Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany

(September 12, 2016) Just a note: I published this in early 2010 and some of the information, especially regarding immigration, is now outdated, but I chose to leave it as is. Back then I made a note in this article (note *), that I would give explanation to who or what is a German, which, thereafter, I proceeded to do in a series I called, "The German Question." Originally I thought I would do about half a dozen articles on the subject, but, as I often do, I got carried away and I did a basic history of the Germans in their various "forms," and the series went from a half dozen articles, to more than 150!!! The series drew many, many thousands of views from all over the world, and it was so popular, I have re-run it a couple of times since. My first paragraph below quickly became outdated, when I began writing "The German Question."  

Much of what I intend to write here will be from firsthand experience or recollection, and I have no intention of writing a history of the Germans, nor a travel guide for those inclined to visit, as there are many great books and online sources available in great detail for these subjects. I will try to give some historical background on various subjects, if for no other reason than to provide a perspective for the topic at hand.

Frankfurt am Main (pronounced like "om mine") means Frankfurt on the Main (River). It is frequently called this extended name because there is another Frankfurt in Germany, just east of Berlin, and to differentiate, it is called "Frankfurt an der Oder;" that is, Frankfurt on the Oder (River). Frankfurt am Main (hereafter I'll use just "Frankfurt" in this article) is the city of the famous "Frankfurter," or what we commonly call hotdogs or franks (the abbreviated version of frankfurter) in the United States. German areas beyond Germany itself, including Austria, much of Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Alsace, and South Tirol,* all have sausages of different shapes, sizes, and flavors, and they are sold everywhere! To my knowledge, it was in the United States that putting a sausage inside a split bun became popular, as in German areas the various sausages are typically served separately on a small plate with a dab of mustard and a roll. My German relatives look on a bit perplexed when I get ketchup with mine. They seem to think I'm strange...ah...I'll leave that statement alone. Actually, Germans do eat ketchup with one sausage dish called "Currywurst," a recipe they picked up from Turkish and Middle Eastern foreign workers after World War Two. It is simply a bratwurst type sausage (usually cut into bite-sized pieces) with ketchup and curry powder on it, although after it gained more popularity, the ketchup and curry were often already pre-mixed and simply squirted on. While certainly not uncommon elsewhere, they are especially known in Berlin.

Frankfurt is located in the German state of Hessen, often referred to as Hessia or Hesse in English. It is THE financial hub of Germany. I've often thought, even many years ago, how much we could learn about public transportation from the Germans, and especially Frankfurt, which offers so many ways to travel around the area: light rail, street cars, buses. Germans use trains, including what we call "light rail," much more than most Americans do. The trains are efficient and well maintained, or at least they were in the many times I was there, although I haven't been back to Germany since 1995. If you want to take local light rail in Frankfurt, you don't necessarily have to stand in line to get a ticket. You just go to one of the many self-serve machines, check out the map to see your route number, insert the proper fare, and out comes your ticket.** Frankfurt is my favorite city of all. Why? Maybe because it reminds me of many American cities, with lots of tall skyscrapers ("Wolkenkratzer," or literally, "cloud scrapers" in German), but it also has something of "old Germany" still in existence, too. The city was absolutely devastated by Allied bombing during World War Two, but the Germans often found former architectural prints and rebuilt parts of the city based on these old records.*** Frankfurt was the city where many of the German emperors of the old German Empire were elected, and then a bit later, the emperors were even crowned there.****

Frankfurt also is a huge transportation hub, and the Frankfurt airport (Flughafen is the German word for airport, and, incidentally, all German nouns are capitalized, thus the capital "F") is one of the busiest airports in the world; perhaps even the busiest. On a couple of occasions I remember the plane I was on had to circle the city waiting for permission to land, as there were so many other planes ahead of mine. The airport is connected to other parts of the area, including downtown Frankfurt, by rail. The Frankfurt railway station (rail station in German is Bahnhof, and the Frankfurt station is called the "Hauptbahnhof," or "Main Train Station") is an absolute delight, with lots of little shops, and you can get a train to go just about anywhere in Europe from there. Of course, if you're traveling more local, like to Wiesbaden, which I'll guess is about 25 miles away, you can also depart from the Frankfurt rail station. I traveled between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden many times.

