The valley of the convent of the Lichenthal is approached by an avenue of shady oaks, commencing at the south end of the town. The nunnery was founded in 1245 by the Margravine Irmengard, and preserved when the other religious houses were secularised. The founder and many of the princesses of her race spent their days here in calm retirement. It is of the order of the Cistercians. The older and smaller of the two churches, called the Funeral Chapel, has buried within it many of the Margraves and their families, over whose ashes are raised curious monuments, with their sculptured and marked effigies. It has been renewed and redecorated with many paintings of the old German School; the most remarkable in the collection are those painted by Hans Balding, whose daughter died a nun in the cloister.

The large building lying at the left side of the yard, is now the Orphan House, founded by Baron Stultz, the London tailor. The cloister has a very melancholy appearance, and is separated by a rushing stream from Mount Cecilia, which throws its shade over the solitary fabric; several walks lead to the top of the mount, from which a magnificent panoramic view of the hills and mountain in the direction of Baden will be enjoyed.

Near Lichtenthal are the convent and village of Oberbeuren, lying at the entrance of a beautiful and picturesque valley, which stretches with its neat cottages and rural residences along the other bank of the rivulet. The valley abounds in scenes of quiet loveliness, sylvan magnificence, and the lover of nature will find himself well repaid by an excursion through it. You may proceed in a carriage as far as the picturesque village of GeroldF sau, from which visitors can walk to the waterfall called the Butte, generally dried up in summer, but the walk is pleasant and worth having.

A pedestrian disposed to make a tour of 12 or 14 miles might walk on hence to Yburg, and thence to Geroldsau over the hills, returning to Baden by Lichtenthal, but a guide will be necessary for this. A carriage and two horses, costing about 10 marks, will take the traveller, not having much time to spare, to the principal objects of attraction in and around Baden, in about six hours. He first visits the old Schloss on foot, occupying about three hours, and drives thence to Neu Eberstein by

The road leads past an excellently cultivated country-seat of the Margrave William of Baden, and thence through the villages of Rothenfels and Gaggenau. The latter place has a glass house, worth seeing. Behind the little town of Gernsbach you see, pouring down on you between fir trees, the famous castle of Neu Eberstein, projecting from a rugged crag, and so situated as to have enabled its possessors in former days to command the passage of the valley and stream. It was rebuilt about thirty years since on the old foundations, and is antiquely furnished and ornamented with Gothic furniture, armour, painted glass, &c. It is the summer residence of the Grand Duke, and strangers are freely admitted to see it. The prospect is unique, both in an eastern and western direction, and there is scarcely a spot in Germany comparable to it. A zig-zag road leads from the castle gate to the Murg, giving a shorter footpath to

Der Klingel, or White Chapel.

Behind Weissenbach, whose churchyard peers down upon you from a shady hill, the road rises higher and higher, along over rocks with steep precipices, and the roaring river, soon lost amidst wild cliffs through which it has burst its way. The valley grows wilder and more picturesque the nearer we approach to Langenbrand. From here a short league takes us to Gernsbach, presenting all the appearance of a Swiss village. Here the road is enclosed by mountains on the left, touching on the right a chasm into which the Murg thunders its furious waters, maddened by the huge blocks of granite impeding its current. We soon arrive at the last village belonging to Baden,

Forbach (Inn: Krone). Here all the beauties of the Murg pass away like a shadow before us. Forbach, which is 12 miles from Baden, terminates the day's excursion for parties intending to

return to Baden. But it may be well to observe, that for those whose time does not hasten them on,

the valley of the Burg is the door to the other magnificent valleys of the Black Forest.

A few miles beyond Forbach the Baumenzach rushes down, over broken rocks into the Murg. Here amidst impervious mountains is the basin or species of tank, Schevellung, containing 1,500,000 cubic feet of water. At its extreme end the Murg loses all interest. Arriving at the post station Schönmünznach, we reach the frontier of Würtemberg. See BRADSHAW's Hand-Book to Germany.

ROUTE 30.

Baden to Strassburg.

Baden, see Route 29. At a distance of 20 miles from the junction at Oos, we come to

Appenweier (Station), on the Great Baden Railway, whence a line branches off to the right to Kehl, before arriving at which we pass Kork (Station).

Kehl (Station).--Population, 2,200.

Hotel: Weisses Lamm.

A small village, once a German fortress, situated on the bank of the Rhine, where it joins the Kinzig and Schutter. It is now dismantled, after having been burned and razed on many occasions by the French, against whom it was chiefly erected as a fortress.

