1855.CVI.
Berlin, Prussia,Feb. 27, 1855.
When I last wrote you from Braunschweig I was on the eve of departure for Berlin and Vienna, and thought it not improbable that I might go again to Italy; but the severe winter weather coming suddenly on induced me to quiet myself in comfortable quarters in this city, where from the conveniences for heating with the use of wood, the cold is less felt than in some parts of Italy. Hamburg, Magdeburg, and Potsdam,en routeto Berlin, I had once visited in summer, under more favorable circumstances, consequently my stay in them was short.
I was reminded in Magdeburg that Martin Luther, one of the great men whom Germany has given to the world, and to whose former abode in Wittenburg, where the Reformation commenced, I had wended my steps, was a poor student there, and often sang in the streets to assist in supporting himself, as many others are doing daily. Potsdam is to Berlin what Versailles is to Paris. Frederic the Great made it a lovely retreat for the court. Here are seen the apartments of the great warrior nearly as he left them, remarkable for simplicity; the truck-bed upon which he slept, his writing-table blotted with ink, silken covered chairs partly torn by his dogs, and the plates upon which they were fed.
The windmill stands behind the palace of Sans Souci, an emblem of justice in Prussia. Though the story is well known I cannot forbear repeating it. The great Frederic, wanting to buy the mill with the grounds, to augment his gardens, was resisted by the miller, who gained the lawsuit. The king erected the present large mill for him. Since then the descendants of the miller, being in embarrassed circumstances, offered to sell it to the late king, who would not accept the offer, but settled a sum sufficient to enable the family to retain possession, saying the mill belonged to history, and was one of the monuments of the country.
It is now some years since I strolled over the grounds of the Kremlin in Moscow, and it was a reminiscence to find here a little chapel belonging to the Russian colony, surmounted by three domes, of miniature Kremlin form, and beautifully fitted up by the royal munificence for the Greek service.
While in this capital on two former occasions in summer, it struck me as being lifeless. We have cold weather, with ice and snow; the splendid sleighs and horses, adorned with variegated colored feathers, present a lively appearance. The city appears full of life and gaiety; the opera and theatres seem well attended, dancing and music being striking traits in the German character; balls adapted to all classes are continually taking place. The Kroll establishment of the Brandenburg Thor which corresponds to Niblo’s in New York, but is on a more stupendous scale, and compares favorably with anything in Paris for its elegance, among other entertainments, has lately given masquerade balls. Curiosity induced me to attend one, in order to compare it with those of other countries, and found, as I expected, that the people are not adapted to this species of amusement, as in Spain, and in the colonies, where, during the carnival, all classes unite in these diversions in every variety of costume, assuming particular parts, and sustaining them admirably. I had passed a far more agreeable and rational evening, under the folds of the stars and stripes, at the house of Gov. Vroom, of New Jersey, our present worthy representative at the court of Berlin, on the anniversary of the birthday of Washington. There were some twenty-five in number present, representing different States of the Union, who responded to the calls, sentiments, and toasts naturally called forth by the handsome entertainment. The night was cold, cheerful American grate-fires were blazing, and the party conversed together upon home topics. My mind wandered as I saw the beautiful silk banner hanging against the wall, to the last occasion I had had of commemorating this festival. It was at our minister’s house in Brazil, three years since, we mustered a small party of half-a-dozen; the flag was flying from the balcony overlooking the beautiful bay of Rio Janeiro, and the doors and windows were thrown wide open to get a breath of air, the perspiration starting from every pore, and this in the height of a South American summer on the 22d of February.
Most of the Americans here are students who have the advantage of lectures in the University on law, medicine, botany, Egyptian antiquities, and other subjects.
The royal library contains five hundred thousand volumes, and has a public reading-room for students and strangers, who, when recommended, can obtain books the day after their application, to take to their homes. German is badly spoken by the common people of Berlin; the educated classes in society speak the language purely.
You are aware that for many years I have not passed a winter in a northern latitude, and notwithstanding that the present is considered a rigorous one, it is not so cold as we have it at home; still I have felt it sensibly, and suffered while exposed out of doors. Having procured good quarters in a central position, in the vicinity of churches, universities, the museum, opera-house, reading-rooms, with a southern exposure, I should not say that Berlin life is disagreeable, notwithstanding my occasional longing for the balmy temperature and ripe fruits of a West Indian climate. The heating apparatus is called “Ofen;” I have two of them in my apartments. They stand like monuments of white porcelain in the corner of the room, eight feet in height, four feet wide, and two feet deep; they are useful and ornamental; are heated morning and evening, and throw out an agreeable and uniform heat, without any of the noxious vapors of coal. The windows are double sashed, as in Russia, and plants, of which the German people are fond, are flourishing in my parlor.
Prague, Bohemia,April 5, 1855.
Since my last from Berlin, I have revisited Dresden, the capital of the kingdom of Saxony, and am now again in the old city of Prague, the former residence of the Bohemian kings.
While in Berlin, our minister addressed a note to Baron Humboldt, the world-renowned traveller, desiring an appointment, at his convenience, to present an American of some experience, which note was promptly responded to. We werecordially received, and passed an hour very delightfully in the society of this venerable old gentleman, now eighty-five years of age, surrounded by books, charts, and a little museum of his own collection.
