Frankfurt: Where Germany Meets the World

Frankfurt is at the crossroads of Europe. It is where for a thousand years the major trade routes between Amsterdam-Milan and Paris-Moscow have intersected. Today it is where thousands of people arrive, depart and change flights every day. Trade, transport and finance have been the lifeblood of Frankfurt. But it has also been the home of an amazing series of people who have made their mark in Frankfurt, in Germany and if not the whole world. They include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe the Shakespeare of German culture, Sibylla Merian the pioneer of botanical art, Alois Alzheimer who gave his name to the degenerative illness, Käthe Paulus who invented the modern parachute and the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The most famous citizen of Frankfurt has been the banker Mayer Amschel Rothschild, whose rags to riches story is one of the most astounding in all human history. Hajdu interweaves the life and work of these people with the history and present features of Frankfurt. The result is a rich tapestry of a fascinating and very colourful city.

Dr. Joe Hajdu is a cultural geographer. He is attached to Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia as an Honorary Fellow. In a long academic career he has carried out research in Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. His previous books have included a cultural geographic study of Australia aimed at visitors who seek to immerse themselves into the topic beyond what the standard tourist guide provides, a description of the cultural impact of the Japanese on the Gold Coast in northeast Australia in the 1980s, a study of the effect on economic linkages and people's lives of the West-East German border prior to 1989, and a recent book on the transformation of Berlin after 1990 from being a marginalized, divided city to again being the capital and culturally vibrant metropolis of a reunited Germany. Budapest: A History of Grandeur and Catastrophe is his first research and book project carried out in his birthplace, Hungary.