Downtown Frankfurt has a shopping district that is closed to motor vehicle traffic during certain hours (only late night and early morning can vehicles enter to clean up trash or make deliveries). This area, called the "Fussgängerzone," (more or less literally "foot goer zone," or "pedestrian zone") is lined with shops, large and small, and in good weather, it is not uncommon to see musicians playing various instruments or people with some acrobatic skills hopping and tumbling around, although always with a cup available for "donations." (Hey, they've got to make a living, and they aren't manipulating prices or trying to lure anyone into risky investments, and you don't have to give if you don't want to.) In Frankfurt this pedestrian zone has the name the "Zeil." The shopping area is very busy, even at times, well into the evening. Frankfurt is a major European convention city, and many convention attendees can be seen looking for souvenirs in this area. Not far away from the shopping area is the Frankfurt Zoo, and my love of animals has taken me there on numerous occasions. At various places around town you might also see open displays about sexual books, magazines, "devices," or "places." They aren't necessarily hidden on back streets or alleyways, and to my knowledge, no German has turned into a pillar of salt because they are there. It is also not uncommon to hear a guy out in front of some "establishments" calling "Peep show!!! Come in and peep!" For those unaware, they aren't selling recently hatched chickens.

My visits to Germany mainly took place when the United States had a major military presence there, although we still have some military facilities located in Germany, but far, far fewer than during the Cold War and the immediate years following its end. The Frankfurt/Wiesbaden area had lots of Americans (military personnel, their families, and tourists), and hearing (American) English was not at all uncommon, and all German shop clerks, waiters, waitresses, and hotel employees could speak English on a range of fair to excellent. I assume it is still the case, but Germans (then "West" Germans) were required to take either two or four years of English in school (I just forget).^ One German hotel manager I became friends with many years ago told me a funny little story. He was born near the end of World War Two in an area that became part of the Soviet-dominated part of the country, but his family escaped to the West and settled in the Frankfurt area. He is retired and lives in suburban Frankfurt. Anyway, he studied English in hospitality school. He got a job at a Frankfurt hotel. The hotel was frequented by many American servicemen and women, and many, many American tourists. He said, "I was young and cocky. On my first day, we had several Americans check in and out, and I had understood them very well, so I told my boss, 'I want to handle the check in for the next American who comes in.' The boss gave his approval. The next person through the door was an American...and he was from Texas." I started laughing as soon as he told me this. He said, "I didn't understand one damned word that man said!"

As Germany recovered from World War Two, especially by the late 1950s and the 1960s, they began to experience a labor shortage. Thousands of foreigners went to Germany looking to find work. Many of these people came from Turkey, but also from a variety of European countries (I once knew an Italian from Taranto who had worked for several years in Germany, and then came to the U.S., where his sister was already living). At first the Germans welcomed these folks who often took jobs at the lower end of the employment system. Gradually a problem arose, as the flow of foreigners continued, with many men having gone "home" and returned to (then West) Germany with their families. A culture clash was inevitable, and as mainly Turks moved into some neighborhoods, Germans moved out, eventually leaving whole parts of some cities, including Frankfurt, as basically Turkish neighborhoods, with Turkish shops and other businesses dominating those areas, and Turkish being spoken in place of German. This brought about a nasty reaction from many Germans (including some foreigners being beaten or killed), and I just don't recall everything that has happened over time, but there was an effort to put severe restrictions on immigration from certain countries, but eventually there was an attempt to get foreigners living in Germany to learn German. Where all of this stands at this point, I really don't know. I haven't heard lately, but if I remember right, by the late 1980s, something like 25% of Frankfurt's population was non-German.

Frankfurt and much of Hessen is noted for apple wine, or hard cider (called "Apfelwein" in standard German, but "Ebbelwei," "Ebbelwoi," or "Appelwoi" in Hessisch, the particular dialect of Hessen, and the dialect of my relatives there, but even it has sub-dialects, depending upon location, and thus the various renditions for "Apple Wine"). My hotel friend mentioned above, told me how he loved to go home in nice weather and sit outside with a bottle of this fine product and "get feeling pretty good!" It is available in some American import stores, or in wine sections of some supermarkets, although I'd guess the availability is often limited to large metro areas. Of course it is sold throughout Frankfurt and is standard fare in food establishments there. Further, traditional Hessian foods are hearty, with lots of pork used as a main course, or in recipe preparation. One of the better known Hessian specialities is "Kassler Rippchen," cured pork rib. Another specialty is "Zwiebelkuchen," or "onion cake," which is a flat cake topped with onions, eggs, sour cream and bacon. One of my favorites is "Backes Grumbeere," which is in Hessian dialect, not standard German, and is a potato dish cooked with lots of onions, bacon, pork shoulder, white wine, some seasonings and cream or sour cream.^^