The noble old man is still active, and fully retains his memory; he speaks fluently the English, French, and Spanish languages. He inquired ardently about countries it had fallen to my lot to visit, which he had not seen, and expressed regret at my early departure, which prevented further civilities on his part.
He is a great favorite with the king, and is of course a royalist; but he has much sympathy for our country, and regrets the late filibustering movements for the unlawful seizure of our neighbor’s possessions.
Dresden is noted for having the finest collection of paintings north of the Alps, the work of three hundred and thirty-four masters; the masterpiece is Raphael’s Madonna. A number of years had elapsed since I had strolled through these galleries, containing upwards of two thousand pictures, and I saw them with renewed pleasure.
Dresden is also noted in Germany for its musical associations. Madame Goldschmidt, formerly Jenny Lind, has made it her residence. As I had made her acquaintance through her countrywoman, Miss Fredrika Bremer, in the Havana, politeness induced me to pay my respects; she was absent on a tour to Holland.
From Dresden to Bodenback, the Austrian frontier, is two hours’ ride by railway, with a delay of an hour when the passports are demanded, certificates given, examined, and then exchanged, and the luggage changed.
The railways in north Germany belong in part to the different governments, and in part to incorporated companies. Here the cars are differently constructed, being larger and capable of containing more persons, resembling somewhat the American; while in most parts of Europe they are like the English ones, with separate apartments, of coach-form, for eight passengers.
The Austrian custom-houses and police are extremely rigid, and they keep, I am informed, a sharp eye upon Americans since the affair of Kosta. Perhaps the warm reception of Kossuth in our country, and the late European Congress of American Ministers, has had its influence.
In order to show you the smallness of the custom-house here, I will state that I was detained a full half hour in the payment of duty upon twenty-one cigars, which, with the official stamp, were taxed at thirty kreutzers, of which the officers retain one-third. I told them the document was worth the money, as an evidence of pitiful meanness, which I had found in no other part of Europe. On a former occasion, in entering Vienna, my travelling companion had two sealed and fifteen open letters of recommendation seized, which were addressed to different parts of Europe. The next day he was cited to the custom-house, and found two sheets of foolscap paper written over, and a fine of twenty florins imposed, which he resisted, as he spoke German, and threatened to apply to our Minister, when he escaped with the charge of five florins upon the sealed letters.
On entering my room here, I was immediately furnished with a printed sheet, to fill up for the police, with my name, birthplace, occupation, married or single, age, where now from, time of stay, religion, &c.
The language of the Bohemians is unintelligible to the Germans; and I am assured that there are native born persons here, among the lower classes, who cannot make the slightest communication in the German tongue. The names of the streets, and signs, are in both languages.
The strength of Austria, which contains a population of seven millions of Germans against twenty-nine millions of the different races, consists in the variety of languages and religions, as is the case with the British East India Company, through the jealousy and religious feuds of Hindoo, Buddhist, Parsee, and other castes.
I am told that throughout the Austrian domain as many as eighteen languages and dialects are spoken.
The Jewish population is some twelve thousand; it occupies a certain portion of the city, formerly inclosed and locked at night, though now all the barriers are removed. Their old synagogue and churchyard are curious; the former is the most antique in Europe, being considered one thousand years old. Its walls are dark and dusky as those of a prison, and for centuries have remained unrenovated. Here is suspended a banner, presented by royalty, some five hundred years since. The laws of Moses, written upon rolls of parchment, in the Hebrew tongue, and many other curious relics, are exhibited.
The new edifice is a pretty building, and when illuminated at night, in its peculiar style, has a handsome effect.
As I am just departing for Vienna, I shall be there in time for the prominent ceremonies in the Cathedral of St. Stephen.
Vienna, Austria,April 26, 1855.
A ride of eighteen hours by rail from Prague, the Bohemian capital, brought me to Vienna, the imperial city of Austria, passing through Brunn, a town of some importance, leaving Austerlitz and its battle ground on the left. A former visit to the places named, taking Iglau and Czaslau en route to Prague, over much tedious and uninteresting country, occupied five days; but by the aid of the iron horse the journey is now accomplished in the time mentioned. I find the old city quite unchanged; so unlike many of our American cities, where, on a return visit, after a few years’ absence, one can scarcely recognise the localities formerly familiar to the eye.
I arrived here in time for the festivals, at the close of the Holy Week, and found the old Cathedral of St. Stephen’s filled with the multitude as I had last seen it on the occasion of the annual departure of the devotees or pilgrims to the mountain chapel of Maria Zell. It seemed that only a brief interval had elapsed; but hundreds of those whom I then saw have probably made the pilgrimage from which there is no return, while I have been permitted, during the lapse of fourteen years, to pass three similar annual festivals under Popes Gregory and Pius, in Rome; another at the tomb of our Saviour, in Jerusalem; one in Murcia, in Catholic Spain, and two in Havana. The altars here, bedecked with natural plants and flowers, reminded me of a much greater horticultural display on a similar occasion in Lima.
The new chapel has been erected in commemoration of the preservation of the young Emperor from the hands of an assassin; and, on the anniversary of his marriage, about a year since, a brilliant mass was performed in presence of the imperial family. Notwithstanding the attempt upon his life, he seems to have full confidence in the loyalty of his people. I met him recentlywith an aide-de-camp only, walking in the vicinity of the palace, and we saluted each other politely. I met the mother of the emperor in the palace garden, in like manner, with a lady of the court and a servant, and she also responded politely to my civilities.