The rail passes on to Strassburg, by a viaduct over the river, on which the Custom-houses, marking the old border line of Germany and France, used to stand. The blowing up of this viaduct by the Germans was one of the first acts in the warwhich ended so disastrously for France, and made the Rhine an almost entirely German river.

Opposite Strassburg, upon an island, which here divides the Rhine into two arms, is the Monument erected by the army of the Rhine to General Dessaix; on the left a bridge of boats connects the main land with the island. Kehl is 2 miles distant from Strassburg, which is reached in a quarter

of an hour.

Strassburg, see Route 28.

Offenburg to Constance, through the Black Forest, by Schaffhausen, the Kinzigthal, and Donaueschingen.

Distance from Offenburg to Schaffhausen, 102 English miles, and thence to Constance, 30 English miles.

Offenburg (Station) on the Frankfort and Bâle line (see Route 28). Here the people have erected a memorial statue to "Sir Francis Drake," as the supposed introducer of the potato into Europe. Starting on our route we proceed in an eastern direction to the rear of Offenburg, the charming valley of the Kinzigthal. At the opening of the vale further on, we pass Ortenburg with the picturesque ruins of an old castle. Here grows the most excellent red wine in the Grand Duchy of Baden.

Gengenbach (Station)-Inns: Badischer Hof; Adler; Salm.--Once an imperial town, with a late Abbey of Benedictines, now secularised. From Offenburg to this place the valley offers a great many beautiful views on either bank of the Kinzig. The town has 2,500 inhabitants, and its most remarkable buildings are the Cloister, the Guild Hall, the Merchants' Hall, the New Hospital, and the Church of St. Mark. The Church of the Behind Gengenbach,

Cloister is a beautiful one. the valley gradually narrows, but at the same time begins to present a more picturesque and agreeable appearance-the mountains clothed in deep verdure, appearing closer at every step, closes the charming meadow ground washed by the Kinzig, and forming the valley.

Bieberach (Station)-Inns: Krone; Sonne, on the left bank of the river, close to Hausach. A lateral valley from here takes the tourist to Zell, on the Hammersbach, remarkable for its porcelain manufactory. Further up in the valley we

come to

Haslach (Station)-Inn: Kreuz, near a place with 1,800 inhabitants, formerly the residence of the members of the house of Fürstenberg, to which Haslach and the neighbouring Hausach belong.

Hausach (Station).--Should the traveller here follow the road (instead of the rail) as more inter

esting, he will find it verges at first to the left, taking you through the Black Forest to the romantic valley of Schappach, at the extremity of which are the baths of Ruppoldsau, lying at the foot of the Kniebis. The small town of Wolfach lies at the opening of that valley, and a considerable trade in timber is carried on by the inhabitants.

The direct road which we pursue on our route leads in a south-easterly direction, through a country presenting a Swiss appearance to

Hornberg (Station)-Inns: Post and Bearsituated under a height, with 1,100 inhabitants. The town of Hornberg formerly belonged to Würtemberg, but is now under the sway of Baden. It lies in a narrow ravine, 1,290 feet above sea, under a height surmounted by an old castle. Here the hill country of the Black Forest and the finest part of its scenery begin, among deep glens and pine woods, now traversed by the Forest line of rail made by Herr Gerwig, the designer of the St. Gothard line, with which this will be in connection. About 3,500 men were employed on the works across the plateau of the Sommerau or water shed of the Rhine and Danube, 2,780 feet above sea; and thirty-eight tunnels have been made, of a total length of 30,000 feet, the longest one being 5,600 feet. This watershed gives name to Sommerau (Station), the summit one on the line, towards which it ascends from Eisenberg like a corkscrew. Another station between this and Villingen is Hirsach (Station).

The road from Hornberg to the next town leads up the valley of the Gutach, winding in immense curves until it suddenly carries you to the entrance of the little town of

Triberg-Inn: Schwarzwald.-A place with 800 inhabitants, romantically situated off the high road, and hemmed in by lofty precipices. Triberg is the principal market for the clocks of the Black Forest, and for the yellow-coloured straw hats worn by the peasantry. Over 200,000 of these clocks are yearly exported, under the name of Dutch clocks, to the various countries of Europe, and to America and China. The Waterfall will attract attention as a very pretty cascade. It is formed by the mountain brooks which unite, and from one of the precipices hemming ¡in the town, pour their waters into the chasm below,

causing a great number of small cascades. Its singularity renders it as deserving of being seen as any of the Swiss waterfalls, and it is really one of the most noteable spots of the Black Forest. The mountains are partly covered with dark fir-trees, and every object has an Alpine appearance.

