From Warsaw we turn towards Munich, the capital of Bavaria, reaching the
quaint old city by way of Vienna, a description of which we have given
in a previous chapter. Munich has a population of about two hundred
thousand, and it possesses many noble institutions devoted to
charitable, literary, and art purposes. The accumulation of art
treasures is of the choicest character, not exceeded in number or
importance by any other city of Germany, if we except Dresden. Many of
its churches, centuries in age, are of great interest. Nearly all of our
modern bronze statues have been cast in the famous founderies of Munich.
The university, in the University Platz, takes first rank among the
educational institutions of the old world. The English Garden,
so-called, is a beautiful and extensive park which was established just
one century ago; it is about four miles long by half a mile in width.
Here is seen an admirable statue of Count Rumford, the founder of the
garden. In clear weather the distant Alps are visible from here.
The public library of Munich is remarkably comprehensive, and contains
about nine hundred thousand volumes, besides twenty-four thousand
valuable manuscripts. Few collections in the world are so important. The
Bavarian national museum embraces a magnificent array of objects
illustrating the progress of civilization and art. Munich is strongly
marked in its general aspect, manners, and customs. A considerable
share of the most menial as well as of the most trying physical labor
devolves upon the women. It is very repulsive to an American to see
them, as one does here, ascending high ladders with buckets of mortar or
bricks for building purposes. The stranger is unpleasantly impressed
with the fact that more beer is drunk in Munich than in any other
community composed of the same number of people. The obvious trouble
with those who consume so much malt liquor is that they keep half tipsy
all of the time, and their muddled brains are never in possession of
their full mental capacity. There is not much absolute drunkenness to be
seen in the streets of this capital, but the bloated faces and bleared
eyes of the masses show only too plainly their vulgar and unwholesome
indulgence.
From Munich we proceed to Frankfort-on-the-Main, an ancient and
important city of Germany, containing a population of one hundred and
twenty thousand. The difference in large communities is remarkable.
While some cities with three hundred thousand inhabitants seem drowsy
and "slow," another, like this of Frankfort, with not half that
population, presents the aspect of much more life, activity, and volume
of business. Here we have fine, cleanly streets, and stores almost
Parisian in elegance and richness of display. The older portions of the
town have the usual narrow lanes and dark alleys of past centuries, with
quaint, overhanging fronts to the houses. The city is surrounded on
three sides by very beautiful public gardens. The venerable town hall is
an object of universal interest. One visits also the house from which
Luther addressed the multitude in the Dom Platz, or square: nor should
another famous residence be forgotten; namely, that in which Goethe was
born, in memory of whom a colossal bronze statue stands in the Goethe
Platz. There is also a group here of three statues in honor of
Gutenberg, Faust, and Schöffer, inventors of printing. In the Schiller
Platz is a bronze statue of Schiller. The public library has a hundred
and thirty thousand volumes, and there is a museum of natural history,
an art gallery of choice paintings, and all the usual philanthropic
organizations appropriate to a populous Christian capital. Frankfort is
a great money centre, and is the residence of many very rich bankers. In
the grounds attached to the residence of one of these wealthy men is
exhibited, in a suitable building, the famous marble statue of Ariadne,
by Dannecker. There is also here a fine botanical garden with a
collection of choice plants open to the public. Thus it will be seen
that Frankfort, upon the whole, though comparatively small, is yet an
extremely pleasing city, thriving, cleanly, and attractive.
Our next place to visit is Cologne, a city situated on the left bank of
the Rhine. It was a famous and prosperous Roman colony fifteen hundred
years ago, containing amphitheatres, temples, and aqueducts. The
passage-ways in the ancient portions of the city are remarkably small,
but there are some fine modern streets, arcades, and open squares, which
present a busy aspect, with an active population of one hundred and
sixty thousand. The Rhine is here crossed by a substantial iron bridge,
as also by a bridge of boats. The one most prominent attraction of
Cologne is its grand, and in some respects unequalled, cathedral, which
was over six hundred years in process of building. It was not completed
until so late as 1880, representing an enormous amount of elaborate
masonry. The towers are over five hundred feet high. The effect of the
interior, with its vast height, noble pillars, niches, chapels, and
stained glass windows is most impressive, and by many travellers is
thought to be unequalled elsewhere. The exterior, with its immense
flying buttresses and myriads of pinnacles, is truly awe-inspiring.
There are other old and interesting churches here. That of St. Gereon is
said to contain the bones of the hundreds of martyrs of the Theban
Legion who were slain by order of the Emperor Diocletian in the year
286. The Church of St. Peter's, where Rubens was baptized, contains his
famous picture entitled the "Crucifixion of St. Peter," painted a short
time before the artist's death. The stranger is shown the house at No.
10 Sternengasse, where Maria d' Medici died in 1642. Rubens lived in
this same house when a boy of ten years. There is a choice and
comprehensive gallery of paintings at Cologne.
