Passing the town of Braubach and the majestic castle of Marksberg,
which we had long observed, above the windings of the stream, on a
steep mountain, we came to Rense, a small town, remarkable only for its
neighbourhood to a spot, on which the elections of kings of the Romans,
or, at least, the meetings preliminary to them, are believed to have
antiently taken place. This is distinguished at present by the remains
of a low octagonal building, open at top, and accessible beneath by
eight arches, in one of which is a flight of steps. Within, is a stone
bench, supposed to be formed for the Electors, who might ascend to it
by these steps. In the centre of the pavement below is a thick pillar,
the use of which, whether as a tribune for the new king, or as a table
for receiving the attestations of the electors, is not exactly known.
That the building itself, now called Koningstuhl, or King's Throne,
was used for some purposes of election, appears from several German
historians, who mention meetings there in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, and impute them to antient customs.