of the country inclosed by the mountain chains of the Black Forest on the east, of the Vosges on the west, and the Jura on the south. Beyond the latter, on a clear day, may be seen the white crests of the Bernese Alps.

To the west of Mühlheim, at a distance of one mile and a half, and close to the rocky bank of the Rhine, lies Neuenberg, besieged by the chivalrous Duke Bernhard von Weimar, in 1633 to 1634.

Near Heitersheim, once the seat of the master of the Maltese Knights, are the ruins of Staufenburg castle, which can also be reached from Krotzingen. It was formerly the seat of a race of powerful nobles, whose line became extinct in 1602. From this point we may carry the reader, for a moment, to a town already mentioned-AltBrisach. Here the isolated volcanic mountain of the Kaisersstuhl throws out, as it were, a buttress of basalt, rising almost perpendicularly from the waters of the rolling river to a height of 758 feet. On the highest point of this singular eminence is planted the Gothic minster of St. Stephen, a notable example of thirteenth century architecture. The town of Alt-Brisach lies on the sides of the hill and in the valley beneath it. A flying bridge connects it with the opposite bank. Though now a quiet, lifeless place, with less than 4000 inhabitants, it was once a most important frontier fortress, and the key of Germany on the west.

As late as the tenth century, the Rhine is said to have flowed round the town, and isolated the rock on which it stands. From 1331 it belonged to Austria; but in 1638 was captured by Duke Bernhard of Saxe Weimar, after a blockade of twelve months, which inflicted the most dreadful sufferings on the garrison and citizens. After his death it was held by the French, to whom it was formally made over by the treaty of Westphalia in 1648. But it was impossible for Germany to rest contented with this important fortress in the hands of a hostile nation, and at the Peace of Ryswick, in 1700, it was recovered by the Austrians. In 1703 it was again taken by the French under Tallard and Vauban, nor was it restored until 1715. The Emperor Charles VI. greatly improved the defences, and erected a new fort. In 1743, when a new French invasion was apprehended, the Empress Maria Theresa ordered the Leopold and Charles forts to be destroyed, and the military stores removed to Freiburg. These steps

the irrepressible banner of the fleur-de-lis once more crossed the Rhine, captured Alt-Brisach, and destroyed the remaining fortifications. Subsequently the bridge was removed. An Austrian garrison was not replaced in the town until 1768. At the epoch of the French revolution the French once more attacked Brisach. On the bank of the river, opposite the unfortunate town, they had erected Fort Mortier, and from this position they bombarded the defenceless German town, on the 15th of September, 1793. A portion of the buildings having been restored, they again occupied it in 1796. In 1805 Napoleon resolved on converting it into a strong fortress, and the works were already in a forward condition when the treaty of Presburg gave Brisach to Baden.

About two leagues to the north of Brisach, on a spur of the Kaisersstuhl, which, projecting into the river, breaks up its regular flow into a swift and whirling current, are the ruins of Castle Sponeck. These owe more to their romantic position than to their extent or character, which is comparatively insignificant; but they command a fine view of the Rhine, the opposite bank, and the undulating sweep of the Vosges.

FREIBURG.

Freiburg, the ancient capital of the Breisgau, is situated about twelve miles from the Rhine, on the outskirts of the Black Forest, at the mouth of the romantic Höllenthal, or Valley of Hell, and upon the Dreisam, whose manifold ramifications extend into all the principal streets. It is elevated about 860 feet above the sea, so as to enjoy an unbounded view of the surrounding country, which is as bright, goodly, and diversified as eye can desire. The rich vale of the Dreisam, the boldly broken ground of the Black Forest, the fertile plain, which carries its stores of wealth and beauty up to the very foot of the vine-clad Kaisersstuhl, and the picturesque mountains, which raise their vapour-loaded crests against the horizon, form a picture of infinite light and loveliness.

Freiburg is the seat of a "jurisdiction" of the Imperial Court of the Upper Rhine Circle, of a university, and of the archbishop and chapter of the Upper Rhine ecclesiastical province. It has a population of 17,000, and is a busy and flourishing town; its prosperity being due in part to its position on the great German highways, and partly to

its forming the centre to which the commercial and manufacturing industry of the Black Forest

converges.

