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800 Years of Frankfurt's History in 60 Minutes

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800 Years of Frankfurt's History in 60 Minutes 800 Years of Frankfurt‘s History in 60 Minutes Welcome to the historisches museum frankfurt! This walking guide takes you through 800 years of Frankfurt city history. Experience medieval Frankfurt and Frankfurt’s outstanding role as imperial election and coronation site in the lower level of the Saalhof. Impressions from Frankfurt’s history as a free municipality and hub of commerce to its role in the 20th century, are on display in our exhibition ‘Frankfurt Collectors and Donors’, with selected objects over four floors. The famous scale model of Frankfurt helps you to comprehend the many changes in Frankfurt’s inner city, from the destruction during the Second World War to the present day. Finally, climb up into the ‘Renten turm’ (customs tower) recently opened to the public for the first time in 500 years, and experience the sounds and sights of life and trade on the Main river. historisches museum frankfurt Fahrtor 2 (Römerberg) 60311 Frankfurt am Main Tel. (069) 212 35599 Fax (069) 212 30702 [email protected] www.historisches-museum-frankfurt.de You can also follow us on www.blog.historisches-museum-frankfurt.de www.facebook.com/historisches.museum.frankfurt www.twitter.com/histmus 800 Years of Frankfurt‘s History in 60 Minutes Start: Lower Level Staufer Age The ‘Staufer Age’ about 800 years ago was enormously impor- tant for Frankfurt: Civilian government developed, the town fortifications were erected, and the city was granted the imperial privilege to hold trade fairs. The Saalhof is Frankfurt’s oldest standing structure from this period, and as a royal castle was the center of the city during the Staufer dynasty. During the 12th and 13th centuries visiting German monarchs resided here, such as Frederick Barbarossa who in 1152 was elected German king in Frankfurt. Interactive Model: origins of Frankfurt as a city (Lower Level / UG) On a scale of 1:500, this interactive model displays the town’s appearance 1 toward the end of the Staufer dynasty, around 1260. Today only little remains from that era. Aside from the Staufer Buil- ding within the Saalhof complex itself, only a small portion of the original city wall has survived, along with parts of the Leonhardskirche and Nikolaikirche, and the marked foundation walls of a tower under the pavement of the Römerberg. The model is complemented by two projections: one into the past with a view of Frankfurt’s Cathedral hill (Domhügel) development in prehistoric and Roman times, the other maps the progress of the Old City area from medieval times to the present today. Continue: through the same exhibition space The Imperial Insignia: Frankfurt as election and coronation site (Lower Level / UG) Beginning in the 12th century, Frankfurt became something like the capital of the Holy Roman 2 Empire. 31 kings and emperors were elected here, and 10 crowned as well. At the coronation the symbols of power, the insignia, were ritually handed over to the Emperor. These displayed replicas were crafted in the year 1913 as part of a grand commemoration of Frankfurt as the historic site of imperial elections and coronations. The Römer (City Hall) façade was newly designed for the occasion, and decorated with statues of four important Emperors. Paintings were added to the Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall) as well as the Prince Elector’s chamber, and the Frankfurt city council silver was refurbished thanks to civic donations. Continue: back to the winding staircase, up the stairs to the Ground Floor (EG). Tools of the Master Builder: Frankfurt’s fortifications during the 30-Years’ War (Ground Floor / EG) Johann Wilhelm Dilich (1600-1657) 3 was well-known as a building engineer of fortresses. At the beginning of the 30-Years’ War (1618-1648) he was commissioned, together with his father, to draw up plans for the fortification of Frankfurt. Unfortunately he did not live to see the completion of work on the ramparts and bulwarks, which lasted until almost 1700. One hundred years later, when the fortress had become unnecessary, the fortifications were torn down. A park was created in its place, which still encircles the inner ring of modern-day Frankfurt. Dilich’s outstanding collection of astronomical and surveying instruments was preserved for years by the city library and later entered the collection of the historisches museum. Continue: towards the back of the exhibition area Grand Duke Dalberg: Frankfurt’s brief era as a principality (Ground Floor / EG) Frankfurt maintained its status as Free and Imperial City from medieval times until 1866, with a tradition of 4 civic rule for over 600 years. But for a very brief period of its history a prince actu- ally held the reigns of power in Frankfurt: Carl Theodor von Dalberg (1744-1817) had been executive prince of the Rheinbund from 1806 until 1813, at which time he was also named Grand Duke of Frankfurt by Napoleon. By 1813 Dalberg had given up all of his worldly offices,u b t had already made lasting contribu- tions to Frankfurt through several reforms in the educational, administrative and judicial systems. He was also instrumental in founding a chamber of commerce and establishing civic rights for Frankfurt’s Jews. Continue: return using the winding stairs to the 2nd Floor (1. OG) Matrix and Patrix: Frankfurt and money manufacturing (2nd Floor / 1.OG) The Roessler company, later DEGUSSA, originated out of the twin functions of its founder. 