DRESDEN, SAXONY, _July 18, 1841_.
It was one day’s ride from Prague to Töplitz, celebrated above all
other watering places in Austria for its baths. It is pleasantly
located on a small stream, and contains two thousand seven hundred
and fifty inhabitants, and four hundred houses, sixty of which are
inns. There is hardly a house in the town that is not used at times as
a lodging-house. A great part of the place belongs to Prince Clary,
who has such very extensive possessions in this part of the Austrian
empire that he is put down as the proprietor of sixty villages! On the
way from Vienna to Prague we passed for fifty or sixty miles through
the estate of Prince Lichtenstein, whose entire possessions extend two
hundred miles, the land being nearly all of the choicest quality.
Attached to the palace of Prince Clary in Töplitz are parks and gardens
abounding with tall groves of fruit trees, and long promenades,
fountains of water, lakes with beautiful flocks of swans gliding
over the surface, and within the circuit lie the theatre, reading,
dining, and ball rooms, which are thrown open for the use of visitors
who wish to patronize the baths. The hot springs are seventeen in
number, their temperature one hundred and twenty degrees Fah. During
the summer there are thousands of persons at these baths. Being one
of the most fashionable watering places, it is frequented not only by
the nobility of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, but by the sovereigns
of those countries, dukes, and princes of smaller estate, &c. There
are six public baths and eighty private ones, which are in requisition
from four o’clock in the morning until late at night. Each bathing
establishment is placed under the direction of a “Badmeister” and his
wife, and at the entrance hangs a list, where the hours at which every
bath is engaged are noted down.
The visitor must be punctual in occupying only three quarters of an
hour, and before the time is up he is notified by the ringing of a bell
to prepare to dress.
On the route from Töplitz leading to Aussig, on the banks of the Elbe,
at which place the steamer starts for Dresden, we passed through the
battle-ground of Kulin, near the Nollendorf pass, which will always be
famous in history. The French forces under Vandamme, and the allied
forces under Count Colleredo Mansfield, fought a battle here that had
a vast influence upon the fortunes of Napoleon. He had despatched
Vandamme, with forty thousand men, under strict orders not to descend
into the plain; but, contrary to those orders, he attacked Count
Ostermann, who had with him eight thousand guards, chiefly Russians,
and the Prussian and Austrian forces came up in time to rout the entire
French force before any aid could reach them, killing and making
prisoners all except a few thousands who threw away their arms and fled
across the mountain. The Prussian, Russian, and Austrian governments
have each erected a monument in the field. The Prussian is inclosed
within an iron railing, and is of cast iron, with the inscription
in German--“_A grateful King and country honor the heroes that
fell_;” the Austrian is dedicated to Prince Colleredo Mansfield,
who was wounded in the battle; the Russian was placed by the Emperor
Nicholas in the centre of the field. It is an obelisk, surmounted by a
figure of Fame, with a lion reposing at its base.
From Aussig, a small town on the Elbe, we descended rapidly, touching
at Teschen, a small village most romantically situated, where commences
the country called “Saxon Switzerland.” The village lies at the foot
of a high rock, on which stands the castle of Teschen, owned by Count
Thurn, who is also the proprietor of the village and a district of
country around occupied by eighteen thousand inhabitants.
The Elbe here seems pent up between bold cliffs and huge rocks,
clothed in rich foliage wherever it is possible for a tree to hang;
but it finds its way through them into a most romantic and picturesque
country. In passing along we had a view of the Bartec, a rock that
rises near the margin of the river to the height of eight hundred
feet, and commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. The
Konigstein rock, which is a fortress seven hundred and seventy-nine
feet above the river, is deemed impregnable, and has never yet been
taken. It is surrounded on all sides by perpendicular rocks, and so
isolated that it cannot be commanded by artillery from any point.
Napoleon tried to batter it from Lilienstein, the nearest eminence,
but the shot fell short. The treasures of the Saxon government were
fortunately placed here, and were thus kept secure. A space of two
miles in circumference on the top of the rock, is laid out in fields
and gardens, and is finely cultivated. The present garrison numbers
only six hundred men.