The history of Freiburg extends over about eight centuries. As late as 1008, and probably fifty years later, the area now covered by its wellthronged streets was a dense luxuriant forest. Gradually a clearing was made, and a few hunters and fishermen planted their huts on the bank of the Dreisam. The neighbouring hill was speedily seized upon as a suitable site for a castle, and the infant settlement began to extend under its protection. Then came an auspicious patron in the person of Duke Berthold III., of Zaringia, who, having visited Köln, and learned to admire its splendour, desired to establish a rival on the Upper Rhine. Accordingly, he raised the village to the rank of a town. From his brother and successor, Conrad, the new town received a charter of rights and privileges. It was under the rule of this energetic prince that the minster was commenced, and so diligently was it prosecuted that within its walls, in 1146, St. Bernard was able to deliver an eloquent harangue in favour of the Crusades.

In 1218 the male line of the dukes of Zaringia, who had done so much for the prosperity of Freiburg, became extinct. The town was then claimed as an imperial fief, but soon afterwards surrendered to Egon I., count of Hohenberg, who had wedded Agnes, the sister of Duke Berthold V., of Zaringia. His son, Egon II., called himself von Freiburg, and for the defence of the town erected the strong castle of Burghalden.

About the middle of the fourteenth century Freiburg became involved in a life and death struggle with Count Egon IV. She conquered, but the tax on her resources was so heavy, that to avoid any similar disaster she voluntarily parted with her independence, and surrendered her rights and liberties to the imperial house of Hapsburg. Some of her bravest sons afterwards followed the Austrian standard to the field of Sempach, and perished in that murderous battle. In 1457 the line of the counts of Freiburg ceased to exist.

In 1468 the Archduke Sigismund, whose extravagance had had its natural result, mortgaged all his possessions in Alsace, Sundgau, Breisgau, and the Black Forest, to Charles the Bold of Burgundy, for the sum of 80,000 florins. Freiburg then did homage at Ensisheim, and Peter von Hagenbach, a man of unbridled lust and cruelty, was appointed

its governor. He was soon guilty of the most abominable excesses. In vain the towns complained to Charles; he listened to them with indifference. They then collected a sum sufficient to defray the mortgage, and encouraged Duke Sigismund to take up arms against the Burgundian tyrant. Hagenbach retired to Brisach with a considerable force; but continuing his exactions, the citizens rose against him, expelled his mercenaries, seized him, tried him according to the law of the empire, and beheaded him at night by torchlight. The towns then made common cause against their oppressor, who invaded Switzerland with a powerful army, but was defeated at Granson and Morat, and killed under the walls of Nancy, on the 5th of January, 1477.

During the famous Peasants' War, Freiburg was surrounded with twenty thousand insurgents, who were bribed to retire by a gift of 3000 florins and several pieces of artillery. In the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish army appeared before the gates of Freiburg on the 19th December, 1632. They were at first repulsed, but on the 26th of the same month their compact battalions once more gathered in front of the town, and Colonel Bernhard Schaffalitzki demanded its surrender in the name of Fieldmarshal Horn. In this extremity the citizens displayed no ordinary resolution. Supported by the students and country people, they manned the walls. For forty-eight hours the unfortunate town was bombarded with redhot balls, effecting so terrible a desolation that the Freiburgers found themselves compelled to surrender. On the 29th, Field-marshal Horn made his public entry, and immediately proceeded to levy a requisition of 30,000 florins.

After a brief interval of peace, Duke Bernard of Weimar appeared before the town (March 20, 1638). Under Escher von Bühningen it made a gallant defence; but on the 11th of April Freiburg surrendered. The Swedish colonel, Kanoffsky von Langendorff, was appointed governor. He treated its citizens with the utmost moderation; but in 1644, on the approach of the imperial army, ordered two of the suburbs to be razed. Imperialists, 15,000 strong, under Field-marshal Mercy, invested the place, while Turenne, with 10,000 men, hastened to its relief. Mercy, however, delivered his attacks so incessantly and so furiously, that on the 28th of July the garrison was forced to yield. In recognition of its gallant

