Great; but in 1007 the building was reduced to ashes by lightning, and the foundation of a new Cathedral was laid in 1015, by Bishop Werner, of the house of Hapsburg, which was finished in 1275. It has been lately restored by Klotz. The spire is one of the highest in Europe, being 468 feet from the pavement, or 14 feet less than St. Nicholas, at Hamburg; 8 feet higher than the great pyramid of Egypt, 20 feet higher than St. Peters, and 98 feet higher than St. Paul's, London. Its erection was commenced in 1276, after a design by the great artist, Erwin of Steinbach. However, the steeple of the North side only was finished, and the other rises very little above the roof. Erwin died in 1318, and his son John continued the building up to the flat roof, and his daughter Sabina ornamented the great portal. This family of architects are buried within the Cathedral. The Tower was not completed until 1432, when it was finished by a Cologne artist, John Hültz, who was brought to Strassburg for this purpose.

Observe the three western Portals, whose sculptures were effaced during the "terror," in 1793, but were restored 1879 after the old models, with 14 statues added; also, the vast and beautiful Window over the portal, 43 feet in diameter, and composed of rich painted glass; the beautiful Font of 1453, inthe north transept; the Pulpit of carved stone, 1416; the large Choir with the high altar, and below, in the Sepulchre, the tombs of John Geiler, of Kaisersberg, of Konrad II.,of Mantelin, the first printer of Strassburg, and of Erwin and his children. Notice, also, the great Clock, by Schwilgué, 1832, which is a complete astronomical Almanac, from which you can read the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and the various phenomena which they exhibit. It has three departments: the first is astronomical; the second ecclesiastical, indicating the fasts and holidays of the Roman Catholic Church; and the third office of the automaton a moral and religious one. The visitor should contrive to be there at noon.

An easy ascent may be made to the platform, two-thirds of the way up; and if it should be desired to proceed to the summit, the watchman, who resides in this station, will, if the parties have obtained the necessary ticket, 1 mark 20 pf., unlock the iron grate enclosing the passage, and accompany the adventurer to the top. To a person of ordinary

nerve there is no danger in ascending it. The ascent will be well repaid by the pleasure derived, from a minute inspection of the exquisitely wrought tracery, like lace-work, the delicately chiselled angles and ornaments, and the splendidly chiselled pillars supporting the open stone work, braced together by bars of iron,leading one to believe himself in a net suspended between earth and heaven. The winding stair terminates under a species of carved work. At the top are the names of Voltaire, Klopstock, Lavater, Montalembert, Goethe, Herder, and other celebrities. The view embraces the city, the Black Forest in Germany, the Vosges Mountains, and the Rhine district; but it is the exploit and the height that will repay, more than the prospect, the adventurous climber.

The Church of St. Thomas is used for the celebration of the Protestant service. It contains the magnificent tomb of Marshal Saxe, executed in marble, by Pigalle, and looked upon as one of his masterpieces. It is plain, though beautiful; and was erected to the Marshal's memory by Louis XV. It represents a beautiful female figure, endeavouring to stay the advance of death, and to detain the general, who appears descending calmly and with dignity to the grave.

In this church also, are the monuments of Schöpflin, by Peters, erected by his sister, and of Oberlin, executed by Ohmacht's masterly chisel. In a vault beneath the church are some preserved corpses, two of which are said to be the bodies of a Count of Nassau, Saarwerden and his daughter, buried upwards of a century.

The Academie Royale, founded in 1538, and erected with a university in 1621, was formerly a Protestant school. The University was suppressed at the Revolution of 1789, but was revived by the Germans 1872, on an enlarged basis, and is now called "Kaiser Wilhelm's University." It was the Alma Mater of several eminent scholars, among whom rank as the most remarkable Schweighäuser, Oberlin, Schöpflin, &c.; Goethe, also, completed his studies here, and in 1772, took his degree of Doctor of Laws. The Museum of Natural History, contains a very select and valuable collection of fossils, &c. In the botanical collection is the trunk of a silver fir, which was 8 feet in diameter, and 150 feet high.

