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AUSTRIA: HER PEOPLE
AND THEIR HOMELANDS
WORKS BT THE SAME AUTHOR
RELATING TO AUSTRIA
PICTURES FROM BOHEMIA
LITERARY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
STUDIES
A FORGOTTEN GREAT ENGLISH-
MAN
THE CARDINAL'S PAGE
THE GLEAMING DAWN-
MARK TILLOTSON
JOHN WESTACOTT
REPORT ON TECHNICAL AND
COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN
CENTRAL EUROPE
&c. &c.
AUSTRIA: HER PEOPLE
& THEIR HOMELANDS
BY JAMES BAKER, F.R.G.s.
F.R.Hist.Soc, KNIGHT OF THE IMPERIAL
ORDER FRANCIS JOSEPH I., CORRE-
SPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL
ACADEMY OF ARTS MADRID. WITH
FORTY -EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY
DONALD MAXWELL & & &
LONDON JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY
TORONTO BELL & COCKBURN MCMXIII
Gift
Publisher
JUL 7 »0K-»
DBxCd
3-s
Turnbuli &" Spears, Printers, Edinburgh
TO
MY WIFE
PREFACE
IT is rather a significant fact that in the
English Catalogue of Books issued between
the years 1836 to 1872 there are only two
books noted on Austria, one of these being
priced at eighteenpence ; and between the years
1872 to 1889 there are no books issued on the
Austrian Empire.
That is, in fifty-three years two books are catalogued
for English readers upon this great Empire. Since
that date there are such books as Whitman's " Story
of the Nations," some statistical books, especially
Geoffrey Drage's " Austria-Hungary," and one or two
light books of travel ; upon separate parts of Austria,
such as Bohemia, the Tyrol, the Danube, more books
have appeared, but upon Austria as a whole there
is a dearth unaccountable of works in the English
tongue. For historical and other references I have
had to go to the works of Palacky, Ploetz, Mayer,
Borovsky, Putzger, etc., and to the local publications
in the various provinces and towns, to the Govern-
mental statistical works, or to the great work on
Austria begun by the Crown Prince Rudolf. To
most of these authors and to others I have referred
in the body of this work ; but I have relied largely
vii
Austria
on my own note-books, written during numerous
journeys since 1873. In this volume I have tried
to draw attention to what might be overlooked,
rather than to the obvious to all travellers, and so
have given sketches of the family life of the peasant
and the well-to-do citizen, and sketched the intel-
lectual aspirations and amusements of the people,
giving cameos of the history in various provinces,
as illustrative of the building up of the Empire.
One fact will illustrate how little Austria and its
nature marvels are known to the English reading
public. I asked three well-read men, one an Alpinist,
the length of the great chain of mountains, the
Carpathians. The first answer was " about fifty
miles," the second " about twenty miles," and the
Alpinist said " perhaps hundreds of miles " ; but the
fact that they swept round Southern and Eastern
Austria for the length of over eight hundred miles
astonished the three men.
Austria is so decentralised an Empire, that one
meets with excellent work in Art, Music, Literature
and Science, in, to an Englishman, remote towns.
The Art, Trade and Science Schools foster invention,
often high-souled genius ; and the local reverence
for the history of the Homeland produces poets and
historians — romancist and dramatist.
Throughout Austria, both I and my artist friend,
Donald Maxwell, are indebted to so many courteous
and kindly hospitable friends, who have enabled us
viii
Preface
to see and know somewhat of the home life in the
varied parts of the Empire, and we have been cordially
assisted in our work by the Ministry of Railways,
of Education, and of the Public Works, and by the
officials of towns and provinces ; by town clerks,
librarians, curators, and schoolmasters ; but we feel
what a small space we have in this volume wherein
to attempt to make the English reading public
comprehend the intense interest and gloriously
varied nature there is to hold and delight one in
the Austrian Empire.
IX
NOTE
For the names of places no exact rule
has been followed. Locally now in
Austria the traveller will find the names
of towns given in two, and even three,
tongues ; and it is necessary to know
the name in the language preponderant
in the district, and used in Maps and
Guide-books. Frequently the dual name
is given, such as the Slav and the Teuton,
although the Slav accents have perforce
been omitted.
CONTENTS
I. Introductory .
II. Into Austria via the Elbe. Northern and
Eastern Bohemia
III. The Capital of Bohemia, Prague
IV. Southern and Western Bohemia
V. Through Silesia to Moravia
VI. The Charm of Moravia
VII. Galicia and its People
VIII. In the High Tatra Mountains .
IX. Through Lemberg to the Bukowina
X. In the Bukowina .
XI. In Imperial Vienna
XII. Lower Austria— the Semmering .
XIII. Styria (the Steiermark) and Graz
XIV. Carniola (Krain)— Ljubljana (Laibach)
XV. Carniola, Wochein Feistritz, Veldes, and
Adelsberg .
XVI. Triest and Istria
XVII. Down the Istrian Coast to Dalmatia, to
Sebenico
xi
PAGE
3
8
21
30
43
55
63
69
77
83
91
108
114
125
132
142
149
Austria
CHAP. PAGE
XVIII. Down the Dalmatian Coast from Sebentco to
Cattaro ....... 157
XIX. Through Kustenland, Gorizia (Gorz), and
Carinthia (Karnten) .... 180
XX. The Tauern Railway to Bad Gastein . 193
XXI. The Tauern Railway to Salzburg . . 199
XXII. Salzburg and the Salzkammergut . . 206
XXIII. The Salzkammergut 212
XXIV. The Danube — from the Bavarian Frontier
to Linz 227
XXV. The Danube from Linz to Vienna . .241
XXVI. The Danube through the Wachau to
Krems 259
XXVII. The Danube from Krems to the Austrian
Frontier ....... 271
XXVIII. Through the Tyrol from Lake Garda to
Trent (Trient or Trento) . . . 277
XXIX. The Tyrol from Trent to Meran and
Cortina 285
XXX. Innsbruck and the Arlberg . . . 294
Index 303
xu
ILLUSTRATIONS
Cattaro ........ Frontispiece I
FACING PAGE
Tetschen 10
Prague. The Palace, from Prince Furstenburg's
Gardens 24
Charles Bridge, Prague 28
Karlstein ......... 30
Tabor 32
Krumau 34
Budweis 36
Prachatic ......... 38
Brunn 52
Krakau 64
Zakopane ......... 70
Cernowitz ........ 84
aspernbrucke, vlenna ...... 96
The Tower of St Stephen's, Vienna . . . 106
Graz 120
Laibach 126
Veldes 136
Trieste — Twilight 142
The Grand Canal, Trieste 144
kovigno, istria 150
The Velibite Mountains 152-
Pola 154
Lesina ......... 164
xiii
Austria
Ragusa
FJ
ICING PAGE
. 168 4
The Walls of Ragusa
170*
In the Izonzo Valley
182
Mallnitz .
. 198
Salzburg .
. 208
Zell am See
. 210
Mondsee .
. 214
LlNZ ....
. 236
In the Stoder Valley
. 240'
Molk ....
. 254/
Aggstein .
. 260.
DtJRRENSTEIN
. 262
Stein ....
264
A Village in Galicia
278 ■
The Scene which Inspired Dante's Inferno
— Thi
3
Larini di Marco near Trieste .
. 280
A Back Street in Trento
282 ,.
Rosengarten, from the Tschaminthal
284
Trafoi
286
SlGMUNDSKRON .
288
Bruneck, in the Pusterthal
290
Croda da Lago ....
292
Innsbruck ....
294/
In the Arlberg Pass
296 ►
Hall in Tirol .
298
XIV
AUSTRIA : HER PEOPLE
AND THEIR HOMELANDS
AUSTRIA
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
AUSTRIA as an Empire contains every type
of Nature glory that Europe has to offer,
and such varied races of humanity dwell
within her borders that the student of
history and ethnology is overwhelmed with dramatic
incident and varied intensity of contrast.
And yet how little known is Austria to English
readers. Of all that vast Empire, teeming with de-
lightful beauty and exciting glories, certain points are
known to the British traveller and diplomatist : the
capitals such as Vienna, Prague, and Cracow, are
known at least by name, although in sending a wire
lately to Prague at a big English post office, I was
given the German rate, and on doubting the price,
was asked if it was not in Germany !
The glorious rivers of Austria, the Danube, Moldau
or Vltava, to give its Bohemian name, and Elbe, are
also known by name, but how few English are there
who have wandered up the wild and intensely romantic
ravines or klamms or grunds of the Elbe and Moldau,
or halted on the famous historic spots on the Danube,
3
Austria
amidst the romantic hills overshadowing the beauteous
wide sweeps of that mighty flood.
The Danube ! That is sung of in the Niebelungen
Lied, in Undine, and many legends and stories ; that
has witnessed such heroic scenes in both mediaeval
and modern times.
Austria's lesser rivers issue from mountain gorges
that climb up to rugged, serrated mountain peaks far
above the snow line, and from glacier heights they
leap down to mirrored lakes that exceed in varied
romantic beauty of both form and colour the better-
known lakes of Italy or Switzerland.
The clusters of emerald and turquoise gems that
lie amidst the mountains at Ischl and at St Wolfgang,
at Veldes and Wochein-Feistritz, and in the Tyrol,
have a wondrous, varied charm that is ever enticing
and beauteous. The railways that penetrate these
mountain fastnesses are marvels of engineering skill
that excite the expert in such details.
There is also the sea-coast of Austria, down the
Adriatic, combining the colour of Italy with the soft,
grey elusiveness of the Grecian isles. The towns
upon its shores are full of wondrous monuments of
past glories, under Roman and Venetian rule ; whilst
the peoples of mingled Eastern and Western types,
now living amidst these monuments, still retain much
of their picturesque costume, and old habits of life and
speech. The towns of Austria vary from the almost
perfect mediaeval walled town, with its watchman
patrolling around its gates and walls and towers,
to the most modern city, built entirely upon new ideas,
a city without a slum ; and the capitals of the various
kingdoms and provinces, that make up this varied
4
Introductory
Empire, have in their splendid modern development
preserved much of their historic glory.
The peasantry are yet full of mediaeval custom, and
their costume in many spots is brilliant in colour and
quaint in style ; but these same peasants are keenly
alive to the scientific learning of the day, their know-
ledge gained under the very interesting and remark-
able system of education adopted in Austria. The
student of history, archaeology, or ethnology will find
hints in this volume of as yet untrodden fields of
research. Vast libraries, or the archives of small
towns, contain light upon our own history, when it
has been linked, as it so often has been, with that of
Austria ; and the lover of romance can lave in a per-
fect sea of strange, weird legend, or historic fact yet
stranger, and more weird and horrible, linked with
the castles, abbeys, and monasteries that cluster so
thickly on the hills and river banks, and yield so
much to the lover of architecture, history, or folklore.
Not only in the ruins, or in the castles, that per-
chance for a thousand years have been inhabited, are
preserved historic mementoes of the past, but in the
palatial or tiny museums that are lovingly tended in
city and townlet all over Austria. Art treasures,
pictures, missals, books, armour, glass, domestic
objects, needlework, all the past life is illustrated and
jealously guarded.
In the matter of climate the traveller has enormous
variety, from the mountain range of the Riesengebirge
in the north, where the " snow men " even in May
clothe the hills in white, to the soft, luxurious, southern
air at Ragusa on the Adriatic, where summer ever
smiles, and palms and roses flourish.
5
Austria
And the student in botany or geology has a vast
variety of Nature's handiwork before him, sometimes
embracing most unusual if not unique examples.
To the sportsman, the fisherman, and huntsman,
Austria and her rivers, lakes, and forests offer big
opportunities, for not only is Nature prolific with fish
and game, but Austria in this, as in so many other
things, takes care that the latest science assists Nature.
In winter, sport of ski-ing and skating, and toboggan-
ing or luging, as the French call it, can be revelled in
on the mountain heights in glorious sunshine.
There are two things by which Austria has con-
quered the world, her music, and her industrial
methods.
Her music in the days of Mozart and Haydn lit
the intellectual world with its beauty, and to-day
her composers, Dvofak, Strauss, Smetana, and her
musicians, be they German or Slav, command the
reverence and respect of all lovers of music.
One great work has been done in Austria, in all her
dominions, by her remarkable educational system that
decentralises, and yet in the end centralises, the
highest types of scientific and technical education,
enabling genius wherever found to advance and
assist the nation ; and thus it is that Austrian products,
her artistic creations, and domestic furniture are seen
in every home in the western world, and her land is
tilled with scientific knowledge, so that an Irish
journalist who had travelled with the author through
Bohemia, wrote : " There is only one thing they
cannot grow, and that is weeds."
With such a vast outlook over such an Empire, so
full of varied and intense interests, where the people
6
Introductory
of many races, speaking varied tongues, are all
pressing forward in national and industrial life,
how in one volume give such an impression of the
whole as to induce the reader to go to Austria, and
there study and enjoy the glories and beauty of
her Empire ? But such is the aim of both artist
and writer in this volume, and may that object be
successfully attained.
CHAPTER II
INTO AUSTRIA VIA THE ELBE. NORTHERN AND
EASTERN BOHEMIA
FOR the traveller from England there are
two especial gates of entry into Austria,
through France and over that most
picturesque of railways, the Arlberg, to the
pleasant town of Innsbruck, lying amidst the snowy
Alps, or via the Hook of Holland to Dresden, and
up through the rocky palisades of the Elbe to cross
the frontier, afoot or riding, amidst the forests of
Saxon Switzerland, or at the frontier railway town of
Bodenbach on the Elbe.
It is by this latter route we commence our tour
and study of Austria. There are of course other
routes to Dresden, via Flushing, Ostend, or Calais, and
Austria can also be entered by railways at such a point
as Eger, for those going direct to Marienbad or
Carlsbad, but this district we shall quickly reach also
by the Dresden route.
Perhaps the most pleasantly picturesque way to
enter Austria is to travel up from Dresden, by the
comfortable and well-found Elbe saloon steamers, to
disembark at Schandau, the last important German
halting-place, send on the luggage to Herrenskretchen,
and walk (or ride : ponies may be hired) a most de-
lightful four and a half hours walk through the forest-
clad mountains to this first Bohemian town.
8
Northern and Eastern Bohemia
The frontier is crossed between the height of the
Grosse Winterberg and the strange, massive, natural
arch of the Prebischthor, which is in Austria.
Standing on this strange and giddy outlook point,
the traveller will begin to glean some faint idea of the
picturesque, varied beauty of the kingdom of Bohemia,
one of the richest jewels in the Austrian Imperial
Crown.
A vast territory lies around of mountain peak and
dark forest upland, and in the valleys lie the pictur-
esque, prosperous villages, surrounded by meadow
and fruit orchards, and cornland watered by in-
numerable streams that give fertility to the soil, and
are often used as motive power for industrial work.
In descending from this aerial outlook, one of the
most romantic ravines in ail Austria can be traversed,
the Edmunds Klamm; these klamms, or defiles, or
gorges, to give them an English title, are characteristic
of the mountain passes in many parts of Austria ;
and in this Northern Bohemia lie also the fantastic
and even grotesque mighty rock formations that have
been dubbed " Rock towns." The two greatest of
these strange Titanic groups of weird rocks lie in the
extreme north of Bohemia on the borders of Prussian
Silesia ; Adersbach, and Weckelsdorf . These forma-
tions were supposed to be enchanted towns turned
into stone, so like are the vast rock piles to man's
fortifications. But beyond the great line of masses
of rock, isolated piers start up and are formed into
grotesque shapes of varied forms, men and women,
animals, etc., and at their base are caverns and narrow
passages that are awe-inspiring and weirdly strange.
_The first time we saw Edmunds Klamm was in
9
Austria
early spring, and we dropped down into the narrow
defile after a walk from the little town of Herren-
skretchen to the village of Johnsdorf. Often since
then have I pierced into these silent mountain recesses,
beautiful at all seasons, but even in autumn never
more lovely than on this day of spring, when the
sombre pines that sprang from every rock ledge con-
trasted with the delicate, fresh, young green leaves
of the birch ; the winter's torrents were still frozen,
and hung in crystal light-blue and white cascades over
the grey, towering rocks ; and these rocks were lit up
with great splashes of sulphur-hued lichen, whilst
overhead, above the mighty precipitous palisades, was
the soft, clear blue sky in brilliant sunshine. Down
through the gorge, rushes and hurtles, and foams
onward the little river Kamnitz, rushing down rapids
and over falls, but all at once it reaches a deeply worn
bed, and all is still : and one can take a boat, and in
absolute silence float on down the stream until another
waterfall is reached, and the boat must be abandoned.
A pleasant walk leads on through a gorge that re-
minds one of the Lyn Valley in Devon, or the Wye and
its upper reaches, and yet here there is a vastness, and
touches of colour not present in Welsh or Devon
scenery. Then again a boat can be taken, and save
in dry seasons the rapids of the little Kamnitz can be
shot, down to the romantic village of Herrenskretchen
on the broad Elbe.
This is as it were but a thumb-nail sketch of a
marvellously beautiful scene, about which one could
paint many pictures ; but our vast subject and
limited space enforce condensation, and this picture
of Edmunds Klamm pleads to the reader to imagine
10
I ETSi
Northern and Eastern Bohemia
hundreds of such scenes as this in Bohemia, and in
other parts of Austria, where her mountain streams
carve out a beauty of varied charm in their course
to Danube, or Elbe, or Moldau, or to her mountain
lakes.
The Elbe from Herrenskretchen to Leitmeritz or
Litomerice is full of beauty and interest. At Tetschen
a diversion can be made from the river, and the rail-
way utilised for excursions into a part of Bohemia
that is crowded with strange scenery, and castles
perched in romantic positions amidst mysterious
rocky fastnesses.
The railway climbs slowly the hills until Tannen-
berg is reached, one of the highest points ; and then one
can drop down by various routes either to the plateaus
surrounded by the Iser Mountains or still farther
onward, either by motor or carriage or rail, to Reichen-
berg and Turnov (Turnau) and Trautenau, from
whence a view of the Giant Mountains is gained.
