRhineMain region where 5.3 million inhabitants live. 320,000
companies and a workforce of 2.7 million people produce an annual GDP of 180.2 billion euro. With
271 credit institutions, over half of which are foreign banks, all the leading players are represented in
Frankfurt. 6 of the 10 largest German credit institutions have their headquarters in Frankfurt. As the
seat of the European Central Bank ECB, Frankfurt is the city of the euro. This is where currency policy
decisions are taken for the “Eurozone” and therefore for 460 million people. The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) and national banks have also set up their European and German representative offices
here.
Frankfurt is the world’s fourth largest stock exchange after New York, London and Tokio and EUREX is
the biggest "Futures and Options Exchange" in the world. Over 90% of the total German stock
market turnover is generated in Frankfurt.
About 50 investment companies are based in Frankfurt and most of them operate worldwide. These
investment companies manage just under 80% of the total fund assets managed from Germany as
money market and security funds. Roughly a quarter of foreign direct investment in Germany flows
into the greater Frankfurt region.
Sources: MSN Encarta, City of Frankfurt (www.frankfurt.de)