HANOVER, GERMANY, _Nov. 29, 1858_.
I thought I had quite finished up my peregrinations in the north of
Germany, but I found I had left unvisited parts of Schleswig Holstein,
which, since the war of 1848, has occupied so much of the attention of
German and Danish diplomats.
This country is populated mostly by Germans, and that language is
generally spoken, but it is governed by Danish officers and the
military, in as mild a form as possible; the ill-will and hatred of
the inhabitants, however, is so great, that little social intercourse
is kept up between them. The currency is Danish, but German coin
passes for nearly its value, as the trade with Hamburg, and the direct
communication by railroad with Kiel and Schleswig, keeps up the
German influence, to the detriment of Copenhagen. After long delay,
and bitter recriminations and threats, the Danish king has granted
many concessions, and a constitution for self-representation. The
people hope, and, with Germany, desire its union with the Vaterland;
but the balance of power is such a delicate question in Europe, and
the jealousy of governments towards each other so great, that the
matter may be put off until, perhaps, a revolution brings a change.
The quickest and easiest communication with Copenhagen is, via Kiel,
by rail, a distance of seventy miles from Hamburg, where steamers are
found in readiness for embarkation.
Every stranger that visits Hamburg, if time permits, should make an
excursion in Holstein, if only to get a passing view of nature’s
beauties, of picturesque lakes, meadows, and fields, with their hedges.
Were it not for the three gates, one would scarcely know he had left
Hamburg in driving through the city of Altona, in Danish territory, to
take the railroad for Kiel, as the two cities are nearly grown together.
Kiel has some fifteen thousand inhabitants. Its environs may be called
beautiful. The forests of beech and other trees along the water’s
edge, with bathing places, and some elevated points of view, make it
a desirable summer residence. It evidently has much improved of late.
The country mansions and gardens bear testimony of the fact. The fish
market is abundantly supplied, and what is better, there is no duty, as
is the case the moment the German frontier is crossed in the interior.
Among the delicacies, in smoked articles, are the “Schnebel,” and large
sized eels, which are exported in great quantities to the interior. The
oysters used in Germany are mostly from the North Sea. They are much
smaller than ours, and have not unfrequently a coppery flavor. Salmon
and lobsters come mostly from Norway. Hamburg is celebrated for its
basement rooms, or Kellers, where are found all the dainties that land
and water furnish.
Kiel has its monuments, public buildings, and attractions, but nothing
very striking to the general traveller. Its harbor is fine and deep,
and here lay at anchor, near the shore, the entire fleet, at one period
during the war with Russia.
The terminus of the railroad which leads to this city is at Harburg,
the new rival of Hamburg, upon the Elbe, and only eight miles from the
last-named place. When I was last there, in 1855, the inundation of the
river had flooded the island of Wilhelmsburg, carrying away houses,
cattle, and crops, and destroying millions of property in the lower
part of the metropolis. Hundreds of persons were shelterless. We were
aroused at midnight in the midst of a terrific rain storm, by the alarm
guns warning the occupants of basements and one story dwellings, to
save themselves from drowning. When we took the steamer for Harburg, in
passing the island we saw only the tops of trees where now I pass in
an omnibus, over a well cultivated country, with dusty roads, and the
people complaining for want of rain.
A few miles below lies Stade, a small town of six thousand inhabitants,
which gives the name to the Stade Zol, or imposition of the River
Elbe dues, which our government is trying to induce the Hanoverian
authorities to renounce.
Harburg has made much progress, and grown to be quite a city under
the protection of the Hanoverian government, and favors in the way of
duties and manufactures.
The route to this place is an uninteresting one, tying in part over the
Luneburger Haide or Heath, which is without cultivation. I perceive,
however, that advances are made in the way of irrigation, and it is
pleasant to see entire waste lands, by the use of water, made to
produce bountifully. It called to mind an experiment of a rice garden,
and olive and almond trees, which Mehemet Ali produced upon the white
sand of the Egyptian desert, by the use of the Persian wheel, driven
by oxen; and it struck me that the Arabs regarded him little less than
Deity.
Having formerly described what was of most interest in this city when
I made it a temporary residence, I can only add that the population
has increased, the city limits extended, and many new improvements
have been made. The large cotton and carpet factories flourish in
consequence of the great protection in the tariff. Rents and living
expenses, as well as taxation, are increasing, but workmen are better
paid than formerly, as the country was chiefly agricultural and there
is now more demand for labor, growing out of the manufacturing.
The King, although blind, is building a new palace, and has just called
upon the Stande or Chambers, for an appropriation of _six hundred
thousand thalers_ for the work, as far as completed.
A fair has been recently held here, which for a stranger is well worth
seeing. One day only is allowed for the furniture sale, and it is held
in a different part of the city. Every variety of household article is
exposed for sale, brought in from small neighboring villages, which
gives the poor a chance to buy cheap. It is curious to see the stream
of wagons and carts, drawn not only by horses, oxen, and donkeys,
but single cows and spaniel dogs in harness, the drivers cracking
their whips. Now comes a load of countrywomen, in fancy colored short
corsets and jupes, then the Bauer, or peasant, with his high-topped
boots, long-tailed coat, and big bright buttons. The market-places were
filled with booths and venders from other cities, with every variety
of articles, attractive and for use; jewelry, wearing apparel, and
pumpernickel, or honey cake, in great quantities, an indispensable
article for the multitude. The good-natured country people, with their
Platt Deutsch, or land dialect, seemed to have a good time of it, and
the national dishes of sausage and saur kraut, with light beer and
pipes, were in great demand.
Here in Hanover, and also in Celle, a town of ten thousand population,
which I lately visited, the language spoken by the upper classes is the
most pure in all Germany.
1859.