The insignia of the German kings and “Roman” emperors, the symbols of their rulership, were kept at different places in the Empire until the 15th century. Alongside Aachen and Nuremberg, from the 12th century onwards Frankfurt was a bit like the Holy Roman Empire’s capital city: 31 kings and emperors were elected, and 10 of them crowned here. The copies made in 1913 were part of a large-scale “program of remembrance” of Frankfurt’s lineage as a seat of imperial elections and coronations.
