Frankfurt and the beginning of Germany's Economic power after WWII
Frankfurt is a perfect middle ground between my research in the northern and southern destinations of Germany. I stayed in Frankfurt for two days for both time to research as well as time to organize all my prior research to prepare myself for the next two stages of my Magellan. Afterwards I will travel to Aalen and then finally Munich for the last two phases of my project.
Frankfurt today is what an American would perceive as a normal city. Frankfurt is the only city in Germany that consists of a large number of skyscrapers. The majority of other cities are large, but are not tall and are spread out over a larger area. The old city of Frankfurt was completely destroyed by the war and is still being rebuilt to this day. While I was in the Altstadt, the city hall was covered in construction and is set to be completed this year.
Frankfurt highlights the importance of business and economic power in the road to revitalization Germany experienced. Without the economic power/potential to back the business, the immense engineering and technology industry seen today would have never have come into fruition. Prior to the war, the city had been successful economically due to the country mobilizing itself to prepare for war. However, this began to change in the years leading up until the war. Frankfurt had a large population of Jewish people in within the city. Prior to the war began there was a large out casting of Jewish people which involved the removing them all from office. Many of the businesses and residential areas of the city were damaged from persecution especially during Kristallnacht. During the war, even more damaged was suffered from allied bombing. The entirety of the sea port and old city were destroyed. The rest of the landmarks in the old city were demolished during reconstruction. What began the uprising of Frankfurt was the chose of American forces to use the city as their headquarters. This greatly increased the value of the city and people businesses once again came pouring in. The only city which had more influence during this time was that of Bonn. The city continued to grow and expanded during German reunification and beyond. In 1998, the city became the seat of the European Central Bank and the Deutsche Bundesbank followed suite. Later the rise of the Frankfurt stock exchange brought even more economic prowl to the city.
