Frankfurt History App

Explore city history on site

The Frankfurt History App opens up new approaches to the historical traces of the city: It connects places with personal stories, historical recordings, video clips and audio tours. Today's city is the starting point from which users can actively navigate through history with the app. It offers historical knowledge for on-the-go: for quick exploration of the immediate surroundings or for longer city tours. This knowledge is constantly being expanded in a participatory manner, new topics and locations can be added by users, and tours can also be put together by users themselves. At the moment the app presents two main topics: Frankfurt and the National Socialism and Revolution 1848/49. The app is maintained by the Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Historical Museum Frankfurt) and offers an open and sustainable mediation platform for initiatives, associations, museums and archives.

Mit der App in der Stadt. Foto: HMF, Katharina Böttger

Mit der App in der Stadt. Foto: HMF, Katharina Böttger

App Content & Functions

  • Find places nearby via GPS
  • Turn-by-turn Navigation
  • In-depth background information, video clips and historical images
  • More than 1,000 places related to National Socialism
  • Growing collection of historical points of interest
  • Historical maps
  • Curated audio tours for 30-60 minute walks
  • Create your own tours
  • Sustainable app for Frankfurt's history

Theme layer: Frankfurt and National Socialism

Over 1,000 places relating to the National Socialist past have been compiled by the Historisches Museum Frankfurt (Historical Museum Frankfurt) together with the Institut für Stadtgeschichte (Institute for the History of Frankfurt) and community initiatives. These places are all located on a city map. Even at first glance, you can see how much National Socialism has inscribed itself in the city's history. The map distinguishes between places of persecution, places of resistance and "Volksgemeinschaft". Stolpersteine and monuments are also visible in the app. The content shows different perspectives of those affected: Jews, Roma and Sinti, forced laborers, people with disabilities, queer people. They tell stories of political and religious resistance or of nonconforming behavior, as in the case of the swing youth.

„Tag der nationalen Arbeit“ am 1. Mai 1933 auf dem Römerberg, Foto: HMF, Leonhard Kleemann

„Tag der nationalen Arbeit“ am 1. Mai 1933 auf dem Römerberg, Foto: HMF, Leonhard Kleemann

Revolution 1848/49

In 1848/49 courageous citizens and visionary parliamentarians fought for and won the foundation of our present constitution and democracy. Frankfurt was one of the centers of revolution in Germany during these years. Now, the Institute for the History of Frankfurt added three revolutionary tours to the Frankfurt History App. They lead to the theaters of the revolution, the meeting places of the political groups and the scenes of the September riots.

Erstürmung der Barrikade Konstablerwache 18. September 1848

Erstürmung der Barrikade Konstablerwache 18. September 1848

Audio tours

In addition, tours were also produced that open up inclusive and innovative approaches to the topic. We developed a tour in Leichte Sprache (plain language) for the burial ground of the "euthanasia" victims at Frankfurt's main cemetery in cooperation with Lebenshilfe Frankfurt. The Frankfurt artist Katharina Müller has designed a graphic approach and exploration of memorial sites. With tours, biographies and in-depth content in German and English, the app is a flexible educational offer for very different target groups such as school classes and tourists.

Beim Launch-Wochenende waren alle Beteiligten eingeladen. Foto: HMF, Stefanie Kösling.

Beim Launch-Wochenende waren alle Beteiligten eingeladen. Foto: HMF, Stefanie Kösling.

Participate!

The Frankfurt History App offers various possibilities for expansion and participation. Following the principle of shared expertise, you can add missing content to existing topics. You can also create your own tours for your learning group. Or develop a completely new topic together with us and berlinHistory e.V. and publish it in the app.

Reach out via E-Mail.

Support & Funders

The Frankfurt History App is a project of the Bildungsagenda NS-Unrecht from October 2021 to December 2022, financed with the support of the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) and the German Federal Ministry of Finances (BMF). It was implemented in the cooperation project "Frankfurt and National Socialism" with the participation of many initiatives and partners. The Institute for the History of Frankfurt is responsible for the topic “Revolution 1848/49”. berlinHistory e.V. developed the app technically, based on the cooperative principle and model of the berlinHistory App. The concept and designs was developed by Studio Good. For the future, thematic extensions are planned in cooperation with Frankfurt partners.

Partners

Historisches Museum FrankfurtHistorisches Museum Frankfurt
Jüdisches Museum FrankfurtJüdisches Museum Frankfurt
Institut für Stadtgeschichte FrankfurtInstitut für Stadtgeschichte Frankfurt

Sponsors

A project of the Education Agenda NS-Injustice from October 2021 to December 2022,

funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Federal Ministry of FinanceFederal Ministry of Finance
EVZ FoundationEVZ Foundation

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