Travel Log: Frankfurt
In 2018, my husband and I were fortunate enough to take a trip to Frankfurt, and I had some of the coolest experiences of my life. I got to visit two important historical sites of the Holy Roman Empire. For those of you who don’t know about the Holy Roman Empire, it was sort of a mess. You can tell that from the map above. Voltaire famously said, “the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire." What makes it so fascinating to me, however, is its breath and scope.
According to Wikipedia, it was “a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe.” It’s main holdings were in Germany, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), Burgundy (now parts and France and Switzerland), and Italy. But there were many other little principalities, duchies, counties, and cities. It was a decentralized, limited elective monarchy. According to tradition, it was created when Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope on Christmas Day in the year 800. The title fell out of use and was revived when Otto I was crowned in 962. Lots of historians consider that date to be the real start of the Empire. It lasted until 1806 when it was dissolved by the last Emperor during the Napoleonic Wars. (The last Holy Roman Emperor conveniently created himself Emperor of Austria before abdicating as Holy Roman Emperor.)
The exact territories in the Empire and the exact powers of the Emperor waxed and waned over time—which makes sense for an institution lasting a thousand years. The power of the Emperor was always limited. The Empire’s various princes, lords, and cities owed the Emperor their allegiance but governed largely independently in their own territories.
The Emperor was elected, which brings me to our wonderful trip to Frankfurt. I got to sit in the very place where the emperors were elected! My husband and I visited the Kaiserdom in Frankfurt which is the church were the emperors were elected and crowned. The first election of a Holy Roman Emperor in the church occurred in 1356. (The coronations were held in the church from 1562 to 1792.)
The elections took place in the Wahlkapelle, a chapel on the south side of the choir—again a place in which I got to sit! I owe my visit to this chapel to my husband. I was sitting in the main church wondering where the elections were held when my husband walked up to me and said, “Don’t you want to go in the chapel over there? That’s where the actual elections were held.” Yes, yes, I did want to go in the chapel! I can’t express how amazing it was to sit in that chapel and think of all the history that took place there.
The church was rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire in 1867 and then rebuilt again after being bombed in World War II, so it’s not clear to me exactly how much (if any) of the structure I sat in existed during the imperial elections. Still, I know the location was the same, and that is amazing enough.
In Frankfurt, we also visited the Kaisersaal, a room in the Römer. The Römer served as Frankfurt’s city hall for over 600 years. (The Römer still has some civic functions including a civil registration office where weddings are held.) During the Holy Roman Empire, coronation banquets took place in the Kaisersaal. (The name means “Emperor Hall” in German.) Again, the Römer was bombed heavily in World War II, so I don’t know exactly how much (if any) of the structure I sat in existed during imperial times. But again, I know the location was the same, and that is amazing enough!
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