The story of this place
Frankfurt's Römerberg was the ceremonial heart of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1562 to 1792, ten emperors were elected in the cathedral and crowned nearby, then feasted in the Römer town hall's Imperial Hall, whose walls bear portraits of every emperor from Charlemagne on. The half-timbered houses of the Ostzeile framing the square, and the whole medieval old town, were obliterated in the Allied bombing of March 1944, which killed thousands and destroyed the largest half-timbered old town in Germany. Rather than leave it modern, Frankfurt painstakingly reconstructed the historic facades from old photographs and drawings, completing the work in 1983. The rebuilt square is again the stage for the city's Christmas market and civic festivals.