We next proceeded to Hof, where we arrived at ten o'clock, changed diligences, and had to stop for several hours before we could again get on our journey. On entering this town we passed by a large tea garden, situated on the side of a hill, at the bottom of which is a small river, that tends greatly to enliven the scenery. The town of Hof is in the kingdom of Bavaria, and the population is said to amount to 6,000, living in handsomely built houses. The main street that leads through it I should imagine is nearly a mile in length, and very wide; there appeared to be a fair in the town on this day, which occupied a great part of this street.
The cathedral is an ancient building; the entrance consists of a handsome Gothic door, the walls of which must be about eighteen feet in thickness. The town-hall is likewise a fine erection, and the houses and streets appeared all in clean and neat order.
From Dresden to Hof the country productions principally consist of agricultural produce; the potatoe and oats are extensively cultivated. A sharp frost this morning blackened all the potatoe tops.
At one o'clock we got into a Bavarian diligence, and proceeded to Berneck, a small town surrounded with beautiful scenery, that much reminded me of the Derbyshire rocks, to which in picturesque appearance it was fully equal.
Arrived next at Bayreuth, at eight o'clock in the evening; it is a town of considerable size, said to contain 10,000 inhabitants. On the diligence driving up to the inn door we found the space in front of it completely covered with a military band, and a large concourse of people listening to their music; this band belonged to a cavalry regiment that was on its march through the town. We next started for Nuremberg, where we arrived at half-past eight o'clock the following morning.
September 4th. On our arrival at Nuremberg, we found that we had to remain here for several hours before the diligence started again: we made the best use of our time, proceeding to St. Laurence's Church, a Gothic building, the doors and windows richly ornamented with groups of sculpture and other carved work in bronze; the painted glass is very handsomely executed. This church was begun in 1254 and is a most magnificent building. The tabernacle consists of a beautifully carved and richly ornamented spire, executed in 1496 of carved stonework. Although it has been converted into a Protestant church, yet the Catholic ornaments are still remaining. We next proceeded to view the Catholic church, which is likewise a very splendid Gothic building, erected in 1355, and the exterior walls richly ornamented. In the Market place, we were much gratified with a very pretty spiral fountain, richly carved, erected in 1356. The town-house is also a very fine old structure, containing many good paintings in the large and small hall. The fresco paintings in the latter apartment are beautifully executed on the ceilings and walls, which are also highly ornamented by gilt mouldings. The paintings in the great hall consist of various pieces of fresco, by the celebrated Albert Durer. The triumphal car of the emperor Maximilian, drawn by twelve horses, in beautiful fresco painting, and a very fair picture of the present king of Bavaria, by Byng of Munich, is also to be seen here.
From hence we went to the cathedral, in which is St. Sebald's Tomb, highly deserving of the stranger's notice. This church contains the oldest metal font in Germany; it was formerly used in baptising the emperor's children. The saint's tomb, by Fisher, is a masterpiece of workmanship, executed in 1508; there is also a curious figure of the artist himself. The tomb is a pretty Gothic structure, cast in bronze, and the body of the saint enclosed in a silver coffin, under an elegant Gothic canopy. We next proceeded to the picture gallery, which contains a good collection of paintings by German artists, in good preservation. From hence we went to the imperial castle, where there is growing a Lime tree, Tilia europæa, said to be seven hundred years old. I measured the girth of this tree, at four feet from the ground, and found it to be fifteen feet in circumference; it still appeared in a pretty healthy state.
The dining room in this ancient castle, formerly used by the king, is of large dimensions, and contains a large number of old paintings, which are in good preservation; the rooms although uninhabited for the last four hundred years are still in good condition. From the windows in this castle we have a beautiful prospect of the town as well as of a considerable extent of country. On our return from hence we visited the house in which Albert Durer resided, which is now converted into a gallery for modern paintings, exhibited for sale, many of which appeared to be most beautiful pieces of art, and objects of great interest to numerous visitors who were then present admiring them. By this time it was drawing near the hour we had to start by the diligence. We made the best of our way back to the hotel, and got all ready by one o'clock, the appointed hour of our departure from Nuremberg, which is a town of considerable size, containing a population of upwards of thirty thousand people.
In the environs are large tracts of ground under vegetable culture, but I was unable to learn of the existence of any botanic garden or good nursery establishment in the immediate neighbourhood. Large fields of tobacco were cultivated in the suburbs, as well as extensive plantations of the Hop, which appeared very prolific. The soil we passed from Nuremberg to Munich was more sandy than it previously had been; the scenery is also more flat and less varied than in our preceding stages.
Sept. 5. Arrived at Pfaffenhofen, at six o'clock in the morning. Near to this town large quantities of the Genista germanica, were growing close by the road-side, also the Dipsacus laciniatus, in great abundance. Approaching nearer to Munich, I observed growing in a plantation the Vaccinium Vitis Idæa, in great plenty, reminding me, from its occurrence, of the mountains of Scotland. The scenery in the vicinity of Munich, is of a great sameness, but the Tyrolese mountains appearing in the distance considerably add to its picturesque effect. We reached Munich at eleven o'clock, where we found some difficulty in getting apartments, the hotels being then so full of strangers.