The empress, who is of the House of Bavaria, appears youthful, and rather pretty. She is not yet nineteen years of age, and is much esteemed by the public for her simplicity of manner.
On the occasion of the recent birth of a princess an amnesty was granted to many prisoners.
The Prater, with its dense forestry, is the grand lounge, where thousands may be seen on a fine day, and occasionally the cortege of the Imperial family.
The trees are now in bloom, and the country wears a pretty appearance.
The police are very rigid; I found myself closely catechised at the bureau, when I presented myself for an Aufenthalt’s Karte, or permit to remain longer than six days.
The language of the people is corrupt German, but the educated classes speak the language in its purity. The many tongues here spoken make it a sort of Babel.
The Slavonians, who number sixteen millions, extending throughout Bohemia, Illyria, and Dalmatia, and whose language is difficult, seem to have the faculty of acquiring other languages; they are of the Czeck race, one of the three families Mech, Lech, and Czeck, who occupy Poland and Russia; and, although they are remote from the others, they understand much that is said in conversation. The Hungarian or Magyar language has not the slightest resemblance to the Slavonic or German, being an eastern or Asiatic language, the Magyars having migrated from Asia to Hungary about nine hundred years ago.
There is a vast deal to be seen in the capital of Austria. Its amusements are abundant. The Strauss Band, so justly celebrated, gives Sunday and holiday concerts in the Volks or People’s Garden.
Schönbrunn, the Imperial summer palace and grounds, is within a few miles of the city.
The pretty neighboring village of Heitzing is overrun in summer by denizens of the city.
The immense summer palace has one thousand and threehundred rooms. I passed through fifty-two of the principal apartments, many newly furnished with elegance and taste, and rich in historical and family paintings, reminiscences of the legions of Napoleon, and of his son, the young Duke of Reichstadt.
The park contains the largest menagerie or collection of wild animals, and the best exhibition of rare birds I have seen in Europe, the present emperor having a fondness for natural history. The vast inclosures, of some acres, are of a circular form, radiating from the centre, with walls, and barriers, and outbuildings for the winter, heated to an African temperature, for the giraffes and other animals that require it.
The glass summer-houses, resembling military barracks in size, contain all the varieties of tropical vegetation.
Upon the summit of the hill, in the rear of the Park, stands the Gloriette, a massive stone structure, three hundred feet long, and sixty feet high, with columns; it is an Observatory, whence one gets a good view of Vienna and the Danubian banks.
A favorite excursion is by rail to Laxenburg, the favorite summer residence of the young Empress; she manifests, I think, good taste in her selection, nature is so beautiful here; and shade and retirement must be a great relief after the blaze and excitement of court life, particularly for one who is remarkable for her quiet primitive manner, and her fondness for fishing, so my guide informed me; her liege lord’s passion is for the chase, which brings him out of his bed at four o’clock in the morning.
The art of man has produced upon the level surface of the Park, elevated mounds and islands, from the earth thrown out to form ponds for fishing and sailing, in which ponds scores of neatly painted boats are seen; grottoes are formed from heavy blocks of stone brought from the mountain quarries. Upon a small island, called Franzenburg, the miniature Ritterburg Castle is a perfect gem, with its castellated walls and towers; it has several rooms adorned with horse and war armor, and all the antique weapons of war artistically arranged; coats of mail, and lances used in tournaments, etc.; the sculptured oak-ceilings, three hundred or four hundred years old, the paintings, furniture, decorations, marble statues and portraits of the Hapsburg family, illuminated glass windows, cabinets of vases, relics of gold, silverand precious stones, form quite a museum, and give a correct idea of the grandeur and magnificence of the original.
The Viennese have their Baden, a place of summer resort for invalids, and noted for its beautiful mountain scenery, and its valley, called Helenenthal; but it cannot be compared favorably with the celebrated Baden-Baden in any particular, aside from its sulphur waters, which resemble those of Wiesbaden in smell and flavor. It lies twenty miles from Vienna by rail, and is well worth a visit.
The great gala-day of the year is the 1st of May, when nobility and plebeians, great and small, resort to the Prater, and is looked forward to as the chief event of the season.
A sojourn of nearly a month will give me an opportunity of revisiting much that I had seen formerly, and acquiring a better idea of the peculiarities of the different races of mankind.
Pesth, Hungary,May 9, 1855.
In my last, from Vienna, I remarked that I should remain over the 1st of May jubilee, when all classes feel it incumbent on them to hail the return of springtime and flowers—and to sip their coffee, drink their beer, and enjoy themselves according to their means.
The long shady avenues of the Prater are crowded with observers, regarding the double procession, up and down, of closely hemmed carriages, with liveried footmen, filled with the beauty and wealth of the capital, following in the wake of the many gilded and brilliant court equipages containing the imperial family and ladies of honor, foreign ambassadors, &c. Within neat inclosures, in summer houses, are seen the nobility, dining sumptuously, as Royalty also dines here, on the occasion. But what is more novel, is the Wurstel Prater, on another avenue, and its novel surroundings. Here are found Punch and Judy, or Marionettes, flying horses, miniature railroads, with weighing machines, theatres, boat and revolving swings, panoramas, bands of music, and scores of recreations for the masses, mostly permanent establishments for the summer, coffee-houses, with thousands of tables under the trees; and bread andcheese, sausages, coffee, and light beer, disappear in marvellous quantities, at short notice, and, strange to say, in that vast multitude, I only saw one partially drunken man, a soldier. No fighting, no quarrelling, all harmony, all were in pursuit of rational amusement, rich and poor, men, women, and children.
