Financial centre of the 19th century. After 1870, Berlin and New York grew to become major financial centres mainly serving their national economies. An array of smaller international financial centers found market niches, such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich, and Geneva. London remained the leading international financial center in the four decades leading up to World War I. Since then, London and New York have developed leading positions in different activities and some non-Western financial centres have grown in prominence, notably Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. In Asia, Tokyo emerged as a major financial centre in the 1980s as the Japanese economy became
History of Frankfurt am Main day. History of Frankfurt am Main The history of the city of Frankfurt am Main started on a hill at a ford in the Main River. The city developed into a financial centre, nicknamed "the smallest metropolis in the world". Frankfurt is located in what was originally a swampy portion of the Main valley, a lowland criss-crossed by channels of the river. The oldest parts are therefore to be found on the higher portions of the valley, through which passed the Roman road from Mainz (Roman "Moguntiacum") to Heddernheim (Roman "Nida"). The Odenwald and Spessart ranges surrounded the area, lending