The Public Library, before its destruction in the late siege, contained 100,000 volumes, and many literary curiosities, comprising the Landsberg Missal of Herrade, Abbess of Hohenberg, richly illuminated in the early Byzantine style (1180), a Missal, in silver letters, on purple vellum, and many books of the earliest date of printing with a collection of ancient coins. The Library was restored 1872, and now contains 400,000 volumes contributed by the various German States, including 5,000 volumes from the Emperor William and the King of Bavaria. There is contiguous to it an Observatory.

A new Palace of Justice is now completed, with a new Prefecture.

The Theatre, which also suffered, was a magnificent building at the extremity of the beautiful promenade le Broglie, adorned with six Ionian columns, surmounted by the muses, the whole being the work of Ohmacht. It has undergone restoration.

The principal promenade is the Ruprechtsau, beyond the walls.

In the centre of the Place d'Armes, is a vault, beneath which repose the ashes of General Kleber, to whose memory a monument is erected over the vault.

The Citadel or Arsenal will repay a visit to those interested in military armaments. It contains stores of fire-arms and cannon. There is also a large cannon foundry, and the country around the city, between the Ill and the Rhine, can be laid under water. Twelve forts now stand at different points in the neighbourhood.

The Synagogue, a new building, erected in 1834, by the numerous Jewish community, who were at one time cruelly persecuted and inhumanly tortured in this city. On the spot where now stands the Prefecture, over 2,000 of this persecuted race were burned in a bonfire, by people calling themselves Christians. Gustave Doré (born 1832) is one of the distinguished natives of Strassburg.

A bronze statue, near the Cathedral, commemorates the memory of Peter Schoffer, who assisted Gutenberg in his discovery of printing. In the Place de Gutenberg is a statue to the memory of the latter, who made his first attempt at printing in Strassburg, and brought it to perfection at Mayence.

Strassburg is favourably situated for commerce, the Rhine connecting it with Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium; its chief exports are corn, flax, hemp, wine and spirits, linen, sail-cloth, blankets, carpets, hardware, leather, cotton, lace, tobacco, and snuff. It is noted for goose-liver pies.

Strassburg and Paris Railway: From Strassburg to Paris in 14 hours. Diligences to Lyons in 7 hours, to Landau in 12 hours. Railway to Basle (see Appendix); also from Kehl to the Great Baden railway; and to Sarrebrück, &c. Soulzbad, 11 miles west, is a mineral spring among the quarries of the Vosges.

Steamers daily to Mannheim and Mayence. From Strassburg to Mayence, the journey is made nearly as quick by water as by rail, viz., 6 hours, but it takes two long days to accomplish the journey up from Mayence.

A new canal opens into the Rhine below the bridge of Kehl, connecting it with the Ill. By means of this canal, steamboats, &c., are enabled to penetrate into the heart of Strassburg. As we enter, the Spire presents a beautiful appearance, and will command the attention of the tourist Two miles above the canal is the bridge of boats. ROUTE

28.

Frankfort to Basle. By Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Carlsruhe, and Freiburg.

RAILWAY: Frankfort to Heidelberg or Mannheim in three hours, by the Main-Neckar Eisenbahn; distance, 46 English miles.

Heidelberg to Haltingen, 4 miles from Basle, 1563 English miles in nine hours, by the Badische Stadt-Eisenbahn.

The railway quitting the terminus at Frankfort, situated inside the Gallus Thor, crosses the Main by means of a bridge, and passes the height on the left, on the eminence of which we see the watch tower of Sachsenhausen, the prospect from which embraces a splendid view over Frankfort, the Main, and the distant Taunus, rendered more picturesque and charming by the vineyards and sweet villas scattered over the immediate foreground.