The Imperial Steamship Company employ their steamers upon the Danube, the Save, the Drave, and Theiss, and terminate their line at Galatz, where the Lloyd line for Constantinople connects. The steamers are small, but much improved since I was last in this country, being constructed after American designs.
From Vienna to Presburg, the banks of the river are low, with nothing of interest, except the battle-ground of Wagram. Presburg is prettily situated, with delightful environs. A bridge of boats crosses the river here; I counted twenty-nine boats in passing over to the forest promenade, which is much resorted to, and contains a summer theatre and refreshment houses. The town has forty-two thousand inhabitants. The Cathedral, built in the year 1090, was the crowning place of the Hungarian kings; it has some remarkable statuary in metal. The festival of the recently declared dogma, by the Pope, of the immaculate conception of the Virgin, took place while I was there—which brought out the ladies in large numbers, and Hungary may boast of the beauty of her daughters. Upon the summit of the hill overlooking the town, still stand the royal castle walls, burnt in 1812, and from which a magnificent view of the city and Danube is obtained.
Descending from Presburg, the river becomes wider; at this place is the celebrated chain bridge, finished in 1849, and one of the wonders of the age; it is fifteen hundred feet across.
Komorn,en routebetween the two cities named, has seventeen thousand inhabitants, and possesses one of the strongest fortifications in Europe. In the revolution of 1849, the Hungarians held out for a long time, and finally gave it up voluntarily.
Gran, lying below, has an equal population, and is the residence of the Primate of Hungary, Cardinal Rudnay, who has erected a cathedral, which is not yet finished. From this place the steamer runs between porphyry rocky shores, whose scenery resembles that of Saxon Switzerland. One of the striking features of the river scenery is the thousands of watermills built in boat-form, and occupied, after the ice disappears, for the grinding of the products of the country. Hungary is rich in wine, wheat, horses, horned cattle, and sheep. The quantity of wool produced is enormous—Prince Esterhazy’s estates counting their thousands of shepherds.
When I travelled through this country before a railroad was suggested, it was by “Bauer” or Farmer’s Post, in a rude wagon, upon hay seats, with four raw-boned nags upon the full gallop. I had an opportunity then of judging of the dependent condition of the serfs. Since that time they have been made free by the Ex-Emperor, their freedom growing out of the revolution.
I counted yesterday a procession of three hundred and thirty-five men and women coming over the bridge, with banners flying, and crucifixes in the hands of the priests, after a four days’ pilgrimage to Mount Calvary, which I had seen from the steamer; the chapel is on the summit of a hill, with different stations in ascending. They came in singing, and looked pretty well jaded out. The populace stood along the sidewalk, in masses, to witness the return; they were mostly of the lower classes, and poorly clad.
Offen, opposite this place, has a population of thirty-two thousand. It was in possession of the Turks for one hundred and fifty years, at different times, and in 1684 taken from them; but the traces of its possession by the Musselmans are still left, particularly in its baths, which remind one of old Stamboul, from the heavy massive work, columns and domes; among the number the poor people’s bath costs a kreutzer (three-quarters of a cent). My guide led me through the dense vapor produced by the copious supply of flowing water of a high temperature, and I could scarcely discern an object; but presently figures appear to the eye, as one passes through the mist: there sits a woman washing her clothes; another washes her children; then come men and boys, old and young, diseased and sound, promiscuously thrown together. There were twenty-nine in all, but the bath is capable of containing one hundred and fifty.
The idea is certainly repugnant, and discovers a low state of morals—the blending of the sexes together in a state of nature. With the perspiration rolling out of every pore, I was glad to make my escape.
An excursion to the Kaiser Bad (Emperor’s Bath), a few milesby steamer, gives an opportunity of seeing fashionable invalids, bathing in, and drinking the waters.
The fortification which commands the summit at Offen, and from which Pesth was bombarded during the Kossuth war, and which contains the palaces of the Palatine and castle gardens, is now occupied by the Erzherzog Albrecht, and is a town in itself; and, from its commanding position, one has a fine view of the country villages and retreats in the rear, as also of Pesth and the whole surrounding country. Here stands a new monument, erected to the memory of General Heutzi and Oberst Alnoch, and four hundred and eighteen other Austrian officers and soldiers, who lost their lives in defending the place against the Hungarians, who occupied the heights in the neighborhood. Many buildings on both sides of the river still retain the marks of the cannon and musket balls, and many are entirely destroyed, giving an idea of the destruction caused by the revolution, and of the ravages of war.
In Presburg, the Hungarian’s nationality seems to be, in a measure, absorbed by the German’s. Here, he stands out more in his native form. The shop signs are chiefly Hungarian, and unintelligible to most foreigners. The journals are in both languages, German and Magyar. The officers and troops are from other parts of the Austrian provinces, while the Hungarian soldiery are sent to Vienna, Lombardy, and other points. The language is unlike all the other living languages of Europe, being of Oriental origin, and difficult to acquire.
