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| 0410 Skyline of Frankfurt am Main (1) |
Posted on 12.12.2012, 21.12.2014, 25.06.2016
Grown around a fort built by the Franks in the 8th century on the site of a Roman settlement, where the River Main was shallow enough to be crossed by wading, Frankfurt am Main (Franconofurd - fort of the franks) became one of the most important cities in Holy Roman Empire. From 855 the German kings and emperors were elected in Frankfurt and crowned at first in Aachen (until 1562), then also in Frankfurt (until 1792). The Frankfurter Messe (Frankfurt Trade Fair) was first mentioned in 1150, and in 1372 the city became a Reichsstadt (Imperial city), directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor.
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| 0411 Skyline of Frankfurt am Main (2) |
It remains practically a free city until 1806, when become part of the principality of Aschaffenburg, and in 1866, after the Austro-Prussian War, Prussia annexed it. After WWII, it was incorporated in the German state of Hesse, and in the recent years, even it isn't so large in terms of population (about 700,000 inhabitants), became the financial and transport centre of Germany and the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is also the richest city in Europe by GDP per capita, followed by Karlsruhe, Paris and Munich.
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| 0412 Skyline of Frankfurt am Main (3) |
Frankfurt is one of the few European cities with a significant number of skyscrapers. Because of the city's skyline, Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as "Mainhattan", a portmanteau of the local Main River and Manhattan. 14 out of a total of 15 skyscapers in Germany are in Frankfurt, most of them being located in the financial district (Bankenviertel) near the city centre, around the trade fair premises (Europaviertel) and at Mainzer Landstraße between Opernplatz and Platz der Republik, which connects the two areas. In postcards can be seen almost all, but I will write only about the ones that I identified them:
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| 0413 Skyline of Frankfurt am Main (4) |
● Commerzbank Tower (259m / built 1994-1997 / architect: Norman Foster). Is the tallest in the images (with a red and white antenna spire), the tallest in Frankfurt, the tallest in Germany and the second tallest in the European Union (after The Shard, in London). It had been the tallest building in Europe from 1997 until 2003 when it was surpassed by the Triumph-Palace in Moscow. Is lighted at night with a yellow lighting scheme. It was the world's first so-called ecological skyscraper: besides the use of 'sky-gardens', environmentally friendly technologies were employed to reduce energy required for heating and cooling.
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| 1368 Skyline of Frankfurt am Main (5) |
● Messeturm / Trade Fair Tower (257m / built 1988-1990 / architects: Helmut Jahn and Richard Murphy). Is the one with a pyramid on the top (which brought its the nickname Bleistift - The Pencil). With only 2m shorter than Commerzbank Tower, was built postmodern architectural style, similar to Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta (Georgia) or Key Tower in Cleveland (Ohio). The tower uses numerous geometric shapes in its design such as the square footprint which is the main shape used throughout the tower. The construction of the building's foundation set a world record for the longest continuous concrete pour.
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| 2637 Skyline of Frankfurt am Main (6) |
● Westend Tower, known also as Westendstrasse 1 (208m / built 1990-1993 / architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox). Is the one cylindrically shaped, to the left of Commerzbank Tower and it has on top a truncated cone-shaped structure, with the small base facing down, in fact a ring beam, known commonly as the crown, a reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, but also a reminder to Frankfurt's history as the city where German emperors were crowned. Is similar in style to a later building by the same architect, 1250 René-Lévesque in Montreal.
● Main Tower, named after the nearby Main river (200 m / built 1996-1999 / architect: Schweger & Partner). Is the one cylindrically shaped, to the right of Commerzbank Tower, also with a red and white antenna spire. The tower's design features what appears to be two connected towers: a smaller one in a cuboid shape and a design common to 1970s architecture, and a taller one, a circular tower with an entire blue glass exterior which features the transmission tower on top.
In the postcards can be seen also Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral and four bridges over River Main, but I'm sure that I will talk about them with other occasions.
About the stamps
On the postcards 0410-0413
The stamp is part of the Blumen series, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 1368
The first stamp was issued on July 17, 2014, to commemorate the victory
of Germany at 2014 FIFA World Cup. Lutz Menze designed the stamp with a photo of Clive Mason / gettyimages. The postmark used with this occasion specify the place (12163 Berlin) and points out that the "Mission 4 star fulfilled" is (Germany won the title in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014). The following two stamps belong also to the set Blumen, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 2637
The first stamp is part of the series Felix The Rabbit, issued on March 2, 2015:
• Felix traveling (0.45 EUR) - It's on the postcard 2637
• Post of Felix (0.62 EUR)
The last stamp is part of the series Baby Animals, about which I wrote here.
References
Frankfurt - Wikipedia
Sender 0410, 0412, 0413: Dragoş Cioroboiu
Sent from Frankfurt am Main (Hesse / Germany), on 16.05.2012
Photo 0410, 0413: Gerd Kramer
Sender 0411: Marius Vasilescu
Sent from Frankfurt am Main (Hesse / Germany), on 08.05.2012
Photo: Huber
Sender 1368: Claudia Bukur-König
Sent from Wiesbaden (Hesse / Germany), on 12.10.2014
Photo: Bildarchiv. imago
Sender 2637: Denise
Sent from Bremen (Bremen / Germany), on 15.06.2016
It does seem odd to see skyscrapers on German cityview postcards, now that you mention it! Where I live, the postcards of the Toronto skyline are pretty much always out of date, what with so much new construction going on. We apparently have more skyscrapers being built than in any other city in the western hemisphere!
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