In this district, wherein lie these towns, there are
wonders of Nature and beauties of scenery, and
historic castles and quaint towns that would pleasantly
occupy months of travel. And herein lie also busy
industries such as glass, ceramics, weaving, jewellery;
and educational establishments for the development
of these industries that will detain the enthusiast in
artistic development many a day. At Reichenberg
is the oldest weaving school in Europe, splendidly
equipped, and an excellent industrial museum. At
Turnov a jewellery school of extremely high order, and
deeply interesting ; at Trautenau an agricultural
school, and in this district also are the remarkable
castles of Burgstein or Sloup, a great castle scooped
ii
Austria
out of an isolated standstone rock ; the historic,
picturesque fortress of Bezdez or Bosig, the castles
of the Wallenstein family, and the Roll ruin from
whence such a vast view can be had of this romantic
district, and a score of other castles, many still in-
habited, others picturesque ruins.
Not a volume but a pile of volumes might be
written upon the legend and history and architecture
of the castles of Bohemia. The whole of Bohemia
is dotted with these strongholds, and some of the
most characteristic are in this northern section of
the country, although all Bohemia teems with them.
The castle of Friedland, the erstwhile home of
Wallenstein, is exceptionally well placed ; built
around a basaltic mountain cone, now with extensive,
handsome halls full of art and history treasures. The
first building was a strong tower at the summit of the
cone, and to-day the dungeons of the castle are at the
summit, but embedded in the solid basalt. The date
on this tower is 1014, and its fitful, fierce history can
be traced until to-day.
Perhaps the weirdest of all these castles is that of
Burgstein or Sloup near Haida. This was an isolated
mass of sandstone left in a plainland and rising some
200 feet above the level. On its summit now
flourish pine trees and other vegetation. But enter
at its base, and by a narrow and V-shaped stair-
case, just wide enough for one person at a time to
ascend, all the rooms, and armoury, and chapel, and
stables of a castle can be entered ; all scooped out
of the solid rock. Around this impregnable fortress
was a lake, and the only approach was defended by a
drawbridge ; and from this stronghold sallied forth
12
Northern and Eastern Bohemia
the robber baron who held it, and ravaged the country
around. In its Hunger tower when opened were
found relics of humanity, and inscriptions carved on
the walls, and drawings of loaves of bread, the chalice,
the Husite's sign; roses, death's-heads and crosses,
a woman with a child, and a line of strokes, perhaps
the tally of days of some poor, starving wretch,
maimed but not killed when thrown down. These
Hunger towers are always a part of all the mediseval
castles in Central Europe.
Another castle, not so weird, but of more imposing
dimensions, is that of Bosig or Bezdez. Here is a
great Hunger tower, never yet opened ; the walls
are 15 feet in thickness. Another tall tower above,
on the summit of the rocky ridge the castle walls
enclose, commands a magnificent expanse of view,
and the chapel is a charming example of fourteenth-
century work. At one of the trefoil-headed windows
were two niches that had both been walled up ; on
opening them a skeleton was found walled into the
one, the other was empty ; the awful problem of
these two niches is full of strange, dramatic possi-
bilities, and such problems are everywhere to be met
with in these fascinating ruins, or still inhabited
castles of Bohemia. In the volume " Pictures from
Bohemia " I have sketched many of them, and
developed some of them in my novels. In this
district there is also the peculiarly strange type of
scenery known as the Rock towns — wild labyrinths
of gigantic rocks towering in the strangest of forms
to the varied heights of hundreds of feet, even up to
600 feet. Some of the principal of these are near
Jicin and Turnov. and from the latter place the
13
Austria
castles of Waldstein and Gros and Klein Skal can be
visited.
The range of the Giant Mountains affords a series of
pleasant excursions, the highest point, the Schnee-
koppe, often cannot be ascended in the spring because
of the snow. I remember once in the second week
in May intending to ascend it, but on our awaking in
the little town at the foot of the mountain all was
white around us, and the porter at the inn told us it
had " Kolossal geschneit heute fruh."
It had snowed colossally early in the morning, and
tramping through half-melting snow is not possible.
But at other times of the year the ascent is quite
simple. The height is just upon 5300 feet, and the
view from the summit is an immense and glorious one.
It is on the frontier of Germany and Austria, and the
view comprises vast stretches of both Empires. The
network of railway that links up all parts of Bohemia
will quickly run us down from Hohenelbe from whence
the Giant Mountain excursions can be made, or from
Trautenau to the central plainlands of Bohemia ;
but the roads are good, and I have run easily at fifty
miles an hour over them in an automobile, and driven
hundreds of miles in pair-horsed carriages, that can
be hired at low rates in most of the towns. One of
the great pleasures, keenly enjoyed by all in these
towns is music. At Jicin we heard a remarkable
orchestra, and a mixed-voice choir, all amateurs of
every grade of society in the town : their rendering
of choice music was excellent.
At Jicin we are within easy driving or motoring
distance of a district that has been dubbed the
Bohemian Paradise ; and truly it is full of great
14
Northern and Eastern Bohemia
natural beauty, of strange hill form ; vast, grotesque
rock formations, lovely valleys and river gorges and
meadows, and fruit lands that are richly cultivated.
It embraces the mysterious ruins of the old castle of
the Wallensteins, known as Waldstein, and the still
more strange castle of Gros Skal with its horrible
rock dungeons and subterranean passages ; and near
here is the town of Turnov (Turnau) that has much
besides its jewellery school to induce a halt. The
district is famous also for its precious stones, especi-
ally the rich-hued Bohemian garnet. Two places
especially interesting are Rotstein, with its wonderful
masses of gigantic rocks, and the little town of
Rovensko, where they boast of having an arrange-
ment for the bells unique in Europe. The bells, in a
tower, are hung mouth upwards, and are let go and
rung by men's feet on treadles ; but there is a some-
what similar arrangement at East Bergholt near
Dedham in England, only here the bells are on the
ground in the churchyard, and not in a tower. We
heard some good music at this small town, and the
school children sing well.
The strangest of all the castles in this district, so
packed full of natural beauty and historic interest, is
that of the defiant Trosky — two castles perched on
two lofty peaks, once opponents, then linked with a
great wall, and to-day a most imposing ruin that
dominates the whole country for a hundred miles
over the plainland. A good ending to a tour in this
district can be made at Jung Bunzlau, or Mlada
Boleslav, as the Cechs call it.
Not only is the district we have been sketching full
of natural beauty and industrial interest, but histori-
15
Austria
cally it is important — both in mediaeval times, when
the lords of its numerous castles, the Waldsteins and
Rosenbergs and others, played important parts in
European history ; and in the Prussian campaign of
1866, Jicin and Trautenau, Sadowa, and the Rock
town of Prokov, were the scenes of bloody conflicts
and decisive battles.
Before running into Prague, the capital of Bohemia,
there are some points of interest in Eastern Bohemia
that cannot be omitted from any book on Austria.
The town of Kutna Hora, or Kuttenberg, to give
the German name, is full of mediaeval monuments,
recalling the important role that this town played
as second city, and money-chest of the kingdom of
Bohemia in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
In many parts of Austria there is much material
for the lover of folklore and legend, and for the
historical romancist ; and in Bohemia especially are
the legends connected with the castles, and the history
highly dramatic, and here in Kutna Hora are buildings
that recall a terrible past, when religious wars were
carried on with savage intensity, and yet a period
when architecture and other arts flourished.
The great Church of St Barbara, a superb example
of fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century architecture,
contains some most remarkable monuments, and the
other churches and civic buildings in and around the
town, some dating back to the twelfth century, all
tell of a great past history ; and not far from the town,
overshadowing the little village of Kank, is a hill, the
Kahlenberg, that recalls vividly the terrors of the
Hussite period.
Here was the silver mine of St Martin's, and in
16
Northern and Eastern Bohemia
Palacky's History is given a vivid description of the
man-hunts which were adopted for catching the
heretics, who were burnt or beheaded, until the
executioner became so wearied and the prisoners
so numerous, that they were leashed together in
groups, driven to the pit's mouth, and the first one
or two driven over, and these pulled all the others
over, and thus they were hurled to the bottom of the
mine, which was about 300 feet deep. History states
that no less than 5496 men and women were hurled
down this one shaft. The reliquary or bone house
chapel at Sedlec, not far off, gives awful evidence of
the murderous work of this Wiclif period.
There are many points of interest and historic
towns in this eastern part of Bohemia, and in the life
of "A forgotten Great Englishman," and in the
novels, " The Gleaming Dawn " and the " Cardinals'
Page," I have given the history and somewhat of the
romance of this period, when Bohemia and England
were intimately linked together : when Anne of
Bohemia, the wife of Richard the Second of England,
lived at Bristol Castle and received the dues of
Bristol and Southampton as part of her dowry,
and many Bohemians were resident in England.
Not far by train from Kutna Hora is a town most
prettily situated on the Elbe, the historic Podiebrad.
The castle still stands, though much altered, where the
great King George of Podiebrad was born. Prince
Hohenlohe now resides there, and it was from here
that the famous Hohenlohe memoirs went forth to
the world. This town, so famous in past ages, has
lately renewed its life by the discovery of valuable
medicinal waters, and Prince Hohenlohe has estab-
B 17
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lished a Spa, since acquired by the town, that is
attracting many to the old and interesting town.
In all these towns there is a social and family life
that is very homely, but full of pleasant culture.
In the upper professional and official circles and
the well-to-do intellectual tradesmen who mingle
together, there is always a love of literature or history,
and, above all, of music. Let me sketch two homes,
one of a well-known doctor, the other of a learned
imperial councillor. In the first, I met at dinner the
principal chemist of the town and the Protestant
pastor, both learned men : the chemist, a good
historian and learned antiquary ; the pastor, a clever
linguist and a great patriot. The doctor's house
was full of artistic treasures, books, pictures and
sculpture ; his wife and daughters were notable
housekeepers, priding themselves on their table,
loaded with their own delicious productions. The
ladies, as is the custom in most Slav houses, and
many Teuton, wait on their guests ; but after dinner,
whilst looking over some missals and historic treasures,
we heard delightful music in another room, and
quitting our books, we went in to see Madam at the
piano, joining her son, who is a master of the violin,
in a duet. So do the Bohemian ladies combine, and
enjoy, the dual life of the careful housekeeper and
the artist.
In the imperial councillor's home the wife was
proud of her confections for the table, and loved to see
her guests enjoy the products of her culinary skill, and
after handing round delicious coffee, she sat down to
the piano and played a song of her husband's transla-
tion from the English, set to music by herself, and
18
Northern and Eastern Bohemia
then rambled away into masterly rendered excerpts
from their own Cech masters, Dvorak, Smetana, and,
on being asked, some of Wagner.
Another example of the outcome of Bohemian edu-
cation in homelife was vividly presented at Domazlice
(Taus), where during a luncheon the guests were
waited upon by a bevy of very handsome girls, all de-
lightfully dressed in white and cream-coloured dresses,
enriched with elaborate needlework. We were told
afterwards the whole luncheon had been prepared and
cooked by these ladies, who were daughters of the
best families of the district, and that their dresses
were entirely their own handiwork : here also we
had most excellent music.
Of the beauty of the Bohemian women we will
quote a German author, writing in 1841, of a popular
Slav fete on the Island in the Moldau. He devotes
great space to the beauty present : " One lovely face
followed each other in quick succession," and after
arguing on the probable reason for this beauty, adds,
" Be this, however, as it may, Prague is decidedly a
very garden of beauty. For the young ladies of 1841,
I am ready to give my testimony most unreservedly " ;
and continues, " Titian, who studied the faces of lovely
women for ninety-six years, and who, while at the
Court of Charles V., spent five years in Germany, tells
us, it was among the ladies of Prague that he found
his ideal of a beautiful female head. If we go back
beyond the times of Titian, we have the declaration of
Charles IV. that Prague was a hortus deliciarum."
I was fortunate once to be at a famous Slav fete
with Walter Crane on this same island. All the
elite of Bohemian Society were there, dressed in the
19
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picturesque Slav costumes, and my artist friend and I
agreed with Titian's dictum.
The outcome of the athletic drill of the Bohemians
was evidenced not long since in London, by the pres-
ence there of a Cech team of athletes from Bohemia,
who carried off the International Challenge Shield
for Physical Drill, and their performance elicited
high praise from the sporting and athletic journals
in England, it being stated that drill to these
Bohemians was not exercise but a religion ; the
whole team seemed animated by one soul. This drill
can be seen in many towns, but at its best in Prague,
the capital, that we are about to enter.
20
CHAPTER III
THE CAPITAL OF BOHEMIA, PRAGUE
THE one thing that at once arrests the
attention in travelling in Bohemia, and, in
fact, throughout Austria, is the intense
cultivation of every scrap of land, be it
mountain or plain, and the quick industry of the in-
habitants. In running into Prague from either point
of the compass this is very noteworthy, and upon
arriving in Prague one at once sees the city is very
much alive. This famous old city, with a tremendous
history, Zlata Praha, Golden Prague, as the Slavs so
love to call it, is being, or rather has been, transformed
during the last twenty years. The crooked, nauseous,
dirty streets through which one twisted and wandered
thirty years ago have nearly all disappeared, much
to the benefit and health of the inhabitants,
but all the principal historic buildings have been
preserved.
One still enters the inner town by that magnificent
monument of mediaeval times, the historic Powder
Tower, and a narrow street, with historic buildings
on either hand and a picturesque market place just
away to the left, leads one into the Ring, the very
heart of the city ; with the Tyn Church on the eastern
side, and the Town Hall with its great balcony
and little Gothic chapel, and famous clock tower on
the western side, and rising in the centre the great
21
Austria
monument to their national hero, John Hus, that is
to be unveiled in 1915, the five hundredth anni-
versary of his being burnt at Constance. What
change works the whirligig of time. In Prague a
Roman Catholic priest quietly stated to the author
that he should not be surprised if Hus were canonised
as a Saint, like Joan of Arc. Standing in this Ring
or Grand Place of Prague, those who know the
fascinating history of the city will be able to recall
many a passionate, turbulent, intensely patriotic
scene enacted here, when perhaps the streets around
were blocked by the chains now hanging in the
adjoining Town Hall.
Prague really consists of four ancient towns, known
as the Old Town, the New Town, and the Little Town,
and the Vyschrad, with the two outlying portions of
the Hradschin and the Josephstown. To these have
been added the modern independent towns of Karlin,
Smichov, Vinohrady, and Zizkov.
The oldest part of the city, is the Vyschrad,
the ancient acropolis of Prague, but the Hradschin,
on the other bank of the Vltava, or Moldau, is said
to have been founded about 752 a.d. by the Princess
Libussa, who married Premysl, the ancestor of all
the Bohemian rulers until the fourteenth century ;
from that date until the battle of the White
Mountain in 1620 the history of the city is full of
dramatic incident, the two most exciting periods
being when Prague was intimately linked with
England by the giving and receiving a queen — by
the giving of Queen Anne to Richard the Second, and
by receiving as Queen, Elizabeth, the princess who
became the mother of Prince Rupert, the famous
22
The Capital of Bohemia, Prague
General, Admiral, Scientist, of our Commonwealth
period.
As we stand before the Council Chamber and Town
Hall, dating back to 1338, we can see by the fine new
streets that radiate from this centre, how energetic
and advanced are the Prague rulers of to-day. A
broad street leads us into the Josephtown or ancient
Ghetto, where is left the synagogue, built about 1212,
and the old Jewish Town Hall, and the strange old
Jewish burying ground, with numerous crowded tombs
going far back into the centuries. In this quarter
now are the handsome Rudolphinum or Picture
Gallery, and the Museum of Industrial Art, wherein is
housed perhaps the most remarkable collection of
glass in the world, almost complete as regards the
marvellously beautiful examples of Bohemian glass,
but it also contains a wondrously remarkable and
beautiful series of the glass of other lands.
Not far off is the Clementinum, with the University
Library, wherein are the MSS. of Wyclif and Luther,
and this takes us round to the front of the famous
tower so noted for its architecture, leading us on to
the renowned bridge, the Karluv Most, i.e. Charles
Bridge.
On this bridge, with its lines of statues, has been
enacted some of the most stirring and terrible scenes
in Prague history, and to-day it is the spot that the
student and traveller haunts. Here one can look
up and down the Vltava's broad flood, up to the
Cathedral of St Vitus and the Royal Palace of the
Hradcany and back to the towers and domes of the
New and Old Towns, and away down to the dark steep
rock overhanging the river, on which is the Vyschrad,
23
Austria
or castle, with its old churches near by, the kernel,
or rather stem, whence all this beauty and strange
romantic patriotic life has sprung.
We cross the bridge and note the various interest-
ing groups of statues on either hand, and enter the
Little Town or Mala Strana, where we are in the midst
of the palaces of the great nobles of Bohemia, and
where steep, picturesque streets lead up to the Royal
Castle and the cathedral.
One of the best views of this noble group of buildings
is from the Furstenberg Gardens, looking up to the
long lines of the great palace, wherein is the great
hall of 1484, and from a window of this Royal Palace
the Imperial Councillors were thrown in 1618, bring-
ing about the disastrous thirty years' war, and leading
on to the almost complete extinction of the Slav
power in Bohemia for more than two centuries.
There is a great deal to hold the traveller in this part
of Prague. Close by is the palace of the Wallensteins,
and also the Parliament House of the kingdom of
Bohemia, and many another palace of the Bohemian
nobles.
Throughout Austria the traveller will quickly
note the keen rivalry of the varied races that united
form the great Austrian Empire. This rivalry, which
at first sight seems to constitute a weakness, is really
an immense power, for the keen emulation and the
struggle for supremacy has enforced advancement on
all lines, and throughout Austria many of the most
famous institutions, museums, art galleries, schools,
technical institutions, chambers of commerce, and
savings banks are due largely to this race rivalry.
The sons, aye, and daughters of one race will not per-
24
The Capital of Bohemia, Prague
mit a move onward of another race without striving,
not only to come abreast of that movement, but to
advance further in the science, art, culture, and
movement of the time.
