Eberhard Steneberg, an emigré artist in Frankfurt.
A neglected story in the 1950s

By Dr. Inge Wierda

During the museum night on 23 April 2016, a large group of people attended the guided tour of Dr. Michael Fleiter through the exhibition *Schauplätze: Frankfurt in den 50er Jahren* at the Institut für Stadtgeschichte in Frankfurt am Main. The audience listened attentively to the fraught history of their city. This now-booming metropolis was one of the most severely devastated cities at the end of the Second World War. Fifty-two percent of the city had been swept away by continuous English and American bombardments. A huge number of civilians (5500) lost their lives; a majority had already left the city and 45 percent of the houses disappeared. The ‘Altstadt’ (medieval town) and exquisite early-19th century Empire houses were almost completely destroyed. A few along the banks of the Main still stood and only one medieval so-called Fachwerkhaus, Haus Wertheim, survived.