The railway to Offenbach branches off at Sachsenhausen. Hence the direct line to Darmstadt, 16 miles long, passes Louisa, Sprendlingen, to

Langen (Station). Leaving this place our route is through a flat and uninteresting country up to Darmstadt. Before our arrival at this place we pass the unimportant station of Arheilgen.

DARMSTADT Station.-Inns:

Hôtel au Raisin (Zur Traube), first-rate and moderate.

Hotel Darmstädter Hof-very good house, kept by M. Wiener.

Darmstadt, the residence of the Grand Duke of Hesse, the capital of the Grand Duchy and the seat of government, and of the supreme chamber, leans eastward against a gentle declivity, which at present is covered with very picturesque houses, whilst in the three other directions it is bordered by an extensive plain, towards the Rhine and Main, presenting many beautiful prospects to the lovers of woodland scenery, where it borders Odenwald and the Bergstrasse. It contains a population of 48,865 inhabitants, the majority of whom are Protestants. The streets are wide and straight, the houses in general built singly, and the squares numerous. At the termination of the Rheinstrasse is a column 134 feet high, on the top of which is a statue, by Schwanthaler, of the Grand Duke Louis.

Palace (old) is an edifice of different ages, commencing with the sixteenth and ending with the eighteenth century, and is surrounded by shrubberies and gardens. Here died in January, 1879, the Duke's wife, the excellent Princess Alice of England, of an illness caught from nursing her sick children; she is buried in the family mausoleum. There is an Alice Hospital to her memory, besides an Orphan Asylum. Its Museum of Painting and of Natural History is a collection of 700 paintings of all kinds, in nine large rooms; the different schools being classified, as may be seen by the catalogue. The best picture is Rubens's Nymphs and Satyrs. Holbein's Madonna is at the Palace of Prince Charles. There is also an important collection of painted glass, very many antique ivory carvings, enamels, &c.

The Cabinet of Natural History abounds in stuffed birds, and has the remains of the elephant and whale, bony fragments of the rhinoceros from Oppenheim, remains of the Deinotherium, an amphibious animal, as large as the elephant, and of the Sus antiquus from Eppelsheim. The Museum

is open Tuesday to Friday, from 11 to 1. At other times by payment of 1 mark 20pf, to attendant.

The Public Library is also situated in the Palace, and contains 450,000 volumes. It is open each week day, Saturday excepted, from 10 to 12 a.m., and from 2 to 4 p.m., and the inhabitants are allowed to take books out free.

The Theatre, built in 1818 and 1819, by Moller, a pupil of the celebrated Weinhenner, after a noble style of architecture, was burnt 1871, but re-built very handsomely, and will contain about 2,000 spectators.

The Roman Catholic Church, a brick edifice, built after designs by Moller. It stands upon the Riedeulberg, near the New Palace. It presents the appearance of a large rotunda, and is remarkably striking in its simple style of architecture, as well as by the harmony of its proportions.

The Exercierhaus is in the immediate vicinity of the theatre, and is considered to be a masterpiece of architecture. It was erected by order of the Landgrave Ludwig IX., in 1771, for garrison exercise in bad weather. It was built by a common, or hedgecarpenter, named J. M. Schirknecht, and encloses a space of 319 feet in length and 151 in breadth, unsupported by pillars. The building is now used as an Arsenal. The hanging-work by which the building is upheld is a surprising piece of workmanship in its way.

The Casino is one of the handsomest and most tasteful in Germany. Social amusements have gained greatly by the union of the older clubs, and late evening society, now established under the denomination of the "United Society." It is made up of more than 400 members, who meet each evening. Respectable persons are admitted, and strangers introduced by a member have free access for an entire month. The Casino was built by subscription. The Lower Chamber of the Duchy is under the same roof. The gentlemen

meet every day to read and converse, or play, and each Thursday a circle of ladies join the gentlemen for the purposes of social amusement, and in winter a ball is given every night.

