The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia Thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &c. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

The Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, which is properly the Citadel of Coblentz, stands on the other Side of the Rhine. They reckon it impregnable, for this Reason, perhaps, because it was never taken. It is situate upon a high Mountain, or deep Rock, which stands in a manner by itself, and is on all Sides of very difficult Access. The Works are all of Stone, and several cut out in the Rock. There is a Cannon here, which, they say, is longer than the famous Culverin, that Lewis XIV. caused to be carried from Nancy to Dunkirk. The Palace of the Elector of Triers is at the Foot of this Fortress, in a Place which is very much pent up by the Rhine on one Side, and by a Rock on the other. It makes but a mean Appearance, and the Apartments are low, incommodious, and very much exposed to the Sun. Near this Palace is a little Town called Dahl, where live most of the Elector’s Domestics. This Quarter has a Communication with the City of Coblentz by a flying Bridge.

The present Bishop of Triers is Francis-George Count de Schonborn, who is the younger Brother of the Cardinal Bishop of Spires, and of the Bishop of Ramberg and Wurtzbourg. He is also Bishop of

Worms, and Abbat of Elwangen. He was elected Archbishop, when Francis-Lewis of Newbourg was translated from the Electorate of Triers to that of Mentz. This Prince is not tall, but very stout, and has a fine Aspect: He is affable, and very civil. His Courtiers assured me, that he was a very kind Master, and his Subjects seemed to be pleased with his Government. His Disbursements seem to me to be very moderate, and his Houshold not large.

From Coblentz I went to Sanckewerdt, which is the Foot of the Castle of Rhinfeldts, belonging to a Catholic Branch of the Family of Hesse. The Landgrave of Cassel was once in Possession of this Fortress, and claimed it as his Right, by Virtue of his being the eldest of the Family of Hesse. Upon this Occasion he was engaged in a great Law-Suit, but the Aulic Council gave a Verdict in Favour of the Prince of Rhinfeldts, and the Troops of Hesse Cassel were by an Imperial Commission turn’d out. A Garison is actually kept here for the Emperor, and the Circle of the Upper Rhine. This Place is reckoned one of the most important upon the Rhine, over which River here is a Passage by a flying Bridge.

As I still went up the River, I came to Binger-Loch, a Name which is given to a Cascade, that the Rhine forms here between two Rocks. This is reckoned as the most dangerous Passage of all the Rhine, though there’s no Danger to be apprehended, unless the Watermen are drunk with Wine; which is too commonly the Misfortune at this Place, where the Juice of the Grape costs little or nothing. Near to this Hollow, upon a Rock, in the midst of the Rhine, there’s the famous Rats-Tower; built, according to Tradition, by Hatto Bishop of Mentz, in the Year 969, to secure him from the Rats, which gnaw’d him as a

Punishment for his having burnt a considerable Number of poor People in a Barn, that came in a great Dearth of Provisions, to beg he would give them Bread; when this barbarous Prelate, hearing the Shrieks of those unfortunate Wretches in the Flames, ask’d his Courtiers if they did not hear the Rats cry? How improbable soever this Story may seem, ’tis as much believed by the Vulgar, as if it were an Article of Faith; insomuch that when I told my Watermen I questioned the Truth of the Fact, they said, that if I had any Doubt of it, I could not be a good Catholic. For my Part, I sincerely believe, that this Tower served heretofore as a Place of Toll, and, perhaps, for a Mainguard to a Castle, of which the Ruins are still to be seen, and in which ’tis said that Bishop Hatto dwelt, when he was obliged to retire to the Tower, where he was, nevertheless, gnaw’d by the Rats.

The little City of Bingen is not far from thence, on the left Side of the Rhine. ’Tis the most considerable of all the Rhingau, and ’tis thought to produce the best Rhenish Wine; for you are to know, that the Fashion of Wine alters, as well as of every thing else. Formerly the Wine of Bacharach was most in Vogue, and the French have not disdained to celebrate it in their drunken Catches; but now that Wine is no longer in request by the Wine-Conners, who are here so delicate, that if they do but wet their Lips, they can presently tell the Age and the Growth of any Wine that they taste. They say now, that the Wine of Bacharach is worth nothing, in comparison with the Wine of Ridelsheim, and of Johannesberg, Vineyards in the Rhingau: But for my Part, who have the Happiness not to be so nice, I thought the Wine of Bacharach very

good, and should not be sorry if I was obliged to drink that, and no other.

From Bingen to Mentz, the Rhine is very broad. This capital City of the first Electorate of the Empire is seated on the left Side of the Rhine, over which there’s a Bridge of Boats, that is pretended to be in the very same Place where Charlemaign caused one to be made of five hundred Paces in Length, in the Year 798. The Antiquarians of this City, in spite of the best Authors, will have it to be built by a Son of Japhet, or at least by a great Lord who escaped out of Troy. Be it as it will, ’tis very ancient, and has suffered, as almost all the Towns in the World have, great Revolutions. They say that St. Crescent, who was a Disciple of St. Paul, was its first Bishop. But what I know for a greater Certainty, is, that the Elector of Mentz is Archbishop, and Great Chancellor of the Empire. The Person who is now possessed of that eminent Dignity, is Philip-Charles, Baron of Eltz; who was chose unanimously on the Ninth of June last. He was a Capitular of the Metropolitan Churches of Mentz and Triers, Great Chanter of Mentz in the Year 1710, Suffragan to the Bishop of Triers, Provost of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Monstadt, a Privy Counsellor to the late Elector of Mentz, his Predecessor, and President of his Aulic Council. His Election by the Chapter of Mentz has been applauded by the whole Empire; but particularly by those who know this Prince’s Candour, and the Purity of his Morals. He succeeded Francis-Lewis of Neubourg, whose Predecessor was Francis-Lotharius, Count de Schonborn, who was also Bishop of Bamberg. This Prince, who has had this Dignity a long time, has caused his Capital City to be very much embellished, furnish’d it with good Fortifications, and put it into such a

Condition, that it may be looked upon as a powerful Bulwark of the Empire. The French had begun to fortify Mentz in 1688; and the Marshal d’Uxelles, who then commanded here for King Lewis XIV. put it into such a Condition, as to sustain a Siege of seven Weeks open Trenches against Duke Charles of Lorain, to whom he surrendered it by Capitulation. Most of the Works, cast up by the French, being only of Earth, were demolished, and others of Stone erected in their stead.