Saltzburg, Austria,May 25, 1855.
From Pesth I returned to Vienna, and made my way up the Danube to Linz, a sail of twenty-four hours, which would be lessened did they not lie by at night for the Strudel, where the river, breaking through its rocky barriers, divides into three parts. The most navigable portion is through the whirlpool, on approaching which a cannon is fired, as only one vessel at a time can pass this narrow point, which is from thirty to forty feet, where the fall is three feet in the distance of five hundred feet. Up to the last century, vessels and crews were frequentlylost, but by the blasting of rocks, it is no longer hazardous, and bears no comparison to the running of the rapids of the St. Lawrence.
From Nussdorf, the starting-point on the main branch of the Danube, one hour’s ride from Vienna, as the steamer advances, leaving the already beautiful environs for which the latter city is noted, the scenery becomes bolder, the stream is divided by islands, and, as the Germans estimate, one quarter of an hour across. As we proceed, an old fort presents itself, with its associations in the thirty years’ war; the hill sides are covered with green leaves of the grape vines. Then we land at Tulm, one of the oldest cities on the Danube. Here Rudolph of Hapsburg figured in 1278; and the plain in the environs contained the sixty thousand men, in 1683, who rescued Vienna from the Turks. Further on at Gottweih, is a Benedictine Convent, founded in 1072, standing seven hundred feet high. Still advancing, new objects of interest are coming forward, comparing favorably with the Rhine travel. We landed the prelate of the Benedictine Abbey at Melk, a market town at the foot of the mountain. This immense edifice, looking more like a huge palace than a cloister, built between 1702 and 1736, stands one hundred and eighty feet high, on a precipice hanging upon the river bank. It has been frequently besieged, but is defended with bastions and arms which Napoleon, after the battle of Asperne, established in it from its important position, lying on the highway of the army to Vienna. He levied heavy contributions upon the monks’ wine cellars for the use of the troops.
As we mount the stream, we see scores of boats, containing from fifty to eighty persons, with flags flying, and singing lustily, on their pilgrimage tour to Maria Tafel, which upwards of one hundred thousand visit annually.
At one of those small villages we landed a certain Baron B. and his family. He is a Minister in Vienna for one of the German States, and was taking his family for the summer to his chateau, with parks and grounds of four thousand acres attached.
His family consisted of the lady, two daughters, and three sons, with a French governess and male preceptor, and an equal number of servants. I had made their acquaintance through a friend, and found them an excellent specimen of the nobility of the land. The young ladies were nearly as familiar with theFrench and English languages as with their mother tongue. As we were detained for coaling the steamer, I was invited to visit the chateau, on shore. Cannons were fired at their arrival, and the peasantry flocked down to salute the return of the party. It was annoying and mortifying, as the weak-sighted old women and children kissed my hands, mistaking a simple American for an Austrian Baron, as I escorted the ladies to the house.
The general tourist, of course, comes in contact with all classes of society, and necessarily has an opportunity of studying character. It was my fate this trip to fall in mostly with the upper classes. No sooner had we left the party named, than a quiet young gentleman, a Russian, approached me, and made some inquiries about my route, and I found he was disposed to join me in my excursions. When cards were exchanged, the following day, at Linz, I found that another Baron was announced, which did not prevent the Republican and the Autocrat going along harmoniously together, particularly as the former had circulated more generally than the latter. He is still with me, and disposed to continue to Munich.
Linz is the last town of importance on the Danube belonging to Austria. It was there that I abandoned the river in order to make the most interesting tour through this portion of the Empire. Linz has thirty thousand inhabitants; the suburbs are very pretty; the laying over of passengers, and exchange of steamers, with its internal trade, give it some advantages. A festival day was occupied here in surveying the town and its environs, and in looking at the interesting groups of peasantry, in peculiar costume, in and about the churches.
The second Eisenbahn on the continent, with a flat rail, is here; it was moved by horse power, until this spring. A small locomotive was put on and run from Gmunden Lake, via Wells and Lambach, where a tiny little steamer makes the trip in an hour, through most romantic and enchanting scenery.
It was a reminiscence of the early days of railway travel; the venerable coach cars with small, low wheels; the narrow bed and strap rails; the snail pace movement, avoiding the danger of what we formerly called snake heads, from the breaking of the thin rail, and its flying through the body of the carriage.
Omnibuses run from the head of the Lake to Ischel, a celebrated Austrian watering-place of two thousand inhabitants,the bathing resort of the Emperor, who is now erecting a new summer residence.
The valley and mountain scenery of the Salz-Kammergut, and the position of this place, thirteen thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, can scarcely be described for their beauty. The Government Salt Works here are on a stupendous scale, and are a source of great revenue.
The governments derive large sums from the sale of wood, which is seen piled by thousands of cords upon the banks of the Traum and Ischel streams, and the quantities dashing down the mountain torrents from the melting of the snows, afford a curious spectacle. All possible contrivances, through barriers, to unite the floating masses and aqueducts to bring the required quantities together, for piling and drying, before they are sent to navigable water for sale, or for the boiling of the salt flowing through pipes from the bowels of the mountains, are seen.
