FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, _Aug. 6, 1841_.
On leaving Berlin our party proceeded to Potsdam, denominated the
Prussian Versailles, lying on the bank of the river Havel, about twenty
miles from Berlin. It may be called a town of palaces, not only from
the four royal residences in and about it, but because the private
residences are copied from celebrated edifices. It has a population
of thirty-three thousand, including a large garrison. The principal
objects that attract travellers are the grounds and extensive palaces;
also, Peacock Island, in German, “Pfauen Insel.” This island was the
late king’s hobby, and he made it an enchanting spot. The distance
of four or five miles from Potsdam is soon accomplished, where the
island is reached by a boat. It is beautifully situated in the centre
of a lake, and is about three miles in circumference, and what was
a wilderness of sand and fir trees, is now converted into the most
delightful pleasure grounds, adorned with rare plants, shrubbery, and
groves of trees of all varieties. Here is every variety of building
which enlivens English or French gardens; fancy Gothic buildings,
pavilions, menageries, and animals of all kinds, from the noble lion
to the innocent lama, the deer and the elk, running at large. A great
variety of birds, from the vulture, eagle, and ostrich, to the owl
and parrot, may be seen in their different habitations. The king was
engaged twenty years in bringing it to perfection, and it was his
favorite retreat during summer. The mounted frigate, presented by
William IV. of England to the king, is stationed here in the lake, and
its proportions suit well the scenery by which it is surrounded.
We visited Sans Souci, the residence of the king, beautifully situated
on the top of a flight of steps like terraces. The terraces are
fronted with glass, beneath which grow vines, olives, and orange
trees. Frederic the Great, who took great pride in his grounds as well
as in his faithful dogs and horses, had a favorite spot of resort at
the extremity of the terrace, and just before his death was brought
out to bask in the sun. He desired to be buried in this spot, with
his favorite animals, but this request was not granted, although the
graves of his favorites were shown to us. We saw the remains of this
great man in the garrison church, beneath the pulpit, in a plain metal
sarcophagus above ground. His sword, which originally lay upon it, was
taken by Napoleon; but in place of that there hung on each side the
pulpit the standards taken by the Prussian armies from Napoleon.
The new palace, about two miles from Potsdam, was built at enormous
cost by Frederic the Great at the end of the Seven Years’ War, by way
of bravado, to show that his funds were not exhausted. It contains two
hundred apartments. One large room is floored with marble and entirely
lined with shells and minerals of all kinds--a very peculiar taste. As
usual with these stately palaces, a vast amount of money was lavished
in marble, gold and silver, gilding, &c.
On leaving Potsdam we took extra post to Magdeburgh, a distance of
seventy miles. It is situated on the Elbe, with a population of
fifty-two thousand. It has a fortress of the first class, and owing to
its vast extent would require from fifty to seventy-five thousand men.
The citadel on the island serves as a state prison. Gen. Lafayette was
confined in it. The famous Baron Trenck was also confined in one of the
prisons here. In 1552 Magdeburgh was besieged and taken by Maurice,
king of Saxony. During the Thirty Years’ War it resisted the army of
Wallenstein seven months, but was afterwards taken by the ferocious
Tilly, who murdered thirty thousand inhabitants without distinction of
sex, and left only one hundred and thirty-nine houses standing. In his
despatch he says, “never was victory so complete since the destruction
of Jerusalem and Troy.”
The cathedral, one of the noblest Gothic buildings in Germany, built
in 1211, and recently repaired by the Prussian government at a cost
of _three hundred thousand dollars_, was saved by one Bake, a
schoolmate of Tilly. It contains many curiosities of art. At this city
we regretted parting with one of our travelling companions, who took
a steamer for Hamburgh, to go from thence to London or Amsterdam. My
present American companion and myself next proceeded to Cassel, the
capital of the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel, one hundred and forty miles
from Magdeburgh. In passing through this rich agricultural country I
observed, in addition to all the products of our northern country, vast
quantities of poppies for the manufacture of oil, and large fields of
beets to be made into sugar.
Fences in the interior of this country are unknown. The same may be
said of most parts of Austria and Prussia. The farmers cultivate large
tracts of land, but live in villages. All the varieties of the products
are seen from the road in passing, as the width or front of each
growing crop is ordinarily quite narrow on the road, and so arranged in
most instances as to extend back in strips as far as the eye can reach.
