From Bingen and Rüdesheim we go to Frankfort-on-the-Main. This town which has witnessed the coronation of many of the German emperors, is noted for its ancient legends, and to one of these it is said it owes its name. This is the story: Charlemagne, having penetrated into the forests to wage war against the Saxons, was once compelled to retreat with his brave Franks. A heavy fog lay over the country which was unknown to him. Fearing that his little army would be cut to pieces if he lingered, and unable to see more than a few feet ahead of him, Charlemagne prayed to the Lord for help and guidance. The next moment the heavy fog parted, and the emperor saw a doe leading her young through the stream. He instantly called to his men, and they forded the river in safety. The fog closed behind them and hid them from the pursuing enemy.
In commemoration of his deliverance, Charlemagne called the place Frankford (the ford of the Franks), and the city which grew up shortly afterward retained the name.
This, one of the important cities of Germany, is said to have been a small Roman military station in the first century, A. D.
It is first mentioned as Franconoford and the seat of the royal residence in 793; and the following year Charlemagne held a convocation of bishops and dignitaries of the empire here. The town attained such a degree of prosperity that in 876, at the death of Lewis the German, it was looked upon as the capital of the east Franconian Empire. On the dissolution of the empire in 1806, Frankfort was made over to the Primate of the Rhenish Confederation, and in 1810 it became the capital of the grand-duchy of Frankfort.
It was one of the four free cities of the German Confederation, and the seat of the Diet from 1815 to 1866, in which year it passed to Prussia. To-day we find it a handsome city of two hundred and twenty-nine thousand inhabitants, with beautiful streets, stately houses surrounded by lovely gardens, and fine stores, parks, monuments and many attractions for the tourist. Here are churches, theatres, libraries and museums, and an opera house which will accommodate two thousand spectators.
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.