Nowhere is this valuable rivalry more keenly
exercised than in Bohemia, and the remarkable
educational institutions, the art galleries, and the
Ethnographical, Art Trade, National and Naprstek's
Museums, and the delicately and artistically decorated
Cech Theatre, all give evidence of the intense vitality
and culture of the Slavs in Bohemia ; and the fact
that the entries of names in the schools for the
October session of 1911, the Cech children num-
bered 20,518, whilst the Germans only numbered
1632, suggests that it is with the Cechs that the
future of Prague lies.
The brilliant costumes of the Cechs and their
customs and folklore can well be studied in the
Naprstek's Museum. M. Vojta Naprstek and Mrs
Naprstek were remarkable people, and having made a
modest sum in America returned to Prague with two
objects : to advance the cause of Bohemia and collect
all relics of her life and history, and to make England
and English writers better known to Bohemians. In
his life- time M. Naprstek made an extraordinary
collection, and now this has developed into one of the
most remarkable folks' museum in Europe.
In 1841 a German author, who travelled far over
Central Europe and Russia, wrote five volumes upon
his travels, and these were in a condensed form,
published in one volume in English ; this was one of
the two books that appeared upon Austria in England
between the years 1835 and 1889, being dated, London
25
Austria
1843. The author, a Herr J. G. Kohl, a pleasant
writer and shrewd observer, gleaned much informa-
tion from all the peoples of the Austrian Empire, and
great was his delight at the scenery and art treasures
in Bohemia, and the energy of the Bohemian excites
his wonder, for he writes —
" Not only over the administration of their own
country, but over the whole Empire, the Bohemians
exercise great influence, owing to the important posts
to which they have raised themselves by their ability
and official aptitude." And of the pictures and
treasures, he says, " To give an account of the picture
galleries, libraries, and museums collected at the
various castles of the Bohemian nobles, would, no
doubt, be a highly interesting occupation, but would,
at the same time, be found an herculean labour."
What would he say to-day of the public museums
and galleries. The curator of an English museum,
studying museums in Europe, stated that the great
National Museum at Prague was far more advanced
and worthy of note than museums in Dresden, Berlin,
Leipzig or Hamburg.
In other parts of Austria it will be seen that other
races, the Teuton and the Pole, are equally alive and
keen for a cultured advancement and development of
their kingdom or province, and thus the whole Empire
has made tremendous strides ahead during the last
quarter of a century.
I remember Prague when it was apparently a wholly
German city ; to-day the traveller will quickly see
that it is a Slav city, but the Germans, although only
about 6 per cent, of the population, have their theatre
and schools, and the historic university, founded in
26
The Capital of Bohemia, Prague
1384, has nearly 2000 German students against about
4500 Cech students. The great technical school is
also thus divided, having nearly a thousand German
students to about 3000 Cechs.
From the height whereon stands the cathedral
and Royal Palace some delightful walks can be had,
and, above all, the Strahov monastery should be
visited with its valuable library housed in a beautiful
home.
Then not far off, through a lovely park which fol-
lows for a time the famous Hunger Wall, the Petrin
height can be reached, whence is a most wonder-
ful view of the whole of the city ; all her domes and
towers, and cupolas and the quaint " tent " towers,
so characteristic of Prague, are far beneath, and the
broad stream of the Ultava with its historic Charles
Bridge and the newer bridges. Then the walk can
be continued still through a well laid out park, until
at the foot of the hill the gardens are reached, wherein
is situated the excellently planned Ethnographical
Museum. Wherein, as it were in life, by well dressed
models in the various rich costumes, the home life of
the people of the various districts at various epochs
may be studied.
Prague is of course famous for its music : the home
of Smetana and Dvorak, Kubelik, and Sevcik his
famous master, and on the Sophia Island in the
summer and at various halls, and at the theatres in
the winter, there is ample opportunity of hearing
excellent orchestras and some of the renowned
bands of the Austrian army.
The little steamers that run to the various villages
up the river, give pleasant opportunity for excursions
2^
Austria
near Prague. Great works are being carried out for
developing the navigation of the Ultava, and soon, by
a great lock and dam improvement, boats will be
able to come direct from Hamburg to Prague via the
Elbe.
One of the pleasantest excursions on these small
boats is up to St John's, and this river trip gives a
good view of the dark grey rock on which stands the
Vyschrad, the high castle whereon was built the first
ruler's residence of Prague, that ruler known to
legend as the father of Libussa. The later castle that
played so fierce a part in the Husite wars is gone. The
oldest buildings now left on this rocky height are two
churches, one the romanesque chapel of St Martin,
the other the church of St Peter and Paul, wherein is
an interesting picture of the Vyschrad, as it was in
earlier days, with walls and domes and buildings, all
now disappeared. Perhaps still more interesting in
this district is the Karlov church, built in 1350 by
Charles IV. ; its octagonal dome is said to be the largest
Gothic dome, and it is of graceful proportions.
Prague and its adjoining towns give excellent
examples of that problem of modern life, town
planning. In the parent city slums have been swept
away and beautiful streets have arisen on their sites ;
but Vinohrady, at the east of Prague, is an example
of an entirely modern town, housing some 80,000
inhabitants without a slum. Town Hall, cathedral,
theatres, schools, two delightfully laid out parks, all
have been built during the last few years upon the
site of the Royal vineyards, hence the name,
Vinohrady. The streets are broad and lined with
accacia trees, and the poor live in the upper or
28
i..
•
The Capital of Bohemia, Prague
lower parts of the houses, and thus get the same
outlook as their richer brethren, and the in-
habitants point with pride to the fact that all the work
on their public buildings, including the fine wood
carving and brass work in the cathedral, has been
done by the workmen of the town. When asked why
they did not use other trees than accacia, the retort
was, " You forget our bee industry."
Thus does Prague interest the student of the pro-
blems of to-day by her advanced work in education,
in music, in commercial vigour, and by her remark-
able museums ; and the student of the past, by her
preservation of her famous monuments and her fierce
dramatic history, but to give such a sketch of Prague
and its history in a few pages, that will hint to the
reader of all that will fascinate, is almost an im-
possibility ; yet such a task in this volume will
continually occur, for so many of the towns in the
Austrian Empire hold one by their present-day
beauty, and their historic past history.
29
CHAPTER IV
SOUTHERN AND WESTERN BOHEMIA
IN running south of Prague by motor, or train,
one is quickly amidst the hills and in pictur-
esque scenery. Throughout Bohemia, in the
hill and mountain districts, there are always
romantic castles perched on craggy summits, or hid
cunningly in rocky clefts ; these are perhaps more
numerous in North Bohemia, but about twenty
miles south of Prague is the most remarkable
castle in all Bohemia, the royal treasure castle of
Karlstein. I first saw this castle before it was restored,
when the noble ruin and fine frescoes were covered
with dust and debris, and great stone shot some two
feet in diameter, lay about in the ruins, recalling the
dramatic sieges of the fifteenth century. To-day this
castle with its palace and three remarkable chapels,
its halls and historical frescoes, has been carefully
restored, so that one wanders in a vast range of
buildings, much as they were when Charles IV. built
them in the middle of the fifteenth century. Once on
riding up to this castle we were met with the piercing
cry, " Keep far from the castle, keep away from the
castle, that you avoid danger of death." This, in
Bohemian, was continually repeated through a
speaking horn; it was the cry of the Middle Ages
re-echoing in the twentieth century. We were
being made to feel the dramatic fierceness of by-
30
KARLS'I I IN
Southern and Western Bohemia
gone days. Aye, and one can go further back than
into mediaeval times, back into the pre-Christian era,
still preserved in popular customs. A picturesque
and curious sight is to be seen on Walpurgis night,
the last day of April, when witches' fires must be burnt
and a great noise made ; for the witches are defeated
on this night, and cattle and homestead are safe for the
year from their attacks. No weirder sight is possible
than to see on the Bohemian hills, as I once saw on
the hills around this castle, these witch-fires gleaming
on every height, burning besoms dipped in pitch being
hurled flaming through the air, and the whole night
filled with loud cries and shouts, and loud noises of
all descriptions, to frighten the witches ; for the
next village may endow you with their witches, unless
you make more noise. So may we live again in
prehistoric times in this Central Europe.
If castles are more numerous in the north, brilliant
costume is more prevalent in the south of Bohemia,
and the towns are as interesting.
The town of Tabor, founded by Zizka, perched on
its rocky height above the Jordan Lake with its walls
and old watch towers and gateways, is a spot to linger
in, and as everywhere in Austria one can live at one
moment in mediaeval times, and at the next be in the
centre of the latest scientific developments. Here,
in Tabor, is a great agricultural school, teaching
the very latest discoveries in field, forest and garden
work.
If we run farther south, at Budweis, we are ap-
proaching the Bohemian forest mountains, and are
in a perfect network of picturesque scenery, great
castles and towns, that for those who linger near
3i
Austria
them give forth secrets of history and race feuds, and
on Sundays and feast days especially, show a popula-
tion eager in their patriotism and religion.
The railroad from Budweis to Linz has been called
the grandmother of all the railways of Europe ; at
first it was a horse railroad, and it was stated that
the levels were so difficult steam would never be
used upon it.
An excellent example of the minute care and
assiduity to neglect no detail and no source of know-
ledge, by the State, the Commune, and in some cases
by the nobles, is to be seen near Budweis. Not far
off is the great pile of modern building, the castle of
Frauenberg, built somewhat after Windsor. But
near this is the old castle or Jagdschloss, and
this has been turned into a most perfect forestry
exhibition.
In the courtyard were sections of giant pines 295
and 450 years old, and as we entered the house,
most varied were the exhibits — every bird, animal,
fish, reptile and insect, and every tree, plant, egg, to
be found in the Schwarzenberg territory. Stags,
eagles, boars, waterfowl, divers, storks, locusts,
beetles, butterflies, all classed and arranged from the
egg to full growth, or from baby animal to grandest
example of full strength. All the furniture was of
built-up forestry. Candelabra of horns and tusks,
chairs and lounges, and tables of skins and claws.
Examples of all the woods, including those used for
resonant instruments, violins, guitars, etc. Strange
examples of abnormal animals, every species of
what an English hunter styles vermin. Enormous
and most exact geological books of the century.
32
Southern and Western Bohemia
Collections of the minerals and early implements of
the stone and bronze ages, and some fine examples
of early pottery ; one great urn of black ware,
eighteen inches across. In fact, so much was there
to delight in and study here, that we regretted we
had not given a whole day to the Jagdschloss. The
castellan showed us with pride the last bear shot
in the Bohmerwald on November 14, 1857. But
the educational value of such a collection is beyond
calculation, so scientifically yet so charmingly and
artistically and amusingly arranged, for the comic
element was not omitted.
The greatest of the castles of Prince Schwarzenberg,
the descendant of the fighting powerful Rosenbergs
of the Middle Ages, is at Krumau, or Krumlov, to
give the Cech spelling, a vast pile of buildings on a
rocky peak over the seething Vltava.
When Herr Kohl visited this castle in 1841 and
said he wished to see as much as possible of the place,
the officer to whom he spoke asked how many weeks
he intended to devote to the inspection ; and weeks
it would take to understand the vast castle of Krumau,
and especially to learn its history and legends.
Prince Schwarzenberg has still his own army in the
historic blue and white uniform, and the legends
clinging to the castle, such as that of the White Lady,
are numerous. The forerunners of the Schwarzen-
bergs, the Rosenbergs, were a defiant dominant race,
and a certain Henry of Rosenberg made three magis-
trates, who came to advance a claim against him, eat
the documents they brought, seals and all, and
then set them free, whereupon he set the dogs after
them.
c 33
Austria
I once, in calling alone at the castle, had an experi-
ence of these great boar hounds leaping around me,
in their rough play, until they were called off by the
daughter of the Seneschal of the castle. I have
utilised this castle in " The Cardinal's Page." Herr
Kohl says, "A moderately fertile writer might find
material here for twenty romances."
Near Krumau, to the south, is the historic monastery
of Hohenfurth, and the castle of Rosenberg, with its
treasures of glass and pictures ; and, if one drives
north from Krumau by pleasant good roads, the
mediaeval town of Prachatic is reached.
Here the double gateway with its tower and fres-
coed front, and the old walls and churches, carry one
back in the ages ; and when the Ring or central square
of the town is entered, the frescoed and Sgraffitoed
walls of many of the houses assist the illusion ;
at night especially one can re-people the town with
the fierce combatants who fought for Pope or freedom,
and captured and recaptured the town in mediaeval
days. From this old town it is a pleasant walk by
the little river Blanic, out to the deep, green sloped
valley, wherein lies the small town of Husinec, the
birthplace of John Hus. On his house are the words,
in Cech, " Mistr Jan Hus nar 8 Cervna 1369," and
throughout this district, as indeed throughout
Bohemia, the reverence for this hero of the fourteenth
century is very pronounced. The curious fact being
that it is the Roman Catholic population, which is
Slav, that holds Hus in honour, the Protestant or
Teutonic people being apathetic in regard to John
Hus, although their own hero, Luther, was so deeply
indebted to him.
34
Southern and Western Bohemia
In such a little town in England it would be difficult
to get good music, but here in Husinec (by the way
not even mentioned in Baedeker's Austria), on going
into the village inn on one visit, I saw a violin and
flute on the table, and at a funeral the singing was
excellent and a good band was there. On another
occasion we heard an excellent orchestra and a string
quartette of English girls, the Misses Lucas, who
were pupils of Sevcik ; a remarkable concert of
classical music played in a superbly masterly fashion ;
would'that in all our English small towns and villages
we could get such music.
From Husinec the mountain district of the
Bohemian Forest is easily gained by road or rail,
and some delightful excursions can be made in this
district of the Sumava. Up through the dark forests
with the glorious scent of the pines, to famous points
of view, or to such picturesque spots as the Black
Lake, that can be reached from Eisenstein or from
Spitzberg, a lake lying in a great circular wall
of rocky heights, surrounded with dark fir-clad
slopes, very like the volcanic lakes in the Eiffel
Mountains.
. From the heights around one can look across to the
Bavarian Mountains, and the whole district is full of
unsullied natural beauty. Somewhat to the north,
at the foot of the mountains, in a vast fertile plain,
lies the town of Domazlice or Taus. The great, tall
watch-tower proclaims it a frontier town, and around
it lived, and still live, a fine race of folk known as the
Chods, the frontier watchers and guard, who had
special privileges and in mediaeval days were answer-
able to the king alone.
35
Austria
To-day, it is a wondrously picturesque sight to see
these people in their blaze of colour, both men and
women in picturesque dress. A few years since at a
peasant's dance, some English writers thought an
operatic scene had been arranged for their amuse-
ment, but it was only a fair day, and to the pipes a
crowd of peasants were dancing. On Sundays all
go to the church, the women-folk in their brilliant
colours, carrying in one hand their prayer book,
and in the other a clean handkerchief.
The districts from whence the peasants come can be
told by the colours worn, and from the deep reds, and
rich low-toned colours of this district, we pass on to
the brilliant colours worn around Plzen or Pilsen, the
famous brewery town.
But Pilsen is far more than a brewery town, here
are also many important works, including the large
Skoda establishment, where locomotives, and other
machines, and the great guns are turned out for the
Austrian navy.
The Sokol Athletic Society here is very active,
having a good club house, and the Pilsen male voice
choir is one of the most perfect in Europe ; their part-
singing, into which they throw all the Slav fire and
yet render the pianissimo passages with delicate
and exquisite tone, is a delightful treat to the
musician, and at the theatre at Pilsen I once saw
King Lear rendered, both scenically and dramatically,
with wonderful power and beauty.
A visit to the town brewery is decidedly in-
teresting, and the great hall, utilised for hospitality
to famous groups of visitors, is worthy a visit for
its decorations ; while from a scientific point of
36
Southern and Western Bohemia
view the brewery is a revelation even to the general
visitor.
The effect of this excellent light beer and good
wine upon a lover of whisky was well exemplified
by the exclamation of a Scotch journalist, who had
been making a tour through Bohemia, and whose in-
variable habit it was to carry his native drink with him.
When asked how he liked the beer and the wine,
" Eh, mon," he exclaimed, " the whisky's had nae
chance."
Rapidly we have to sketch in the various char-
acteristics of the parts of this complex Empire of
Austria. But we must not quit Bohemia without a
word upon its great health resorts, so well known
throughout the world, and Marienbad is easily
reached by rail from Pilsen, passing through the
quaint little town of Mies, near which, in a pictur-
esque hill-country, lies the ruin of the Castle of Guten-
stein, where Burian of Gutenstein held Peter Payne,
the " Forgotten great Englishman," prisoner, whilst he
wrote to the Pope and to King Henry VI. of England,
striving to get a high price for his important prisoner,
but neither Pope nor King would pay the price
Johann Burian afterwards obtained from the
Bohemian Wyclifites, viz. : two hundred schock of
Groschen (a schock was sixty), five schock being the
ordinary ransom for a man.
Here at Gutenstein we are amidst the hills that
increase in height as we near Marienbad, where the
mountains rise to about 2,000 to 3,000 feet, and the
walks and excursions in the deep pine forests that
clothe the hills are full of solemn beauty.
^Marienbad is a juvenile bathing and health resort
37
Austria
compared to its more famous neighbour Carlsbad, only-
making its name early in the nineteenth century ; but,
thanks especially to the visits of King Edward VII.,
it has developed immensely, and is a charmingly
built and well-organised health resort. The crisp
mountain air and scent of the pines, especially in
the early spring, being delightful. The pretty park
with promenades and lakes, and the Ferdinand and
Kreuz Wells are crowded with fashionable patients
in the season. I once entered Marienbad in April,
when every place was shut, and intense cold and snow
prevailed, but now a winter-season for sports is
established. Marienbad lies in a corner, as it were,
between the Erzgebirge and the Bohmerwald, so that
from here sorties may be made into both the
mountain ranges, and the roads are good for
motoring.
