East German city overthrown by the French knight? (7)
I believe the answer is:
ennoble
'knight?' is the definition.
(I know that ennoble is the is a more specific form of the action of knight.)
'east german city overthrown by the french' is the wordplay.
'east' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'german city' becomes 'bonn' (city in Germany).
'overthrown' says the letters should be written backwards.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'bonn' in reverse letter order is 'nnob'.
'e'+'nnob'+'le'='ENNOBLE'
(Other definitions for ennoble that I've seen before include "Kick upstairs" , "Elevate with a title" , "Distinguish" , "Bestow high rank upon" , "Raise to the knighthood or make more dignified" .)