With funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the records of the Vereinigte Kaufmannschaft zu Frankfurt an der Oder have been digitized.
The Frankfurt merchants' association was formed in the 1830s after the economic crises of the Napoleonic Wars had been overcome and the Frankfurt trade fairs regained their importance. The merchants' association represented the interests of traders as the successor organization to the merchants' guild. Above all, it campaigned for economic development and the expansion of transport routes, such as the connection of the city to the railroad network or the expansion of steam navigation on the Oder.
The accompanying letter from the "Commission for Hamburg's Thanks to Foreign Countries" dated 25 November 1844 shows just how wealthy and well-connected the Frankfurt merchant community was in the middle of the 19th century.
The digitized collection is now available online in the Archivportal-D of the German Digital Library.