Frankfurt am Main or Frankfurt (am Main) is a city in west central Germany, in Hessen, a port on the Main River.

It is a major manufacturing, financial, commercial, and transportation center, served by rail lines and the Rhine-Main Airport, the most important in Germany.

Manufactures include machinery, electrical equipment, chemicals (notably in the Höchst district), pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, clothing, and printed materials.

International trade fairs, including the world’s largest annual book fair, are held in the city.

Though the area was settled as early as the Stone Age, Frankfurt was probably established as a Roman settlement about the 1st century AD.

• In the late 8th century, it was referred to as Frankonovurd by Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne.
• During Charlemagne’s reign (800-814) a number of imperial councils were held in Frankfurt.
• The Golden Bull of 1356 established Frankfurt as the seat of the imperial elections, and it was made a free imperial city in 1372.
• About 1530, the city became an important stronghold of Protestantism.
• Upon the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806, Frankfurt became subordinate to the confederation.
• It regained the status of a free city in 1815, and it was the unofficial capital of the confederation until 1866. In the same year, during the Seven Weeks’ War, Frankfurt was seized by Prussia.
• During World War II (1939-1945), the city was badly damaged by bombing, but it has since been rebuilt.
• In 1993, Frankfurt was chosen as the site of the European Monetary Institute, the European Union body that is the forerunner of the European Central Bank.