Carlsbad goes much further back in history than
Marienbad, and the story that the springs were dis-
covered, and the town founded by Carl IV. in the
fourteenth century is not just to its antiquity, for it
was known two centuries earlier, but its famous
waters have secured to it an increasing fame, and
to-day the town on the banks of the tumultuous rush-
ing Tepl with its fifteen wells is the resort of patients
and pleasure seekers from every part of the world,
and the student of peculiar character can be well
occupied in a stroll up the tree- sheltered and shop-
bordered promenades of the New and Old Meadows
(Neue and Alte Wiese). The special diseases cured
here are gout, diabetes, and liver complaints, and the
waters are generally good for stomach complaints.
\ Another health resort in this western portion of
38
fcUor«rt.« M«»-<U_
Southern and Western Bohemia
Bohemia is Franzensbad, that lies not far from the
historic town of Eger. Eger is a town well worth a
visit, if only to stand in the death room of Wallenstein,
and see the museum attached to it, and the ruins of
the Kaiserburg with its double church.
One of the oldest of the health resorts of Bohemia
is Teplitz, but owing probably to the great develop-
ment of the coal industry in and near the town, as a
health resort it is not now so much visited, although
its waters retain their fame for curative powers.
But Teplitz has brought us nearly back to the Elbe
by which we entered Austria and where we must
quit Bohemia.
Not far from Teplitz is the busy port of Aussig on
the Elbe, and just above the town rises up the giant
stronghold of mediaeval times, the Castle of Schrecken-
stein : once the key to the Elbe and the scene of
many a desperate struggle.
The foundation of this castle dates from the year
820, when the Germans made raids into Bohemia,
and counsel was sought how to stop this. A certain
Strzek, whose name is decidedly Slav, suggested that
a strong fortress should be established on the Elbe,
wherein a strong fighter should live, so that the
Germans should not go up or down the river. This
was agreed to, and Strzek was told to chose
the spot, and to build the fortress and occupy
it himself : this he did upon the advan-
tageous rocky height, and held the place in such
a fashion that the Germans dared no more ascend
the river.
There are other quaint legends of the foundation
of this stronghold, but from this early date, down to
39
Austria
the year 1310 when positive facts begin to be
chronicled, legend fills up the void of history, and the
history becomes more fierce and romantic than
legend. Especially in 1426 the castle saw some
terrible work in the Wyclifite wars. On the 16th June
in this year, a mighty victory over the Crusaders was
gained by the Wyclifites, and the slaughter was so
great that 7000 Germans fell, with 500 knights and
counts, and the booty included 37 schock of war
waggons, richly laden ; 3 schock of cannon and
heavy guns ; 66 schock of camp tents, and a mass of
other weapons. As a schock means 60 the value of
this capture was great, and on the following day the
town of Aussig was stormed and the town set in
flames.
s Many a story and legend hangs around the old
ruined walls of this castle. One of the wildest and
most dramatic of these is called " Mathilde of
Schreckenstein," and relates the strange deeds of
Kuba of Strachov (i.e. Schreckenstein), who loved
feuds and the chase ; when there were no men to
hunt, he would hunt bears and wolves. His revenge
upon his enemies, his capture of Mathilde and her
lover ; the escape of the lover through the help of the
Gnomes who lived in the mountains and Mathilde,
and the ultimate revenge of the lover for the murder
of his bride by Kuba, who hurled her from the battle-
ments, make up one of those stories of love and
combat of mediaeval times that give such an insight
into the fierce savagery and ardent devotion of the
period. The wanderer amidst these Bohemian
castles will glean from local volumes legend upon
legend, and fact stranger than legend. Between the
40
Southern and Western Bohemia
years 1621 and 1648 this castle was five times besieged,
so one gets fighting enough in its history.
Bohemia is the land of legend, and of song, and
music, and if in old days it was the land of loyal
knights and fierce robber barons, and passionate
devoted religious and patriotic enthusiasts, to-day it
retains much of this fervour, and the fisherman and
sportsman, who can secure excellent sport in the
forests and mountains, will hear many an old-time
legend.
v In one year something like a million head of game
are killed in Bohemia, including wild boar, red deer,
hares, pheasant, partridges, black cock, wild duck,
quails, etc., and the Austrian government is every-
where careful to preserve and increase the fish in the
streams. I have seen mountain streams in Bohemia
black with trout.
And if Bohemia is interesting to historian, botanist
and geologist and sportsman, it is also of great interest
as an educational and industrial centre.
In old days it was the purse of the Empire because
of its silver mines, to-day it is one of the richest
divisions of Austria through its natural advantages,
made much of by its energetic industrial leaders, and
its splendid development of technical and artistic
education.
It is not the purpose of this volume to give a series
of figures, but rather descriptions of the people and
their homelands that shall lead to a more intimate
knowledge of Austria and her people. To emphasise
these descriptions it may be stated that in the
" Oesterreichisches Statistisches Handbook," Bohemia
stands forth, in many ways, as a most important
4i
Austria
kingdom of the Empire of Austria, in commerce,
population, education, and municipal institutions.
In the chapters upon the capital of the Empire,
Vienna, some figures are given illustratin these
facts.
42
CHAPTER V
THROUGH SILESIA TO MORAVIA
IN journeying from Bohemia to the capital of
Moravia a most romantic stretch of country is
traversed, that opens up possibilities of pleasant
excursions in a country totally unknown to the
ordinary tourist.
But if before leaving Bohemia, nearly on its eastern
frontier at Wildenschwert, we bear north and running
through the northern corner of Morvia enter Silesia,
we are soon in the heart of the mountain district of
the Sudeten, the highest peak of the district the
Altvater, being on the frontier of Moravia and
Silesia.
All around this peak are pleasant little towns that
offer many quiet delights to the lover of nature, of
sport, and of pedestrian tours. Perhaps one of the
most pleasant of these halting spots is the new health
resort of Karlsbrunn, a little town that reminds one
of the earlier days of Marienbad, lying as it does deep
in the hills, and surrounded with fir forests, with a
reminiscence of the Bad Gastein, from the rushing
stream of the Oppa that hurtles its way valleywards
through the little town.
The buildings are, of course, not of the imposing
style of either of these older health resorts, neither are
the prices so imposing, as a room may be had here for
two krone, say Is. 9d., upwards, although on the Tariff
43
Austria
it is noted that in the season this price may be raised
even three per cent.
The ascent of Altvater that rises 1490 metre, say
4600 feet, can be made direct from Karlsbrunn in
two and a half hours, but perhaps the pleasantest
route is to walk by the Oppa falls to the Schaferei in
two hours, and then take the easy ascent to the
summit.
The strange heavy building of the Habsburg Tower
rises on the summit, and from its platform a glorious
view is had of hill on hill, and dark forest interspersed
with green fields and little villages, but no great towns
to pollute the pure mountain air with smoke.
The members of the Tourist Union here are alive to
the possibilities of this district for winter sport, and
have marked out Ski runs with poles ; for the snow
is often very deep in this northern health resort, and
famous sport is to be had on the hill-slopes around
Karlsbrunn.
The genuine nature lover will revel in tramps over
the hills here, amidst the pines and pure unadulterated
nature, through the little block house villages, where
inns will be found with accommodation at very low
rates, a krone a night, or even less, for a bed, and good
wholesome living at equivalent rates. A rucksac or a
knapsac is the proper baggage for such a tour, but the
traveller who loves more impedimenta will find good
accommodation at the larger towns.
One of these large towns is Jagerndorf, that lies
to the east of Altvater at the Junction of the Black
and Gold Oppa ; the streams called Oppa here are
very numerous ; there are also the White and the
Middle Oppa.
44
Through Silesia to Moravia
This frontier town, which lies on the borders of
Silesia, has rapidly developed of late, and has now
nearly 20,000 inhabitants, forming a pleasant place
for a halt after roughing it on the hills.
The student of social life in a small mountain town
can here well study all that goes to make up the daily
life under Austrian rule. The schools are excellent,
and there is an important weaving school, as that
industry is of great importance in the district, there
being between thirty and forty cloth factories here,
with an output of nearly a million pounds' worth of
goods yearly.
From Jagerndorf, an important railway junction,
it is only 18 miles to Troppau the capital of this
Austrian Silesia. We run along the picturesque
Oppa that separates Austria from Germany, leaving
behind many a delightful hill excursion and robber's
nest ruin, and enter the busy historical capital of
Silesia.
At the peace of Breslau, in 1742, Austria retained
Troppau and a part of Jagerndorf, and in 1820 on
account of a rising in Naples and Piedmont a congress
was held here, but shifted to Laibach, the interesting
town we shall visit in Carniola. But Troppau dates
back to the twelfth century, and very early in the
fourteenth century it was raised to a dukedom. One
of the striking events in its history was the entry
of the sardonic Wallenstein in the year 1627. To-day
it is a bright well- organised town with very varied
industries, a fine commercial school and museums.
Especially should be visited the handsome Art and
Trade Museum, an example of these establishments
that in Austria, in all trade centres, do so much to
45
Austria
encourage research and development in every
industry.
Around Troppau are many delightful spots, but
above all the fine old castle of Gratz should be seen,
for not only as a place of ancient birth, being men-
tioned in the eleventh century, and as the residence
of Queen Kunigunde in the thirteenth century, but it
is also famous for its siege by the Husites in the
fifteenth century, when it was taken and burnt ; and
all music lovers should make a pilgrimage here, for
from 1806 to 1811 Beethoven lived here, and in 1886
Liszt visited here.
But Troppau must not hold us, we must run on,
quitting Silesia, taking a peep at Olmiitz, and so
journey on into the capital of Moravia, Brunn.
Moravia
In Silesia the preponderance of the inhabitants are
Germans of the Teutonic stock, very many of the
towns being wholly German, and others with a small
sprinkling of Slavs. But in Moravia, the Slav pro-
portion is much greater, and hence the type of life is
different, and the costume of the peasants is more
brilliant.
The student of ethnology has everywhere in Austria
interesting facts brought before him, contrasts of
temperament, contrasts of aspirations, ambitions and
aims, and these contrasts are illustrated in the dress
and in the habits and amusements of the manifold
races that build up the Empire of Austria.
In Olmiitz there are about 70 per cent. German and
46
Through Silesia to Moravia
30 per cent. Slavs or Cechs, and the educational
establishments are divided, some for the Germans,
some for the Cechs, and as usual the utilitarian side
of education is well looked after, there being a Com-
mercial school and two Trades' continuation schools
in the town, besides the usual important gymnasiums,
Real schools, teachers' training schools, or girls' house-
hold schools.
It is always of interest to study these educational
establishments in Austria, and in connection with
them the historical, trade and other museums that
are generally, in even small towns, so well and origin-
ally organised. The two Rings (Ring is the usual
designation all over Austria for the Central Square
or Grande Place), the Upper and Lower Ring, are the
centres of life in Olmutz. Time has played havoc
with much in the town, but there are fragments of its
earlier days in the Cathedral, and in the Town Hall,
with its interesting museum, the history student will
willingly linger ; but perhaps, the most interesting
monument of old times in Olmutz is the Church
of St Moritz, said to be the biggest Gothic church in
all Moravia.
Olmutz is rich in historical associations. In 1758,
Frederick the Great besieged it, but had to raise the
siege and return into Silesia, and in 1850, a Conference
was held here, that resulted in, amongst other things,
Schleswig-Holstein being handed over to the Danes.
But the capital of Moravia is calling us and although
as we approach it a dark cloud heralds its presence,
as do the smoke clouds of our North country English
towns, yet, the country all around is very beautiful.
The dwellers in Brunn, important centre as it is of the
47
Austria
cloth and leather trades of Austria, can quickly be
in pastoral scenery, where picturesque rivers, much
like the Wye and the Tyne in England, run through
delightful scenery.
Brunn is a town full of interest from its historical
buildings, or, as we enter from the railway station
into the wide boulevard or Bahnring, the modern
spirit of advancement of its inhabitants is soon very
evident.
Good hotels, wide streets, the lamps hung with
flowers in the most modern style, show the aim of its
present inhabitants is to make their town beautiful
in spite of the many factories that are in and around
it, that have given it the title of the Austrian
Manchester.
Broad flights of steps lead up from the Ring to
the centre of the old town, and one is soon in the
busy streets, some wide, that have replaced the old
narrow streets, and others still narrow with picturesque
buildings.
In the centre of the old town is the Rathhaus with
its high towers and old arches, beneath one of which
hangs the traditional Lindwurrn, probably a crocodile.
Within the courtyard is a delightful little gallery or
loggia. The tympanum of the great doorway is richly
decorated with sculpture, under well-carved canopies,
the central figure being Justice with sword and
balance. This building was rebuilt in 1311, after a
fire, the town hall added about 1489, and the portal
and loggia in 1511.
Some most quaint streets or rows lead from the
Rathhaus to the Kraut or Vegetable Market, wherein
rises up the Parnassus or Trinity Fountain, around
48
Through Silesia to Moravia
which are grouped the sellers of fruit and vegetables,
and from the high slope above this fine, open square,
a good view of the town is had, with its numerous
spires, domes, towers, and fine old houses.
Near here is the Franzens Museum with a charming
old courtyard, a rococo fountain in the centre, sur-
rounded by pleasant trees ; within is a collection
worthy of some time being spent upon it, of pre-
historic and ethnologic collections.
In Briinn, as everywhere in Austria, commerce is
made a science, and a fine commercial school and an
excellent trades' museum teaches that science, the
outcome being that Briinn goods are exported largely,
and rumour has it that the fine cloth labelled in the
tailor's shop as " Echt Englisch " (genuine English),
is really Briinn cloth exported to England, and
re-exported to Austria.
In prehistoric days ere Briinn's written history
begins, the two heights which to-day so add to the
picturesque in her centre, were probably the Kernel
of her life.
To-day, lovely avenues lead up to the Franzens-
berg ; near the summit is an obelisk " against
Napoleon " erected in 1818, and dedicated by Franz I.
to Austria's army and in thankfulness to faithful
Moravia and Silesia.
Pretty peeps are to be had between the trees of the
cathedral and of the wide spread, smoky city. And
we descend from the Franzensberg down to one of the
Protestant churches, and through fine, wide, new
streets, up past the great trades' museum to the foot
of the Spielberg, the great hill and historic fortress
of Briinn.
d 49
Austria
In spite of the great stand that Briinn and Moravia
made for Protestantism, to-day there are only about
3000 Protestants in the town, and all trace here of the
Moravian brotherhood is gone. In the Husite wars
Brunn held for a time with Sigmund, and in 1419,
received him right royally. Here John Capistran,
the Franciscan monk, preached, but later Brunn,
especially under the Protestant King George of
Podiebrad, held fast to the Husite cause, and
was one of the last towns to give in to the Papal
power.
One can think over the fierce passages of history in
the life of the towns, as one climbs slowly up the steep
height, of about 900 feet, of the Spielberg.
The old deep-toned bells of the church, boom out
over the wide plain below as we climb up to the monu-
ment to Count Radwit de S ouches, who defended
Briinn against the Swedes, and rising above is the old
grim fortress of the Spielberg, beneath which are the
terrible dungeons wherein so many prisoners have
been tortured and died. Here Silvio Pellico was im-
prisoned, and in one of the " Martyr Holes " the
Emperor Joseph II. spent an hour, and on coming out
said, " I am the last prisoner in these cells," and the
torture was stopped for ever.
It was an English ambassador who brought about
this result, for he had studied various types of imprison-
ment, and had written : " better be hung in England
than be pardoned in Austria," and sent to the Spiel-
berg ; and Kaiser Joseph said he would prove if this
were true. But to-day the Spielberg is a joy to the
dwellers in Briinn and to all who climb its height,
and as we went down its pleasant gardens and tree-
50
Through Silesia to Moravia
clad slopes, and noted some of the cannon-balls still
in the walls, young recruits were singing gaily and the
hot sun was lighting up the vast plain below.
Briinn numbers about 125,000 inhabitants, nearly
two-thirds being Teutons, and a little over one-third
Cechs, but I was told in 1911 that the Slavs were
rapidly increasing as the poor, the work people, were
largely Slavs ; but this development of the Slav
population is noticeable throughout Bohemia and
Moravia, and in other parts of Austria. But all,
irrespective of race, benefit by the excellent system
of Austrian education, and here not only are the town
trades looked after, but there are winter schools for
agriculturists and small holders, whose holdings vary
from six to eighteen hectare.
In the town, the wages run, for men, from 4s. 6d. to
6s. per day, and in the Textiles, for women, from 2s.
to 3s. a day. But there is a good deal of home
industry done by the small holders as in other parts
of Austria, and this is badly paid, a whole family
earning about a pound a week. But these small
holders have geese and ducks and a cow, and so eke
out their living.
In curious corners, and in the churches, there is still
much of the old history of Briinn to be seen ; and
as an example of modern enterprise, the splendid
building of the Chamber of Commerce well exempli-
fies the business energy of her merchants. Its portal
of blue-grey marble is adorned with carved symbolic
heads. The walls of the fine hall for meetings are of
Silesian marble, the windows of good stained-glass,
and the rooms are furnished in excellent taste with
good local work.
5i
Austria
These Chambers of Commerce are not as in England,
supported by private subscriptions, but every one
who pays a State duty of 8 kroners and upwards,
pay 5 per cent, of that amount of duty to the Chamber,
thus every merchant down to the smallest shop-
keeper is interested in the work of the Chamber, and
can vote for the election of Director. The work
in these Chambers is very thorough, opening up new
avenues of trade, stating types of trade, and stability
of districts and customers ; the reference library here,
being new, has only 17,000 volumes.
Just a reference to one other modern institution in
Briinn and we must quit this interesting town, but
the Artist's House or academy is one of the latest
additions to Briinn's public buildings. This is built
in the crude Secession style, with ugly and glaring
decorations and glass, but within was a very good
exhibition of the work of Moravian artists, some ot the
post impressionists' order madly striving for effect,
and others gaining effect and impressing the lover
of art by excellent work, both in landscape and
figures.
And yet amidst all this modern advancement
the old heathen customs die hardly in Central
Europe — one might rather say they live vigor-
ously Many of them have, of course, been
modified, and transplanted into the Greek or Roman
churches, and survive in the religious ceremonies of
to-day One of the quaintest of these old-world
customs, is that kept up on Palm Sunday here in
Moravia. The peasants cling to their old customs
as they cling to their brilliant picturesque costumes.