5 Friedrich Ernst Roessler (1813-1883) was head of the Frankfurt’s municipal mint, but as private entrepreneur he also managed a metal separating business in the same building. In the process of unifying the German coinage during the 19th century, old silver and gold German coins were melted down here in order to manufacture the new currency. All the precious metals within the German Confederation as well as imperial coins were melted in the ovens of the Frankfurt Scheideanstalt (separating plant).The company headed by Roessler was thus one of the earliest industrial enterprises in Frankfurt. Continue: through the same exhibition space Patriotic Weapons Collection: Frankfurt under Prussian rule (2nd Floor / 1.OG) Frankfurt was conquered and annexed by Prussia in 1866. In res- ponse, Frankfurt’s mayor Carl 6 Fellner committed suicide, leaving a note that he did not want to turn his city and their citizens over to ‘traitors’. Carl’s older brother, Johann Christian Fellner, sought to preserve the memory of the Free City of Frankfurt through his collection of military memorabilia from the city’s imperial past. The uni- form of an officer from the Frankfurt volunteer civil defence artillery are among the objects on display. When construction of the Frankfurt Historical Museum was announced in 1878, Fellner bequeathed the weapons collection to his home town, dedicating it to the memory of his brother. Continue: return using the winding stairs to the 3rd Floor (2. OG) Exotic Plants and Animals: Frankfurt’s explorer on the Nile (3rd Floor / 2.OG) Eduard Rüppell (1794-1884) was one of Frankfurt’s outstanding research explorers, comparable to 7 the likes of Alexander von Humboldt. He is credited with significant discoveries in the Nubian kingdoms, Abyssinia, on the Sinai peninsula, and in the region surrounding the Red Sea. 79 plant and animal species are named after him. Rüppell did not simply collect for his personal pleasure, but for the good of Frankfurt and science in general. During his lifetime he donated his complete collection of research objects to various Frankfurt institutions, with the goal of instructing and informing the public. His outstanding allocations and donations to the Senckenberg Society of Natural Research, founded in 1817, contributed grea- tly to the growth of this renowned organisation. Continue: same exhibition room Entwined by Flowers: the oldest surviving city view painting (3rd Floor / 2.OG) One of the oldest painted views of Frankfurt originated from the painter Jakob Marrel (1613-1681), who was 8 the stepfather of Maria Sibylla Merian, born in 1647. Marrel created the pain- ting in 1651, after he had finally settled in Frankfurt. The view combines a floral still life and butterflies with a view of Frankfurt from the west. Both of Marrel’s grandfa- thers had been jewellers from the Walloon region. At the end of the 16th century up to 8,000 Flemish religious exiles had found refuge in Frankfurt, helping the impoverished city to a economic and cultural renaissance. Continue: return using the winding stairs to the 4th Floor (3. OG) A Collection torn apart: Frankfurt’s museums and the Nazi-era (4th Floor / 3.OG) Julius Heyman (1863-1925) was an affluent banker, but also an avid collector of Gothic and Renaissance 9 furniture, sculptures and handicrafts, who created a private museum in his own home. In his will of 1924 he bequeathed the entire house to his home town Frankfurt, to become a special branch of the Historical Museum – on the condition that it remain complete and un- changed for at least 100 years. But starting in 1938, during the Nazi era, the will of its Jewish donor was no longer respected. The collection was divided up and distributed among different Frankfurt museums; several pieces were sold off through private art traders. Today the historisches museum is attempting to re- search the whereabouts of individual objects from the collection. But the unique ensemble which Julius Heyman originally designed will remain lost forever. Continue: with the elevator down the grey staircase to the 2nd Floor (1. OG) Between Cathedral and Römer: the destruction, reconstruction and preservation of Frankfurt’s Old City (2nd Floor / 1.OG) The famous scale model of Frankfurt by the Treuner brothers (constructed 10 between 1925 and 1961) displays the Old City of Frankfurt in the year 1926.
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