EHRENBREITSTEIN.
The people of the Rhine have not allowed all the old castles to go to
ruin. Some have been carefully preserved from age to age, and never
allowed to go out of repair. Others that had gone to decay, or had been
destroyed in the wars, have been repaired and rebuilt in modern times,
and are now in better condition than ever.
Some of the strongholds that have thus been restored are now great
fortresses, held by the governors of the states and kingdoms that border
on the river; others of them are fitted up as summer residences for the
persons, whether princes or private people, that happen to own them.
About midway between the beginning and the end of the mountainous region
of the Rhine is a place where there are two very important works of this
kind. One of them is far the largest and most important of all on the
river. This is the Castle of Ehrenbreitstein. Ehrenbreitstein is not
only a very strong and important fortification, but it guards a very
important point.
This point is the place where the River Moselle, one of the principal
branches of the Rhine, comes in. The valley of the Moselle is a very
rich and fertile one, and in proportion to its extent is almost as
valuable as that of the Rhine. The junction of the two rivers is the
place for defending both of these valleys, and has consequently, in all
ages of the world, been a very important post. The Romans built a town
here, in the days of Julius Caesar, and the town has continued to the
present day. It is called Coblenz. The Romans named it originally
_Confluentes_, which means the _confluence_; and this name, in the
course of ages, has gradually become changed to Coblenz.
Coblenz is built on a three-cornered piece of flat land, exactly on the
point where the two rivers come together. There is a bridge over the
mouth of the Moselle where it comes into the Rhine, and another over the
Rhine itself. The bridge over the Moselle is of stone, and was built a
great many hundred years ago. That over the Rhine is what is called a
bridge of boats.
A row of large and solid boats is anchored in the river, side by side,
with their heads up the stream, and then the bridge is made by a
platform which extends across from boat to boat, across the whole
breadth of the stream.
Near the Coblenz side of the bridge there are two or three lengths of it
which can be taken out when necessary, in order to let the steamers, or
rafts, or tow boats, that may be coming up or down the river, pass
through. Rollo was very much interested, while he remained at Coblenz,
in looking out from the windows of his hotel, which faced the river, and
seeing them open this bridge, to let the steamers and vessels pass
through. A length of the bridge, consisting sometimes of _two_ boats
with the platform over it, and sometimes of _three_, would separate from
the others, and float down the stream until it cleared itself from the
rest of the bridge, and then would move by some mysterious means to one
side, and so make an opening. Then, when the steamer, or whatever else
it was, had passed through, the detached portion of the bridge would
come back again slowly and carefully to its place.
Of course all the travel on the bridge would be interrupted during this
operation; but as soon as the connection was again restored, the streams
of people would immediately begin to move again over the bridge, as
before.
Across the bridge, on the heights upon the other side, Rollo could see
the great Castle of Ehrenbreitstein, together with an innumerable
multitude of walls, parapets, bastions, towers, battlements, and other
constructions pertaining to such a work.
One day Mr. George and Rollo went over to see this fortress. They were
stopped a few minutes at the bridge, by a steamer going through. There
was a large company of soldiers stopped too, part of the garrison of
Ehrenbreitstein that had been over to attend a parade on the public
square at Coblenz, and were now going home, so that Rollo was not sorry
for the detention, as it gave him a fine opportunity to see the
soldiers, and to examine the Prussian uniform. It consisted of a blue
frock coat and white trousers, with an elegant brass-mounted helmet for
a cap.
The way up to the castle was by a long and winding road, built up
artificially on arches of solid masonry. This road was every where
overlooked by walls, with portholes and embrasures for cannon, and all
along it, at short distances, were immense gateways exceedingly massive
and strong, which could all be shut in time of siege. When Mr. George
and Rollo reached the top of the castle, they found a great esplanade
there, surrounded with buildings for barracks, and for the storing of
arms and provisions. The view from this esplanade was magnificent
beyond description. You could see far up and down the River Rhine, and
far _up_ the Moselle, while all Coblenz, and the two bridges, and the
town below the castle, and three other immense forts that stood on the
other side of the river, were directly beneath.
Rollo went into some of the barracks, and also up to the top of the
buildings. The buildings were all arched over above, and covered with
earth ten feet deep, with grass growing on the top. The men were mowing
this grass when Mr. George and Rollo were there. The object of this
earth on the roofs of the buildings is to prevent the bombshells of the
enemy from breaking down through the roofs and killing the men.
On the afternoon of the same day that Mr. George and Rollo visited
Ehrenbreitstein, they went up the river a few miles in a boat to see a
smaller castle, which has been repaired and changed into a private
residence. The name of it is Stoltzenfels. They rode up the mountain
that this castle was built upon on donkeys. The road was very good, but
the place was so steep that it was necessary to make it twist and turn,
in winding its way up, in the most extraordinary manner. In one place it
actually went over itself by an arched bridge thrown across the ravine.
In fact, this path was just like a corkscrew.
Rollo was exceedingly delighted with the castle of Stoltzenfels. A man
who was there conducted him and his uncle, together with a small company
of other visitors who arrived at the same time, all over it. It would be
impossible to describe it, there were so many curious courts, and
towers, and winding passage ways, and little gardens, and terraces, all
built in a sort of nest among the rocks, of the most irregular and
wildest character.
The rooms were all beautifully finished and furnished, and they were
full of old relics of feudal times. The floors were of polished oak, and
the visitors, when walking over them, wore over their boots and shoes
great slippers made of felt, which were provided there for the purpose.
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