A fete day in a Moravian village is a brilliant spectacle.
52
■■■■■■■■■MaHnM
i:k i NIS
£
Through Silesia to Moravia
The women folk in their wide distended short
petticoats of every hue, their brilliant bodices with
lace or silk kerchiefs thrown over the shoulders, and
their many coloured headdresses, all form operatic
groups when a festival or church fete is being cele-
brated. The men wear white jackets, with brilliant
coloured facings and rosettes or bobs to collar and
lapels ; white breeches with black work upon them
and top boots and broad hats with coloured ribbons,
or perchance long white overcoats laced with black
or coloured work. And it is such a crowd as this that
assembles on Palm Sunday to " Carry out death."
Death is the goddess Morena, the dark death goddess
of the Slavs.
The figure to represent the goddess is made up of
straw or flax and rags, and dressed to represent
Morena. Crowds assemble in the township or village,
and bear her out to the nearest deep brook or pond,
singing as they go, and the Moravians are very
musical. The songs are sometimes sad and doleful,
and then as in all Slav music, swiftly change to bright
lightness with jocular words. At the brook a heavy
blow is first dealt at Morena by one of the leaders of
the crowd with an iron-bound stick, then all try and
deal some blow at her, and everyone essays to tear
off a bit of her clothing. This they guard carefully
for the year, as it constitutes a charm against sickness
and death ; just as the catkins or palms are treasured
up from those blessed in the churches on Palm Sunday.
At last after a terrific assault on her, poor Morena is
tossed into the water and safely drowned. Death is
defeated ; winter is over ; and with palm branches
or branches of spring-bursting trees, entwined with
53
Austria
coloured ribbons, and with coloured eggs in their
hands the troop of peasants go jovially back to their
homes. Nature is awake again, the death god is
defeated, and music, and dances and merriment are
heard instead of the doleful chants with which they
bore out Morena from homestead and township.
54
CHAPTER VI
THE CHARM OF MORAVIA
FOR landscapes the Moravian artist has
glorious opportunities. But a few miles
from Brunn there is a delightful district
full of beauty along the banks of the pretty
river Zwitta. One of the favourite spots is called
Adamsthal, and a little further north is Blansko.
From either of these, the whole district can be explored
and it is full of charm, reminding one of our Wye and
Dart, but adding to their charm of precipitous rock
scenery very remarkable stalactite caverns that rival
even Adelsberg in beauty, if not in size. All these
wild idyllic districts throughout Austria have many
romantic legends connected with precipice and cavern
and lake.
We have too much space to cover, and a crowd of
matter presses for admission into this volume, but
there is a legend linked with this district of the
Machocha (stepmother) avalanche, that is so full of
retributive Nemesis that we give it.
Some hundreds of years ago there lived in Willi-
mowitz (it will be noticed that most of these names
are Slav) a miner who had lost his wife, and to give
a mother to his young son, he married a poor, but
pretty maiden. To her also was born a son,
but as the child was too much petted, it grew up
sickly and weakly, and the stepmother was jealous and
55
Austria
envious of the strength of her stepson. So she con-
sulted an old woman learned in charms, and by her was
advised to seek out,, and pluck a certain special herb-
weed.
Whilst seeking in the forest for this weed, she was
met by a charcoal burner, who told her that the
stronger and healthier grew the stepson, the weaker
would become her own child. So long as they both
breathed the same air her child could never recover
strength. Then an awful determination seized upon
the worried mother. She called the stepson to her
in the forest, and taking him to an awful precipice,
where the cliffs sank sheer into the valley, she begged
him to pick a herb from the edge of the cliff, for that
herb would make his little brother strong and well
again. She would hold him so that he should not slip.
The boy stooped over the rocks to pick the herb, and
his cruel stepmother, pretending to hold him, gave
him a push that hurled him into the abyss, and with-
out a look, she hurried away to her home to find her
own son, dead.
The next morning some charcoal burners on going
at dawn to their work heard the moaning and cries
of a child, and they found the stepson caught in the
branches of a tree. They rescued him, and whilst
they were succouring him and listening to his tale of
how his stepmother had pushed him from the summit
above, they heard a fearful shriek from a woman's
voice, and from the cliff sprang the maddened mother
pressing her dead child still in her arms, but no tree
rescued her from the death she had intended for her
stepson. And to-day, through the howling, raging
storms, and soughing and hissing of the wind through
56
The Charm of Moravia
rocks and pines, one can hear the cries of a child, the
screams of a woman, and all flee from the spot ; for
misfortune awaits him, who lingers in the sound of
these cries of the Machocha or stepmother.
Machocha the spot is called, where this great
avalanche or mountain-slide worked its ravage, and
left a wild wondrous beauty spot for the modern
traveller to marvel over ; where leaping rivulet, and
little lakes, add to the charm of broken cliff and forest
scenery.
To the north of Brunn, there is picturesque scenery
and an interesting folk ; in running south, there is very
much of interest. The whole district is excellently
cultivated, and the towns have characteristic and
historic monuments that will repay frequent halts,
and we are going over the ground where Napoleon
emphasised Austerlitz and Wagram.
Rising hill-chains break up the scenery, and the
cultivated plains are dotted with prosperous villages
and busy little towns. The costume of the Slav
peasants is often extremely picturesque. It was a
group from Ungarisch-Hradisch, an old town on the
river March, that Mr Walter Crane once sketched for
me in all their quaint and brilliant-coloured dress ;
for the Moravian peasants make pleasant old-world
groups in their long white coats with coloured fringes,
and embroidered breeches, and the gay parti-coloured
dress of the women, with brilliant head-dress ; and as
in Bohemia, romantic castles, many inhabited, others
in ruins, are thickly dotted in most picturesque
situations over river and on hill height.
One of the richest districts for scenery and historic
interest is the Thaya valley. Foolishly, local books
57
Austria
compare it to the Rhine because of its hills and
numerous castles. In old days, when the Rhine was a
purely pastoral river, this may not have libelled the
river Thaya, but to-day, the beauty of the Thaya
heights and river bends, far exceeds that of the factory
and town- crowded Rhine.
The little town of Znaim makes a good halting place
for this district, and the town itself is romantically
situated and historically important.
To an Englishman the educational establishments of
these small Austrian towns are extremely noteworthy.
Here in Znaim, a town of only 16,000 inhabitants, is a
series of remarkable establishments to develop and
raise the manufactures and agriculture of the district.
In addition to all the usual folk, burger, real and
gymnasium schools, there is a technical school for
the pottery industry, a two-class agriculture and vine-
yard school, trades and commercial continuation
schools, and a state and province vine cultivation
school, with practising ground.
The corporate life of these small towns is also very
alert, and societies for amusement, music, fishing,
shooting, boating, skating, gymnastics, tennis, are
formed, and prevent effectually the dullness of pro-
vincial small town life, so complained of in other
countries.
The outcome of the schools is a busy commerce in
the articles invented or improved by the teaching in
this district ; the various varieties of pottery from
Majolica to the common brown ware, and in garden
and field produce especially, in preserved fruits, or
vegetables, and pickles.
But Znaim charms perchance the most for the
58
The Charm of Moravia
natural beauties around it. It was a brilliant day,
early in May, that I first drove out of the town of
Znaim, across the great busy market-place, noticing
the dark shades of the head-dresses, and of the women's
dress generally, for the majority of the inhabitants
here are of the German stock ; at the village of
Hodnitz we took up an old man as a guide, who was
to take us to one of the nature-wonders of the place,
the ice-exuding holes, where ice is plentiful in the
hottest summer, in fact the hotter the summer the
more the ice.
We left our vehicle at the foot of a hill, and after a
lovely walk between the pines, scrambled up over
smoothly worn blocks of rock to the ice holes, but
there was no ice : " kein Eis da " (no ice there),
exclaims our guide, so on we went until we came up
to a glorious view, the Thaya winding below between
the dark pine forests with a vast expanse of hill
country and rocky slopes.
Vast masses of rock were lying round, over these we
climbed up to a plateau where stands a monument,
and scrambling down below this we soon felt there was
ice near, at fissures in the rocks deathly cold blasts or
currents of air were felt, and soon we came to an
aperture, a great doorway of rock with flat slabs half
hanging overhead, and here were great streams of
ice, and all round were holes in the mountain from
whence issued the deathly chilly puffs of the icy air.
A wild, strange, weirdly romantic spot.
From this height we passed down over smooth
slippery slabs of rock, some moss covered, and over
our heads hung great ferns and rose tall pines, to more
Eis Gruben, where we broke off icicles 4 inches long,
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Austria
and then passed down where a mighty avalanche had
cleared away all trees.
It was a wild, savage scene we were amidst. The
bright sun was gone, and an inky sky spread overhead,
and ere we reached the foot of the hill where our
carriage was to await us, the crashing storm broke,
and we crouched behind a pile of cut timbers for some
shelter against rain, hail, intense flashes of lightning
and deafening peals of thunder.
At length we were able to move ahead, and get
into the village where a funeral was proceeding, all
the women in black and all the onlookers in dark
clothing ; the men, with priest and acolyte clustered
round the coffin as the prayers were said before the
house, the women being grouped near the house, a
curiously dramatic ending to the awful storm we had
just passed through.
If the ice caverns were interesting, so also is the
Castle of Frain, that as one passes along the valley
comes out majestically on a bold, high, jagged brown
rock, its high white upper buildings rising above the
fir trees, and its brown, square, solitary towers looking
mysteriously down on the piers of natural rock. The
river winds beneath and a weir forms a pretty fore-
ground.
There is a great deal of interest in this castle, which
dates from 960 a.d., and is still inhabited, having
had many a romantic and stirring passage in its
histoy.
T.ie major domo who showed us over the halls and
towers, and its art treasures, said he could not re-
member ever to have had any English there before ;
and this statement I have frequently met with in
60
The Charm of Moravia
some of the most gloriously beautiful, and historically
exciting spots in Austria.
If the neighbourhood of Znaim is full of beauty
and Sehenswiirdigkeiten (things worth seeing), so also
is the town itself, with its historic buildings, besides
the modern buildings for culture and amusement.
It was on a Sunday morning that we were awakened
at 5 a.m. by an excellent band ; and when we went
up to the'old palace, that is now partly a barrack, we
found the soldiers busy cleaning their coats and
accoutrements. The whole town breathes of history,
and history in these towns has been full of intense
passion and fierce drama. Ottocarius Rex is carved
on the palace gateway, reminding one that Ottakar I.
founded Znaim in 1226, and through all its history
Znaim has had an eventful life, especially when it
warmly sided with the Reformation in the fifteenth
century, and again in the seventeenth century, when
Wallenstein with his staff resided here.
A curious link with the past is the little Wenzel's
chapel that stands not far from the interesting church
of St Nicholas. This chapel, dedicated to Wencelaus,
tr z patron saint of Bohemia, is a double church, one
superimposed on the other as at Eger, and the strange
fact is that in the upper church the Roman Catholic
rites are celebrated, whilst in the lower church the
worship is in the Protestant faith. It had been
noised abroad in the town that we were English ; and
whilst we were studying this remarkable architectural
monument, the upper church being in Romanesque
style, and the lower in the earlier style with galleries
in the heavy walls, we were asked if we were Evangel-
istic. We answered we were Protestants, and re-
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ceived a warm greeting, and the pastor was sent for,
who told us there were only a hundred Protestants in
the town, but the little group, who soon crowded
round us, showed their intense warmth of feeling in
the faith of Hus. But the Roman Catholics of to-
day in Bohemia and Moravia are decidedly broad-
minded, and their churches are often plainer than
our own ritualistic churches.
From near this little church we could see how the
town is perched up upon the rock over the beautiful
valley of the Thaya, and people and town, and all the
charm and fascination of history and scenery, held us
in their sway, and tempted us to pay a return visit to
Moravia.
62
CHAPTER VII
GALICIA AND ITS PEOPLE
TO enter Galicia from Southern Moravia
we pierce through the Beskiden Mountains
that are linked with the most northern
chains of the vast range generally known
as the Carpathians. These mountains are not high,
running only to about 4000 feet, but they are full of
charming spots and romantic beauty, and a happy
hunting ground for geologist, botanist, and sportsman.
Upon entering Galicia we are soon in touch with
the great river Vistula, that plays so important a part
in the history and commerce of the province and
the ancient kingdom of Poland. Travelling over the
great well-watered plains of the province, Cracow is
the first town of importance we arrive at upon this
route, and Cracow is a fascinating town not only from
its history and all the monuments of its great past that
are preserved to it, but also by reason of its people
and their picturesque costume and quaint customs.
Here under Austrian rule the Pole is free to speak his
own tongue, and to sing his own songs. Arriving, as I
have done on more than one occasion, from the Polish
Provinces of Russia and Germany, the contrast of the
life of the Pole in these three divisions of the old
kingdom is very noteworthy.
To stand in the Ring or central square of Cracow is
for the lover of history a moment of keen emotion.
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Austria
Here have been enunciated, and fought out, some of
the most passionate struggles of humanity in Europe,
and Cracow has preserved enough of her historic
buildings vividly to rebuild the past and its history.
The great church of St Mary with its two towers
rises up above the great Cloth Hall, and the scene
within, especially upon a fete day, impresses one with
the fervour of the peasants for their religion, and,
as the incense rises before the elaborately beautiful
high altar, the work of Veit Stoss, the low bending
worshippers form a mass of colour of every hue. The
men to-day are not so vivid in colour as formerly, but
the long white coat with red and black facings, with the
varied coloured vests with contrasting fringes, are still
everywhere to be seen, and the jackets of brilliant red
and blue, when the long white coat is not hiding
them, make church and market place a kaleidoscope
of colour.
The groups of women in the market outside the
church are full of rich beauty of colour and picturesque
dress. Alas, the cheapness of modern clothes, com-
pared with these carefully made, enduring, brilliant
costumes, is steadily reducing the wearing of the old
dress.
As one stands at the entrance to the old Cloth Hall
and looks up at the two towers of St Mary's, one is
shown hanging by a chain to the archway a great
rough knife to which a gruesome legend is attached.
It was with this knife that one of the brothers, the
twin architects of the two towers, slew the other,
because his tower was approaching completion too
rapidly, and in advance of the work of the murderer.
As one looks around at the varied types of houses
64
Galicia and its People
that form the square, one is struck by a peculiarity,
some of the houses being very narrow with little
frontage, others with broad, handsome facades.
But few would guess at the quaint reason, for this
inequality of houses built apparently at the same
period. It arises from a law that only the higher
nobles be permitted to have houses with five windows
on each floor, the lesser nobles were allowed three
windows, and the plain burghers but two, and it strikes
one quaintly to see a burgher's little house with but
two windows squeezed between two patrician houses
with five or three windows.
Austria is not afraid to allow the Poles in Galicia
to speak and sing of their history, and with pride,
tinged perhaps with a little sadness, the Poles of
Cracow show you their monuments to their national
heroes in the cathedral. The one to John Sobieski,
the saviour of Vienna, has but a simple gold ring on
the black marble tomb with the initials J. S. and the
numeral III between them. On Kosciuszko's tomb is
only the name, but when I last stood there a quantity
of wreaths and flowers were laid upon their great
hero's grave ; he was not forgotten.
Not far off from the cathedral is the great palace or
castle that rises so majestically and picturesquely
over the broad flood of the Vistula.
As one of my hosts in Cracow remarked, the build-
ings here were all influenced by Italian workmen, and
the castle is in the Italian style — three tiers of
arcades with great archways and mighty towers and
embattled and machiolated walls. The view of this
vast pile of buildings from the river is especially
interesting.
e 65
Austria
I once, at Midsummer, witnessed a very picturesque
fete on the Vistula below this castle ; an old Pagan
custom, still heartily enacted. The maidens throw
wreaths of flowers into the river and the floods carry
them down, and the young men watch for them as
they flow down the stream and seize them as they
near the shore. These wreaths were on boards to
which were attached lights, and soon thousands of
lights were seen floating down the river, and later,
processions with torches were formed and the castle
illuminated. This quaint custom dates from pre-
historic times and is called Swieto wiankou, the
festival of wreaths. It celebrates the advent of
summer, but its exact significance is not known.
One must penetrate into some of the houses to see
what a beauty of architecture and decoration was
attained in the heyday of Cracow's history. There is
preserved in the Cafe Sauer, in an upper room, the
beautiful Italian roof and low relief of an old chapel,
with figures of the Apostles and other religious
emblems ; and another interesting expressive memento
of the past is the great bundle of heavy chains
that are hung at the corner of Slawkovska Street,
one of the main streets. These are the chains that
used to shut off the Jews from the central town, and
confine them to the Ghetto.
These quaint memorials give glimpses into the
stirring history of the old city, already in the eleventh
century a city of importance, and from the time it
became the capital of Poland, about 1312, until under
Sigismund III. that dignity was shifted to Warsaw,
Cracow held a foremost place in the history of Europe.
As one enters the city from the railway station there
66
Galicia and its People
is an interesting relic of Cracow's former greatness in
the round, low tower and gateway, known as the
Florian gate, built in 1498 : an old plan of this shows it
sunk in the outer moat then filled with water, with the
strong walls and towers of defence beyond it, and
within the walls the towers of the churches and high-
gabled houses. Perhaps the greatest glory of Cracow
is the fact that John Sobieski was born here in 1629,
the son of the Castellan of Cracow, and he it was who,
on 15th August, 1683, set out from Cracow, joining
his small forces with the army of Charles of Lorraine,
and thus commanding only 70,000 men ; on the
12th September, he crushingly overwhelmed the vast
Turkish force of 300,000 encamped round Vienna,
and saved Europe from the Mohammedan flood.
Jn the volume which my old friend, Professor
Morfill, wrote on " Poland " there is the translation
of a most interesting letter from Sobieski to his wife,
dated : " The 13th September, at night." With the
significant heading, " In the Tent of the Vizier."
Small wonder that to-day the Austrian government
gives freedom to the Poles in education, and the use
of their national tongue, when this glorious deliver-
ance must ever be remembered. Sobieski's tent,
whence he dated this letter, may be seen in the
museum in the Cloth Hall, and here also amidst many
objects of intense, historical interest are the pictures
of the great Polish painters, Matejko and Siemiradzki.
