The Frankfurt am Main Finale

Two weeks ago today was one of the more entertaining, if not poignant, days I’ve spent in Germany.  It was the last full day of my recent extensive stint out there, and Ms. Müller and I spent it wandering around Frankurt am Main.

The length of the trip made it ridiculously strenuous.  I spent 7 straight weeks working in power plants.  But, I also spent the vast majority of those 7 weeks living the closest thing to a normal, happy life I’ve ever seen.  I spent better than a month, an entire month, in the same city.  And, with a girl about whom I’m absolutely crazy.  I woke up in the morning and kissed Ms. Müller goodbye, went to work all day, came ‘home’ to the hotel, spent the evenings and my few days off with her and her crazy family, and I got to kiss her goodnight.  It was delightful.

It was also hard, really hard, to watch it come to an end.  But, I think this time (the third time we’ve said goodbye) was a little easier.  We both felt strangely fine knowing that the goodbye was temporary; we’ll see each other again soon, one way or another.  So we did our best to deny the inevitable and enjoy a beautiful Saturday in the city…  Take a look.

An interesting story about St. Paul’s Church up there…  While we were strolling around, Ms. Müller took a really active interest in the history of the place, and told me a little bit about it.  Rather than attempt to give you a second hand account, I’ll lean on the most informative of crutches, it’s Wikipedia page:

History

The church started with the construction of the oval-shaped central church building in 1789. It was completed from 1829 to 1833, whereupon the organ loft was disconnected in 1833.

Because of its centralised design and dome, it was desired as the meeting place for the Frankfurt Parliament in the course of the German revolutions of 1848.

From 31 March until 3 April 1848, it was the meeting place for the Vorparlament, which prepared the election for the National Assembly. On 18 May 1848, the National Assembly met for the first time in the church, and was therefore named the Paulskirchenparlament. Until 1849, the National Assembly worked in the church to develop the first constitution for a united Germany. The resistance of Prussia, the Austrian Empire and a number of smaller German states ultimately destroyed the effort.

In May 1849, there were a number of uprisings to force the implementation of the constitution, but these were destroyed with the help of Prussia. On 30 May 1849, the Paulskirchenparlament was dissolved.

After 1852, St Paul’s was again used for religious services.

In World War II, the church was nearly destroyed along with much of the Frankfurt Innenstadt. As a tribute to its symbolism of freedom and as the cradle of Germany, it was the first structure in Frankfurt to be rebuilt after the war; it was reopened on the centennial of the Frankfurt Parliament.

While I’m at it, here’s the link the to the main Frankfurt am Main page, It comes in handy if you’re interested in knowing a little more…  If not, hope you enjoyed the pictures…

Come back tomorrow for rest of the stroll about the city.

-B. Littleton