The Gardens of the Palace, or Herrengarten, lie over against the palace, and are prettily laid out. Particularly interesting is the spot of interment

which Margravine Henrietta Caroline, of the family of the present King of Prussia, chose for herself beneath the gloomy cypresses. She was a high-spirited woman and of a rare goodness of heart. Frederick the Great caused an urn of Carrara marble to be placed over her tomb, with the following inscription :-" Sexu fœmina, ingenio

vir."

Darmstadt can boast of very little commerce, or of active industry.

The Environs of Darmstadt have many pleasant walks, offering great inducements to the lovers of rural scenery and picturesque neatness. Among the principal is the Linden Walk, without the Rhinegate; the road to the Grosse Vooz, or large pond; to the Brunnen, three wells, beautifully situated in a wood; to the Carlshof, the seat of the late Baron Backhausen, open to the public all the year round; to the Faisanerie (pheasant preserve); and to the Kranichstein, an old hunting seat, where wild boars are kept for the Ducal chase.

Rail to Mayence, Worms, Aschaffenburg, Mannheim, &c.

Leaving the last station, the railway directs its course to

Eberstadt (Station)-A small village on the Modan-Brook, the seat of various kinds of industry. Quitting Eberstadt we see a short distance off, the ruins of the castle of Frankenstein on the left.

Close to this station and some miles south of Darmstadt commences the picturesque district called the Odenwald. It lies on the road to Heidelberg, cast of the railway, and on the way to the last mentioned place. Some of its most interesting scenery may be visited, particularly the ascent of the Melibocus, from Zwingenberg, which ought not to be omitted by any, even though they do not visit the whole. A mountainous road through the centre of the Odenwald leads from Darmstadt to Heidelberg. Brensbach, Erbach, and Hirschhorn are the stations. Michelstadt is a good halt, but the accomodation is so bad that the traveller had better proceed and not stop. The entire distance is 59 English miles.

From Darmstadt to Heidelberg, the railway directs its course for the greater part of the way by the old post road, remarkable for its pic

turesque beauty and agreeable scenery. This road is called the Bergstrasse, from the mountains at the foot of which it runs, for it is perfectly level itself. It is beautiful in the brilliant aspect presented by cultivated fertility and luxuriant vegetation, distinguishing the district it overlooks, and enlivened by the glimpses of the sparkling Rhine, seen at times through its dim limits, bounded by the outlines of the Vosges mountains in France. To the left we see the boundary of the Odenwald, a chain of mountains wooded and vine-clad, bearing a ruined castle of feudal ages on their frowning brows. A short distance to the right, and running parallel with the railroad, to which it is close, stretches in giant-like dimensions, a vast sandy plain, intersected by the meandering Rhine, and bounded in the background by the lofty heights of Mont Tonnerre and the Vosges, at a distance of more than 5 English miles. At the base of the mountains we see beautifully and grandly-located towns and villages, canopied by the over-hanging vine-clad slopes, and embowered within orchards, which form delightful avenues or walks between the towns and villages.

A

Zwingenberg (Station)-Inn: Löwe.cheerful country town with a population of 1,500, situated immediately under the sylvan Melibocusvisitors to which should leave the railway here, and procure refreshments at the Inn below, as none can be got on the top. The excursion can be made in from six to seven hours, which are occupied in the entire excursion to the Melibocus, Felsberg, Felsenmeer, and by the valley of Schönberg, back to Auerbach and Zwingenberg. The keys of the tower, kept at Auerbach and at Alsbach, should be asked for before starting. From the tower only can be got a commanding view of the Odenwald and its hills clothed with forests.

The Melibocus or Malchen is a hill of granite, conically-shaped, and is the highest of the Odenwald chain, being 1,680 feet above the level of the sea. On its loftiest summit is a white tower, erected in 1772, which attracts attention for miles on every side. A grand view can be enjoyed from this Belvedere. At a remote distance to the left, Spires, and Mannheim with its slated dome, are dimly shadowed forth, opposite which are, brightly reflected, Worms and its