Of course, when many folks think of Germans, they think of beer! And it is sold EVERYWHERE! Some shops even have little side windows for walk-up take out orders, including beer. Go to McDonalds or Burger King in Germany, beer is on the menu! (Please, please! If you go to Germany or any other country, don't go to the American food places there. You can patronize them on just about any street corner here in the U.S. Try the local foods and beverages. If you want coffee, okay, go to McDonalds or Burger King, although they'll have German coffee, which is much stronger tasting than most American coffee, and I'd say with more caffeine. Buzzzzz!!!) [A word history is after the notes]

* I'll get to explanations about "who or what is a German," somewhere along the way in this series, as it is highly relevant to history.

** How much of this may have changed since I was last there in March of 1995, I don't know. Since that time, however, Germany has switched to the "Euro," the form of money agreed upon and used by many European countries. Formerly Germany used the "Mark," its own money. Today, if you travel within the countries that use the Euro, you needn't go through currency exchange. When I was a kid, and I'd guess up until sometime in the early 1970s, the "Mark" had a fixed exchange rate of four to the dollar, thus making a Mark worth a quarter in American money. When many national currencies were allowed to "float;" that is, find their value versus other currencies by "free market" principles, the rate varied, as is now the case with the Euro.

*** This reconstruction using old records was not unique to Frankfurt, but was used extensively by many heavily damaged German cities and towns after World War Two.

**** Most people have heard of "the Third Reich," the Nazi term for Germany under their rule, but the old German Empire was the "First Reich," if you will. Most Germans tend to refer to the original empire as dating back to Charlemagne, although others date it a bit later. Charlemagne was the French rendering of his name, as his (Germanic) Frankish name was Karl, and he indeed spoke Frankish. He was crowned emperor in 800 A.D. and was such an honored and revered figure that his name was rendered in Latin as "Carolus Magnus." The French version was "Charlemagne," and the German "Karl der Grosse." All of these mean the same thing, "Karl (or Charles) the Great." There is a display of pictures of all of the German emperors in the restored building where many of the emperors were crowned in Frankfurt. If I remember correctly, his picture is displayed as the first German emperor, although he was not crowned in Frankfurt, but in Rome. So the "First Reich" dates from 800 until 1806, when it was dissolved by Emperor Franz II after Napoleon's successful invasion of Germany. The "Second Reich," was the German Empire created by Bismarck and lasted from 1871 until the end of World War One.

^ After World War Two, Germany was divided into occupation zones (American, British, French, Soviet). The British occupied the area up around Bremen/Hamburg and the North See (interesting coincidence that this is where the Anglo-Saxons left to sail to Britain and found England), and the Americans had a large swath of central/southern Germany. So much of western Germany was exposed to English on a daily basis. There was even a television station in English.

^^ The standard word for "potato" in German is "Kartoffel," but there are many regional dialect terms, including "Erdapfel," literally "earth apple," and the above "Grumbeer," which is used in some parts of Hessen. The "beer" part, pronounced somewhat like English "bear," means "berry," but I don't know what the "Grum" part means. Remember, this is not standard German, but dialect, and when I asked some German college students studying in Cleveland if they knew what "Grumbeer" meant, they both answered, "No." (One was from southwestern Germany and the other was from the Dortmund area, if I remember correctly.)

WORD HISTORY:
Tug-This word traces back to Indo European "deuk," which meant "to pull, to pull along (lead)." The Old Germanic offshoot was "teukh," which meant "pull." This gave Old English "teohan" also meaning "pull." By the 1200s, the modern spelling began to emerge. The noun seems to have developed in the 1500s, but it wasn't until the early 1800s that the more common modern usage of "a small boat used to pull larger vessels" came about. German has the related "ziehen," meaning "to pull, to tug" (the "z" is pronounced as if "ts," as in the end of "hits."). Interestingly, the English developed noun form came to be used for a boat that tows a larger vessel, but the German form, "Zug" (the "u" pronounced to rhyme with "food," and the "g" pronounced like "k") came to mean an engine for a train; that is, a vehicle that pulls a number of rail cars. So the idea of "pulling/towing" is still much alive in both languages. (Actually, "Zug" is also used just as the general German word for train.)