The scenery on the banks of the Elbe, until within a few miles of
Dresden, is of the most enchanting character. Dresden has a population
of seventy thousand. It is delightfully situated on the bank of the
river, and ranks high among European cities for its attractions,
and the number and objects calculated to gratify the intelligent
traveller. It is the residence of the king, and has consequently all
the accompaniments of a national capital. Its picture gallery has the
finest collection of paintings to be found north of the Alps. When
Frederic the Great bombarded Dresden, battered down its churches,
and laid its streets in ruins, he commanded his troops to keep clear
of the picture gallery. Napoleon treated Dresden well, and respected
its pictures. The collection is very extensive, consisting of many
thousands, one of which, by Raphael, cost forty thousand dollars. It
represents the Virgin soaring up to Heaven, bearing in her arms the
Divine Child, while Pope Sixtus is represented as gazing upon the scene
and trembling with pious awe; opposite to him kneels St. Barbara, and
below the group stand two angelic children, their countenances beaming
with innocence and intelligence. It is considered the best picture out
of Italy.
The Green Vaults, so styled, are a range of vaulted apartments on
the ground floor of the royal palace, containing a vast and rich
collection of valuables. The Saxon princes in former times were among
the richest sovereigns in Europe. This collection is probably the
richest in Europe, amounting to many millions in value. The treasures
are contained in eight apartments, each surpassing the other, as you
reach them successively, in richness and splendor. The objects are so
numerous that it is quite impossible to allude to more than a few of
the most prominent: A large quantity of gold and silver plate which
adorn the banquets of the Saxon palace; vessels formed of agates,
precious stones, &c.; goblets composed entirely of cut gems, valued
at six hundred dollars each; vessels cut out of solid rock crystal.
Among the wonders of the cabinet are the works of Durglinger, an artist
formerly employed exclusively by the Electors of Saxony. One piece
is called the Court of the Great Mogul, and represents the Emperor
Aurungzebe upon his throne, surrounded by his guards and courtiers in
the most appropriate costume, in all one hundred and thirty figures of
pure gold enamelled. It employed three persons eight years to complete
it, and cost eighty-five thousand dollars. Last of all comes the eighth
room, in which is one case containing valuables sufficient to pay off
the national debt of Saxony, amounting to many millions; comprising
the most precious jewels, sapphires, rubies, pearls, diamonds, &c.
The diamond decorations of the gala dress of the Elector consist of
buttons, collar, sword hilt and scabbard, _all of diamonds_. The
most remarkable in the mass of chains, bracelets, orders of the Golden
Fleece, and so on, is a green brilliant, weighing forty carats, and of
great value.
The Historical Museum of Dresden contains all the weapons, offensive
and defensive, of chivalrous warfare, all the trappings and
accoutrements of tournaments, and other wild sports of feudal times.
Here are whole suits of armor for man and horse, ornamented in great
profusion with gold and silver. The entire armory occupies nine long
galleries, and excels that of the Tower of London. One suit of armor
is covered with reliefs representing the labors of Hercules, and other
subjects, in gold and steel.
Among the historical relics in the last apartment are the robes worn
by Augustus the Strong at his coronation as King of Poland; the little
cocked hat of Peter the Great, and a wooden bowl turned by his own
hand; the saddle of red velvet upon which Napoleon rode, the boots
he wore in the battle of Dresden, and the satin shoes worn at his
coronation.
The bridge over the Elbe here is considered one of the finest of stone
in Germany. It is very solid, in order to resist the ice in the spring.
There is a bronze crucifix on one of the arches, denoting the part
blown up by the French Marshal Davoust in 1813, to cover his retreat
to Leipsic. One church here is composed of solid stone to the top of
the dome, and is of such solid construction that cannon balls directed
against it by Frederic the Great rebounded from its surface without
doing the least injury.