Cracow holds us by her history, by her people, and
by the life of to-day. Just outside the town is that
remarkable conical hill, the Kosciuszko Hill, the upper
cone of which is composed of earth brought from all
parts of the world wherever Poles live, and from this
6;
Austria
height we can look out over the city and the country
round, and see the life of the people, artisan and
peasant ; and leaving unsaid so much about that life
and the interesting monuments of Cracow, here say
adieu to her towers and spires.
The country all around Cracow and stretching away
southward is flat, and agriculture is almost the sole
occupation of the people. The peasantry in their
white jackets and blue breeches and jack boots, the
women with their large shawls and brilliant head-
dress, form picturesque groups in the country market-
places and in the fields that are well cultivated.
Horses, and especially ponies, are very plentiful in the
fields, dairy work flourishes, and poultry is well looked
after.
But if the central portion of Galicia is flat, on her
border lands are the various sections of the great
Carpathian Mountains, and south of Cracow, about
a hundred kilometres as the crow flies, is a paradise
for sportsman, fisherman, or mountaineer, botanist,
or geologist, in that section of the Carpathians known
as the High Tatra Mountains.
68
CHAPTER VIII
IN THE HIGH TATRA MOUNTAINS
THE marvellous diversity of life and scenery
in Austria lends a strange and delightful
charm to travelling amongst her people.
Dramatic changes are continuously suc-
ceeding each other, and this is strikingly illustrated
in journeying from Cracow to that romantically
encircled plateau of the Carpathians, whereon lies
the picturesque little town of Zakopane.
We happened on one occasion to leave Cracow for
the mountains at 7 a.m., and as we steamed out of the
ancient capital all her towers stood out in fine effect
under the morning sun, and over the plainland rose up
that conical hill of Polish earth, dominating the flat
land around it.
But we soon ran into the hill country with fir forest
and sloping meadowland, and picturesque villages
and pleasant little towns.
Amidst the white and grey houses of the villages, we
see tiny dots of children guarding the geese or cows ;
one tiny mite of about four years was in charge of a
flock of geese ; the women folk in blue skirts and red
jackets, or in red skirts and soft, brown jackets, busy
in garden and field.
The country is well tilled, and the roads are fairly
good, and it is noteworthy to see the quantity of
small stock in every village.
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Austria
At Chabowka one begins to get to the uplands, and
here starts the new railway, opened in 1901, that has
done so much to develop the district. A rich, fruitful
district with plenty of fruit trees and wide, open
meadows, and away in the distance, like soft clouds
in the horizon, rises up the gloom of the vast blocks
of the mountain ranges.
But we climb on, rising slowly over the vast plain
to Nowy Targ, and the elusive Carpathians still keep
far away, but soon isolated peaks are near, and then
to the south-east and east a grand serrated range is
seen, and we are in the mountain uplands, with the
rich grass and soft scent of the hay. The men in the
fields have white vests, and white breeches decorated
with black needlework, and the women love a rich
old gold tone for their head-dress.
At Poronin we are in the peculiar mountain bay,
or recess, in which Zakopane lies nestled at the base,
and all around is a glorious view of the mighty range
of heights. Vast towering blocks, ridge on ridge, like
a tumbling sea, dark, mysterious. A rushing river
dashes down from the hills and pierces through a vast
amphitheatre of soft grass, here and there dotted
with yellow corn, and amidst the landscape are figures
of women-folk in deep red dresses capped by the old
gold head-dress.
Zakopane is a pleasant, bright little town, unique
in itself, and yet slightly reminiscent of some of the
Swiss towns in far bygone days, before crowds of
British and Americans had captured and overwhelmed
the district.
Good small hotels, well-built houses, and numerous
pensions are situated in pleasant avenues leading
70
tmmmmmmmm
i"»— *t
In the High Tatra Mountains
away to the pine forests that shade the country
roads, and, towering up over the town, the vast
heights and strangely shaped peaks, and serrated
ridges of the Tatra Mountains, the highest of all
that vast mountain range that shuts off east from
west known as the Carpathians, a range that circles
round Eastern Europe for a distance of nearly
900 miles.
Our artist friend was arranging to get a characteristic
bit of the Tatra heights from Zakopane, and at once
the curious crooked peak that seems to rise sheer
from the meadows by the rushing little river, the
White Dunajec, called loudly for supremacy. This
height of the Giewont dominates all views in the
district, and delightful it is to wander up by the side
of the brawling, tumbling, rushing stream, in the
glorious pure air with the soft scent of the pines,
mingled with the hay, amidst which are working
men, women, and children, all in richly coloured
and interesting costumes. The river reminds one
of the Usk, and the scene around of Switzer-
land, with a more brilliantly dressed peasantry. We
found a good view of the whole encircling range
was had from the exercising ground of the Sokol,
the presence of this gymnastic union proving that
we were in a Slav district, if the brilliant colours
worn by the peasants had not already asserted the
fact.
It was intensely hot in the valley on this afternoon,
but in the night Zakopane was to show us its power
of jiiick atmospheric change ; for, after dinner, when
all the guests of the Dr Chramiece Institution, where
we were staying, were amusing themselves with
71
Austria
music and cards, and a Tombola was being drawn,
in spite of the lights the whole room was flooded
with lightning, and the crashes of thunder were
nerve- shattering, and the next morning, on looking
out over the pine-tops, lo, the mountains were white
with snow.
Zakopane is perhaps the best centre for expeditions
into the heart of the Carpathians in Austrian territory ;
the Hungarian frontier is not far off, but in this
volume we are only dealing with Austria, and, in
the Carpathians, Austria has enough nature wonders,
to hold entranced the lover of wild, titanic, dramatic
scenery.
Guides and ponies and light vehicles can easily be
provided for covering the distance to the foot of the
peaks to be climbed, or for crossing some of the forest
passes, and for the pedestrian who loves walking,
without too adventurous climbing, there are some
glorious walks near Zakopane, and the idea of danger
and the necessity of carrying arms in the mountains
is too stupid to refer to, had not some writers sug-
gested such a folly.
One lovely walk is up to the now deserted
ironworks of Kuznice. Here is a very large
school for teaching housewifery, and in my walks
I fell in with a Pole from Posen whose daughter
was being educated here. There were three
ranks of girls, the first paying 1500 Kronen a
year, the second 1000, and the third a small fee,
but these helped with the work and agreed
to stay five years. We had a long talk upon
the contrast of Prussian and Austrian rule of the
Poles as we walked on between the grand lines of
72
In the High Tatra Mountains
sombre pines, with rushing mountain torrents making
pleasant music on either side of the forest road ; and
far above the pines were the great grey craggy peaks,
high in the sunlight.
The water power is used for a paper mill ; at about
3500 feet up is a good restaurant, spotlessly clean,
and with beautiful flowers on the tables, and in the
windows. We saw, as we returned, a pretty sketch
suggestive of the Real Presence, namely, a timber
church, so crowded that all round the door the
peasants were clustered, but one man had gone
from the crowded door, and was alone; standing
in his picturesque costume, with his ear glued to a
chink in the timber, that he might hear and join in
the service of God.
One of the favourite excursions is to the strange,
weird little lake called the Morskie Oko, or Meere-
sauge, the " Eye of the sea," about 4500 feet above
sea level, a strange wild spot, with the grey
bare rocks running down to the little lake that
suggest weird fantasy and legend, with the mountains
above it towering to the height of 8000 or 9000
feet.
Of the dangerous sport, rock-climbing, there is
plenty to be had in these mountains, and in excursions
to the marvellously romantic Koscieliska Valley we
saw some famous spots for tests of nerve and endur-
ance, known as rock-climbs by local enthusiasts. But
the charm and wonder of this valley and the narrow
defile that leads on into the heart of the mountains
is indescribable. To reach it, we pass over a wide,
open plateau, with good views of the precipitous
mountains, and on the hill-slopes is a vast sanatorium.
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Austria
There are many of these buildings here, and they do
not accord with the scenery, like the picturesque
block-houses often decorated with excellently carved
frontals.
But we leave the plateau and descend into the
valley, that narrows into a tremendous gorge like a
gigantic Cheddar.
Little pure streams, the sources of rivers, start out
from beneath the rocks, as the Ombla in Dalmatia, or
the Aire at Malham in Yorkshire.
The towering cliffs take strange shapes, such as the
" Sleeping knight " or animal forms. A vast amphi-
theatre opens out of sheer precipices of over 1000 feet,
and our peasant lad tells of stalactite caverns. He has
brought candles with him, and we scramble up a goat's
path to a cave some 300 feet above the footpath to
a small cavern as yet unexplored. Another of these
grottos beneath a wall of rock, rising sheer up
600 feet, is called the Smocza Jama, and not far
off is the Krakow Klam or defile, and at the end of
this cleft, between the rocks, was a great bastion
as Konigstein on the Elbe, but 1000 feet high. One
rock looked as a great eagle stooping for flight, and
the whole surroundings were full of wild wonder and
majestic beauty, the colouring superb, and the fresh
cool mountain air full of invigorating life. At the
entrance to the defile, is an excellent block-house
restaurant, and our guide, in his picturesque Zakopane
costume, formed a good study as he sat out on the
grass, sipping his hot light Polish tea.
Another expedition that gives a wondrous view
of the great range of the Tatra Mountains is to the
Bukowiner Hohe, through the picturesque little
74
In the High Tatra Mountains
townlet of Poronin. The peasants peculiar dress is
of white sheepskin jackets inlaid with coloured
leathers with astrachan-like collars and fringes.
Highly decorated breeches with coloured pockets
and stripes worked down the sides, and red or
other coloured bobs. A round black hat with
coloured ribbons or cords is worn. The women love
a dark red dress, but especially the soft old-gold
head-dress.
V When we arrived on the great elevated plateau the
scene was strangely beautiful. Zakopane lies as it
were in a quadrangle, and on three sides of it are
these great chains and peaks that shut it off from
Hungary, the fourth or plain side is the exit to
Galicia, and though the wind was bitterly cold, we
lingered long over the view, for all the peaks
around were made charming by the cloud effects,
and we felt that these Tatra Mountains held much
of glory and beauty as yet unknown save to the
very few.
And if Zakopane has so much of natural beauty,
it is interesting as a health resort ; it has also two
educational institutions of importance, that all
interested in art technical training should visit.
Both the wood-carving and the lace-making schools
of Zakopane are deservedly famous.
In the wood-working schools is taught and executed
the famous Zakopane style of house-decorating and
wood-carving generally, and, in fact, every fashion of
manipulating and utilising wood, from the homely
household utensils to the inspired wood sculpture of
sacred and dramatic subjects, and in the lace schools
are produced delicate and original designs from the
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Austria
richly worked, luxuriously expensive bed coverlets,
and ladies dresses, to the simply designed collarette.
Here as everywhere in Austria, this scientific technical
education is developed, by utility being beautified by
the artistic.
76
CHAPTER IX
THROUGH LEMBERG TO THE BUKOWINA
G ALICIA, the province so little known to the
English traveller, is, as we have seen, very
full of towns and villages and natural
scenery of varied types. In population
Galicia ranks as the highest of all the Austrian pro-
vinces even exceeding the population of the kingdom
of Bohemia, by a million, and we are now en route,
away from the mountains over the plain lands to
Lemberg, the capital of Galicia, and the seat of the
Galician Diet.
Lwow, to give the Polish name, or Lemberg, before
1861, when the Diet was formed, was a poor, almost
ruined town, undrained, no schools ; then in 1866 a
Constitution was granted, and to-day, after less than
fifty years, it is a beautiful city, full of great monu-
ments, handsome buildings, and lovely parks. The
Diet House, situated in a charming garden, is a hand-
some building richly decorated within.
With a population just upon 200,000 inhabitants,
there is an air of alertness and vivacity in her streets
and promenades, that are bordered with handsome
modern buildings and good statues and monuments
to her heroes and benefactors, especially a vigorous
equestrian monument to Sobieski. Perhaps the best
spot to get a good general view of the town is from
the very pretty Kilinski Park, whence the swift
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Austria
development of the town can be studied, and in this
park is a vivid realistic panorama of the great victory
of Kosciuszko at Raclawice, near Cracow, wherein all
the vigorous details give an opportunity of comparing
the houses and dress of the Galician Polish peasant
then and to-day.
From the height in the park the square tower of
the Rathaus and the dome of the cathedral and all the
lines of the streets can be traced. Below is the deep
valley of green pines and birches, and beyond the
rising hills, and on the right the pyramid of Kopiec,
and beneath in the pretty gardens of the park, is a fine
monument to Kilinski, the brave shoemaker patriot,
who fought bravely in 1796, and, after imprisonment
in St Petersburg, returned to his shoemaking and
wrote his valuable recollections.
Another fine point of view is from the High Castle
Hill, with a view to the east of the vast plain where
on August 25th, 1675, Sobieski defeated 40,000 Turks
and Tartars, and freed the town of Lemberg.
Away to the east one sees where Russia and Austria
meet.
On the north hill is a plateau where the castle once
stood, and some of the walls are left, and here is a great
mound piled up by patriotic Poles, and from its
summit the view can well be studied, including the
town with its towers and domes and swiftly increasing
well-designed streets.
Although so modern in its development the town
has many noble institutions of benevolence, and
especially of education, and for trade developments
its educational establishments are remarkable. I
called especial attention to these in my report for
78
Through Lemberg to the Bukowina
the Board of Education on Technical and Commercial
Education in Central Europe (c.d. 419), but since that
visit the schools and institutions have been extended
by such important buildings as the New Art Trade
School, opened in 1910, a most spacious building,
where the pupils are turning out some really remark-
able work in wood, iron, and other materials, and of
artistic work generally, and yet another development
is the Technological Institution, where men who are at
work can learn the highest technique of their trades.
An institution that shows the energy and alertness of
the people, of Lwow to give the Polish name, is the new
Chamber of Commerce, with its handsome rooms
superbly decorated with rich marbles and mosaics
and furnished in soft grey blue tones. The hall is
illuminated with good frescoes of industries, and
furnished in excellent taste. All these modern build-
ings are of local work and illustrate the local technique.
The Library consists of 60,000 volumes.
And if Lemberg is developing rapidly she also
remembers her history, and in the Dzieduszycki
Museum are some intensely interesting collections of
prehistoric weapons and peasants' weapons, and
household utensils and dresses. Two very remark-
able finds made in 1907, about ten miles from the
town, are an elephant, almost intact, skin and all,
and a rhinoceros, found in boring for oil wells, and
preserved so astoundingly, presumably by the oily
soil. Another interesting historical museum of books
and pictures is the Ossolinski Museum, collected by
Prince Lubomirski. Here the history of Galicia can
be studied in volume and illustration, and by some
most interesting relics of bygone days. The churches
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Austria
are interesting, especially the Roman Catholic and the
Ruthenian cathedrals. In the former, dating from the
fourteenth century, a chapel has been illustrated and
decorated by the professors of the Art School.
The theatre is always interesting at Lemberg. The
great classics of all nations are played here and
the work of their national dramatists. When last
there I saw a remarkable drama entitled " Eros and
Psyche," illustrating the antagonistic forces oi ml
and love over brute passion and strength throughout
the ages — an absorbing series of scenes most intensely
rendered.
How much we must leave out in so short a descrip-
tion of such a town, where the cultured prosperity of
its learned residents makes a visit so pleasant.
The general idea of the city is one of fine open
streets, with many gardens and promenades, good
modern buildings and statues, fine churches and
monasteries, and numerous schools, technical in-
stitutes, an old university, a modern polytechnic, fine
banks and shops, and a free eager townspeople, in-
terspersed with the peasants in their brilliant costume.
A town with many of the amenities of life, and a
strenuous populace eager in life's race.
One word must be said of the Jews, who in their
long gaberdines, and with long hair and little cork-
screw curls, form so noticeable a feature in the streets.
Out of 200,000 inhabitants there are 60,000 Jews.
The provincial life of the peasant in Galicia may
well be studied in some of the villages near Lemberg,
and the artist or photographer can obtain most de-
lightful pictures of village scenes and peasant homes.
We drove out one day to the village of Sokolniki,
80
Through Lemberg to the Bukowina
where the houses were bordered on long commons,
where ducks and geese in crowds revelled in the green
herbage and the numerous ponds, and the cows and
horses were grazing in quiet peace where willows
gave pleasant shade.
At one clear pond half a dozen women in the most
brilliant shades of red were busy, washing their many-
coloured garments. The cottages were interesting,
hung with holy pictures ; in one living room, where
was the usual big stove and bed, the room was
decorated with little figures of Mary and Christ,
and flowers were in the room, and no less than seven-
teen sacred pictures around the walls. There was a
little holy water vase, over which the rosary of beads
was hung up. This was a home where there were
six children, and we went into the kilchen, also well
kept. In another cottage, where a sturdy farmer met
us, and showed an interest in our being English, we
had a chat on the holdings and the common rights.
He turned out to be the Woigt, or Maire, of the
village. He was dressed in the usual long coarse shirt,
that comes down to the jackboots, a blue vest and
white breeches, and a long white coat. In winter
they wear a grey or fur coat. There was the usual
school in the village, and little church, and the children
in reds and blues were a pretty sight as they trooped
out over the common. At the wells they use the same
arrangement as the Shaduf in Egypt, and the tillage
is good, every part of the land being utilised.
On returning to the city we passed a great cattle
market with a very large amount of stock, horses,
ponies, and cattle ; and also small stock, such as
fowls, geese, etc. The Galician peasants are not
f 81
Austria
so alert and vive as the Bohemians, but they are
decidedly industrious and solid.
As we journeyed on down through Galicia we noted
the activity of the peasants with their second and
third crops of hay, their horses and cattle, maize, flax,
and potatoes, hemp being sown between the potatoes,
and at every village were the flocks of geese. In the
fields with the cattle were the figures in the grey-white
coats guarding them, and as we crossed the Dniester
we had a wide view over the vast plains with, away to
the west, the distant Carpathians looming up.
