(German Frankfurt am Main), one of the four free cities of Germany, and so called to distinguish it from the Prussian town of Frankfort-on-the-Oder. It took its name (Frankenfurt) from the river being fordable at this point; and is supposed to have been founded by the Franks in the fifth century. It had a palace, the seat of the early dukes of Franconia, and afterwards the frequent residence of Charlemagne. This monarch held a council here in 794. Louis the Pious built a palace at Frankfort in 822, and in 838 surrounded the town with walls and ditches. In consequence of the treaty of Verdun in 843 it became the capital of the empire of the Eastern Franks, and hither the fairs held by the Austrians were transferred. In 1152 Frederick I. was elected here, and from that time it continued to be the place of election of the German emperors, a privilege confirmed to it by the golden bull of Charles IV. in 1356. In 1245 it was erected into a free imperial city. In the history of the latter part of the middle ages Frankfort occupies a distinguished place; many important assemblies were held within its walls; matters of peace and war were discussed; controversies were settled; and occasionally its tranquillity was disturbed by intestine quarrels. From 1562, when Maximilian II. was crowned here, it continued to be the coronation town of the emperors till the dissolution of the empire. The Thirty Years' war had but little direct influence upon Frankfort; but it was not equally fortunate in the wars of Louis XIV. In 1688-9 it escaped falling into the hands of the enemy only by its vigorous preparations for defence, while some of the neighbouring villages were plundered and set on fire. In the French revolutionary war it suffered severely, being alternately in the possession of friend and foe. In 1806 it became a member of the Confederation of the Rhine, and was made the capital of a prince primacy. In 1810 the grand duchy of Frankfort was created, with an area of nearly 2000 square miles. After the battle of Leipzig in 1813, the allies restored it to its former independence; and by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was made one of the four free cities of Germany, and the seat of the Germanic diet.

The city of Frankfort is situated on the right bank of the Maine, 20 miles above its confluence with the Rhine, in N. Lat. 50. 6. 43., E. Long. 8. 41. 24. It is connected with its suburb Sachsenhausen on the opposite bank of the river by a fine stone bridge of 14 arches. Its fortifications were destroyed during its occupation by the French, and their site is now occupied by public walks and gardens. It still possesses nine gates, which form the entrances to the town, two of which are in Sachsenhausen. The old town, with its narrow streets, and quaint wooden buildings, the gables of which overhang their basement stories, has a very antique appearance. The new town, however, contains many magnificent houses, not a few of which are justly entitled to the appellation of palaces. Of its squares, several are ornamented with fountains. Some of the finest houses line the quay, which extends along the right bank of the river nearly the whole length of the city. The Römer or council-house is not remarkable for its architectural beauty, but is historically interesting as being the place where the German emperors were elected. The Wahlzimmer or election-room is a spacious and handsomely furnished apartment, appropriated to the meetings of the senate. The walls of the Kaisersaal, or imperial hall, where the emperors were entertained on their election, and waited upon by kings and princes, are covered with portraits of the emperors—from Conrad I. to Francis II. In the archives of this building is preserved the golden bull of Charles IV. which re- Frankfort-on-the-Maine.

gulated the mode of election and number of electors. The cathedral, or church of St Bartholomew, a Gothic structure in the form of a cross, was commenced in the time of the Carolingian princes, but the greater part of it belongs to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; and its tower, which is 260 feet high, is still unfinished. It contains some curious monuments, among which is one of the emperor Gunther of Schwarzburg, who was slain by his rival Charles IV.

In the Wahlkapelle, or election-chapel, the emperor was formally elected, and afterwards crowned in front of the high altar. The present German diet assembles at the residence of the Austrian ambassador, formerly the palace of the prince of Tours and Taxis, an edifice of the last century, containing 150 apartments, and richly adorned with paintings, sculptures, &c. The church of St Leonhard occupies the site of the old palace, of which no traces now exist. The Saalhof, a sombre-looking building of the last century, stands on the site of the palace erected by Louis the Pious. The chapel is almost the sole remains of the old building. Among the other public buildings are the Braunsfelds or old exchange, the Börse or new exchange, the new hall of justice, the ancient palace of the knights of the Teutonic order in Sachsenhausen, the theatre, casino, &c.

The literary and scientific institutions of Frankfort are numerous, comprising a college, medical institute, natural history society, geographical society, academy of arts and sciences, philosophical society, &c. The public library contains about 80,000 volumes and 1500 MSS.; and in the museum of the Lenkenberg Society of Naturalists is the valuable collection of Dr Rippell, the Abyssinian traveller. The Stiddel museum (so named from its founder, who bequeathed his collection of paintings and engravings, together with a sum amounting to about L83,000 for building and maintaining a public gallery and school of arts) contains a good collection of paintings, chiefly of the Flemish and Dutch schools. There are also many private collections of pictures. The celebrated statue of Ariadne seated on a leopard, by Dannecker, is exhibited in the garden of Mr Bethmann, and is considered one of the finest productions of modern art. Immediately beyond the Friedburg gate is a colossal monument to the Hessians who fell there in the defence of Frankfort in 1792. Among the benevolent institutions, which are numerous, are four hospitals, an orphan asylum, deaf-mute institution, house of refuge, &c.

