Editing Frankfurt (section)

===Early history and Holy Roman Empire===
At the western borders of Frankfurt lies the [[Michelsberg culture#Settlements|Kapellenberg]] as part of the Taunus with one of the first Stone Age cities in Europe.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.leiza.de/en/research/project-4/the-onset-of-urbanisation-in-the-rhine-main-region-6000-years-ago | title=LEIZA: The onset of urbanisation in the Rhine-Main region 6,000 years ago | access-date=17 December 2023 | archive-date=13 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313223529/https://www.leiza.de/en/research/project-4/the-onset-of-urbanisation-in-the-rhine-main-region-6000-years-ago | url-status=live }}</ref> The Celts had different settlements in the Taunus mountains north of Frankfurt, the biggest one the [[Heidetrank Oppidum]]. The first traces of [[Germania|Roman settlements]] established in the area of the [[Nidda River|river Nidda]] date to the reign of Emperor [[Vespasian]] in the years 69 to 79 AD. [[Nida (Roman town)|Nida]] (modern [[Heddernheim]], [[Praunheim]]) was a Roman [[civitas]] capital (''Civitas Taunensium'').

[[Alemanni]] and Franks [[Francia|lived there]], and by 794, [[Charlemagne]] presided over an [[Council of Frankfurt|imperial assembly]] and church synod, at which ''Franconofurd'' (alternative spellings end with -furt and -{{Not a typo|vurd}}) was first mentioned. It was one of the two capitals of Charlemagne's grandson [[Louis the German]], together with [[Regensburg]]. Louis founded the [[collegiate church]], rededicated in 1239 to [[Bartholomew the Apostle]] and now [[Frankfurt Cathedral]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Rolf Grosse |title=Du royaume franc aux origines de la France et de l'Allemagne 800–1214 |publisher=Presses Universitaires du Septentrion |date=2014 |page=47}}</ref>

Frankfurt was one of the most important cities in the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. From 855, the [[German kings]] were elected and crowned in [[Aachen]]. From 1562, the kings and [[Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor|emperors were crowned]] and [[Imperial election|elected]] in Frankfurt, initiated for [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]]. This tradition ended in 1792, when [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]] was elected. His coronation was deliberately held on [[Bastille Day]], 14 July, the anniversary of the [[storming of the Bastille]]. The elections and coronations took place in [[Frankfurt Cathedral|St. Bartholomäus Cathedral]], known as the {{lang|de|Kaiserdom}} (Emperor's Cathedral), or its predecessors.

The {{lang|de|[[Messe Frankfurt|Frankfurter Messe]]}} ('Frankfurt Trade Fair') was first mentioned in 1150. In 1240, [[Emperor Frederick II]] granted an imperial privilege to its visitors, meaning they would be protected by the empire. The fair became particularly important when similar fairs in French Beaucaire lost attraction around 1380. [[Frankfurt Book Fair|Book trade fairs]] began in 1478.

In 1372, Frankfurt became a {{lang|de|Reichsstadt}} ([[Imperial Free City]]), i.e., directly subordinate to the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and not to a regional ruler or a local nobleman.

In 1585, Frankfurt traders established a system of [[exchange rate]]s for the various currencies that were circulating to prevent cheating and extortion. Therein lay the early roots for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Frankfurt managed to remain neutral during the [[Thirty Years' War]], but suffered from the [[bubonic plague]] that refugees brought to the city. After the war, Frankfurt regained its wealth. In the late 1770s the theater principal [[Abel Seyler]] was based in Frankfurt, and established the city's theatrical life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mohr |first=Albert Richard |author-link=Albert Richard Mohr |year=1967 |chapter=Abel Seyler und seine Verdienste um das Frankfurter Theaterleben |title=Frankfurter Theater von der Wandertruppe zum Komödienhaus: ein Beitrag zur Theatergeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts |location=Frankfurt am Main |publisher=Kramer |pages=66–81}}</ref>
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Mk Frankfurt Merian Stadtansicht.jpg|Frankfurt in 1612
Frankfurt Am Main-Peter Becker-BAAF-032-Aussicht vom Steinernen Haus in der Judengasse nach Westen-1872.jpg|Frankfurt in 1872
Hertel Kaiserplatz von Osten um 1880.jpg|Kaiserplatz, {{circa|1880}}
</gallery>