XV.
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.