At Jezupol we noted the names of the stations were
in Ruthenian, as well as in Polish and German. The
Ruthenians have absolute freedom in Galicia.
We were nearing now that strange corner of Europe
the Bukowina, set as it were in a bay of the Carpathians
and hemmed in by Hungary on the west, Roumania
on the south, Russia on the east. A veritable epitome,
we were told, we should find here of Austria, with all
its varied peoples.
82
CHAPTER X
IN THE BUKOWINA
HOW slightly many parts of Austria are
known in England was illustrated by a
conversation with the well-known his-
torian, Professor Oman, who, on hearing
I was about to travel in the Bukowina, said, " I
only know one Englishman who has ever been in the
Bukowina, and if you get there you will be the second."
I sent him a post-card from Zadagora, to prove I had
" got there." And yet the Bukowina is a peculiarly
interesting corner of Europe.
Here are clustered together Poles, Ruthenians,
Roumanians, Germans, Magyars, Jews, Armenians,
Bulgarians, Cechs, Lipowaners (i.e. old faith Russians),
Turks, Gypsies ; and the variety of religions is a
strange study. Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic,
Roman Catholic and Armenian Catholic, Armenian
Orthodox, Old Believers (the Lipowaners), Pro-
testants ; even the Jews have two sects, orthodox and
reform. The wealth of the Greek Oriental body is
very great — it possesses in territory a third of the
province, largely forest land. The dress of this popula-
tion is as varied and interesting as their religions.
And Czernowitz, the capital, is an epitome in
strangely varied scenes of this independent Crown
land of Austria, that has its own " Landtag " or local
parliament.
83
Austria
The Bukowina has also its own weather, and that
is excessively independent. During the remarkable
drought in the summer of 1911, which affected other
parts of Austria, here there were floods and torrents
of rain for two months.
In September we visited it, and as we neared
(jzernowitz we saw the quaint figures of the peasants
guarding their flocks under umbrellas, and every-
thing was sodden. In the city, in the Austrian Platz,
the principle square and market place, the women
peasants in their white cloth oriental head-dress and
long brown coats, beneath which hung the long white
shirt over the bare legs, bore umbrellas ; and the men,
some in curious little round Garibaldi hats over their
long wavy hair, wore the long brown skin coats, with
many buttons, and grey-white breeches, decorated with
needlework. But the peasants' dress varies according
to race, and is of great variety.
The city has very many fine buildings ; the race
rivalry here, as everywhere in Austria, is a spur to
perfection, and an interesting way to study the
variety of the educated classes of the district is
to visit the " Houses," i.e. clubs of the different
nationalities.
In the Polish house is a fine hall for dances, and a
theatre, the wood-work being all carved in the Zako-
pane style ; the drop scene is a picture of the Tatra
district, with a figure of a guide in that local dress.
Here educational work, and the ever present " Sokol,"
is carried on as in all Slav districts.
Just opposite is the German national house, a
remarkably fine building, the courtyard being like a
bit of old Nuremberg. Here too is a fine theatre with
84
In the Bukowina
rather heavy decorations, and an excellent restaurant
in old German style.
In the Roumanian's house one gets the quaint
Roumanian music, and there is a large garden ; but
to show there is friendliness between the races, as
we entered, being with some well-known Poles,
Polish airs were at once played by the excellent
orchestra. In the Jewish house was a very big hall
with gold and red decorations. It is in these houses,
or national homes, the national character is sustained,
and retained. The Ruthenians also have their special
house.
Perhaps the churches, the religious establishments
and benevolent institutions should claim the first
word in Czernowitz, for they are innumerable and
wonderfully varied ; every creed seems to have its
hospitals and homes.
The wealth of the Greek orthodox body is well
illustrated by the vast palace of the archbishop, a
building with its many domes and towers and gables,
that serves too as a seminary and meeting-place of
the Synod, and rarely could a more imposing and
richly decorated hall be found than that of the great
hall where the Synod meets. Its marble arches and
arcades on black marble columns, supporting a
deeply coffered, richly decorated ceiling. The walls
are of alabaster. From the windows are lovely views
of the palace gardens and the valley of the Pruth.
Churches of the various sects, and the rich new
synagogue are all worthy of study for their archi-
tecture and for the folk and peasantry that frequent
them, as all are very fervid in their religion. But
if religious edifices are numerous so also are the civil
85
Austria
buildings. The home of the Landesregierung is a
handsome simple building with gardens before it, the
Palais de Justice is also a fine building.
One of the most striking modern buildings is the
new Savings Bank, built in the latest Secession style,
and elaborately fitted up with most modern sanitation,
ladies and gentlemen's waiting and toilette rooms.
The council room is upholstered in soft crushed
strawberry hues, with inlaid woods and elaborate
electric light fittings. Even the door locks are in
gilt and in lovely designs. The handsome main
stairway has stained-glass windows and elaborate
lamps on the pillars in brass and coloured metal. The
great hall for general meetings is beautifully decorated,
and even the chairs are most artistic. The whole
gives an idea of the thrift of the peasantry who get
4 per cent, for their cash, and are charged 6 per
cent, for loans. It is considered an honour to be on
the council of this bank.
The Chamber of Commerce is another splendid
building ; the meeting hall is in grey and red tones,
with a rich ceiling and handsome electroliers ; the
chimneys are of red marble and glass mosaics, and
brass with inlet enamels form part of the decorations.
Well-executed frescoes of agriculture, industry, and
Mercury illustrate the object of the Chamber, which
has widespread correspondence, and works scientific-
ally, developing local commerce and agriculture.
It is certainly housed more luxuriously, and holds
far more classified information than most English
Chambers of Commerce.
We were fortunate in our introductions in Czerno-
witz, and our kindly host, in his artistically furnished
86
In the Bukowina
home, gave us a glimpse of the cultured professional
home and business life of Czernowitz.
Music one finds everywhere in Austria, and here,
as so often elsewhere, our hostess was a lover of art
and music, and a connoiseur in housekeeping and
cooking ; one of her hobbies was the collecting of old
brass-work of Jewish homes and ceremonial, and a
remarkable collection she had acquired. Her daughter
spoke English well, and we here had an illustration of
character, for, at the end of a delightful lunch, our
artist friend suddenly exclaimed to his fair neighbour :
" Oh ! I've left my mackintosh in that village, on the
ground. I was sitting on it." We had left him
sketching near Sadagora, four miles off, so, instead of
driving with us to Ludi Horecza, he had to get out to
Sadagora, where he found his mackintosh hanging
up on a tree that he might see it ; and a tiny mite
being near, he gave it some coppers. With these the
child ran back to its parents, and then there was a
talk and a struggle ; and at last the small mite came
timidly back, took the artist's hand and kissed it.
This is the type of life amidst which we are asked if
it is safe to travel.
The little town of Sadogora is a remarkable one,
reminding one still in its Eastern bazaar-like streets,
rough mighty cobble stones and mud, of Turkish or
Russian rule. We cross the Pruth to reach it, and
pass numerous settlements of Bulgarians, who have
captured the market-gardening of the district. It
happened to be a fair day, and crowds of cattle,
especially horses, were on the road, and many
peasants picturesquely dressed. The women in the
market-place were rich in colour, and nearly all had
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Austria
slung over their shoulders their bags in many colours
of needlework harmonising with the white embroidered
shirts and many-coloured heavy aprons.
The great marvel of Sadagora is the synagogue
and palace, where lives and works the Wonder Rabbi
Friedmann, to whom come pious or benefit-seeking
Jews from all parts of Europe.
We went over the synagogue, and were met by a
cluster of old Jews in their long robes and curls, and
they opened the Tara Rolls for our inspection, and
showed us the rich satin hangings, and then as a great
favour we were shown (for a consideration) the private
room of the Wonder Rabbi, with a little peep-hole
through which he may see, though himself unseen. He
rarely shows himself, but accepts offerings, and gives
his blessing and prayers. In this room was a rich
hanging of about seventeenth-century Spanish needle-
work for the Rolls, to be used at Pentecost ; we were
told it cost 70,000 roubles and was given by a devotee,
who won it in a lottery for 1800 roubles. The palace
of the Rabbi is opposite the synagogue, and we were
told strange stories of the gifts given him, and the
objects of those who sought him out.
On returning to Czernowitz we drove through
the Volksgarten with its lovely avenues, shooting
galleries, and halls for dancing.
As usual the trades are looked after by education,
and there are weaving and agricultural schools, and
English games are played, as out on the vast exercising
ground we saw football in full swing, several games
going, but no hopeless, senseless crowd looking on.
The road out to this breezy downland is called
Russian Street, and from it a great view is had away
88
In the Bukowina
to the spurs of the Carpathians, the valley of Pruth,
and the dark forest slopes, whilst in the valleys were
sugar factories, and breweries and saw-mills, and
the queer little town of Sadagora in the plains in
the distance.
In driving out to the strange little church of Horecza,
we saw well the peasant homes, little cottages with
pretty flower gardens, and in a lovely, quiet tree-
shaded valley we saw the old church, once a mosque.
Within it is supported by four pillars, and over the
west door is a fresco of heaven and hell and judg-
ment. Here, as in the bishop's splendid palace, was
the sign of the Holy Ghost, a face in the centre of six
wings ; hung upon this was a handkerchief, as an
offering, as I have seen shreds of cloth hung in the
mosque of Omar, and pieces of ribbon on the figures
of favourite saints in Italy and France.
There were five tourelles to the church, to represent
the world's five Continents, and three big towers,
denoting the dominion of the orthodox Church.
There are other towns in the Bukowina that are full
of interest, for the people and their history, and for
the scenery.
One of the favourite resorts is Dorna Watra, near
the Roumanian and Hungarian frontiers, and not far
from the Siebenburgen. It lies on the mountain spurs,
about 2500 feet above sea-level, and is a growing health
resort, with fine Curhaus and baths for gout and
rheumatism, for which its waters and mud baths
are most curative.
There are five sources and two bath establishments,
and the pretty rivers and picturesque villages make
it a pleasant resort.
89
Austria
If the Bukowina, this unknown land to Britons, is
deeply interesting through its marvellously varied
races, its history has also many points of fascinat-
ing study.
It was Finnish-Mongolian in its prehistoric days,
then Scythian, then Dacian and Gothic, until the Huns
burst over the land. Later on came the Wends ;
the Avars and Magyars dominated here until
the thirteenth century, when we get the Mon-
golians in this mountain land bay. It is not until
1360 that real history begins, and in 1395 the Castle
of Cecina on the hill, that is so prominent in the
view near Czernowitz, was built. In later times
Sobieski won a great victory over the Turks at Bojan,
and the Swedes in the eighteenth century worked
ravage here, and were defeated near Czernowitz. It
was not until 1775 that Austria occupied it, and in
1861 it obtained autonomy, since when it dates its
rapid development.
But with this flying glance at what is a strangely
interesting corner of Europe, we must quit the
Bukowina, leaving far more than half its history
unrecorded.
90
CHAPTER XI
IN IMPERIAL VIENNA
OUR chapters and pictures of some of the
home lands of the Empire of Austria
have been as it were but " happy pro-
logues to the swelling act of the imperial
theme," and Vienna, the beautiful capital of this
strangely interesting, diversified Empire, is, the chief
gem of this mighty jewel set in central Europe, that
glitters with coruscating flashes, and adds lustre to
the whole theme.
The homelands of Austria, as we have seen, and
shall see, have much self-government, but it is
Vienna, the seat of the Imperial Parliament, the home
of the Emperor, that holds these lands and their
peoples, binding them into one great power. But
Vienna is not Austria, as Paris is France. Vienna is
moved and managed by the strong forces that surge
around her, and she in turn controls and stems those
forces, and her influence from Parliament and the
imperial throne, checks and softens too fierce or rash
developments, that might wreck imperial unity.
Vienna is placed in a worthy setting for this imperial
task.
It is nigh on forty years since I first landed from
a Danube steamer on her quays, and marvellous have
been the developments I have watched in frequent
subsequent visits. To-day Vienna is a beautiful
9i
Austria
city, surpassing, I think, Paris and Berlin, and in her
environs, in the lovely crownland of Lower Austria,
she has all around her glories of scenerv unmatched
by the surroundings of any other capital.
There are two centres in Vienna, the one in the
heart of the city, in front of that wonderful build-
ing with its high, tapering spire, St Stephen's
cathedral, that for seven hundred years has been a
holy shrine of the Viennese. The spire that tells of
Vienna from afar, they owe to Hans of Prachatic,
that strange, quaint town, where we halted, in
Bohemia.
But the work of Hans, after much reparation, had
to be rebuilt, in the early sixties of the nineteenth
century. Upon the old tower, they maintained by
a most ingenious method a system of fire alarm :
to quote Herr Kohl, who gives an elaborate account
of the old tower and the struggle to prevent its decay,
" No less than seven hundred steps must be mounted
to reach the tower, where the watchers have their
dwelling and place of abode. The arrangements
made for ascertaining the exact locality of a fire are
very peculiar and interesting. On the parapets of the
four windows, looking east, west, north and south
are four telescopes. Each glass, or as they call the
whole apparatus here, every " toposkop " commands
a fourth of the whole circular sea of houses, stretching
on every side of the church. Each quadrant is
divided by circles and radii into sections, and by
the aid of the glass, the section in which the burning
house lies, is easily ascertained. The individual
house is discovered with the same ease. By every
" toposkop " there lies a thick book containing the
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In Imperial Vienna
names of all the house owners in each section, and thus
the house can not only be ascertained but named.
When the name is found it is written on a slip of paper,
which is enclosed in a brass ball. This ball is thrown
down a pipe, and it passes rapidly, like a winged
messenger of evil tidings, down to the dwelling of the
sexton, where it is picked up by a watchman con-
stantly in attendance there, and carried to the city
authorities. Here it is opened and the name of the
unfortunate house made known to those whom it may
concern. In the description the operation appears
somewhat long, but it is performed with tolerable
rapidity and certainty, and the " toposkop " can be
used as well by night as by day. In the more remote
parts of the suburb, the point is, of course, more
difficult to ascertain, as the angles of vision and
position become smaller in the " toposkop."
At this period the wits of Vienna had a joke about
St Stephen, who they said had been made a widower
lately, and upon the innocent stranger asking how
that could be, the reply was, " Because it has pleased
the fates and the safety police to relieve him of his
cross." We must return to St Stephen's ere quitting
the capital. It is a centre that draws one to it again
and again.
The other centre of Vienna is in the beautiful garden
space on the Ring, where rises up yet another tall
spire over the handsome Rathaus ; and not far off
is the classical building wherein sits the Reichstag.
From these two centres Vienna and Austria are ruled ;
but from Schonbrunn, on the outskirts of Vienna,
comes the mighty influencing power of the Imperial
Crown, for some sixty years borne by Francis Joseph
93
Austria
I., who ever wields the highest controlling power, and
moulds and bends the authorities for the welfare of
the State.
Just a word upon this " Mark " of the East, this
Oester-Reich and its history. The first mention of its
being so-called was in 976 under the Babenbergers ;
and the present reigning family the Habsburgs, under
Rudolf I., assumed power in 1278. But it was not
until 1526, after all the turmoil and fighting of the
distracted fifteenth century, with the fierce religious
factions, and in the midst of the Turkish wars,
that by conjunction with the kingdoms of Bohemia
and Hungary, Austria became a monarchy. The
history of the evolution and development of this
monarchy into the powerful Empire it has become
is full of fiercely dramatic, tragic, and romantic
incidents, and Vienna has been the centre of this
drama.
From this modern centre of the capital, where we
halted before the Rathaus, to get a glimpse at her
history, the picturesque tree and garden-planted Ring
encircles the city, and by electric tram, or in a
droshky, we can visit all the historic spots, the great
ecclesiastical and lay monuments, that so richly
embellish Vienna.
A statue of Pallas Athenae rises before the Greek
portico of the Parliament House, a statue that has
given opportunity to the wits of Vienna to say that
they have placed all the learning outside the building,
but the coup d'atil from this statue of all the great and
handsome buildings around, with the lovely well-kept
gardens surrounding them, is one difficult to surpass
for beauty.
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In Imperial Vienna
The Rathaus, the Hofburg Theatre, the University,
the delicate gothic of the Votive Church, and stretch-
ing away to the right the long line of trees, and the
vast handsome buildings of the Imperial Museum,
with its superb collections of industrial art, and the
famous picture gallery, that holds the collections once
housed in the Belvedere, and very much more of in-
estimable value, all these handsome and interesting
buildings are in view. Many and many a day can
be spent on this Ring, amidst the art treasures, and in
the museums housed in the Rathaus and elsewhere ;
in the Volksgarten, that is on the other side of the
Ring, is music, such as the Viennese love ; whilst not
far off is the luxurious and artistic opera house. On
the other side of the Ring, round about the Schiller-
Platz, are many of the public official offices of the
Empire. As throughout Austria, music is everywhere
in Vienna ; the Austrian military bands are certainly
the finest in Europe for delicacy and expressiveness
of execution, and the various orchestras, under en-
thusiastic directors, give excellent renderings of the
best music ; of course never forgetting the light
joyous music the Viennese love. The museums,
picture galleries, and educational establishments of
Vienna are excessively numerous, and if Vienna has
no such mighty High Technical school of such collossal
proportions as Charlottenburg, Austria's system, as
we have seen, of this type of education, and the
Polytechnic and textile and technical schools here,
and spread everywhere through the Empire, have
perhaps done more for the artisan of Austria and the
artistic trades of the Empire than has the system of
Germany. Yet other valuable agencies for developing
95
Austria
the trade and commerce of the Empire are the
Chambers of Commerce, and in Vienna is established
one of the most handsomely housed, and minutely
appointed and well organised chambers it is possible
to imagine. A handsome building with well-appointed
rooms for council and general meetings ; maps,
and a very exhaustive library of reference, and
docketed statistics, with information upon every part
of the world where the Austrian manufacturer or
merchant may hope to do business. The chamber,
that is supported as are all the Austrian chambers, by
a slight tax from all trades however small, has sent
out important embassies over the world, to bring back
samples, prices, and business regulations, for the in-
formation of Austrian business men.