From this city we turn our steps towards Paris, by the way of Antwerp,
Belgium, which is remarkable for its many churches, convents, and noble
public buildings, beautiful parks, and open squares. It has a population
of fully three hundred thousand, owing its attraction mostly to the fact
that here are gathered so many masterpieces of painting. The great
influence of Rubens can hardly be fully appreciated without a visit to
this Flemish capital, where he lived so long, where he died, and where
his ashes rest in the Church of St. Jacques. Here is the burial place of
many noble families, and among them that of Rubens, his tomb being
situated just back of the high altar. Above it is a painting by his own
hand, intended to represent the Holy Family, but its object is also well
understood as being to perpetuate a series of likenesses of the Rubens
family; namely, of himself, his two wives, and his daughter, besides his
father and grandfather. Vandyke and Teniers were also natives of
Antwerp, where their best works still remain, and where the state has
erected fitting monuments to their memory. Jordaens, the younger
Teniers, and Denis Calvart, the art master of Guido, the great Italian
painter, were also natives of this city.
The Cathedral of Antwerp, more remarkable for its exterior than
interior, is of the pointed style. Did it not contain Rubens'
world-renowned pictures, the Descent from the Cross, the Elevation of
the Cross, and the Assumption, few people would care to visit it. In all
the older portions of the town the houses have a queer way of standing
with their gable ends to the street, as we see them in Amsterdam and
Hamburg, showing it to be a Dutch fashion. Dogs are universally used
here in place of donkeys for drawing small carts. Beggars there are none
to be seen, to the credit of the city be it said.
From Antwerp we make our way to Paris, whence to take a brief trip into
Switzerland, which, after a journey by rail of three hundred and
twenty-five miles, we enter on the northwestern corner, at Bâle, a
considerable city of nearly seventy thousand inhabitants, situated on
the left bank of the Rhine. Its earliest history was that of a Roman
colony; consequently there are many portions of the place especially
"quaint and olden." Being situated at the junction of the frontiers of
France, Germany, and Switzerland, it has a considerable trade and
evinces much commercial life. It has many admirable institutions, a
public library which contains about a hundred thousand volumes, and a
justly famed university which also has a library of two hundred thousand
volumes. The town hall is a curious old structure three centuries old
and of the Gothic style. Most cities have some specialty in
manufacturing, and Bâle is not without its peculiarity in this respect.
It consists of the production of silk ribbons of exquisite finish and in
great variety, which find their way to distant and profitable markets.
There is an admirably arranged picture gallery and art museum here,
principally remarkable for the number of paintings by the younger
Holbein, but containing, also, many other fine works of the modern
painters. The cathedral dates back nearly nine hundred years, or, to be
exact, to 1010. It was originally of the Byzantine order, but has been
repaired and added to until it has assumed a Gothic shape. The material
is red sandstone. It has two lofty towers, and the portal is ornamented
with mounted statues of St. George and St. Martin. About six miles from
Bâle, on the river near its confluence with the Ergolz, is Augst, upon
the site of the great Roman city of Augusta Rauracorum, founded in the
reign of Augustus. From these ruins have been taken many valuable relics
which are deposited in the museum of Bâle.
From Bâle we take the railway southward to Lausanne, situated on the
borders of Lake Geneva, where we find a population numbering some
thirty-three thousand. This city occupies a beautiful and commanding
situation overlooking the lake and valley. Its streets are hilly and
irregular, but are well kept and cleanly. The view from the high points
of the town is very fine, the Jura Mountains enclosing a portion of the
landscape, which is vine-clad and varied in its systematic cultivation.
If we stop at the Hotel Gibbon, which is a good house, we shall see in
its garden overlooking the lake, the spot where the historian Gibbon
completed his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." Lausanne is a
delightful summer resort, cool and healthful.
Geneva, with a population of about fifty thousand, is located on the
same lake a short journey southward, being one of the largest and
wealthiest towns in Switzerland. It is situated at the point where the
river Rhone emerges from the lake, forming a favorite watering-place
with large and admirable hotels, but many of the streets are steep,
narrow, and crooked. The Rhone separates the town into two parts, and is
here crossed by eight bridges. We get from Geneva a superb view of the
Mont Blanc group, and the relative height of the several peaks is better
realized than from a nearer point. Mont Blanc is upwards of fifteen
thousand feet in height.
Geneva has few attractions except its position and scenery, being in the
vicinity of the most famous mountains in Switzerland. The history of the
place is, however, very interesting. Calvin resided here nearly thirty
years. Rousseau was born here in 1712, and it has been the birthplace of
other famous scholars, botanists, naturalists, and philosophers. Necker,
financial minister to Louis XVI., and his daughter, Madame de Staël,
were natives of Geneva. In the environs, say four miles from Geneva,
Voltaire built a famous château, making it his home for a number of
years. From here one goes to Chamouni, if disposed for
mountain-climbing,--the immediate region of Mont Blanc.
The Lake of Geneva, or Lake Leman, the name by which it is best known,
is forty-five miles long, varying from two to eight miles in width. We
will cross the lake by steamer to the charming little town of Vevay,
situated on the northern side, and containing some nine thousand
inhabitants. A few miles from this point, where the Rhone enters the
lake, stands the famous Castle of Chillon, connected with the shore by a
drawbridge,--palace, castle, and prison, all in one. Some of its dark
damp cells are hewn out of the solid rock beneath the surface of the
lake. This fortress of the Middle Ages has been rendered familiar to us
by Byron's poetic pen. It was built by Amedeus IV., Count of Savoy, in
1238. Here languished Bonnivard in his underground cell for six years,
during which time he wore a prisoner's chains for his heroic defence of
Genevan liberty.
