(a) From Lutterbach, as above, a branch railway goes off through Cernay (4 miles), a sweet spot (population, 4,000), near the sterile tract of Ochsenfeld, to Thann (3 miles), a town of 5,960 cotton printers, &c., on the Thur, at the entrance of St. Amarin's valley, under one of the Vosges hills, which has remains of Engelbourg castle on it. It contains several ancient houses, and St. Thibault's fine cathedral-like church, with a sculptured doorway, and a steeple 328 feet high, built 1516. Vin de Rang is produced here. ROUTE C. Metz to Forbach and Mannheim. For the first part of this Route from Nancy, see BRADSHAW's Hand-Book to France. METZ STATION, 25 miles from Nancy, 100 miles from Mannheim. Hotels.-Hotel de l'Europe, a first-rate hotel for families and gentlemen. Table d'Hôte, 4 fr. Grand Hotel de Metz, an excellent hotel, combining every kind of comfort with reasonable prices-recommended. The buffet at the station, which is half a mile from the town, is good. Omnibuses and other vehicles convey passengers to the hotels. Pop., 57,713. Chief town of German Lorraine (late department Moselle), a first-class fortress, head-quarters of a military division, seat of a bishopric, &c., in a flattish spot on a bend of the Moselle, where the Seille joins it at the old threearch bridge of Pont des Bas Grilles. It was the capital of the Mediomatrici in Roman times (whence comes the present name), and of Austrasie under Clovis. Afterwards it was held sometimes by the French and sometimes by the German Emperors, annexed to France in spite of a long siege by Charles V., in 1522, and strongly fortified with works by Vauban and Cormontaigne, including the Double Couronne, and Belle Croix Forts, built 1728-31. One of its nine Gates, Porte St. Thiébaut, leads on the Esplanade, near the citadel, which is laid out with walks and trees, and commands a fine prospect of the river and country, with its vineyards and woodland. In the Franco-German war of 1870-71, Metz made an important figure. The Emperor Napoleon arrived here 28th July, issued a proclamation to his army, and marched to the frontier, where Saarbrück was taken 2nd August, in presence of the Prince Imperial. Mac Mahon being defeated at Weissenburg and Woerth, the French under Bazaine, retreated towards Metz and Chalons, pursued by the Germans, who obtaind two great victories over them on the 16th August, at Mars-la-Tour, or Vionville, and on 18th, at Gravelotte, or Rezonville, all places within a few miles of Metz. Finding it impossible to cut through the German forces, Bazaine retired into Metz, which was completely invested by 23rd August. On 1st September (the day before Sedan), he was repulsed in a great sortie; and again on the 7th October. Finally he capitulated on the 27th October, when three marshals (Bazaine, Canrobert, and Leboeuf), with thousands of officers, and 170,000 men (20,000 being sick and wounded) laid down their arms and were transported as prisoners to Germany. The German forces entered the town 31st October, and it is now annexed to the Rhine Provinces by treaty of 1st March, 1871. A semi-circular connecting line of rail was made by the Germans during the investment; and the fortifications have been strengthened. Several quays line the rivers which are crossed by as many as seventeen Bridges-as the Pont des Morts, &c., some being very short and old-fashioned, with water-mills upon them. The Places Napoléon, de la Comédie, and Moselle, are the best squares. In Place Ste. Croix is the old Church of the Trinity, now the Protestant Temple. Most of the streets are narrow and dirty; the houses are chiefly of stone, two or three storeys high, and some curiously carved, especially in Place St. Louis. The noble Cathedral, in Place d'Armes, with its flying buttresses, &c., was begun in 1014, by Bishop Thierri, but not finished till 1546. It is pierced with a great number of windows-many beautifully stained, by Busch, 1526. Its length is 393 fect: width of nave 51 feet (of the transepts, 46 feet): the two side chapels of the choir are 53 feet by 50 while the Gothic spire, built in 1427, is just a high as the church is long, and carries an in mense bell, called La Mutte, weighing about 28,600 lbs. The very old font is called Cuve de César (Cæsar's Tub). Several councils were held here between 590 and 1280. Four or five other churches are of old date. That of St. Martin offers a variety of styles, from the earliest down to that of the sixteenth century. One of the Knights Templars' round churches is in the large Arsenal, which stands on the site of an abbey of the tenth century, and contains, besides 80,000 stand of arms, &c., a famous bronze culverin, taken at Ehrenbreitstein, 15 feet long, 17 inches wide at the muzzle; it weighs 28,717 lbs., and the shot is 176 lbs. A Military School, for young officers, is attached to the Arsenal (once part of St. Arnold's abbey), with a military library of 10,000 vols., besides charts, maps, and MS. treatises. The hotel of the Regimental School of Artillery is a handsome building, completed in 1852. There are also extensive barracks, magazines (that for bedding is the Abbey of Clement, built in the sixteenth century by an Italian architect): and a military hospital-the latter an immense building, begun