Abbildung der Kays. Freyen-Reichs-Wahl-und- Handelsstadt Frankfurt am Main mit ihrem Gebiet und Gräntzen vorgestelt von J.B. Homann

Title

Abbildung der Kays. Freyen-Reichs-Wahl-und- Handelsstadt Frankfurt am Main mit ihrem Gebiet und Gräntzen vorgestelt von J.B. Homann

Description

Map shows the surrounding and a total view of Frankfurt at the River Main.

ca. 1720

Artist

Homann (1664-1724)

Johann Babtiste Homann (1664-1724), Nuremberg, was born in Oberkammlach, the Electorate of Bavaria. Although educated at a Jesuit school, and preparing for an ecclesiastical career, he eventually converted to Protestantism and from 1687 worked as a civil law notary in Nuremberg. He soon turned to engraving and cartography; in 1702 he founded his own publishing house. Homann acquired renown as a leading German cartographer, and in 1715 was appointed Imperial Geographer by Emperor Charles VI. Giving such privileges to individuals was an added right that the Holy Roman Emperor enjoyed. In the same year he was also named a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Of particular significance to cartography were the imperial printing privileges (Latin: privilegia impressoria). These protected for a time the authors in all scientific fields such as printers, copper engravers, map makers and publishers. They were also very important as a recommendation for potential customers. In 1716 Homann published his masterpiece Grosser Atlas ueber die ganze Welt (Grand Atlas of all the World). Numerous maps were drawn up in cooperation with the engraver Christoph Weigel the Elder, who also published Siebmachers Wappenbuch. Homann died in Nuremberg. He was succeeded by the Homann heirs company, which was in business until 1848. The company was known as Homann Erben, Homanniani Heredes, or Heritiers de Homann abroad.

Historical Description

Frankfurt am Main was first mentioned on 794 in a document by Charlemagne for the St. Emmeram monastery in Regensburg. A settlement of the cathedral hill has already been proven for the Neolithic period. As a result, a Roman military camp and a Franconian royal court were probably built at the same location.The Golden Bull of 1356 confirmed Frankfurt from 1356 as the permanent electoral city of the Roman kings, after most of the royal elections had taken place here since 1147. From 1562 the imperial coronations also took place in Frankfurt, most recently in 1792 that of the Habsburg Franz II.In 1742 Frankfurt became a residence for almost three years. Since Emperor Charles VII, who came from the House of Wittelsbach, could not return to his homeland, the Electorate of Bavaria occupied by Habsburg troops, after his coronation, he was forced to live in the Barckhaus an der Zeil until October 1744. With the end of the Old Reich, the sovereignty of Frankfurt as an imperial city also ended. In 1806 it fell under the rule of Prince Theodor von Dalberg, who united it with the Principality of Regensburg and the Principality of Aschaffenburg as well as the Imperial City of Wetzlar to form an independent state within the Confederation of the Rhine, the state of the Prince. In 1810 Dalberg ceded the Principality of Regensburg to Bavaria, received the Principality of Hanau and the Principality of Fulda, and became Grand Duke of Frankfurt. With the collapse of the Napoleonic system, Dalberg abdicated as Grand Duke of Frankfurt in 1813. In 1813 the independence of the city and its territory was restored and its imperial city constitution was reinstated. The previous prefect Friedrich Maximilian von Günderrode took over the provisional management of the administration as the city school hotline. At the Vienna Congress, the Kingdom of Bavaria planned to annex Frankfurt, but on June 8, 1815 the Congress decided to restore Frankfurt as a free city within the German Confederation. Along with Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, it was one of four free cities that were able to maintain their traditional urban freedom up to the modern era.