He particularly intended to include a characteristic poem from new volumes by contemporary poets, but thought it essential also to recall poetry from the past.
Introducing the anthology, he gave the project the motto "Der Dichtung eine Gasse" (literally "An alleyway to poetry").
Commentators have included Erich Fried, Peter Härtling, Robert Gernhardt, Wolfgang Koeppen, Golo Mann, Ulla Hahn, Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Siegfried Lenz.
[4] In 2011 Reich-Ranicki recalled that editorial colleagues were initially sceptical about the undertaking, expecting only three or four poems to appear before the anthology was quietly buried,[5] but the sales figures show that there is a real market for such a publishing venture; many volumes remain in print, some have even been re-issued.
[5][7] Prize winners have been: (This list was copied from the German Wikipedia Frankfurter Anthologie article).