The town from which I write has a population of less than twenty thousand; it is in a most romantic position, and is full of interest. The birthplace of Mozart, with a monument to his memory, an immense cathedral of freestone and marble, and the fortification upon the summit of Monchsberg, make a lovely picture in the distance. The rock was tunnelled between 1763 and ’67 by Archbishop Sigismund III., four hundred and fifty feet through, twenty-two feet high, and twenty-two feet wide; it forms one of the entrances to the city, and resembles somewhat the grotto of Posilippo, near Naples.
An excursion for a day to Konigsee, an inclosed lake, with its occasional precipitate rocky walls, and water six hundred feet deep, with its echoes and the rumbling sound of the avalanches from the towering snowy mountains, from seven to eight thousand feet high, rowed in flat bottomed skiffs by two lusty women with men’s black hats, is something novel, to say the least. The Hunting Chateau, the Ice Chapel, and the Cataract, come in for a part of the interest, and one is rejoiced to get back to the little hotel of embarkation with an appetite for Lachsforellen, or salmon trout, and the wild game of the country.
We returned by Bechtesgaden, a small town, occupying a high picturesque position, and celebrated for wood, horn, and ivory cut work, similar to the Swiss ware. The population are in part employed in this business; their manufactures find amarket abroad, and were it not for the continual annoyance of custom-houses and travel, one would be tempted to fill his trunk and carpet-bag with their pretty trifles.
The Salt Works at Hallein, about seven miles from here, which I have just visited, are of an entirely different character from those of Cracow. Instead of the rock salt being excavated from the bowels of the earth, the mountains are filled with the saline material, which is extracted by means of fresh water introduced into the pits, and then conveyed through wooden logs to the two salt establishments in the valley below.
The ascent to the summit of the Durenburg, from the town, is about two and a half miles; it is rather tiresome to climb, but the constant changing views relieve one from the fatigue. When we arrived at the house where the descent begins, we rested ourselves, before entering, in a cooler atmosphere; and giving our hats and superfluous garments to our valet, with orders to meet us at the place of egress half way down the mountain side, we put ourselves in miner’s costume, with a cap and heavy buck-skin gloves, to relieve the friction of the cables or ropes, in sliding down the rollers.
Preceded by our Steiger, my Russian companion and myself, flambeaux in hand, entered the gallery of Obersteinberg, and passed two thousand two hundred and twenty-eight feet to the first Rollen, or inclined plane of forty degrees. The gallery road bed is of plank, with wood rails on each side for the truck carts to remove the sand, after the salt is extracted, and for the bringing in of materials to support the sides and roofs of these narrow passages. Branch avenues, right and left, extend in different directions in the mountain. The Rollen leads from story to story, as we descend (there are five stories in all), until we find ourselves one thousand five hundred feet below. They are formed of two parallel ranges of round slippery beams, joined at the end, and connecting from top to bottom. One places himself behind the miner-guide, who carries the torch, sitting astride with one thigh resting on a cable rope, grasping the same with the right hand, which serves to moderate the speed, and to establish his position, and then with locomotive motion finds himself two hundred and forty feet below in short notice. As we pass through the different passages, a fairy scene suddenly presented itself: a hundred lights are reflected in the splendidsheet of water, three hundred feet long, and one hundred and eighty feet wide, and our ferry boat, by means of a rope and pulley, is drawn down to the opposite side, when we continue our march.
This is one of twenty-two similar lakes, where fresh water is introduced, and the saline properties for a month absorbed, when it runs to the salt houses for the process of boiling and crystallizing. The mines date from the fifteenth century. The quantity annually extracted is four hundred thousand centners, of one hundred pounds each; it may be increased if needed. In 1761 the mines fell in, and fossil salt was discovered. A museum, or collection of specimens, with monuments to the memories of the founders and Emperors, are within these deep recesses.
The egress from the mine below is through a narrow, calcareous stone arch, two and a half feet wide, six feet high, and six thousand feet long, commenced in 1541, and finished in forty-two years. One comes out seated astride a car running upon a slanting rail bed, drawn by one boy, and pushed by a second, at full trot. When the distance is half accomplished, the light through the opening looks like a brilliant star in the distance, and one hails with pleasure the cheering blaze of day.
Ratisbon, Bavaria,June 8, 1855.
From Saltzburg, near the Austrian frontier, I proceeded by mail coach eighty-five miles, through an interesting country, to Munich, formerly described, the Bavarian Capital, deservedly renowned among the lovers of the fine arts, as the modern Athens of Europe, and celebrated throughout the Fatherland for its Bayerisch beer, being to Germany what London is to England, for its extensive manufacture of that beverage.
The museum and studio of Schwanthaler, the celebrated German sculptor, is a source of great interest, and reminded me of Thorwaldsen’s collection at Copenhagen.
Munich is celebrated for itsErzgiesserei, or Bronze Foundry, and for its glass paintings; the latter work is finely executed, and the new church windows which display it are strikinglybeautiful. The colossal bronze statue of Bavaria, a female figure of victory, with a huge lion reposing by its side, was not complete when I saw it in 1848, but is now upon an eminence commanding the Theresien Meadows, standing upon a pedestal of thirty feet, which gives it a height of eighty-four feet. It weighs one hundred and fifteen tons. A staircase of sixty-six stone and sixty-five iron steps leads one into the head, where two benches of cast metal accommodate twelve persons; it is a rather warm berth at this season of the year. I found the great equestrian statue of Washington, for the capitol at Richmond, Virginia, in process of construction at the foundry; it will probably require considerable time for its execution.
