page_title: Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main)
section_title: The decline of the Altstadt in the 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Altstadt (Frankfurt am Main) / History / The decline of the Altstadt in the 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: The Tuchgadern or the old Gaden (camera antiquae) are already known under that name in the 14th century. The Lane leads from the the Market under the Red House (the house with the 3 columns / Red House standing on columns) to the Coopers Lane, respectively the Cabbage Market, where the so called Schöppen Fountain is located. The chandlers selling their goods in the vaults where called the Gader-Leute or the Tuchgader, that is linen trader. In later times the Gaden were changed into Schirnen. The alleyway consists of only seven houses. The picture of the little courtyard of one of these houses behind Tuchgaden No. 9 is a vivid example of the old architecture based mainly on wood. The staircase, wooden cladding and decoration, balustrade etc. we look upon appear old-fashioned. Deutsch: Die Tuchgadern oder die alten Gaden (camera antiquae) kommen unter diesem Namen schon im 14. Jahrhundert vor. Die Gasse führt von dem Markt unter dem Rothhause (dem Hause mit den 3 Säulen Roden huse das uff Suweln stet) nach der Bendergassse, bezw. dem Krautmarkt, wo der sogenannte Schöppenbrunnen steht. Die Krämer, die in den Gaden (Gewölben) ihre Waaren feil hielten, hiessen die Gader-Leute oder die Tuchgader, d. h. Leinwandhändler. Später wurden die Gaden in Schirnen verwandelt. Das Gässchen weist nur sieben Häuser auf. Das Bild von dem Höfchen eines dieser Häuser, am Tuchgaden No. 9, darf als ein anschauliches Beispiel der alten holzreichen Bauart gelten. Wir sehen den freigelegten Stiegenaufgang, die Holzbekleidung und Verzierung, Geländer etc., wie sie uns altväterlich anmuten.
context_page_description: The Altstadt is a city district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the Ortsbezirk Innenstadt I.
  The Altstadt is located on the northern Main river bank. It is completely surrounded by the Innenstadt district, Frankfurt's present-day city centre. On the opposite side of the Main is the district of Sachsenhausen.
  The historic old town of Frankfurt was one of the largest half-timbered towns in Germany until the extensive destruction in the Second World War with its around 1250 half-timbered houses, most of which date from the Middle Ages. It was one of the most important tourist attractions for Germany. The historic old town was largely destroyed by the air raids on Frankfurt am Main in 1944. The streets and the entire district are predominantly characterized by quickly and easily erected buildings from the 1950s and 60s. However, several striking buildings and some important city squares have been restored or reconstructed, especially around the main square, the Römerberg.
  Under the name of the Dom-Römer project, a new old town district was built between 2012 and 2018 between the imperial cathedral and the Römer town hall, following a decision by the city council in 2007.
context_section_description: In the 19th century, Frankfurt was considered one of the most beautiful cities in Germany due to the numerous classical buildings. The medieval old town, on the other hand, was considered backward and outdated.
  Goethe made Mephisto scoff at the old town:
  I chose a capital like this In the core citizen food horror.  Crowds of alleyways, steep gables,  Restricted market, cabbage, beets, onions;  Meat banks where the Schmeissen live,  To feast on the fat roasts;  You will find it there at all times  Certainly smell and activity.  (Faust. The tragedy, part four, act four. High mountains)
  
  The city historian Anton Kirchner also wrote in 1818 in his panel work  Views of Frankfurt am Main  about the buildings of the old town. The classicist zeitgeist is clear from the description:
   The overload with carving and lappy artistry and the shapeless three- and four-story roofs make them easily recognizable by the eye. They do not belong to any order of architecture. 
  The loss of image corresponded to a political and economic decline. The Frankfurt fair, which was held twice a year in the old town, had passed to Leipzig in the middle of the 18th century. With the end of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, imperial coronations no longer took place.
  The economic and political focus of Frankfurt has been the Neustadt since the Napoleonic Wars. After the restoration of the Free City of Frankfurt at the Vienna Congress, the Bundestag took its seat here in the Palais Thurn and Taxis.
  Frankfurt became the European financial centre with the banking houses Bethmann, Rothschild and Gontard. The trade fair business no longer played a role in goods traffic; instead, the city's good transport links became the engine of the economic upswing. Around 1830 steam shipping was introduced on the Main, in 1836 Frankfurt joined the German Customs Union and as early as 1839 there was an important node in the emerging German rail network.
  This economic boom passed the old town. At the latest after the annexation of Frankfurt by Prussia in 1866, the wealthy citizens moved to the new districts outside the ramparts, especially to the Westend. The city centre gradually shifted to the new town, where numerous Wilhelminian style buildings were erected at the Hauptwache, the Zeil and the Roßmarkt. The former exhibition halls in the buildings of the old town were transformed into warehouses or second-hand shops, the long-established craftsmen were forced to move to the new town with their customers. When the new small market hall between Fahrengasse and Hasengasse was built between 1877 and 1878, the traditional parapets also disappeared. The former Coronation Trail Markt no longer deserved its name, which was a symbol of the beginning social and structural deterioration of the old town. The horse-drawn tram, which started operating in 1872, did not reach the old town either.
  The early photographs of the old town, for example by Carl Friedrich Mylius, or the watercolors by Carl Theodor Reiffenstein not only show the picturesque and beautiful sides of the old town, but are also witnesses of their decay.
  The first street widenings were made in the second half of the 19th century in order to better open the old town to traffic. In 1855 the Liebfrauengasse between Liebfrauenberg and Zeil was built, in 1872 the Weißfrauengasse in the west to connect the old town with the train stations at the Taunusanlage. The associated loss of historical building substance, in particular the demolition of the white deer, was accepted.
  The Lower Main Bridge and the Upper Main Bridge were built in 1874 and 1878. The Old Bridge and Fahrgasse lost their importance because the traffic flowed around the old town as far as possible.
  The medieval houses, not to mention their backyards, were now often in poor condition. The hygienic conditions improved with the construction of an alluvial sewage system based on the English model from 1867. More and more houses were connected to the drinking water network, especially after the construction of a pipeline from Vogelsberg in 1873. In the co
caption: Back yard at Tuchgaden 9, around 1880
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