In the Rossmarkt stands the monument of Gutenberg, which consists of three figures, Gutenberg in the centre with Fust and Schoffer on either side, upon a large sandstone pedestal. On the frieze are portrait heads of celebrated printers, and in the niches beneath are the arms of the four towns where printing was first practiced: Mayence, Frankfort, Venice and Strassburg. Around the base are figures representing Theology, Poetry, Natural Science and Industry. This monument was erected in 1858.
This is the birthplace of Goethe, and here is the house in which the poet was born, with its inscription recording that event, (August 28, 1749). The handsome monument of Goethe, erected in 1844, twelve years after his death adorns the Goethe-Platz. The pedestal of the monument bears allegorical figures in relief in front, while on the sides are figures from the poems of the great writer.
There are twenty-three thousand Jews in Frankfort, and in the quarter to which these people are limited, we are shown the house in which the Senior Rothschild was born. It is an unassuming brick building of three stories, in good repair. As I gaze upon this modest dwelling, I think of the man who from such unpromising beginning, became the founder of the greatest financial firm the world has known.
There is a stone effigy of Luther not far from the Cathedral, in memory of a tradition that the great reformer preached a sermon here on his journey to Worms. It is true that these associations are to be found in almost every European town; but none the less are we impressed as we stand before the monuments of the great ones of the earth—the men who have left their indelible marks—“footprints on the sands of time “—which the years have no power to efface. These men must have truly lived.
| “He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” |
The Cathedral of Frankford is a conspicuous edifice towering above the other buildings, quaint and picturesque in spite of a lack of harmony in many of its details. From the platform of the tower, one may have a beautiful view of the city, with its thick border of trees, and of the fields and meadows beyond along the shining waters of the Main. This Church of St. Bartholomew was founded by Lewis the German in 852, and was rebuilt in the Gothic style 1235-39. The different portions represent various periods. The tower, left unfinished in 1512, now three hundred and twelve feet high, was completed from the designs of the architect which were discovered in the municipal archives.
A Prussian Capital and a Fashionable Resort.