The chief manufactures are carpets, table-covers, oilcloth, cotton, woollen, and silk fabrics, jewellery, tobacco, playing-cards, &c. Frankfort was made a free port in 1831, and is also one of the four great emporiums for supplying Germany with merchandise. The river Maine, which is navigable to Bamberg in Bavaria, where commences the Donau-Maine Canal leading to Ketheln on the Danube, and the numerous railways which centre in Frankfort, render it the industrial and commercial centre of the S.W. and W. parts of Germany. No German city, with the exception of Berlin, is the centre of so great a number of railways. Four great lines, and several others of a more local character, meet in the city. The Main-Neckar railway leads southward to the Grand Duchy of Baden, whence railways proceed to Switzerland, Wurtemberg, and Bavaria. The Taunus railway leads west and north-west to Mayence, and to Wiesbaden. From Mayence a railway goes to Ludwigshafen, the harbour of the Bavarian Palatinate opposite Mannheim, thence to Strasburg, and therefrom to Paris as well as to Holland. Another branch from Ludwigshafen meets the Strauburg and Paris railway at Nancy. The Wiesbaden line is now (1855) in course of completion to Coblenz. The Main-Weser railway passes through the greatest part of the two Hesses to Cassel, and communicates with Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, &c. On the right its branches lead to Berlin and Saxony, and on the left a line will soon be opened to Cologne. The Hanau railway connects Frankfort with Hanau and the chief places on the Maine to Bamberg, from which southward with Nuremberg, Augsburg, Munich and Austria, and in another direction with Leipzig, Dresden, and Bohemia. There are also local lines to Offenbach, the chief manufacturing town of Hesse Darmstadt, to Soden, a much frequented bathing-place, and to near Romburg, one of the famous spas of Germany. Frankfort, however, is chiefly indebted for its great wealth to being the seat of extensive banking, commission, and funding transactions. In proportion to its size, it is probably the richest city in the world. There are about twenty first-class banking houses; among them are the Rothschilds, Grunevald, Metzler, &c., and others well known in the commercial world. The number of shares in the stock and exchange business amounts to at least 200. A city bank with a capital of 10,000,000 florins was established last summer, and has just (1855) commenced business operations. The two fairs of Easter and Michaelmas are still much frequented. Goethe was born here in 1749. Civil pop. (1832) 62,361, being 47,100 Protestants, 10,661 Catholics, and 4600 Jews; military, 5550—1717 being Austrians, 1713 Prussians, 1391 Bavarians, and 829 natives. The population of Frankfort is but slowly increasing, on account of the old illiberal laws still in force as to admission to citizenship. Only such are admitted as can prove their ability to maintain a family; so no merchant can be admitted unless he prove that he possesses at least 5000 florins, and generally persons possessing that sum, or even more, are not admitted unless they marry a citizen's daughter, in which case the law is more favourable. The ancient law is also still in force, that none shall mend a shoe or drill a nail unless he be a master and a member of one of the corporations, and cannot be compelled to enter unless he be the son of a citizen, or marry a citizen's daughter. The restrictions to which the Jews were long subject have now mostly been removed. They are entitled to vote at the elections of members to the legislative assembly, and may return four of their own number; they are also admissible to all offices not connected with the senate, the permanent assembly of the citizens, law, religion, or education. The inhabitants of Sachsenhausen are mostly of Saxon descent, and distinguished from their fellow-citizens in manners, dress, and language, as well as occupations, being mostly employed in gardening, fishing, &c.

The city, with a small territory of 38 square miles lying immediately around it, constitutes the free state of Frankfort. The government is vested in a senate, a legislative assembly, and a permanent committee of citizens. The senate, which exercises the executive power, is composed of 44 members, divided into three benches—justices, senators, and councillors, and having two presidents, one chosen from each of the two first-mentioned benches. The legislative assembly is composed of 94 members, of whom 20 are senators, 20 members of the permanent committee of citizens, 45 chosen annually by the citizen's collectivity, and 9 deputies from the rural districts. The permanent committee consists of 60 members chosen from among citizens of all ranks. The legislative assembly meets annually in the month of November, and sits for six weeks; and its sanction is requisite to all new laws, the budget, &c. With the free cities of Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, Frankfort occupies the seventeenth place in the Germanic Confederation. It enjoys one vote in the general assembly (Fünser), and furnishes a contingent of 683 men to the federal army. Pop. of the state (1832) 77,971.