Freundliche Welt,
Today marks the fifth day of my worldwide tour, and my young bones are already aching! 40 miles of walking, 5 miles of running, 6 laugenbrezel mit käse (cheese pretzels), endless kaffee, and an infinite curiosity for this corner of the world. I had the blessing of being able to meet up with my Northwestern friend, Samantha Baran, for my first day here which made the immediate transition very fun and the pre-circumnavigation jitters mostly calmed. Apparently everyone has lied to me my entire life, as Sam enlightened me to the fact that there are multiple “Frankfurts” in Germany, and thus this city is best called “Frankfurt am Main.” The suffix refers to Main river that passes through the city and connects it to many other German towns, including Offenbach am Main and Mainz. The city name refers to the Frank people that inhabited the area in around the 3rd century CE and the “ford,” which is a shallow section of a river that could be easily passed by foot or vehicle. So the city name itself associates this area of the world with travel, especially movement over water. The centrality of Frankfurt’s European geography along with its accessibility via the Main made Frankfurt a focal point in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as a site of abundant commercial trade. It seems at times there are as many churches in town as there are major, international banks. The Global Cities and World Research Network has identified Frankfurt as an “Alpha world city,” being a commercial global hub and a center of immense cultural diversity. And, people, they are not wrong!
I have spent the past few days racking up my steps trying to take in this (at first somewhat confusing, but nonetheless) vibrant city. Before even flying across the Atlantic, I can distinctly remember the airplane attendant reading the names of some travelers who needed to check in; the poor woman, was obviously struggling to pronounce these names of travelers coming from different parts of the world: a Japanese family, an Arabic man, a couple from India. I would later learn that the Frankfurt airport is one of the busiest in the world and over half of Frankfurt’s population is immigrants, which would explain the cultural diversity within my flight alone. After the disembarkation and upon exiting the Hauptbahnhof (the Central Train Station) I was greeted by Kaiserstrasse, which is a walkable street that seems to endlessly stretch with restaurants: a Mexican grill, a burger joint, a Chinese market, a pizzeria, a falafel stand, etc. I was pretty shocked, yet so interested to see so many different food cultures standing right next to one another, with tourists and Frankfurters all passing through. Just the other night, I had dinner with a few locals, and one woman expressed her love for the city, saying “It’s like you could eat in a different country every night,” as we shared a delish Turkish döner sandwich with ayran, a salty yogurt drink (apparently I’ll get used to the taste!).
The city’s architecture is also remarkably unique in its eclectic and multicultural expressions. At times, I’ve looked out at the skyline and the city looks mistakable for an American metropolis. Other times, in the Altstadt (Oldtown), for example, there is a quiet, yet overwhelming pulse history. There are moments when I walked along the Main and a church steeple would appear to stand at level with the corporate high-rises. There are also some wonderful instances in the architecture, where the reconstructed Gothic facades of the of the Römer houses are decorated with more “Eastern” ornaments, such as the golden dragons on the Stadthaus am Markt.
This city is unapologetically decorated in its multiculturalism, and I am loving it! Given its central geography, its uniquely diverse character and its strong connection to religious history, it is no wonder that Frankfurt was selected in the mid-20th century to be the home of the European Mashriqu’l-Adhkar (Baha’i House of Worship, literally translating to “The Dawning place of the Remembrance of God”). But more on that later!
Guten tag!
Chris