A short journey northward by railway brings us to Berne, the capital of
Switzerland, and which contains less than forty thousand inhabitants. It
is situated upon a lofty promontory above the winding Aar, which nearly
surrounds it, and is crossed here by two stone bridges. The view of the
snow-capped Bernese Alps from Berne is remarkably fine and
comprehensive. The town has all the usual charitable and educational
organizations, with a public library containing fifty thousand volumes.
Many of the business streets are lined by arcades for foot passengers.
Fountains abound, each one being surmounted by some grotesque figure.
The cathedral is a fine Gothic structure, dating from 1457. The bear, of
whose name the word Berne is the German equivalent, forms the principal
figure in the crest or arms of the city. Near the Aarburg gate is a
small menagerie of these animals, kept up at all times, and at the
public expense. The figure of a bear appears to one in all sorts of
connections about the city. There is here a curious and famous
clock-tower. Just as the hour is about to strike, a wooden figure of
chanticleer appears and crows. He is followed by another puppet which
strikes the hour upon a bell, and then come forth a number of bears from
the interior of the clock, each one making an obeisance to an enthroned
figure, which in turn inclines its sceptre and opens its mouth. The town
is noted for the manufacture of choice musical boxes, which are sold all
over Europe and America.
We go by railway from Berne to Lucerne, which is situated on the lake of
the same name, and contains a population of twenty thousand. The ancient
walls which served the town in olden times are still in good
preservation. Lucerne is located between the Rigi and Pilatus (lofty
mountains), while it faces the snow-clad Alps of Uri and Engelberg. Here
the river Reuss issues from the lake with great force. The Schweizerhof
Quay, beautifully ornamented with trees, borders the lake, and is a
famous promenade for visitors. The chief object of interest, after the
very remarkable scenery, is the lion-sculptured rock, in a garden
adjoining the town, designed to commemorate the Swiss guard, who
sacrificed themselves in fidelity to their royal master, the king of
France, at the beginning of the French Revolution. It was modelled by
Thorwaldsen. The lake of Lucerne is unsurpassed in Europe for its scenic
beauty. It is twenty miles in length, and of irregular width; the
greatest depth reaches five hundred feet.
A short trip northward brings us to Zurich, which has a population of
eighty thousand, and is situated on the borders of the lake whose name
it bears. It is recognized as the Athens of Switzerland, the
intellectual capital of the country, as well as being one of the busiest
of manufacturing centres, silk and cotton goods forming the staple. The
educational facilities afforded at Zurich are recognized all over
Europe. The scenery of the suburbs is very fine and peculiarly Swiss,
the immediate neighborhood being highly cultivated, and the distance
formed by snowy Alps. Lavater, the great physiognomist, Gesner, the
celebrated naturalist, and Pestalozzi, the educational reformer, were
born at Zurich. The shores of this beautiful lake are covered with
vineyards, grain-fields, and pleasant gardens interspersed with the most
picturesque cottages and capacious villas. Zurich is divided into two
parts by the rapid river Limmat, somewhat as the Rhone divides Geneva.
The Platz-promenade is an avenue of shady trees on the banks of the
clear, swift river, which is much frequented by the populace. It
terminates just where the small river Sihl joins the Limmat. The former
is an insignificant stream except in the spring, when it assumes
considerable importance through the body of water which it conducts into
the bosom of the larger river.
Switzerland is but a small division of Europe. Its greatest length from
east to west is about two hundred miles, and its width north and south
is about one hundred and forty. Two-thirds of its surface consists of
lofty Alps, as we have shown, the scenery being thus marked by towering
mountains, vast glaciers, beautiful lakes, fertile valleys, and
glittering cascades. Owing to the great elevation of most of the
country, the climate is uniformly rather cold. The population does not
exceed three millions. The different languages spoken in Switzerland
show that the people have no common origin, but come from different
races. In the west, French is the language which is in common use, and
these people are believed to have descended from the Burgundians; in the
north, where German is spoken, a common origin is indicated with the
Germans of Swabia; while in the south, both the language and the
physical appearance of the people is that of the Italians.
On our way towards England from Zurich, we pass through Schaffhausen,
about forty miles from the former city, on the right bank of the Rhine,
having a population of about ten thousand. It is a place of considerable
business activity, very quaint and antique in general aspect, the style
of architecture reminding one of that seen in Chester, England. The
chief object of attraction to strangers in this neighborhood is the
famous falls of the Rhine, which form three tremendous cascades, where
the river is three hundred feet in width, and the falls are eighty feet
in height. Schaffhausen is the capital of the canton of the same name,
and retains many of the ancient features of a Swabian town of the period
of the Empire. The cathedral, an early Romanesque structure, bears the
date of 1052. It contains a remarkable bell, which shows by its date
that it was placed here about four hundred years ago.