Cassel, for a town with a population of thirty thousand, contains much
to attract the attention of a traveller for a few days. In the Frederic
Platz, a very large square, is placed a statue of the Elector Frederic,
who was one of the number that elected the Emperor of Germany in former
times. To that prince Cassel owes its embellishments and extravagant
works. He disgraced himself and his people by trafficking in the lives
of his subjects, when he hired them out to the King of Great Britain to
fight his battle in America. It is said also that five thousand Hessian
troops were hired in England, with the consent of Parliament, to fight
against the Pretender in Scotland.
Some of the Hessians are still living who went to America in our
revolution. I have seen two of the old veterans passing along the road,
with ancient chapeaux that reminded me of prints I had seen many years
since. Among the extravagances of the Elector, was the construction of
the cascade of Carlsburgh, about three miles from the town, in the rear
of the palace and grounds, and on the top of a high hill. You ascend a
flight of nine hundred and two steps from the base to the top of the
hill. A carriage road leads by the side of this gigantic staircase,
in zigzags, to the summit. To the left of the steps, ascending, are
flat stones laid one above another, very like a huge stairs, but with
a greater acclivity, from the top of which the water is permitted to
fall whenever it is desired, forming a beautiful cascade. The summit
is surmounted by an octagon temple, called the Temple of the Winds,
on which is raised an obelisk, serving as a pedestal for a colossal
Hercules, thirty-one feet high, of beaten copper. It is possible to
get up into the figure, and eight persons can stand in the hollow
of the club, and out of a little window is one of the most extended
views imaginable. The aquatic staircase, octagon temple and statue,
altogether, employed two thousand men twenty-four years. When finished,
the expenses were found to be so enormous that the accounts were burned
to destroy all record of them.
Attached to the palace is a theatre, which was built by Joseph
Bonaparte, in which he himself used to act. The grounds and walks
are very beautiful, and once a week the principal fountain plays. It
is the highest in Europe, and throws up a jet of water two hundred
feet perpendicular, and twelve inches in diameter. It is supplied
from reservoirs three hundred feet higher up the hill. Here are also
artificial waterfalls, bridges, aqueducts, &c., finished at great cost.
From Cassel to Frankfort we travelled by Lohnkutch, which is a private
conveyance, making the distance, one hundred and six miles, in two
days, stopping to dine and lodge. We had also an opportunity to
examine any remarkable church, manufacturing establishment, or other
curiosity that might be attractive. Through Austria, Hungary, Saxony,
and Prussia, we had all the varieties of travelling conveyances, known
by such titles as Eilwagen, Schnellpost, Stellwagen, Bauernpost,
Eisenbahnen, Railroad, Extra post, Zugkutcher, &c.
On the route from Cassel to Frankfort, we stopped over night at the
town of Marburg. Its only object of curiosity is the church of St.
Elizabeth, a beautiful specimen of the early Gothic pointed style of
architecture, and in most perfect preservation, begun in the year
1231, and completed in forty-eight years. In one part of the church is
the richly ornamented Gothic chapel dedicated to St. Elizabeth, the
Landgravine of Hesse, who was canonized for the sanctity of her life
in 1231. The carved tablet represents the saint lying on her coffin,
surrounded by cripples and sick persons, the objects of her bounty
Her soul is seen hovering above, on its way to Heaven, whence Christ
extends his hands to receive her. The stone steps around it are worn
hollow by the knees of pilgrims, who have resorted here for ages.
There is now a partition through the church, for the accommodation of
Catholics and Lutherans, who will never meet together.
In some parts of Bavaria and Austria, the pilgrimages are still kept
up. Thousands and tens of thousands every year make a journey to the
shrine of some favorite saint, to kiss some precious relic, or worship,
in all but pagan idolatry, before some miracle-working picture or
statue of the Virgin. At one place I saw as many as a thousand men,
women, and girls, who were setting out on a journey to Maria Zella,
a celebrated pilgrimage place in the Styrian Alps. They entered the
cathedral from which they started, in procession, kissed the cross,
made their prayers, and then marched forth on their pious tour on
foot, many with scanty clothing to protect them from the storms, and
with miserable supplies of food, carried in sacks or baskets, to
sustain them on their fatiguing march. But such are the severe burdens
that superstition, ignorance, and bigotry impose upon their wretched
subjects.