A few miles from the city one relieves the eyes, and escapes picture galleries, in the shady avenues of the royal summer residence at Nymphenburg, with its fountains ninety feet in height, and its beautiful sheets of water, winding through this vast inclosure, which occupies two hours’ walk in the circuit. The Botanical gardens are not devoid of interest. The supply of water is more copious than in any royal site I recollect having seen in Europe, except the Neapolitan Caserta, and La Granja, in Spain. The deer park, in the vicinity, is also a pleasant drive for the ladies and children, who occupy themselves in embroidery, drinking their beer, and feeding the young animals out of their hands.
In less than two hours, one rides from Munich to Augsburg, by railroad.
The old town has considerable of interest in its churches, architecture, monuments, &c. It being my second visit, one day at Augsburg sufficed, as I wasen routeto Ratisbon, and had to make the circuit by railroad to Donauworth, in order to descend the Danube. A little iron steamer, eighty feet in length, and narrow in proportion, with a tiny cabin, came to the place named as the head of steam navigation, with a small party of first-class passengers. We darted down the rapid stream at a lively rate, at times walled in by precipitous limestone rocks; the scenery was highly romantic and picturesque, with much to interest, but compared unfavorably with the views described in my last, from Vienna to Linz. We landed passengers at Menburg and Ingoldstadt, important towns, and in eight hours’ sail found ourselves at this place.
As I have formerly remarked, most of the German governments have different weights, coin, measure, and regulations. One day one has fifty pounds luggage free, and paper money in use; cross the boundary, as is the case here, no baggage is allowed; it must be paid, for even moderate distances, at one cent per pound. If you happen not to have changed your money, you submit to a heavy discount. My Russian friend had a large sum of Austrian paper florins over, and lost forty guldens or sixteen dollars, by not exchanging as I advised him, and was consoled by the money changer, saying:Mann muss lehr geld zahlen. One must pay for experience.
Regensburg, or Ratisbon, whence I write, is beautifully situated upon the south bank of the Danube. It was formerly the seat of the Imperial Diet; it has a population of only twenty-four thousand, but is an interesting old city, with enchanting shady walks surrounding the city, giving the occupants breathing room. Sunday beingFrohnleichnamstag, or Corpus Christi, the service in the old cathedral was fully attended. This vast Gothic edifice, built in the year 1400, was crammed with furniture, offerings, pictures, and relics, which destroyed its beautiful proportions, until King Ludwig, with the eye of an artist, in 1838, saw its deformity, and ordered a general sweeping out, and renovated its magnificent illuminated glass windows, representing the life of Christ and historical Bible scenes.
Strolling from one church to another, I found the current setting across the river to theDreifaltigheitsberge, upon the summit of which is a pilgrimage church with fourteen stations and monuments on the ascent indicating the bearing of the Cross, and sufferings of Christ, up to the Crucifixion. So I fell in with the train, and passed over the old stone bridge, one thousand and ninety-one feet long and twenty-three feet wide, placed upon thirty arches of thirty feet in width, and well worth remarking, for the early period of 1140. Once on the top, I found the ground occupied mostly by Bauern, in their novel costume. The girls in short frocks of fancy colors, with balloon sleeves, and silver chain across the corsage; the men in red vests and short-waisted coats, with two dozen silver and gilt buttons thereon, about the size of a half dollar.
Tents and booths contained the eatables and drinkables.Service was going on, and the temple jammed full. A thunderstorm came up, and I took refuge in the house of the church guardian, in a small room ten feet square, with a bed in one corner, thirty small prints of saints hanging around the walls, a table covered with mugs, ham, and sausages, eight persons, and cigar smoke in clouds.
The weather soon cleared up, and after dinner I found the town deserted. Protestants and Catholics escape the city, and the society gardens, as well as the public grounds, are crowded. The musicians are playing, and the adjacent environs are planted with trees, among which stand large buildings, over deep cold beer cellars, for summer use.
The former Abbey of St. Emmeran, now the residence of the Prince von Taxis, one of the wealthiest nobles of the country, is one of the lions to be seen. His picture gallery is not large but select; his stable of sixty horses is a choice pattern of neatness and convenience; his riding house is adorned with many equestrian groups of ancient combatants by Schwanthaler, and is a gem in its way. The family chapel and vault will compare favorably with those of the kings of Prussia and Hanover; add to which, he has a large brewery in connexion, in active operation, which was erected and worked by this order of monks. Under the roof of the same previous ecclesiastical establishment, are the refreshment rooms for the sale of the article manufactured. What strikes the stranger here is the universal use without the abuse, and it redounds to the honor of the German character, for the rarest spectacle is an inebriated person. In the deep and dark recesses of the Rath House here are seen the whole apparatus of the inquisition; parts of it I had seen in Italy and Spain, but here it is completed. I saw the latticed screen of the judge, with his desk, and the bored holes for candles; the penitential benches for culprits, while listening to the groans of comrades inducing confession; the chair of pointed spikes, resembling a flax hetchel, upon which the victim sat, with the stone weights suspended from his ankles; the platform upon which the naked body lay during the scraping of the skin from the back from head to foot; bolts in the floor to fasten the feet, and heavy fifty pound weights, attached to the arms, while the shoulders were strained by the windlass; with a variety of other tortures too horrible todescribe. The seat of the doctor is also shown, whose business was to decide how much the sufferers could endure, without expiring under the treatment. Also cells with small openings through which the prisoners received their food; they were chained in such a manner that they were obliged to sleep with the blood flowing towards the head and heart, inducing, as was believed, contrition; there were dungeons, too, in which they were let down, with no opening except from above, cutting off all hope of escape. In witnessing such an exhibition it is consoling to reflect that civilization has made much progress since the last century, when these hellish instruments were in use.
Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau,June 20, 1855.
From Ratisbon, I went to the famous Walhalla Temple, occupying the summit of a rocky cliff upon the banks of the Danube, about two hours’ ride from that city, composed entirely of marble, stone, and metal, and of which I must attempt a feeble description.
It seems that the artist ex-king, Ludwig, as early as 1807, when crown-prince, and while Germany was bowed down under French despotism, conceived the design of erecting a monument to the memory of the meritorious sons of the Fatherland. As early as 1821, German sculptors had already prepared a portion of the busts, when the preparatory ground-work was commenced, and on the anniversary-day of the battle of Leipsic, 18th of October, 1830, Ludwig, then king, laid the foundation-stone, and which he opened complete in 1842; the cost of which is reported, but probably incorrect, as I notice an article in a public journal, saying that during his reign forty millions of guilders, say seventeen millions of dollars, were expended in the fine arts, and constructing and beautifying churches, palaces, and temples. A considerable portion is represented as out of his private purse.
The majestic Walhalla stands three hundred feet above the water level, and the ascent is effected by double flights of broad marble steps, three hundred and fifty in number, uniting upon wide platforms, and then recommencing in like manner until theheight is reached, giving a magnificent view of the river and surrounding country, as also a front view of the edifice. The terrace wall is built of many-cornered cyclopean blocks of stone, and from the second division corresponds with the underground foundation of the building, nearly one hundred feet in depth. The length of the wall from this platform, from north to south, is four hundred and eighty-three feet, and width two hundred and eighty-eight feet. The temple, bearing some resemblance to the ancient Parthenon at Athens, is two hundred and thirty feet in length, one hundred and eighteen feet in width, and sixty-four feet in height. It has seventeen marble columns on each side, and eight each, front and rear, thirty-one feet high, and six feet in diameter.
The gable pediments contain the splendid marble sculpture work of Schwanthaler, each group comprising fifteen figures. The one at the north occupied that artist eight years. The colossal form of the national hero, Herman, ten feet high, forms the centre of the group in the final struggle with the Romans, whose leader has struck his sword in his own breast to avoid the sight of the overthrow of his legions. From the time of Roman and Greek antiquity, perhaps, so large a gable-group has not been seen, being seventy-two feet in length. The inside is one hundred and sixty-eight feet by forty-eight, and fifty-three feet to the roof, and may be considered a rare gem. The floor is of polished white, yellow, and black marble mosaic; one draws on felt overshoes to slip and slide over the surface. The roof is of gilded bronze plates, with three plate-glass windows to admit the light, the crossbeams of sky blue, and stars of gold, with full-sized figures of gods and heroes. The various polished marble sides contain tablets and busts of one hundred and sixty of the most renowned and distinguished Germans. The different divisions are protected by six figures of Victory, in white Carrara marble; these female forms, with extended wings, are the work of the celebrated Rauch, at Berlin. The bas-reliefs, executed in Rome, of the same material, extend entirely around the hall, two hundred and ninety-two feet in length, in eight divisions, and mark the history of the German race, settlement of the country, conquests, arts, religion, knowledge, &c.
From Ratisbon, twelve hours by mail coach brings one to the old city of Nuremburg, the most antique in Germany. Its formerpopulation, ninety thousand, now counts fifty-two thousand; it is surrounded by a wall forty feet high, upon which are seventy-two towers and bastions; the four towers of the principal gates are built in the form of cannons. Its cathedral and churches are remarkable for their old illuminated glass windows, woodcarving of the altars, and life of Christ, by the renowned artists Veit, Stoss, and Adam Kraft; also paintings from the original school of Albert Durer and his master, as early as 1485. A remarkable old cemetery contains the tombs of the artists named. The venerable château, erected in the tenth century, recently fitted up for the royal family, who are soon expected, is worth a visit, not only for the view, but its contents. In the courtyard is a large linden tree, seven hundred years old. The city hall, built in the sixteenth century, is a fine structure, and contains remarkable stucco-work of that period, and paintings of Albert Durer, particularly the triumphal procession of the Emperor Maximilian I. The bridges over the stream which runs through the city, the fountains, monuments, and style of architecture of the old town, generally interest travellers. Nine hours by rail transports one, via Bamburg and Würzburg, through an interesting and varied country, to the free city of Frankfort-upon-the-Main. Being on my way to this favorite resort for a rest, and the use of the waters, I tarried but little on the Rhine, and as these points are as familiar as old acquaintances, nothing strikes one as new. Wiesbaden I find on each repeated visit much improved; the usual concourse of guests is from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand annually; its position on the slope of the Taunus hills, gives it the beautiful valleys that surround it, and the advantage of healthful and recreating excursions to the mountains.
I shall remain here a few days longer, then make my way to Paris, for the Exhibition, after which I may conclude to take steamer to my own Vaterland.