The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Frankfort-on-the-Oder

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-ODER, a city of Brandenburg, Prussia, capital of a district of the same name, on the left bank of the river Oder, 45 m. E. S. E. of Berlin; pop. in 1871, 43,211. The prosperity of the town, is due to its situation on the railway between Berlin and Breslau, to its navigable river, which is connected by canals with the Vistula and the Elbe, and to its three annual fairs, at which large quantities of cotton, woollen, silk, and other goods are sold, though to a less extent than formerly. The city has three suburbs, fine streets, public squares, and gardens, a theatre, many charitable institutions, a Roman Catholic church, a synagogue, and several Protestant churches. The university was removed to Breslau in 1810; a gymnasium still remains. Beyond the wooden bridge which connects the old town on the left bank of the Oder with the suburb on the right bank is a monument to Prince Leopold of Brunswick, who was drowned here in 1785, while attempting to rescue a family during an inundation. The battle of Kunersdorf was fought within 3 m. of the town in 1759, and there is in Frankfort a monument of the poet Kleist, who died from a wound received in this battle.