Elevate East German city over the French (7)
I believe the answer is:
ennoble
'elevate' is the definition.
(ennobling is a kind of elevating)
'east german city over the french' is the wordplay.
'east' becomes 'e' ('E' can be a synonym of 'east').
'german city' becomes 'bonn' (I've seen this before).
'over' says the letters should be written backwards.
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'bonn' back-to-front is 'nnob'.
'e'+'nnob'+'le'='ENNOBLE'
(Other definitions for ennoble that I've seen before include "Elevate; honour" , "Kick upstairs" , "Create" , "Raise to the knighthood or make more dignified" , "Bestow high rank upon" .)