Römer

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The Römer (German for "Roman") is a medieval building in Frankfurt am Main, one of the city's most important landmarks. It has been the city hall or "Rathaus" for 600 years. The "Haus Römer" is actually the middle building of a set of three located in the "Römerberg" plaza. The Römer merchant family sold it together with a second building, the "Goldener Schwan" (Golden Swan), to the city council on March 11 1405 and it was converted for use as the city hall.

The "Römer" is not a museum and is actually used by the city for various purposes, for example as a "Standesamt" or civil registration office; for example, the wedding rooms are located in the first and second floor of the "Haus Löwenstein".

Extensions

The building complex has been continuously extended over the years, with eventually eleven houses connected to each other, resulting in a rather confusing interior. At the beginning of the 19th century, Frankfurt historian Anton Kirschner remarked that the Frankfurt city hall had "stairs, yards, halls and rooms in a labyrinthian mixture".

In 1435, the city bought the "Frauenrode" house, in 1510 the "Viole" house and in 1542 the "Schwarzenfels" house, which were all architecturally connected to the main complex.

Then, in 1596 the city council bought the "Wanebach" house, which stood next to the "Goldener Schwan", as well as the building to the left of the "Haus Römer", the "Haus Löwenstein", and had both of them connected to the "Römer". These construction projects were very complicated, since the floor heights of "Löwenstein" and "Römer" were radically different.

In 1843, the "Frauenstein" house and the "Salzhaus" were added. Finally, in 1878 the city bought the "Alt-Limpurg" house to the right of the "Haus Römer" for 214,000 marks. The current neogothic front with a balcony was built from 1896 to 1900. It was initially planned to be much more imposing, but mayor Franz Adickes decided against Kaiser Wilhelm's suggestion and had the front designed in a more welcoming manner.

At the same time, the houses "Frauenrode" and "Viole" were demolished to make way for streets through the city centre. They were replaced by a newly erected building to the east. This new building is divided into two wings by the "Braubachstrasse". These two wings (the north wing and south wing) are connected by a bridge. The Frankfurt citizens, who paid their taxes in the north wing, named the covered bridge the "Seufzerbrücke" (the "Bridge of Sighs") in reference to the other Bridge of Sighs in Venice. The two towers in the south wing attracted nicknames as well: the larger one was called "Langer Franz" (Tall Franz) in homage to the city's tall mayor and the smaller one the "Kleiner Cohen" (Small Cohen) after a popular song of the time.

On the night of March 22, 1944, the "Römer", along with the rest of the centre of Frankfurt, was largely destroyed in one of the heaviest bombing attacks of the Second World War. When the building was rebuilt after the war, the "Alt-Limpurg", the "Römer", and the "Löwenstein" houses, whose roof structure had in part withstood the attack, were restored in a simplified form. The completely destroyed houses "Frauenstein" and "Salzhaus" were rebuilt in a simplified style. The "Löwenstein" house has an open stairwell. The "Römer" was re-inaugurated in 1955 by president Theodor Heuss.

In the following decades the façade was restored two additional times, in the years 1974 and 2005, and the houses on the "Römerberg" regained the neogothic look of 1900. The interior has also been redesigned. In 1988 the renovated city council meeting hall was completed.

Architecture

The entire three-storey building complex occupies about 10,000 square metres and consists of nine houses, encircling six courtyards. The front, with today's main entrance, faces the "Römerberg" plaza. Other streets around the "Römer" are the "Limpurgergasse" to the south and the "Buchgasse" and the "Berliner Straße" to the north. The "Braubachstraße" divides the south and north wings.

Façade

The exterior features of the set of buildings reflect a wide breadth of Frankfurt and Germany's history, even though they were designed at the beginning of the 20th century. The famous three-peaked façade has medieval elements of design. The left-hand corner of the "Alt-Limpurg" displays the so-called "Frankfurtia", the female embodiment of the city. In the middle, the "Haus Römer" shows the four kaisers of the Holy Roman Empire, two city coats of arms, a clock face, and a placard describing the most important facts about the building. The four kaisers are Frederick Barbarossa (the first king to be elected in Frankfurt), Louis the Bavarian (who gave convention rights to the city and allowed an expansion of the city), Charles IV (who made Frankfurt the location of the Kaiser selection vote), and Maximilian II (the first kaiser to be crowned in Frankfurt cathedral).

Like the neogothic façade, the balcony was added after the rebuilding in 1900, replacing a wooden roof. The balcony was and is used as a public stage for state visits and sporting events - for example, the soccer world champions in the Women's World Cup in 2003 and the runners up in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Another approach was chosen for the design of the fronts of the two north-east houses (the "Wanebach" and the "Salzhaus"). In contrast to the other houses in the complex, instead of reconstructing the old Wilhelminean front, the architects created a completely new design using a combination of medieval timber framing and modern styles. The mosaics in the timber frames feature the motif of a phoenix, a symbol for modern Frankfurt's new start after the war.

Rooms

"Römerhalle" and "Schwanenhalle"

These two halls are the oldest remaining rooms in the building and are virtually unchanged after 600 years. At one point, the first Frankfurt book fairs took place in these rooms and gold and silversmiths sold their merchandise there. After the Second World War, the rooms continued to be used for this purpose because the massively built structures had survived the war practically undamaged. The two halls are located on the ground floor of the houses "Römer" and "Goldener Schwan", and they can be entered directly from the main entrance on the "Römerberg".

"Kaisersaal"

Perhaps the best-known room of the "Römer", the "Kaisersaal", or "Emperor Hall", is located above the "Römerhalle" on the second floor and is a major tourist attraction. During the Holy Roman Empire, coronation banquets took place there. Today, the "Kaisersaal" is well-known for its unique and unparalleled collection of 19th century portraits of all of the emperors, including works by Eduard Von Steinle of Albert I and Ferdinand III.

External links

* [http://www.stadtpanoramen.de/frankfurt/roemer.html Panorama Römer] - Interactive 360 degree panoramas (in German)