page_title: Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main)
section_title: The Altstadt in the Medieval Period
hierarchical_section_title: Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main) / History / The Altstadt in the Medieval Period
caption_attribution_description: English: [Follows] Deutsch: Die Bendergasse, führt ihren Namen von der Zunft der Bender (Fassbinder), welche hier ihr Handwerk betrieben. Nach den alten Verordnungen war jedem, mit Geräusch oder üblem Geruch verbundenen Handwerk eine besondere Gasse angewiesen. Um die Jahre 1402 und 1403 liess noch der Senat Verordnungen ergehen, dass alle Bender in der alten Stadt, so ausser der Bendergasse gesessen, bis zum künftigen Jahre in die Bendergasse, oder, wenn sie da keine Wohnung erhielten, in die neue Stadt ziehen sollten; diejenigen aber, die schon zehn Jahre ausser der Bendergasse in der alten Stadt wohnten, oder Häuser ererbten, sollten darin belassen werden, jedoch die Fässer nirgendwo als in der Bendergasse oder in der neuen Stadt, oder auch in einer Scheuer verfertigen dürfen. Die Bendergasse bildet eine der malerischsten Strassen der Stadt und ist vielfach von einheimischen und fremden Künstlern als Motiv für Bilder benutzt worden.
context_page_description: The Altstadt is a city district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the Ortsbezirk Innenstadt I.
  The Altstadt is located on the northern Main river bank. It is completely surrounded by the Innenstadt district, Frankfurt's present-day city centre. On the opposite side of the Main is the district of Sachsenhausen.
  The historic old town of Frankfurt was one of the largest half-timbered towns in Germany until the extensive destruction in the Second World War with its around 1250 half-timbered houses, most of which date from the Middle Ages. It was one of the most important tourist attractions for Germany. The historic old town was largely destroyed by the air raids on Frankfurt am Main in 1944. The streets and the entire district are predominantly characterized by quickly and easily erected buildings from the 1950s and 60s. However, several striking buildings and some important city squares have been restored or reconstructed, especially around the main square, the Römerberg.
  Under the name of the Dom-Römer project, a new old town district was built between 2012 and 2018 between the imperial cathedral and the Römer town hall, following a decision by the city council in 2007.
context_section_description: Over the course of the centuries, the population of the city always continued to increase, whereby the population density of the Altstadt continuously increased. The buildings finally had up to five full storeys and (due to the usual, very steep roofs) several attics. Each floor protruded outwards in excess of the one beneath it so the inhabitants of the highest floors could reach out and touch the hand of the person living on the other side of the alley.
  The old town began to display a clear structure with three north-south axis identifiable: in the west the Kornmarkt ran between Bockenheimer Gate (to the church later erected and named Katharinenpforte) and Leonhardstor (tower) next to Leonhardskirche (church) on the Main. In the middle of the district Neue Kräme connected the two largest squares of the Altstadt, Liebfrauenberg to Römerberg and further towards the south lying Fahrtor on the bank of the Main and the harbour there. The Fahrgasse ran east of the cathedral from Bornheimer Gate near today's Konstablerwache to the Main bridge. It was one of the most busy streets for Frankfurt traffic in the 20th century.
  The majority of Frankfurt's inhabitants lived in the densely populated Altstadt, while the Neustadt remained characteristically suburban until far into the 18th century with loose land development and agriculture featuring prominently in contrast with Altstadt. The city in general was divided into fourteen parts after the Fettmilch Rising of 1614. Seven of these formed the relatively small Altstadt, five belonged to the Neustadt (which made it three times bigger than the Altstadt) and two for Sachsenhausen. Each area placed a militarily organised citizen's resistance under the command of a civilian captain, which the only democratically elected department in the otherwise corporate composed imperial city.
  Substantial changes to the cityscape only occurred after a large fire in 1719 when 430 houses burnt down in the north east Altstadt. In order to prevent such disasters in the future the council intensified construction specifications in 1720. Between 1740 and 1800 around 3,000 houses were either adapted or built anew. The number and width of overhangs were drastically limited. As well as that houses had to be built in future with the eaves side facing the road. Only small attics were certified as opposed to gabled dormers.
  In 1785, Johann Georg Christian Hess took office as city architect. In 1809 he wrote a set of articles for the city of Frankfurt on behalf of the Grand Duke Carl Theodor von Dalberg, which basically remained in force until 1880. It made classicism mandatory as an architectural style. Hess was influenced by the spirit of the Enlightenment and campaigned radically for the architecture of classicism. He refused to preserve the numerous medieval buildings in Frankfurt because they did not meet his hygienic and aesthetic requirements. In the new town and in the new neighbourhoods emerging outside of the city walls, which were torn from 1804 to 1808, he effortlessly prevailed with his ideas, but in the old town he encountered stubborn resistance from conservative citizens. Only the new public buildings emerging in the old town, e.g. B. the Paulskirche (1833) or the Alte Börse (1843) on Paulsplatz corresponded to his classicist ideal.
caption: Bendergasse from the east, a typical alley in the inner city of Frankfurt's old town, around 1904
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