The Kornmarkt, along with its southern section known as Buchgasse since early modern times, is a street in the old town of Frankfurt am Main. In medieval Frankfurt, this street held immense importance as one of the three major north-south main streets, connecting two city gates and two grand churches. However, in present times, it exists in a rather inconspicuous manner. The street’s urban context has been largely lost - due to road breaches and wartime destruction in the bombing campaign, but above all the reconstruction of the 1950s, which failed to consider the preservation of the historical townscape.
Despite its current modest standing, the street's historical significance is noteworthy. It served as the birthplace of the Frankfurt Book Fair, and a brief meeting place of the Frankfurt National Assembly. Moreover, it has been the residence of Frankfurt's patrician families for centuries, further adding to its cultural heritage.
Origin, location, significance The Kornmarkt came into existence as a result of the city’s expansion in the twelfth century. The street's earliest record can be traced back to 15 August 1219, when King Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty mentioned it in an official document. At the citizens of Frankfurt's request (ad supplicationem fidelium nostrorum universorum de Frankinfort ) King Frederick II granted a courtyard owned by the empire, situated on the Kornmarkt (aream seu curtem iacentem iuxta forum frumenti) to be used for the construction of the Leonhardkirche (Leonhard church).
Following the construction of the Staufenmauer, the city expanded northward, doubling its walled area. Previously, the main streets predominantly ran in an east-west direction, including Alte Mainzer Gasse, Saalgasse, and Markt. With the expansion, three new main streets were introduced, connecting the newly developed parts of the city with the existing ones. These main streets served the purpose of facilitating traffic between the two new inland city gates and the existing gates leading to the harbor on the banks of the Main River:
As the easternmost of the three parallel main streets, Fahrgasse extended from Bornheimer Pforte (near today's Konstablerwache) to the Alte Brücke, which was secured by a bridge tower. Due to its regional importance as the sole crossing of the Main River between Mainz and Aschaffenburg, Fahrgasse became Frankfurt’s most vital. The middle link, known as Neue Kräme, did not serve as a throughway due to the absence of a city gate in the north. However, it connected the two principal squares in the Altstadt, Liebfrauenberg and Römerberg. The latter was linked to the south by the Fahrtor, which provided access to the Mainhafen. Notably, both ends of the street were adorned with significant churches: the Liebfrauenkirche to the north and the Nikolaikirche to the south. The westernmost of the three streets was the Kornmarkt. It stretched from the northwestern city gate, initially known as Bockenheimer Pforte (later Katharinenpforte), located at today's Hauptwache to the Leonhardstor at the Mainhaufen. Important churches were also located at these two gates, the Katharinenkirche, and the Leonhardskirche.
Street names In the Middle Ages, the entire street between Katharinenspforte and Leonhardspforte bore the uniform name Kornmarkt. Later, the street was divided into three distinct sections: the northern section extending to the intersection of Weißadlergasse and Große Sandgasse became known as Kleiner Kornmarkt, the middle section reaching the intersection with Schüppengasse and Paulsgasse was referred to as Großer Kornmarkt. The southern section from Münzgasse to Leonhardskirche was named Buchgasse in the 17th century. Today there are two street names, the section north of Bethmannstraße is called Kornmarkt, and the one south of it is Buchgasse.
Medieval patrician palaces 1628 1862 Today
As the name suggests, the Kornmarkt served as the bustling market for fruits and grains in Frankfurt until the 18th century. Additionally, this street held great appeal for upper-middle-class citizens, who built their city palaces there, often naming them after their owners. Notable examples include houses such as Zum Frosch or Zum Großen Goldstein. However, the most renowned bourgeois residence on the street was the Große Stalburg, built-in 1496 by Claus Stalburg (1469-1525), the wealthiest burgher in the city at the time and multiple times mayor of the city. The fortified Gothic stone structure with a stepped gable and turret was a late medieval magnificent construction, similar to the Stone House in the Old Market, which continues to exist today.
The birthplace of the Frankfurt Book Fair In the Middle Ages, the southern part of Kornmarkt was primarily occupied by armorers and blacksmiths. However, towards the end of the 15th century, the area underwent a significant transformation as printers and booksellers started to settle here, displacing the previously resident crafts. This influx of new inhabitants led to the southern part of Kornmarkt being renamed Buchgasse. The merchants held a book fair here twice a year from 1480. Over time, the Frankfurt Book Fair became the most important book fair in Europe. Due to the liberal regulations of the Free Imperial City, even the writings of Martin Luther could be traded here at the beginning of the Reformation, which was banned elsewhere because of heresy. At the 1520 fair, a Frankfurt bookseller sold over 1400 copies of his writings. Luther himself stayed at the Gasthof Zum Strauß on his journey to the Diet of Worms on Sunday, 14 April 1521, and on his return on Saturday, 27 April 1521. The Gasthof zum Strauß was located at the corner of Schüppengasse and Buchgasse; it was demolished in 1896 when Bethmannstrasse was built.
