BINGEN, Germany.—Bingen, a Hessian town of Prussia, with a population of 7100, is situated at the confluence of the Nahe and Rhine rivers. The Romans erected a castle here in 70, when a battle was fought between them and the Gauls. Bingen carries on a large trade in wine, starch and leather. The town is in a beautiful and highly picturesque country, and is visited by thousands of tourists during the summer season. On an island in the Rhine is the Mansethum, or "Rat Tower," a structure erected in the thirteenth century. Bingen is celebrated in song, poetry, story and history.
EHRENBREITSTEIN, Germany.—This small town, with five thousand three hundred inhabitants, prettily situated in a valley, is crowned with the fortresses of Ehrenbreitstein and Asterstein, which are connected with Coblenz by a bridge of boats, about four hundred yards in length. The majestic fortress of Ehrenbreitstein rises opposite the influx of the Moselle, and is situated on a precipitous rock, three hundred and eighty-five feet above the Rhine, inaccessible on three sides, and connected with the neighboring heights on the north side only. The view from the top is one of the finest on the Rhine. It embraces the fertile Rhine Valley from Stolzenfels to Andernach.
FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, Germany.—The above city, formerly one of the few independent towns of Germany, now belongs to Prussia. Old watch-towers in the vicinity indicate its ancient extent. The city lies on a spacious plain bounded by mountains, on the right bank of the navigable river Main. On the left bank lies Sachenhausen, a suburb connected with Frankfort by four stone bridges and one suspension bridge. In a commercial, and particularly a financial, point of view, Frankfort is one of the most important cities of Germany.
MARTIN LUTHER'S HOUSE, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany.—Here is a historic relic which justly excites the admiration of the beholder. This is where Martin Luther lived for a time after he had nailed to a church-door in Wittenberg the theses in which he contested the doctrine at the root of the detestable traffic carried on for the Pope by Tetzel and his accomplices. This brought to the front a man who had certainly many faults, but who amply made up for them by his force of intellect and the loftiness of his aims.
ARIADNE ON THE PANTHER, Bethmann's Museum, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany.—This exquisite piece of sculpture is the masterpiece of Dannecker, a sculptor of Stuttgart, who is likewise famous for his bust of Schiller. Of the many subjects sculptured by Dannecker, Ariadne, especially, has a peculiar charm of novelty, which has made it a European favorite in a reduced size. It is perhaps the contrast between the delicacy of the female human form and the subdued rude force of the panther she rides, that attracts the admiration.
UNIVERSITY BUILDING, Leipsic, Germany.—Leipsic is one of the great commercial cities of Germany, the centre of the German book-trade, the seat of the supreme law-courts of the German Empire, and contains one of the most ancient and important universities in Europe. The interior of the city consists of lofty and closely built houses, dating chiefly from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and is surrounded by five handsome suburbs, beyond which is a series of villages, almost adjacent to the town. The above picture represents one of the University buildings.
ROYAL PALACE, Berlin, Germany.—This palace, six hundred and fifty feet long, three hundred and eighty feet wide, and rectangular in form, rises in four stories to the height of one hundred feet, while the dome on the right is two hundred and thirty feet high. In the time of Frederick the Great, it served as a residence for all the members of the royal family, contained all the royal collections, and was the seat of several government officials. Now it is used for reception rooms, and a dwelling for royal officials. The exterior of the palace is massive and imposing; the interior is beautifully embellished.
BERLIN, Germany.—Berlin, the capital of Prussia and the home of the emperor, with its large and beautiful buildings and its regularity of streets, ranks among the finest cities in Europe. The most noted street is that called "Unter den Linden," the city's pride, a broad and imposing thoroughfare, resembling the boulevards of Paris. It contains four rows of trees, ornamented at one end by the Brandenburg Gate, and at the other by the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great, well represented by this photograph. The palace of the king, different gardens, the aquarial museum and many other noted buildings border on "Unter den Linden," which is nearly a mile long, and thronged all day with pedestrians.
STATUE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT, Berlin, Germany.—This impressive and masterly work was erected in 1851 at one end of the "Linden," and is probably the grandest monument of its kind in Europe. The great King is represented on horse-back, with his coronation-robes and walking-stick. The pedestal is divided into four sections. The upper one contains allegorical figures and scenes in Frederick's life, with the figures Moderation, Justice, Wisdom and Strength at the corners; the second section contains figures of the King's officers, and the lower section, the names of other distinguished men.
THE BRANDENBURG GATE, Berlin, Germany.—The Brandenburg Gate, forming the entrance to Berlin, from the Thiergarten, was erected in 1793 in imitation of the Propylæa at Athens. It is 85 feet high and 205 feet wide, and has five different passages, separated by massive Doric columns. It is at the one end of "Unter den Linden," and its middle passage is reserved for royal carriages only. The material is sandstone, and it is surmounted by a Quadriga of Victory from copper, taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1807, but restored in 1814. On the side are two wings resembling Grecian Temples, one of which is a pneumatic post-office and the other a guard-house. Both combine in their construction, strength, elegance and beauty.