The circular hall
A bare white chamber with curved benches — where the first German parliament sat.
Simsalabimbam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Moahim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ziko van Dijk — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ziko van Dijk — CC BY-SA 4.0
Because the first elected parliament in German history met here in 1848 to draft a democratic constitution. The attempt failed, but it became a symbolic reference point, and the country's most important state ceremonies are held here today.
If political history interests you, yes. If you want a beautiful church, no: the inside is bare and simplified because it was deliberately rebuilt austerely after the war. The value is in the meaning, not the decoration.
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St. Paul's is a round sandstone building in central Frankfurt. It matters not as a church but because the first elected parliament in German history met here in 1848. That year, delegates from across the country gathered to draft a single democratic constitution. The attempt collapsed in under a year and the monarchies returned, but the idea survived, and the building became a symbol of German democracy. It is used today for state ceremonies and prize-givings. The building was destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt in 1948 in a simplified form quite unlike the original: a bare circular hall with almost no ornament. That was a deliberate choice. The interior is very plain and may disappoint anyone expecting a decorated church. On the ground floor is a permanent exhibition on the 1848 revolution and the history of democracy in Germany.
A bare white chamber with curved benches — where the first German parliament sat.
A permanent display on the ground floor about the revolution, the constitution and German democracy.
Paulsplatz 11, 60311 Frankfurt am Main