The

pheric influences have toned down sufficiently, the cathedral of Freiburg is, unquestionably, a structure of surpassing beauty. Its ground plan is cruciform, and it occupies the centre of an open area, in the direction of west to east. Its tower, crowned by a pyramidal spire, is 340 feet in height. The first stage forms a square; the second, above the gallery, a dodecagon, which quickly passes into an octagon, the whole ending in an "octagonal pyramid" of the most exquisite open work. The western entrance, at the base of the tower, which is of the same width as the nave, is enriched with eight and twenty columns, each adorned with a statue of admirable design and execution. The gateway is divided into two by a solid column, ornamented with a fine statue of the Virgin, and covered with remarkable sculpture. Finally, a bas-relief, inserted above the gate, represents, in four tableaux, some Biblical incidents and scenes from the life of our Saviour. The interior of the minster, from end to end, is 460 feet in length. The nave is divided from the aisles by six pillars (each about six and a half feet in diameter) on either side; and against these are erected, on pedestals, statues of the Twelve Apostles. Nave and aisles, taken together, measure ninety-five feet across. These dimensions alone will enable the reader to form some dim notion of the magnificence of the coup d'œil which bursts upon the spectator as he passes through the entrance door; but to realize the scene he must fill the windows with richly painted glass, which sheds a "dim religious light" on pavement and statue and column, and embellishes each carved capital and the sculptured balustrade carried along the sidewalls, with the rarest dyes, "gules and emerald and amethyst."

The exterior of the cathedral, especially on the south, is not less impressive than the interior. Its flying buttresses, its balustrades, its statues, its niches and their Gothic dais, its curious and very various spouts, its side doors, its atriums, its interminable rows of windows, its Gothic rosaces, its carved pedestals, its abounding wealth of strange, quaint, monstrous, and beautiful sculpture, all so completely original, and, if we may use the expression, individual, would furnish the stranger with material for a whole day's investigation.

Worth visiting also, as Mr. Mayhew tells us, is the Munster Platz, or Cathedral Square, for the peculiarity of the costumes one sees congregated at

the spot. This, continues our authority, is the principal market-place, and the head-dresses of the peasants here are of the most peculiar character. Most of the women wear two huge black ribbon bows perched right on the crown of the head, each bow being spread out fan-shape, and the two together seeming like the enormous wings of a gigantic black butterfly that has settled on the top of the skull. This is the true Margravia, or Breisgau fashion; the Catholics wearing the bows embroidered with gold at the back, and the Protestants preferring them plain. Other women, again, have straw hats of a most masculine shape, poised as it were on the head, and bright red handkerchiefs tied over their ears, while long Swiss tails hang down the back in double Chinese fashion, and are tied with ribbon that reaches literally down to the heels.

After the Cathedral, there are few buildings in Freiburg which the visitor cares to see. The Minster dwarfs as it were, and humiliates them. Still the Ludwigs (Protestant) Church, built in 1827-38, is worth a visit. It occupies the summit of a gentle elevation at the north end of the town, in the Zaringian suburb.

Then, among the sights of the town are, the archiepiscopal palace, east of the Kaufhaus; the fifteenth century fountain, in the Kaiser-strasse; the fountain in the Fish Market, built in 1807, and adorned with a statue of the founder of Freiburg, Berthold III.; the university, erected in 1454, and containing a valuable library of upwards of 120,000 volumes; the blind asylum; and the palace of the grand duke. The university has been rendered illustrious by the names of Capiton, Erasmus, and Philip von Engen; and in our own day by those of Hug the orientalist, Rotteck the historian, Welker the jurisconsult, and Beck and Baumgarten the physicians. It has thirty-five professors, and 228 students.

By way of the Höllenthal the traveller may proceed from Freiburg to the Schauinsland or Erdkasten, whose summit, 4200 feet above the sea-level, commands the finest view in Baden; a view including not only the heights of the Black Forest, the Kandel, the Feldberg, and the Belchen, and the dim shadowy valleys which penetrate into their recesses, but the rich plain of the Rhine, fertile, sunny, and radiant, the Vosges, the mighty masses of the Jura and the Alps, from the Glornisch and the Todi to the Dent-du-Midi and the "monarch