After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819

by William Edward Frye

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is an ancient Gothic city of venerable appearance. The houses are very solid in structure, and the streets sufficiently broad to give to the city a cheerful appearance. There are some suburbs added to it, built in the modern taste, which embellish it greatly. A large Place outside the old town, called the Carolinen-Platz, presents a number of villas disposed in the form of a circus. In these suburbs the people assemble on holidays and Sundays, to smoke and drink beer, of which a great quantity is consumed, it being the favorite and national beverage. From the lively scene of the lower class of the bourgeoisie, male and female, meeting here in the Biersschanks and Tanzsaale I was reminded of the lines in Faust:

Gewiss man findet hier
Die schönsten Mädchen, und das beste Bier,

which may be thus rendered:

Here let us halt! 'tis here we're sure to find
Beer of the best and maidens fair and kind!

There are other very agreeable promenades outside the town, laid out as jardins anglais, the garden of Ostenwald for instance; and should you wish to extend your walk further, there is Nymphenburg, a royal Palace and gardens, just one league distant from the city.

The Residenz-schloss or Palace of the King is a solid building. The interior is well worth seeing. There is a superb saloon with a vast number of valuable miniatures appended to the wainscoating. An enormously heavy bed, groaning with gold and silver embroidery and pearls and which is said to weigh a ton, is to be seen here. There is a very good collection of pictures, chiefly portraits, of the Electoral, now Royal family. There is a fine chapel too belonging to this palace; a superb staircase of marble, and some fine old tapestry representing the actions of Otto von Wittelsbach. There is likewise a curious miniature copy of Trajan's column in gold and incrusted with precious stones, besides a variety of other things of value.

There are two theatres in Munich; one called the Hof or Court theatre, where there is a company of comedians for tragedy and comedy, the expences of which are defrayed principally by the King. The boxes are generally let to the nobility and the parterre is open to every body on payment. I witnessed the representation of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro. The King was present and was greeted with much affection. He has a very benignant expression of countenance. He is much beloved by his subjects, for he has governed them paternally. He has given to them a constitution unasked; for they were so contented with the old Government, that they desired no change; but he, with his usual good sense, saw the propriety of consulting and complying with the spirit of the age. A German writer of some eminence at the time of the French Revolution, when the aristocrats and alarmists of all countries were crying out against it, and proposing harsh measures to arrest its progress, said: "Sovereigns of Europe, do you wish to set bounds to the progress of French principles? Nothing can be more simple; you have only to govern your people like Maximilian of Bavaria and Frederick of Saxony, and your subjects will never desire a change."

At the German (national) theatre which is a fair sized one, I saw a tragedy performed called Der Wald bey Herman-stadt (the Forest near Hermanstadt),[122] It was an interesting piece taken from a feudal legend. The part of Elisene was performed by Mlle Vohs, a very good actress. I missed very much one thing in Munich, and that is the want of cafés like those in France and Italy, which have so brilliant an appearance. They make coffee here at the inns; and there are two or three dull places up one pair of stairs, where they play at billiards, and make as indifferent coffee as is made in England. The hour of dining at Munich is in general one o'clock. A slice of ham or sausage with beer form the goûter, usually taken at five or six o'clock; and at nine follows a supper as solid as the dinner. The Germans are not loungers as the French and Italians, who, for the most part, spend all their spare time in coffee-houses. When I mentioned to a Bavarian that I could find no cafés in Munich resembling those in France and Italy, he said with emphasis! Gott bewahre (God forbid)! I could not help thinking he was in the right; for those splendid cafés are very seducing to young people and tend to encourage a life of idleness and to keep them from their studies. The lower bourgeoisie and Stubenmädchen (maidservants) wear a singular head dress. It is made of stuff worked with silver or gold and resembles two horns sticking out one at each ear. This head dress must be costly. This class of women wear also on fête days gold crosses, collars and earrings.

The Bavarians seem a frank, honest set of people, tho' sometimes a little rough, in their exterior deportment. The character of Otto of Wittelsbach, in the tragedy of that name, gives the best idea of the Bavarian character.

I have made acquaintance here with a Mr F——-, an Austrian gentleman, and two Polish gentlemen, the one an officer and the other a medical man. They are brothers and had both served in the French army. We have agreed to travel to Vienna together on board of the raft which starts every week from Munich to Vienna. This raft brings to every day between twelve o'clock and two near some town or village on the banks of the river, in order to allow the passengers to dine, and anchors every evening at seven o'clock near some town or village to sup and sleep. You have only to tell the Flossmeister, or Master of the Raft, at what inn you mean to put up, or if you have no preference, he will recommend you one; and at five the next morning he goes his rounds to the different inns to collect his passengers, and at six gets under weigh.