by Louis XV., large enough for 1,500 patients, and which would accommodate 1,800. The Palace de Justice (once the Hôtel de l'Intendance, begun it is said by a Duke of Suffolk), is an extensive structure, near the esplanade and the river. The old church of Petits Carmes contains the museum and the public library of 30,000 volumes (many of them early printed books) besides 800 MSS. The Hôtel de Ville, a simple but good building, was finished 1771, from the designs of Blondel. It has some portraits. Other buildings are the new Préfecture, the Hôtel de Monnaies (mint), the college, and priests' seminary, both large edifices; theatre, &c. The covered market was begun for the archbishop's palace in 1785. Near the Mayen Pont is part of an old tower, close to the Fontaine des Pucelles. For a long time Metz has been one of the chief seats of the Jews, who have had a rabbi and a rabbinical school here. The Romans constructed an amphitheatre and a naumachia (for sea fights) here, but the traces are almost gone. An aqueduct went out to the south-west, of which several arches remain at Jouey (8 kil.) on the Moselle, as mentioned above. Among its eminent natives are Marshal Fabert, a noble creature, whose statue is o-(Belgium.) on Place Napoleon; Generals Kellerman, Custines, and Lallemand; Bouchette, who was war minister under the convention; Barbé Marbois, one of Napoleon's ministers; La Vaillant, the naturalist; Raspail, the chemist; and Mademoiselle Tastu, the poetess. Manufactures of leather, cotton, linen, woollencloth, muslin, nails, stained papers, &c.; trade in these, and wines, eau-de-vie, excellent beer and comfitures, drugs, spices, &c. Conveyances to Siarck Boulay, and Verdun by rail to Thionville. A direct rail is in progress to Verdun, by way of Amanvillers. Omnibuses to the pretty village of Moulins. In the neighbourhood of Metz are also the rock of Roche-Rudotte, in the valley of Mance; the Château of Montignyles-Metz; the cascade on the Digne of Wadrineau, Gravelotte, as above mentioned, &c. [Etain (40 kil. west-north-west), on the Ornes, in the middle of the fertile plain of Voëvre, which belonged to St. Euchane's Abbey at Triêves, in the seventh century, and was given up to the Duke of Lorraine by the peace of Ryswick, 1697. It has a good Hôtel de Ville. About 18 kil. west-southwest of it is Verdun.] From Metz, on the railway to Forbach (towards Frankfort) you pass Peltre Station (4 miles), which was for a time the head-quarters of the allied powers in 1815. Courcelles Station (44 miles), or Courcellesless-Chaussy, on the Nied. Here the Germans won the battle of Pange, 14th August, 1870. Remilly Station (5 miles), has a pinnacled church. Herny Station (4 miles). Faulquemont Station (7 miles), or Falkenburg, in German (Falcon's Hill), was once the head of a marquisate. St. Avold Station (6 miles), a pretty little place of 3,600 pop., under the Bliesberg, once a fortified post of Lorraine; with some mineral springs, and cloth manufactures. After crossing the Rosselle two or three times, and the neighbouring ravines, where the works were heavy and difficult, you come to Hombourg Station (4 miles), or Hombourgle-Bas, at the bottom of a hill, which has on th top the ruined château of Hombourg l'Évêque, called the Guerite du Monde. Population, 2,040. Cocheren Station (44 miles). Forbach Station (34 miles), on the Prussian frontier, with a custom house, and remains of a château fort on Schossberg hill, under which the town is built. Pop. 4,830, who make pipes, glass, and hardware. It was occupied by the Germans, 6th August, 1870, after their success at Weissenburg. Coaches to Sarreguemine, Bitche, Robach, Niederbronn. [At 16 miles to the south-east is SARREGUEMINE, a sous-préfecture of 5,400 souls, on the Sarre, where the Blièse falls in, which was called Guemonde, and had a Capuchin convent, founded by Duke Leopold, 1621, now turned into a Hôtel de Ville, college, &c. It is noted for tabatières en carton (pasteboard snuff boxes), of which 100,000 dozens are sold; good pottery is also made. Hotel: Couronne d'Or (Gold Crown). The glass works of St. Louis are near]. At 9 kil. beyond Forbach is Sarrebruck (in Prussia), whence the rail continues to Mannheim, Heidelberg, Mayence (in 5 to 7 hours), and Frankfort. This small place, on the Sarre, was bombarded and taken by the French, 2nd August, 1870, in presence of the Emperor and his son, who here received his "baptism of fire." It was soon recaptured by the Germans. Lower down the river is Sarrelouis, worth notice as being the place where the first death occurred after the declaration of war. On 21st July a French sentinel fired at a Prussian védette, but missing him he was shot by the Prussian. ROUTE D. Metz to Thionville (thence to Trèves, Luxembourg), Montmédy, Sedan, Mézières. Distance to Mézières about 177 kil., or 110 miles. To Thionville, by rail, 20 miles, four trains daily. The line passes various sites which figured in the war of 1870-1. Metz Station, on the Nancy and Forbach branch. The line turns round the fortifications, crosses the Mozelle on a handsome bridge, and reaches Devant-les-Ponts Station (5 miles), in the environs. Then across a plain, with wooded hills on both sides, to Mézières Station (5 miles), on the Moselle. Hagondange Station (3 miles), from which is a tram road up the pretty valley of the Orne. At Uckange Station (3 miles), conveyances should be taken for Hayange and Longwy, described below. [HAYANGE (10 kil. west-north-west), is an industrious village, in a preity spot, on the Feusch, among ironworks and mines. A tramroad leads to it, past the Chandebourg mineral spring. 