St. Georgen-Inn: Adler.-The only object worth notice is the old Benedictine Abbey, burnt by the Duke of Würtemberg, because the monks would profess the Lutheran doctrine, but another was soon erected again, and the ruins of the old one preserved. From here the road inclines to a descent until we reach rail again at

Villingen (Station)-Inns: Blume; Lilie; Falke. A small market town with a population of 3,870, and 42 miles north-west of Constance. The town itself presents the appearance of a square intersected at right angles by two principal streets, at each end of which there is a gate. Near Swenningen, 4 miles east of this place, is the source of the Neckar. We are now in a country that can fairly be called cascade land, so plentifully does it abound in fountains and waterfalls; the reservoirs of the Black Forest feed the two principal rivers in Europe, the Rhine and Danube. The two extremities of a Continent receive the melted snow flakes of its ridges, and in many instances the water drops of its houses find their way in one direction to the German Ocean, and in another to the Black Sea, though they originally melted and dropped within a stone's jerk of each other.

Donaueschingen (Station)—Inns: Schütze; Falke. The capital of the principality of Baar, once the property of the Prince of Fürstenberg, a mediatised prince, whose Palace is the principal building of the town, which contains 3,150 inhabitants. Collections of minerals, arms, books (80,000 volumes), prints, &c., at the new Karlsbau. In the garden of the palace is the Source of the Danube, a circular basin of clear sparkling water, conducted through a channel under ground for about fifty yards into the Briegach, from this spot called the Danube. Though the two upper streams, the Brege and the Briegach, are long, yet they are not known as the Danube until they join the stream of the castle garden, but for which, despite the length of their course, thev would be

liable to be exhausted: hence the claim of this court-yard basin to be called the source of the Danube is very obscure.

The country for miles around Donaueschingen is moist and marshy, the seat of innumerable springs, all flowing to the Danube. At Hülfingen, about a mile from this place, our road crosses the Brege, which is joined by the Briegach, a mile further down, and considered the chief stream of the Danube.

Hence to Constance by rail, winding round by Geisengen (Station) and Engen (Station)--remarkable as the spot whence the Austrians were defeated by Moreau in 1800, both sides losing 7,000 men. The height of Hohenhöwen, an extinct volcano, was occupied by the Austrians, who were driven from it by the French. At Singen (Station) the lines to Schaffhausen and Constance part off. From Donaueschingen, the direct road to Schaffhausen leads through a bare and open country in the midst of which we see to the left the ruined castle of Fürstenberg. We pass the small village of Riedböhringen and Blumberg, a miserable post house, near which is the Custom House. The ascent and descent of the Rande, a very steep hill, occupies this stage. A magnificent view can be enjoyed from the summit o the hill, the spot near the wooden cross. On the left we see the mountains and extinct volcanoes known as the Hohenstoffeln, Hohenkrähe, and Hohentweil, and in the same direction the lake of Constance unfolds its charms to the eyes, whilst the towers of Constance and the snow-capped hills of Switzerland add beautifully to the background of the picture. Midway down is the Custom House of the Baden frontier. Just beyond, the road enters Switzerland, and passes through a valley to

Schaffhausen (Station).-Hotels:

In the town-Hotel de la Couronne (Krone); Hotel Rhein.; Müller's Hotel.

At the Fall, near Neuhausen (Station)-Hotel Schweizerhof,; Hotel du Chateau de Laufen; Belle

Vue.

Steamers daily to Constance.

For the Falls of the Rhine, &c., see BRADSHAW'S Hand-Book to Switzerland.-Population, 11,600.

The rail to Constance which crosses the Baden frontier, repasses

Singen (Station)—as above. Here we pass at the base of the Hohentweil, formerly a famous old castle, and in latter times, a mountain fortress of the late Dukes of Wurtemberg, which, however, is now dismantled and standing in ruins on a lofty rock.

Radolfzell (Station)-Inn: Post Housewhere the line from Ulm comes in. The town itself is a miserable hole, situated at the end of the extreme branch of the lake of Constance, known as the "Unter See." It contains a very fine old Church, in the German Gothic style.

Petershausen-situated on the right bank of the Rhine, which here from a lake becomes a river, was under the Empire a free abbey. Crossing the Rhine near a wooden bridge we reach

CONSTANCE (Station), the German Constanz, in Baden territory.-Inns:

Constanzerhof, on the Lake, in a fine situation. Insel or Island Hotel, on the Lake; formerly a Convent.

Hotel du Brochet (Hecht Hotel), first-class.

