XVIII.
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.