Frankfurt (Oder) - Prussian memorial sites

Frankfurt was built at the most important crossing of the Oder River in north-east Germany and was probably the most important town in the Mark Brandenburg region in the Middle Ages due to its location. The choir windows of the St. Marienkirche church are a special treasure: a picture bible was created around 1370. The windows that were thought to be lost during the Second World War appeared again a few years ago in St. Petersburg. They can now be admired again having been restored to their original condition in 2005.

Spiritual centre of the Mark Brandenburg region

The town on the Oder River was the spiritual centre of the Mark Brandenburg region around 1500. Elector Joachim I (1499-1535) founded the first state university here in 1506 in order to encourage settlement in the area. Ulrich von Hutten, Thomas Müntzer, Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt studied at the “Viadrina” university. In the magnificent "Junkerhaus", the former home of the painter, sculptor and architect Karl Junker, where studying members of the ruling dynasty and professors once lived, the Viadrina Museum today presents the history of the town and university.

In the footsteps of Kleist

Frankfurt is Kleist’s town. The poet Heinrich von Kleist was born in the town on October 18, 1777. His father served in the garrison town as a staff captain in the regiment of Prince Leopold of Brunswick. The former garrison school, which was built in 1777 on the initiative of the prince, now houses the Kleist Museum.

A great-uncle of Heinrich was also a poet: Ewald Christian von Kleist (1715-1759). He fought as an officer in the battle that Frederick II lost at Kunersdorf near Frankfurt and was fatally wounded. His monument, a sandstone obelisk with a portrait medallion, still stands in the park at St. Gertraudkirche church.