It is situated at the north-west extremity of the Bodensee, or Lake of Constance, on the left bank of the river, on the site of the Roman Constantia of the commencement of the fourth century. It was considerably improved after the middle of the sixth century; and flourished as a free imperial town in its trade and manufactures throughout the middle ages. It is dull and monotonous, but the deep interest attached to its historical traditions cannot fail to make it an agreeable sojourn of a day or two. It formerly contained 40,000 inhabitants, but has, at the present time, not more than a population of 13,355. It has, however, begun to improve lately, and the government have formed a port on the lake, which, whilst adorning the town, is also useful for the purposes of extending and promoting prosperity and trade in all the departments of their industrial pursuits and energies. It has been formed at an immense cost.

The Minster is the principal church in the town, and is a gothic structure erected in 1052, in a cruciform shape, except the sixteen columns that support the nave, each hewn out of a single block, 18 feet high, which date from the 13th

century. The platform of the steeple affords a delightful and extensive view of the distant shores of Suabia and the Vorarlberg, at whose back you see on one side the mountains and the seven hills of Graubünden, and on the other the chain of the Appenzell. Circular arches in the Romanesque style flank the nave, in the centre of which, close to the pulpit, a stone attracts your attention. That is the spot on which the martyred Huss stood when receiving sentence of death by the state from the wretched men who constituted themselves his judges. A remarkable tomb of English brass stands in front of the grand altar. Beneath it lie interred the mortal remains of Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury, who attended the council with a deputation from the English church. He is represented as wearing the order of the Garter.

The stalls of the choir will deeply interest the visitor, who cannot fail to be delighted with the exquisite carvings ornamenting them. The death of the Virgin, represented by life-like figures, in the north transept, is worth inspection, as also the beautiful tracery work of the still existing sides of the ancient cloisters. A circus like building s seen in one of their angles, and in its centre a round room, in the Gothic style, containing a number of curiously devised scriptural figures. It is used for the commemoration services of the passion, on Good Friday. In the sacristy are some very curious relics, Brabant lace, and a beautiful mantelpiece. The cupboards or presses in the upper vestry-room will attract notice.

The Dominican Convent, now the Insel Hotel, stands upon a little island, once a Roman fortification. In it is shewn the spot where Huss's stone prison, now removed to the Kaufhaus, stood. The church, chapter house, and cloisters, form very picturesque ruins.

The Hall of the Kaufhaus will be ever memorable as the place within whose portals was held the famous Council of Constance, in 1414-18, consisting of thirty princes and cardinals, four patriarchs, 20 archbishops, 150 bishops, 200 doctors of divinity, and a host of other secular and clerical dignitaries. The readers of history are familiar with the acts of this council, which deposed the infamous John XXIII. and Benedict XIII., electing Martin V. instead. No time can ever obliterate, nor blot out

its infamy and horrible cruelty in sending to the stake Jerome of Prague and John Huss. Their unprincipled and treacherous seizure and barbarous murder will ever remain as incentives to execrate and detest the memories and principles of the civil and ecclesiastical monsters who sent them to the faggot, and condemned them to torture. Though centuries have rolled by since the crime was perpetrated, the murder is not forgotten, nor the memory of these heroic men less enshrined in the affectionate respect of the high-minded and just, because they were murdered for the sake of a principle.

The curiosities of the Hall are the chairs in which sat the emperor and pope, Huss's Bible, a model of his dungeon, the car on which he was drawn to execution, the figure of Abraham, that supported the pulpit in the minster, and other relics of the council, besides a collection of Roman and German antiquities. Parties are charged 1fl. for admission.

The house in which Huss had apartments is seen in the Paul's Strasse, near the Schnetzthor. He was imprisoned first in the Franciscan Convent, but was soon conveyed to the stone dungeon in the Dominican convent. In the suburb of Brühl, outside the town, is the field in which he suffered death with heroic fortitude. The spot is shewn where the stake was placed, and earthen images of Huss and Jerome are offered for sale.

In Constance was negotiated the treaty of peace between the Swiss confederation and Sigismund, of Austria, and signed at Aarberg, in July, 1415. The house behind the Hotel Hecht, with the beautiful Gothic window, is that where the emperor lodged The treaty of Pressburg, in 1815, transferred Constance from Austria to Baden, and since 1802 it has ceased to be an Episcopal see.

The navigation of Lake Constance is accomplished by seven or eight steamers, which keep up a communication several times a day with the principal places upon its banks. The traffic upon this lake has received a considerable impetus from the formation of a port at Friedrichshafen, and the southern terminus of the Würtemberg railway; and by the completion of the Bavarian railway to Lindau, by which it is brought into communication with Munich and the rest of Germany.