Porz am Rhein, city, North Rhine-Westphalia, W Germany, on the Rhine River; chartered 1951. Manufactures of this industrial city include glass and agricultural machinery.

Offenbach am Main or Offenbach, city (1994 pop. 116,870), Hesse, S central Germany, on the Main River. It is an industrial center long famous for the manufacture of leather goods; chemicals, electrical products, textiles, and machinery are also produced. Offenbach was first mentioned in the late 10th cent.; it passed to the counts of Isenburg in the 15th cent. and was annexed by Hesse-Darmstadt in 1816. A Renaissance-style palace (1564-78) and museums of leathercraft, typography, and graphics are located in the city.

Neuhausen am Rheinfall, town (1990 pop. 10,619), Schaffhausen canton, N Switzerland, on the right bank of the Rhine River. It is a manufacturing center adjoining the city of Schaffhausen.

Ludwigshafen am Rhein or Ludwigshafen, city (1994 pop. 168,130), Rhineland Palatinate, W Germany, a port on the left bank of the Rhine River. It is connected by bridge with Mannheim, on the opposite shore of the Rhine. The city is a major transshipment point and is a leading center of the German chemical industry. Machinery and motor vehicles are also produced there. Founded as a small fortress in the 17th cent., Ludwigshafen was named and developed by King Louis I of Bavaria in the mid-19th cent. It was badly damaged in World War II and was the scene (1948) of a disastrous explosion of several chemical plants. The city has since been rebuilt.

Landsberg am Lech or Landsberg, town (1994 pop. 23,810), Bavaria, SW Germany, on the Lech River. Textiles, metal goods, and paper are manufactured. Its fortress served as a political prison; Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while imprisoned there in 1923-24, and numerous convicted Nazi war criminals were held there after 1945.

Küssnacht am Rigi, town (1990 pop. 9,461), Schwyz canton, central Switzerland, on the Lake of Lucerne. A small resort, it is known chiefly as the scene of the killing of Gessler by William Tell. A nearby 17th-century chapel commemorates the legendary exploit.

Frankfurt am Main, Germany: see Frankfurt.

Esslingen am Neckar or Esslingen, city (1994 pop. 91,390), Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, on the Neckar River. Manufactures include machinery, electrical products, textiles, and leather goods. It is particularly noted for its fruits and wines. Founded in the 8th cent., Esslingen was a free imperial city from the 13th cent. to 1802, when it passed to Württemberg. It was (1488) the scene of the founding of the Great Swabian League. Noteworthy structures include a castle (13th-16th cent.) and a Gothic church, the Frauenkirche (14th-16th cent.). Manufactures include textiles and beer. The town is a year-round tourist resort.

Am, symbol for the element americium.

Ahad Ha-am [Heb.,=One of the People], 1856-1927, Jewish thinker and Zionist leader, b. Ukraine. Originally named Asher Ginzberg, he adopted his pen name when he published his first and highly controversial essay, "The Wrong Way" (1889), in which he criticized those who sought immediate settlement in Palestine, advocating instead Jewish cultural education as the basis for building a strong people for later settlement. After a traditional Hasidic upbringing, he acquired a broad secular education studying philosophy and literature in five languages (Russian, German, French, English, and Latin). He developed a strong rationalist attitude and rejected first Hasidism and then religion itself; he believed the chief obligation of Jewish life to be the fulfillment of the ethical demands of the Old Testament prophets. He did not view the imminent creation of a Jewish state in Palestine to be the most important goal of the Zionist movement; he saw Palestine as the "spiritual center" for a cultural and spiritual revival of the Jewish people. As editor of the journal Ha'shiloah (1896-1902) he was influential in developing the modern Hebrew literary style. In 1907, he moved to London and in 1922 to Palestine, where he spent his last years.

AM: see modulation; radio.

City (pop., 2002 est.: city, 641,076; metro. area, 1,896,741), western Germany. Located on the Main River, it was the site of a Roman military settlement in the 1st century AD. It served as a royal residence of the Carolingians from the 9th century through the Middle Ages. A free imperial city (1372–1806), it lost its status under Napoleon but regained it in 1815. It was the capital of Germany from 1816 until it was annexed by Prussia in 1866. Its Old Town, once the largest surviving medieval city in Germany, was mostly destroyed in World War II; some landmarks survive, including its red sandstone cathedral, dedicated in 1239. International trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt since 1240; in the modern era, book, automobile, and computer fairs are popular annual events. The city's manufactures include machinery and printing materials, as well as the high-quality sausages known as frankfurters. Frankfurt is the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Learn more about Frankfurt (am Main) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Synthetic radioactive chemical element, chemical symbol Am, atomic number 95. The fourth transuranium element discovered, it was first produced in 1944 from plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor. The isotope americium-241 has been prepared in kilogram quantities and is used in a variety of measuring applications that utilize its gamma radiation. Its most familiar use is in household smoke detectors.

Learn more about americium with a free trial on Britannica.com.