While Luther’s opponent Johannes Cochläus, preached against him, Frankfurt patricians such as Philipp Fürstenberger, Arnold von Glauburg, and Hamman von Holzhausen warmly welcomed him. They engaged in enthusiastic discussions with Luther, whose writings were already familiar to them, until late at night.
During his visit, Luther also paid a visit to the municipal Latin school, which had been founded in 1519 for the education of the patricians' sons. The school was situated across his inn, in a building called Haus Goldstein. The founder, Mayor Hamman von Holzhausen, appointed the humanist Wilhelm Nesen as the first rector. Luther also met Nesen during his visit, who followed him to Wittenberg in 1523. A letter from Luther to his friend Spalatin, written from Frankfurt, has been preserved, in which he describes the physical hardships of his journey and continues: "But Christ lives! and we want to come to Worms to all the gates of hell and princes of the air for protection...I have not wanted to write any other letters until I see for myself what to do: that we do not inflate Satan, whom we are rather willing to frighten and despise."Wilhelm Bornemann, Luther in Frankfurt 1521, in: Frankfurter Kirchenkalender 1921, pp. 14ff.
On this return from Worms, Luther once again stayed at the Strauß Inn. His visit once again became a public event. The next morning, Luther wrote a letter to Lucas Cranach, hinting at his seclusion at Wartburg, stating, "I let myself be shut up and hidden, not yet knowing myself where...There must be a little time of silence and suffering: a little yet see me not, and yet a little, yet see me, saith Christ." At 10 o'clock he departed for Friedberg.
In 1530, the printer Christian Egenolff from Hadamar settled in Frankfurt and opened his store on Großer Kornmarkt near Buchgasse. His print shop produced the first German Bible printed in Frankfurt in 1535, and he also printed Faber's Siege Plan of 1552.
The booksellers and publishers in the Buchgasse owned 20 cellar vaults where books, engravings, and fair catalogs were sold. Noteworthy sellers included Dürer's wife Agnes and Maria Sibylla Merian. In 1682, a flood on the Main River inundated the booksellers' vaults, causing significant damage to the goods stored there.
The English world traveler Thomas Coryat visited the Frankfurt Fair in 1608. He wrote:
After the Thirty Years' War, the intellectual center of Germany shifted from the imperial cities on the Rhine to the absolutist states in the north and east, causing the book trade to gradually migrate there, especially to Leipzig. The Frankfurt book fair lost its leading role and eventually ceased to exist altogether after 1750.
The Kornmarkt in classicist Frankfurt
Even after the end of the international book trade and the shift of the city center from the Altstadt to the Neustadt, the Kornmarkt remained a residential area of the upper class. The house Zum Großen Korb, built in the 18th century, was considered one of the most beautiful buildings on the street. In 1788, the Große Stalburg was sold to the German Reformed congregation, which subsequently demolished it the following year to make way for their new church, built by Georg Friedrich Mack and Salins de Montfort.
The neighboring house Liebeneck (Großer Kornmarkt 15) was occupied by the Schönemann banking family, whose daughter Lili engaged with Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1775, who grew up a few streets away. On Große Sandgasse, a street branching off from Kornmarkt, stood the house Zum Goldenen Kopf, since 1777 the residence of the Brentano family, Bettina's birthplace, and the house where her mother Maximiliane died. In the neighboring house was the Naumann'sche Druckerei, responsible for producing the stamps for the Thurn and Taxis Post Office.
In the 19th century, the Bethmann banking family, renowned alongside the Rothschilds as one of the most influential banking dynasties in Frankfurt, constructed their prestigious main bank building on the corner of Schöppengasse and Buchgasse.
Between 6 November 1848, and 9 January 1849, the Frankfurt National Assembly took up residence in the German Reformed Church. During this time, the Paulskirche, their designated meeting place, was undergoing renovation. The Kornmarkt thus became the venue for 40 sessions of the first freely elected German parliament.
During the Free City period, the building at Großer Kornmarkt 12, located opposite the Reformed Church, served as the seat of the city-state's Court of Appeal.
Gründerzeit remodeling
Towards the mid-19th century, Frankfurt experienced significant urban development. Despite a late start in industrialization, the city’s population grew rapidly, and the built-up area expanded beyond the city boundary of the ramparts. The soft areas of the old town, once characterized by gardens, arterial roads, and country houses, were quickly covered by urbanization. To accommodate the growing city, large infrastructure projects were undertaken. However, these developments largely bypassed the old town, which became increasingly isolated from modern urban development and took on a distinct character of its own. The exodus of wealthy citizens to more contemporary parts of the city raised concerns that the old town could deteriorate into a slum.
To address this danger, under the leadership of Lord Mayor Franz Adickes, the municipal government initiated a major project in the mid-1890s. The aim was to connect the old town with the rapid development of the Gründerzeit city. A wide street was planned to cut through the entire old town from east to west, creating a road breakthrough. The intent was to use representative architecture as a catalyst for further redevelopment of the old town. Additionally, the tramway, which had already been running since 1872, would finally connect to the old town through the new traffic route.