Among the secular buildings of note are the Rathaus, with varied architectural styles, and the Kaufhaus, where the Imperial councils were held in former days.
The noble historic stream upon which the city stands, “Father Rhine,” flows through its finest scenery above Cologne, among the Siebengebirge heights.
“Beneath these battlements, within those walls
Power dwelt amidst her passions; in proud state
Each robber chief upheld his armed halls,
Doing his evil will, nor less elate
Than mightier heroes of a longer date.
What want these outlaws conquerors should have?
But history’s purchas’d page to call them great?
A wider space and ornamented grave?
Their hopes were not less warm, their souls were full as brave.”
So wrote Byron in his verses upon the majestic river, whose “castle crags,” and wooded glens have been described again and again by poets of many nations.
The Rhine has a life and a population of its own. On its banks are the homesteads of vine-growers and farmers, while fishermen ply their craft in its prolific waters. Upon the river itself float the voyagers in sea vessels, and the enormous timber-rafts, which are one of the curious sights of the Rhine. A steamboat trip on the river will delight the tourist, but he should leave the boat at Bonn, for below that old town the stream flows through a tame, featureless country.
I must not forget the celebrated perfume for which Cologne is famous. The spirit known as Eau de Cologne was the invention of Farina in the seventeenth century. It is still manufactured in the city, and provides an industry for a large number of people. George Meredith’s novel, “Farina,” comes to mind as we wander in Cologne, and note the name of the discoverer of the world-famous scent.
Every visitor to the city should read “Farina,” for its vivid description of the life there, “in those lusty ages when the Kaisers lifted high the golden goblet of Aachen, and drank, elbow upward, the green-eyed wine of old romance.”
Here is Meredith’s picture of Cologne, on the eve of battle: “The market-places were crowded with buyers and sellers, mixed with a loitering swarm of soldiery, for whose thirsty natures wine-stalls had been tumbled up. Barons and knights of the empire, bravely mounted and thickly followed, poured hourly into Cologne from South Germany and North. Here staring Suabians, and red-featured warriors of the East Kingdom, swaggered up and down, patting what horses came across them, for lack of occupation for their hands. Yonder huge Pomeranians, with bosks of beard stiffened out square from the chin, hurtled mountainous among the peaceable inhabitants.”
HEIDELBERG
TO think of Heidelberg is to think of learning. One of the first of European universities was established in this town by the Elector Rupert; and here culture has flourished for centuries, in spite of repeated sieges and a long history of disasters. What a grim story is that of yonder old grey castle that frowns upon Heidelberg across the River Neckar. Wars and rumours of wars form the chief chronicles of this ancient town from the days of the Electors Palatine of the Rhine to the invasion of the French.