CX.*
Ratisbon, Bavaria, June 8, 1855.
From Saltzburg, near the Austrian frontier, I proceeded by mail coach eighty-five miles, through an interesting country, to Munich, formerly described, the Bavarian Capital, deservedly renowned among the lovers of the fine arts, as the modern Athens of Europe, and celebrated throughout the Fatherland for its Bayerisch beer, being to Germany what London is to England, for its extensive manufacture of that beverage.
The museum and studio of Schwanthaler, the celebrated German sculptor, is a source of great interest, and reminded me of Thorwaldsen’s collection at Copenhagen.
Munich is celebrated for its Erzgiesserei, or Bronze Foundry, and for its glass paintings; the latter work is finely executed, and the new church windows which display it are strikingly beautiful. The colossal bronze statue of Bavaria, a female figure of victory, with a huge lion reposing by its side, was not complete when I saw it in 1848, but is now upon an eminence commanding the Theresien Meadows, standing upon a pedestal of thirty feet, which gives it a height of eighty-four feet. It weighs one hundred and fifteen tons. A staircase of sixty-six stone and sixty-five iron steps leads one into the head, where two benches of cast metal accommodate twelve persons; it is a rather warm berth at this season of the year. I found the great equestrian statue of Washington, for the capitol at Richmond, Virginia, in process of construction at the foundry; it will probably require considerable time for its execution.
A few miles from the city one relieves the eyes, and escapes picture galleries, in the shady avenues of the royal summer residence at Nymphenburg, with its fountains ninety feet in height, and its beautiful sheets of water, winding through this vast inclosure, which occupies two hours’ walk in the circuit. The Botanical gardens are not devoid of interest. The supply of water is more copious than in any royal site I recollect having seen in Europe, except the Neapolitan Caserta, and La Granja, in Spain. The deer park, in the vicinity, is also a pleasant drive for the ladies and children, who occupy themselves in embroidery, drinking their beer, and feeding the young animals out of their hands.
In less than two hours, one rides from Munich to Augsburg, by railroad.
The old town has considerable of interest in its churches, architecture, monuments, &c. It being my second visit, one day at Augsburg sufficed, as I was en route to Ratisbon, and had to make the circuit by railroad to Donauworth, in order to descend the Danube. A little iron steamer, eighty feet in length, and narrow in proportion, with a tiny cabin, came to the place named as the head of steam navigation, with a small party of first-class passengers. We darted down the rapid stream at a lively rate, at times walled in by precipitous limestone rocks; the scenery was highly romantic and picturesque, with much to interest, but compared unfavorably with the views described in my last, from Vienna to Linz. We landed passengers at Menburg and Ingoldstadt, important towns, and in eight hours’ sail found ourselves at this place.
As I have formerly remarked, most of the German governments have different weights, coin, measure, and regulations. One day one has fifty pounds luggage free, and paper money in use; cross the boundary, as is the case here, no baggage is allowed; it must be paid, for even moderate distances, at one cent per pound. If you happen not to have changed your money, you submit to a heavy discount. My Russian friend had a large sum of Austrian paper florins over, and lost forty guldens or sixteen dollars, by not exchanging as I advised him, and was consoled by the money changer, saying: Mann muss lehr geld zahlen. One must pay for experience.
Regensburg, or Ratisbon, whence I write, is beautifully situated upon the south bank of the Danube. It was formerly the seat of the Imperial Diet; it has a population of only twenty-four thousand, but is an interesting old city, with enchanting shady walks surrounding the city, giving the occupants breathing room. Sunday being Frohnleichnamstag, or Corpus Christi, the service in the old cathedral was fully attended. This vast Gothic edifice, built in the year 1400, was crammed with furniture, offerings, pictures, and relics, which destroyed its beautiful proportions, until King Ludwig, with the eye of an artist, in 1838, saw its deformity, and ordered a general sweeping out, and renovated its magnificent illuminated glass windows, representing the life of Christ and historical Bible scenes.
Strolling from one church to another, I found the current setting across the river to the Dreifaltigheitsberge, upon the summit of which is a pilgrimage church with fourteen stations and monuments on the ascent indicating the bearing of the Cross, and sufferings of Christ, up to the Crucifixion. So I fell in with the train, and passed over the old stone bridge, one thousand and ninety-one feet long and twenty-three feet wide, placed upon thirty arches of thirty feet in width, and well worth remarking, for the early period of 1140. Once on the top, I found the ground occupied mostly by Bauern, in their novel costume. The girls in short frocks of fancy colors, with balloon sleeves, and silver chain across the corsage; the men in red vests and short-waisted coats, with two dozen silver and gilt buttons thereon, about the size of a half dollar.
Tents and booths contained the eatables and drinkables. Service was going on, and the temple jammed full. A thunderstorm came up, and I took refuge in the house of the church guardian, in a small room ten feet square, with a bed in one corner, thirty small prints of saints hanging around the walls, a table covered with mugs, ham, and sausages, eight persons, and cigar smoke in clouds.
The weather soon cleared up, and after dinner I found the town deserted. Protestants and Catholics escape the city, and the society gardens, as well as the public grounds, are crowded. The musicians are playing, and the adjacent environs are planted with trees, among which stand large buildings, over deep cold beer cellars, for summer use.
The former Abbey of St. Emmeran, now the residence of the Prince von Taxis, one of the wealthiest nobles of the country, is one of the lions to be seen. His picture gallery is not large but select; his stable of sixty horses is a choice pattern of neatness and convenience; his riding house is adorned with many equestrian groups of ancient combatants by Schwanthaler, and is a gem in its way. The family chapel and vault will compare favorably with those of the kings of Prussia and Hanover; add to which, he has a large brewery in connexion, in active operation, which was erected and worked by this order of monks. Under the roof of the same previous ecclesiastical establishment, are the refreshment rooms for the sale of the article manufactured. What strikes the stranger here is the universal use without the abuse, and it redounds to the honor of the German character, for the rarest spectacle is an inebriated person. In the deep and dark recesses of the Rath House here are seen the whole apparatus of the inquisition; parts of it I had seen in Italy and Spain, but here it is completed. I saw the latticed screen of the judge, with his desk, and the bored holes for candles; the penitential benches for culprits, while listening to the groans of comrades inducing confession; the chair of pointed spikes, resembling a flax hetchel, upon which the victim sat, with the stone weights suspended from his ankles; the platform upon which the naked body lay during the scraping of the skin from the back from head to foot; bolts in the floor to fasten the feet, and heavy fifty pound weights, attached to the arms, while the shoulders were strained by the windlass; with a variety of other tortures too horrible to describe. The seat of the doctor is also shown, whose business was to decide how much the sufferers could endure, without expiring under the treatment. Also cells with small openings through which the prisoners received their food; they were chained in such a manner that they were obliged to sleep with the blood flowing towards the head and heart, inducing, as was believed, contrition; there were dungeons, too, in which they were let down, with no opening except from above, cutting off all hope of escape. In witnessing such an exhibition it is consoling to reflect that civilization has made much progress since the last century, when these hellish instruments were in use.