Frankfurt an der Oder
[key], city, Brandenburg, E Germany, a port on the Oder River, at the
Polish border. It is an industrial center, agricultural market, and rail
junction. Manufactures include textiles, machinery, foodstuffs, shoes, and
furniture. Lignite is mined nearby. Frankfurt was chartered in 1253. It
joined the Hanseatic League
in the 14th cent. and became an important commercial center. Frankfurt was
frequently besieged, notably in 1631 (during the Thirty Years War), when it
was stormed and sacked by the Swedes under Gustavus II. The university
founded there in 1506 was transferred to Breslau (now Wrocław) in
1811. The city was severely damaged in World War II. The suburb of Damm-Vorstadt, now
Słubice, on the east bank of the Oder, was placed under Polish
administration in 1945. The dramatist and poet Heinrich von Kleist was
born (1777) in Frankfurt.
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