FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN (Ger. Erankfurt-am-Main), a city in the Prussian of Ilessen-NasSau, is situated on the right bank of the Main, in lat. 6' n., and long. 8° 41' east. Till 1866, Frankfurt was the foremost, as it was the most ancient, of the four free cities of the German confederation, and the seat of the diet. The city lies in a wide and fertile valley at the mouth of the Main, and is encircled by a belt of villas, gardens, vineyards, and orchards. In respect of commerce and wealth, Frank furt is one of the most important cities of Germany; by the census of 1875. its popula tioti amounts to 103,315, of whom upwards of 7,000 are Jews. Frankfurt is the center from which radiate public roads and railways to every part of Germany; while its site on the banks of the Main, 20 ni. from its confluence with the Rhine, by affording it a direct channel of water-communication with the German ocean, secures to it great advan tages as a seat of commerce. Its central position has pointed it out from the earliest ages of the history of Germany as a suitable place for national meetings, and in 794 Charlemagne convoked a council here. In 843, Frankfurt was made the capital of the eastern Frankish empire, and continued so till 889, when Arunlf transferred that honor. to Ratisbon; in 1257, Frankfurt was raised to the dignity of a free city; and in 1356, Charles IV. confirmed by the famous " Golden Bull" the right, which it bad enjoyed since the days of Frederick Barbarossa, of being the place for the election of the emper ors of Germany. The guildhall, or roemer, contains the wahlzimmer, or hall of elec tion, in which the electors (q.v.) met to deliberate on the nomination of the emperors, and the kaisersaal, or imperial hall, in which the newly elected monarch held his public. dinner, at which he was waited upon by the counts and high officers of the empire, who held their respective domains and offices in right of their performing various acts of service on that occasion. Round this hall are ranged in niches the portraits of the emperors from Conrad to Leopold II. The golden bull is preserved among the archives. The ancient cathedral, St. Bartholomew's, contains the chapel in which the electors. accepted the emperor after he had been anointed at the high-altar. Frankfurt still con tains many old and narrow streets with high-gabled projecting houses, but its ancient. walls and ramparts have been converted into pleasure-walks, and there are now broad_ quays, and wide handsome streets in the more modernized parts of the city. The gates.
of the famous Juden-gasse, which were closed at night to prevent the egress of the Jewish. inhabitants, were razed at the time of the French occupation in 1806; and the street is. now more than half demolished, almost the whole of the western side having been pulled down. Frankfurt is connected with its suburb, Sachsenhausen, which lies on the left_ bank of the Main, by three bridges (one dating from 1342, another hardly yet finished), besides the railway bridge and a wrought-iron suspension bridge for foot passengers.. There are fountains in several of the squares, one of which is adorned with a fine statue. of Goethe, who was born at Frankfurt, and another with a group commemorative of the invention of printing. Frankfurt possesses several good public libraries, museums, and galleries, and many charitable institutions. It derives great wealth from its banking transactions; the aggregate capital of its bankers, among whom the name of the Roths childs has long stood foremost, is said to be about 20 millions sterling, and the annual transactions in bills of exchange about 12 millions sterling. Its manufacturing industry has greatly extended since the annexation to Prussia; to the former manufactures of snuff, tobacco, jewelry, printers' black, wax-cloths, and carpets, have been added type- founding, chemical works, and the manufacture of sewing-machines on a large scale. As a free city, Frankfurt possessed a small territory of about 39 sq.m. outside its pre cincts, and was governed by 2 burgomasters (elected annually), 4 syndics, a civic com mittee of 21 members, and a legislative chamber of 57 members; the highest court of • appeal was the supreme tribunal at Lubeck. The constituent assembly elected in 1848• to frame a constitution for Germany, held its sittings at Frankfurt. At the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian war in 1866, Frankfurt chose the side opposed to Prussia. On the 16th July, gen. von Falckenstein entered the city, a fine of 31 millions of florins being. imposed; and on the 18th Oct., Frankfurt was formally incorporated with the Prussian state. It was in Frankfurt that peace was finally concluded between Germany and France in 1871, the treaty having been signed on the 10th May, in the Swan hotel here, by Bismarck and Jules Favre.