19 kil. to the west, is BRIEY, a small sous-préfecture, on a hill side over the Wagot, a branch of the Orne.] Thionville Station (11 kil.), a fortified port of the third class, where Pepin l'Heristal had a seat, which Charlemagne used to visit, in a flat part of the Moselle. After being held by the Spaniards, it was taken by Condé, 1643; the Prussians captured it 1792, and held it again in 1815. It surrendered to the German forces 24th November, 1870. Here are many old houses of the sixteenth century; a Place d'Armes, surrounded by barracks and a manége for cavalry; a large parish church; halle au blé (corn market); works for steam engines a college, botanic gardens, &c. The old covered bridge on the Moselle was rebuilt of stone, 1844. Large distilleries and sugar-works are carried on in the neighbourhood. Pop., 5,645. HOTELS.-Du Luxembourg; Du Commerce. Rail to Luxembourg, in Holland; and coach to Sierck. [SIERCK (19 kil.), the last place near the Prussian frontier, at the bottom of the hills on the Moselle, commanded by an old château, from which there is a good prospect. Further down the river are the lines of Künsberg, where Marlborough was stopped by Villars. At 26 kil. beyond it is Sarrebourg, in Prussia; and Treves is about 8 kil. past it.] For remainder of the Route to the eventful battlefield of Sedan, see BRADSHAW's Hand-Book to France. ROUTE E. Schirmeck and Ban de la Roche to For the first part of the road from Épinal, see BRADSHAW'S Hand-Book to France. Schirmeck, about 86 kil. from Raon l'Etape, in the Vosges. [About 8 kil. south, in the Ban de la Roche, or Valley of Stone (Steinthal, in German), which divides the Vosges from the Champ de Fue mountains, are Foudai, Walbach, and Rothau, the scene of the labours of the pious and devoted Pastor, Oberlin. Here, in a sterile spot, he taught his people, who were poor and ignorant Lutherans, not only the way to heaven, but how to improve their cottages and gardens, to grow flax, to knit and weave, to establish infant and other schools, till the desert, indeed blossomed like the rose, and so furnished an instructive example of what a wise and earnest country clergyman may do with his flock. It was he who first opened a road across the Bruche to Strasburg. After 59 years' residence he died, in 1826, when 86 years old, and is buried at Foudai. His excellent housekeeper, Louisa Schepler, after obtaining the French prize of virtue, died in 1837, and lies near him. Between the Steinthal and Chirmeck is the Champ de Fue, a plain 3,537 feet above the sea; and close to it the Odilienberg, or St. Odilli's mountain, on which are remains of a famous monastery, with two little chapels, commanding a noble view over Alsace. Hohenburg camp and castle, and an old paved way are near.] Mutzig (22 kil.), in a valley on the Bruche, near Donon mountain (3,315 feet high), has an old country seat of the Strasburg bishops, now used as a powder factory. Population, 3,800. At Molsheim, a little further on, tools are made. Still further you pass through tobacco and flax plantations; and at 25 kil. from Mutzig, you Vendenheim Station (53 miles), on the same line where the branch turns off to Hordt Station (44 miles). Marienthal Station (14 miles). Then Haguenau Station (3 miles), on the Moder, a fortress of the fourth class, first walled round by Frederick Barbarossa, who made it an imperial town. It has two Gothic churches of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Population 11,200, who make starch, &c., and brew beer. Coach to Forbach, past Niederbronn; about 5 miles from which is the strong fortress of Bitche, which commands the wooded pass o the Vosges mountains, and stands 1,292 feet above the sea. It is considered almost impregnable The village below contains a population of 4,200 About 30 kil. to the north is Deux Ponts, in Rhenish Bavaria. Walbourg Station (54 miles), on a branch of the Rhine. Soultz-sous-Forêts Station (4 miles), a name which explains its situation. Hoffen Station (24 miles). Hundsbach Station (23 miles). Then Weissenburg Station (4 miles), a souspréfecture (population, 5,200), a ortified port on the Lauter, on the Bavarian frontier, which had an abbey, founded by Dagobert, and came to France by the peace of Ryswick. The old church was re-built 1288. At St. Jean's protestant church a bust of Luther was put up at the third centenary of the Reformation. The lines outside were taken by the Austrians, and retaken by Hoche, 1793. Here the first German victory was obtained at the outbreak of the war of 1870-1, the Crown Prince defeating MacMahon, 4th August. General Douay was killed; 4 mitrailleuses and 22 cannon were taken. A little to the south-west is Woerth, where the second victory was gained and 4,000 prisoners were taken. Coach to Lauterburg, and by rail to Landau and Neustadt (41 miles from Weissenburg) in Rhenish Bavaria; thence to Mannheim,-See Route 27. |