The Rhine-Main (Frankfurt) Area

Frankfurt has been an important city since early medieval times. Remember that the Rhine River was the edge of the Roman Empire. so that cities on the west bank of the river are likely to have begun with a Roman outpost but cities to the east of the river, such as Frankfurt, tend to have begun in medieval times.

The name of Frankfurt, as well as the nearby Castle of Frankenstein, come from the historic people known as the Franks, who were the descendants of both the France and Germany of today. Frankfurt is known today not only for being a financial center but for it's world-renowned book fair. This is the historic center of Frankfurt, which is on the Main River. The actual name of the city is Frankfurt-am-Main.

You will notice that there are some places in the following views that are grayed out. This is because Germany is known for it's strong sense of privacy. That may be why Germany is successful and other places are less successful, there is too much personal business involved in doing anything.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

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This is more of Frankfurt, away from the city center.

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Mainz, on the west bank of the Rhine River, originated as a Roman outpost at the edge of the empire. Mainz is known to the world as the city of the printing press. It is the hometown of Johannes Von Gutenberg. It is difficult to imagine what the world would be like without the printing press. I had print shop classes in school with the same kind of movable metal type that had been used since the Fifteenth Century. It is fairly recently that higher technology has taken over in printing.

A vital part of printing was to find just the right alloy that could be readily shaped into the intricate forms of letters, numbers and, punctuation, without being too expensive or difficult to work with. An alloy of lead, tin and, antimony worked very well. The following scenes begin inside Mainz Cathedral.

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This is the central area of Darmstadt, another medieval city.

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The city of Worms originated with another Roman outpost on the west bank of the Rhine River. It has been an important city since the early Middle Ages. This is where the parliament, known as the Imperial Diet, of the Holy Roman Empire was held. The Twelfth-Century Worms Cathedral was the focal point of the city during the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The 1521 Edict of Worms was the formal condemnation of Martin Luther as a heretic.

The following views of the old city of Worms begin at the Luther Monument. This 1868 monument includes metal statues of many of the important figures of the Reformation. Interestingly, it does not include Huldreich Zwingli, the Swiss counterpart and contemporary of Luther, possibly because the two had disagreed when they met in Marburg.

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Mannheim is a city that originated in the late Middle Ages. Did you know that the bicycle and the car were both invented in the same city? This is central Mannheim.

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The bicycle and the car were both invented in Mannheim but the inventors of both actually came from nearby Karlsruhe. Here is the Marktplatz, in central Karlsruhe. It is a relatively modern city, without a medieval history.

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Here is the central area of the city of Wurzburg. It is an early medieval city. The Wurzburg Residence is an Eighteenth-Century palace. There is also the fortress known as Marienberg.

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Heidelberg is a medieval town with monasteries, a castle and a university, and for it's picturesque red roofs. It was a Protestant city during the Reformation. The following views of Heidelberg begin inside the Church of the Holy Spirit.

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Stuttgart is not in the Rhine-Main area but to the south. It is the major city of southwestern Germany. Southeastern Germany is the state of Bavaria, which we have already visited. Southwestern Germany is the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, in which Stuttgart is the largest city. Stuttgart has been settled since Roman times, and there is still a thousand-year-old castle. Stuttgart is known today as a city of wine and cars. Many German auto and parts makers have their headquarters in Stuttgart, but not Volkswagen which is in the northern part of the country.

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To the southeast of Stuttgart is the city of Ulm. It is a city from the early Middle Ages, with a Fourteenth-Century town hall. Near the Town Hall is the modern library in the form of a glass pyramid. Ulm went to the Protestant side during the Reformation. Remember how to tell a historically Protestant city in Europe from a historically Catholic city. A Protestant city will put old and modern buildings right next to each other while a Catholic city will usually keep them separated.

But most of all, Ulm is known as the birthplace of Albert Einstein. The first of the following scenes is inside the church known as Ulm Munster.

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