Very numerous are the philanthropic institutions
in Vienna, and the poor relief system is less calculated
to make unemployables than our own system, and
some of their charitable institutions are marvel-
lously equipped, notably the N.O. Landes — Central
Kinderheim, a foundling hospital, called a Home
(Heim) to get rid of the term foundling, opened in
1910 and governed by the Province. There are about
17,000 children in all under the care of this Home,
mostly, of course, boarded out. In the Home the
mothers and the infants are marvellously cared for in
spotlessly clean rooms, with every possible medical
and surgical aid. The very latest scientific discoveries
are available, and the power- driving fires are arranged
with a new smokeless invention, so that the neighbour-
hood is not injured by the smoke of the chimneys.
If Vienna cares for the poor, and her sick, she by
no means forgets enjoyment. The " Lustige Wiener,"
96
«*»r*SM«sr:^'
,<"**
\
■
.— -
In Imperial Vienna
the joyous Viennese, is no false appellation. If the
climate is somewhat treacherous, and the extremes of
heat and cold are very great in Vienna, and the changes
very sudden, the open air life in Vienna is revelled in,
and numerous are the parks and gardens where ex-
cellent or jovial music, and good entertainment is
to be had. In the centre of the town there is the
Volksgarten, and all the world goes to the Prater,
the long beautiful drive, with gardens on either side,
that runs for miles from the canal in the centre of the
city down to the Danube.
Here is every type of amusement, and every class
of restaurant, from the aristocratic Sacher down to
the cheapest beer garden, but all with music. The
whole park has over 4000 acres of space, and it is one
of the prettiest sights in Europe to see there the
children's first communion procession in carriages at
Whitsuntide. The children are dressed all in white
with white flower- decorated carriages; or one may
see the more elaborately decorated vehicles for a
Flower Corso, when the fair beauties of Vienna
strive to outrival each other in their personal beauty,
or the artistry of the decorations of their carriages
or triumphal car, and also in their horses, for the
Viennese pride themselves on their horseflesh.
xAll around Vienna are beautiful spots of public
resort. One of the nearest being Schonbrunn, the
usual residence of the Emperor ; this with its well-kept
Versailles-like gardens, always open to the public, and
its famous Gloriette, from whence is a far entrancing
view, is a favourite resort of the Viennese. Here
lodged Napoleon, and here lived and died his son, the
young Duke of Reichstadt, "L'Aiglon." Another
g 97
Austria
spot of interest is the Kahlenberg, reached either by
steamboat or railway, and especially interesting from
the fact that on the mountain slope is the garden or
walk, where Beethoven loved to stroll. From the
summit is a glorious view of the vast city on the plain
below, the far winding Danube, and the lower spurs
of the Carpathians, and the Styrian Alps.
Not far off is a newer resort, with a splendidly
arranged people's restaurant and garden, the Krap-
fenwald, where thousands can hear good music,
and get good refreshments and intellectual entertain-
ment, at very low prices, and near by on another height
is a more luxurious and expensive resort, the Cobenzl,
with its luxuriously appointed castle hotel and
restaurant ; from the terrace is a splendid panorama
of the country around.
An interesting proof of Vienna's advancement in
all modern developments, is her series of handsomely
fitted drawing-room tram cars ; by which tourists in
parties can visit the city and its environs. The tram
cars have polished wood panellings, lounge chairs,
smoking and writing tables ; and they halt in sidings,
while visits are paid to the various churches and show
places, making day or half day tours. But as a set off
against this the cabs (Droshkys) are very expensive
and not good ; the peculiar system of extras for the
railway stations is irritating to travellers.
The reader who longs for statistics as proof and
evidence of the strivings and prosperity of the
country will find a mass of figures that are very full of
interest not only to the statistician, but to the ethnol-
ogist and philanthropist, in the volume issued by the
Royal and Imperial Statistical Central Commission,
98
In Imperial Vienna
entitled, " Oesterreichisches Statistisches Handbuch "
and in the " Statistisches Jahrbuch der Autonomen
Landesverwaltung," etc.
There is no space, or place, in this descriptive
volume for many figures, but before leaving the
capital of the Empire, just a glimpse may perhaps be
allowed into the figures that prove how this composite
Empire of seventeen homelands is made up.
In the question of population and race, the Slavs
and Poles number over 10,000,000, the Germans over
9,000,000, and the Ruthenians, Serbs, Croats, Italians,
etc., over 6,000,000. There are also the Jews and
residents of other nationalities. The homelands with
the greatest population are Galicia, with over 7,000,000,
Bohemia with more than 6,000,000, Lower Austria,
that contains Vienna, with over 3,000,000, and
Moravia with about 2,000,000, and the Steirmark,
Styria, with 1,500,000 inhabitants. No other land or
province has over 1,000,000 inhabitants in its borders.
In the matter of tourists and visitors to watering
places, Bohemia, as in matters of finance, comes out
easily first, she having about 130,000 guests yearly ;
whilst Lower Austria, which comes next, has about
75,000 guests visiting her health resorts.
The figures referring to technical schools and
agricultural and forestry schools, are full of significance,
as also are those relating to the commercial schools,
and the Chambers of Commerce ; all go to show what a
remarkable system has been built up by self-help and
governmental organisation, and the eagerness of the
people to take advantage of these well- organised
institutions.
In the trade schools, the continuation and drawing
99
Austria
schools, and the agricultural and forestry schools,
Bohemia is first in the number of pupils attending.
Lower Austria comes next, and Moravia follows, but
at a long distance.
In the matter of newspapers, Lower Austria with
the capital leads, with an issue of about 1300 journals,
Bohemia follows with over 1100, Moravia and Galicia
being again third and fourth, and so above the other
districts. The system of savings banks is well
organised ; as we have seen the buildings are generally
handsome in construction, and the arrangements assist
thrift and largely help the development of the
country. In Bohemia there are 216 Gemeindes and
town savings banks, 9 Verein or society's banks, and
three district banks, in all 228. In Lower Austria,
53 Gemeinde and 29 Verein, in all 82 ; in Moravia, 82
Gemeinde and 4 Verein, in all 86 banks ; and in every
province there are a goodly number of these banks,
and the amounts deposited are very considerable.
Even the most casual tourist will note the excellent
tillage nearly everywhere in Austria, hardly a scrap
of ground being uncultivated, and the statistics given
of the mileage of roads planted with fruit trees prove
how careful the peasant holders are of land space, and,
as many of the roads are district property, how the
communes combine for the general good.
The disposal of the produce of the land is largely
helped by the river traffic, and one of the great
interests on the river boats is to watch the varied
peasantry dealing with their produce, passing with
loads of their wares to and fro to the markets by this
means of transit ; and of course heavier traffic in corn^
etc., is also so dealt with.
ioo
In Imperial Vienna
In the matter of factories, both large and small, as
also in the case of house and home labour, the statistics
prove that the order of precedence with the varied
homelands is much the same, Bohemia having the
largest number employed in industrial work ; Galicia
comes next, followed by Lower Austria, and then comes
Moravia. In the matter of what are known as giant
(Riesen) establishments, that is establishments muster-
ing over 1000 hands, Bohemia has 33 such works,
Moravia 20, Lower Austria 16, Silesia 14, and Galicia
only 9, whilst in the smaller workshops Galicia comes
second.
In spite of the fact that, as everywhere in Europe,
prices have risen greatly during the last few years,
living is very cheap in Austria, and the staple com-
modities, such as bread, potatoes, are very low in price,
and often, in the restaurants, the cheapest dishes
to have in Austria are exactly what would be dearest
in England, such as venison, partridge, omelettes, etc.
These few figures will give some slight insight into
the general life of the people, and prove which are the
provinces that largely maintain the wealth of the
Austrian Empire, although, as we shall see as we pass
onward through the other lands, there is everywhere
a wealth of natural beauty and an industrious folk ;
but the other lands than these four principal divisions
are more occupied with agriculture and forestry, and
have not so thick a population dealing in great
industries.
Some reference must be made to the government
of this Empire of Austria that with the kingdom of
Hungary forms the great balancing power of Central
Europe.
IOI
Austria
There are two books which have appeared during
the twentieth century, in the last decade, that are
very useful towards getting some grasp of the central
and local government of Austria, one in French,
" L'Autriche a l'aube de XX Siecle," by Max Marse,
the other a voluminous work full of detail and statis-
tics, " Austria-Hungary," by Geoffrey Drage ; for the
latest figures, of course, we must go to the latest
Government publications, and to the publications of
the various provinces and cities ; in this volume it
is only possible to give a slight sketch of the system
of government adopted, the better to understand the
life of the people in this complex Empire.
The central authority is the Reichsrath, and for
local matters there are seventeen diets or provincial
parliaments, and these deal with all local taxation,
public works, sanitation, the control of all charit-
able institutions, etc. ; in many provinces we have
seen the handsome buildings arranged for the local
diets.
The Reichsrath, i.e. the House of Lords and House
of Deputies, deals with the army and navy estimates
and general budget; railways, education, public
health, right of meeting, the press, general imperial
matters ; and complaint is made that since the in-
troduction of payment of members the professional
delegate has greatly increased.
There are also councils for the communes and for
the towns, and the progressive districts force on their
local councils towards the advancement of each
especial district, and in travelling through the various
cities and communes the work of the council, whether
progressive or dilatory, is soon in evidence, and the
102
In Imperial Vienna
progressive are in a far larger majority than the
laissez faire bodies.
There is great freedom in Austria. In coming
either from Russia or from Germany, especially from
the Polish provinces, this freedom is at once evident.
In Austria everyone has a right to speak in his own
tongue, and to sing his own songs ; there is great
freedom of the Press, and freedom of meeting, and in
1907 Universal Suffrage was introduced for all men
over twenty-four. I was present at the first Universal
Suffrage election, and there was absolute freedom of
voting.
The economic situation of Austria has greatly im-
proved ; there is a notable increase of the people's
savings deposited in the banks, amounting almost to
the savings of the French people, and the credit of the
National Bank is such that the rate of discount is on a
par with the other great powers.
This has been brought about by the vigorous action
of the Government. One of the notable examples of
prompt and valuable action was in 1901, when at a
probable period of depression, that did have a great
effect in other countries, great works were undertaken
by the State, especially the development of important
productive railways to be carried out from 1901 to
1905. Six great lines were projected and eighteen
lesser lines, and some most important canals and river
development work, and, says Max Marse, the in-
dustrial life of Austria received an immense impulse
from this work. As we pass over some of these new
lines, the additional local impulse and development
will be very evident. To quote Geoffrey Drage, " Not
only has the State acquired vast assets in constructive
103
Austria
works, but, as may be seen by the steadiness of the
Government bonds, it has placed its credit on a sound
footing."
Mention has already been made of the excellent
mode in which local industries are fostered and
advanced and expounded by education. Mr Drage
makes very numerous references to my Report on
Technical and Commercial Education (CD. 419) in
Austria and especially Bohemia, issued by the Board of
Education in 1900, and as we travel on we shall see
more of the outcome of this valuable educational
system. The State aids largely also museums and
libraries, which so advantageously help scientific and
professional education, and fosters this education by
scholarships. But this work is also greatly aided by
the " pious donor " and benefactor, and by self-help
and local patriotism.
Since 1873, the date of my first visit to Austria,
there has come a great change over the industrial
life in town and country. Hours have been lessened,
wages increased, and the sanitation in the works
marvellously improved, until to-day many are far in
advance of our English workshops ; especially is this
noticeable in the glass works, and also in the machine
works, as we saw at Pilsen ; but still the rate of wage
is low, but the manner of living is economic.
The army of the Dual Empire commands 2,250,000
men, for in this Hungary must be included (although
this volume is not referring in any way to the kingdom
of Hungary). The navy is also rapidly developing,
and will shortly bring Austria into the rank of one
of the great naval powers. That most delightful
historian and far-seeing man, Palacky, the author
104
In Imperial Vienna
of the great history of Bohemia, in 1848, said, in a
work entitled " Oesterreichs Staatsidee," that the
upholding of the Austrian Empire was a political
necessity ; and that if it were not, it must be created ;
and all in Austria and Hungary know this.
All the various races are earnestly struggling for
development ; for race advancement ; and in England
we get most exaggerated reports of the strife between
these races ; but speak to Cecil, or Pole, or Hungarian,
all of whom are ardent patriots, devotees of their own
race, and the suggestion that the Austrian Empire
should break up is at once scouted as impossible —
" should there come a common danger all would unite
at once " were the words of one of the most eminent
of these patriots.
We have referred to the balance of population in
Austria, but the better to understand the race diffi-
culties and aspirations we give the division of the
population in Austria and Hungary. This amounts
to 48^ millions, and is divided into 24 million Slavs,
11 million Germans, 8| million Magyars, 3 million
Roumanians, and | of a million Italians, and there are
Jews, etc.
This slight review of the political and industrial
situation in Austria may, as we travel onward
through their glorious inheritance, help to illuminate
the life of the Austrian people whilst we are still halt-
ing in the midst of her capital, which in her artistic
and beneficent development has proved that her civic
rulers recognise the magnitude of their city, and the
dignity due to the capital of the Empire.
One can see in Vienna, especially on holy days,
large groups of the rural population visiting some
105
Austria
especial shrine in the vast cathedral of St Stephen.
They enter, a picturesque, parti-coloured group in
their local distinctive costume, that at once tells the
district from whence they come. Some white-headed
old man leads them, perhaps bearing a small banner
or cross. The clatter of their feet is subdued as they
slowly reach the centre of the nave, and then they
halt, and for a few moments all look around in
wonder at the upsoaring sombre columns, intensified
with the glory of the coloured windows : and then,
slowly, the women in their brilliant head-dresses bow
their heads, and the men, bareheaded, bend also in
reverence, and the whole mass of varied colour sinks
slowly to the earth, and the silent prayers go up in this
glorious building, grey and sombre with antiquity,
for those left at home in the distant villages.
The evening service is always a favourite one at
St Stephen's, for then all are permitted to go up to the
high altar, and one can sit in the richly carved stalls,
and before the service begins, become absorbed in the
beauty of form and colour, and all the fascinations of
history that are around us. The building goes back
to just before the power of the Habsburgs took rule
over Austria, and from that date till late in the
fifteenth century it was continually being enriched
with additional work.
There is one other church we must refer to for its
historic interest, as it is the modern burial-place of the
Imperial family, and the tragic deaths of so many of
the Habsburgs make this one of the saddest spots to
visit it is possible to conceive. As the long-robed
monk shows tomb after tomb, all the fierce tragic
history of this family comes visibly to the mind. Here
106
Mil. TOWER OF SI STEPHEN S, VIENNA
In Imperial Vienna
is also the tomb of " L'Aiglon," the young Duke of
Reichstadt, Napoleon's son ; but one is glad to ascend
again to the upper air, and pass onward into the brisk
life of the city, and we are quickly in the Hof Garten,
amidst the flowers and trees, and pass thence into the
Volksgarten, where the music rings forth, and the gay
throng recalls us to all the bright joyous life that the
Viennese love : although their life is by no means a
life pour rire, or pour s'amuser, as we have seen from
the hints at the energetic, strenuous advancement in
science, art, and commerce that her palatial buildings,
the homes of these arts, prove she loves and reveres.
Vienna is a city to linger in, and to visit and re-visit ;
then gradually all the wealth of her institutions, her
museums, libraries, art galleries, and public buildings
slowly prove their immensity, and the enormous
interest and value of the collections. The history
of Austria can then be better understood, and one
sallies forth by the gate of the glorious river, the
Danube, into one of the most picturesque and historic
districts the world has to show.
107
CHAPTER XII
LOWER AUSTRIA THE SEMMERING
THE two crown lands of Lower and Upper
Austria are small in extent, but they are
of great importance geographically and
historically.
Lower Austria as the seat of the capital, and as
containing a stretch of the Danube that is com-
mercially of great value, and historically of the
deepest interest ; it also contains some remarkable
mountain scenery, the popular region of the
Semmering.
At the Prater Quay is the large building wherein
the vast business of the Danube Steamship Company
is transacted, and by one of their handsome saloon
boats we can most comfortably visit all the scenes on
the Danube. Before quitting Vienna we must say a
word upon the work of this company, that is of great
importance commercially and from the tourist point
of view. They run 45 passenger boats, 89 freight
steamers, and have a fleet of 838 merchandise boats,
the latter with nearly half a million tonnage.
Their saloon steamers are handsome vessels, ex-
tremely well found, and with good restaurants on
board, and with some special cabins for sleeping,
ranging from two to six in number, on each boat, but
with made-up beds in the saloon, which are quite
comfortable, ranging from a dozen up to forty.
108
Lower Austria — The Semmering
One can live delightfully and very cheaply on these
boats, the charge for meals being very reasonable,
and the cost of a bed per night is two kroner, i.e.
Is. 8d. It is of interest to note that " By Imperial
Patent First Danube Steam-Navigation Company "
was granted to John Andrews and Joseph Prichards
on April 17, 1828, and their first boat ran on Septem-
ber 17, 1830, an earlier attempt to start steamboats on
the Danube having failed.
The boundary of Lower Austria stretches to Enns,
nearly to Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, and
through this province the Danube would bear us to
within sight of Passau in Bavaria, but we must leave
our excursion upon the Danube until our return from
the Adriatic, and link this lower stretch of the river
with the chapter upon Upper Austria ; for the
course of the Danube through Austria is through
these two crown lands, quitting Bavaria just after
leaving Passau, running through Upper Austria to
Linz, and on through Lower Austria to Vienna,
and entering Hungary just before reaching Posony
(Pressburg).
If Lower Austria thus includes some most deeply
interesting and romantically beautiful river scenery,
it also embraces a succession of towns and villages
situated upon upland slopes and lofty mountain
ranges, with scenery of the most varied and idyllic
beauty.
The Viennese are thus most fortunate, placed in the
heart of Europe, with these delightful pleasure and
health resorts at their doors.
The mountains claim us first, and we run south
from Vienna by the Southern Railway, through a part
109
Austria
of Lower Austria that has become the playground of
Vienna.
It is curious to call on an official in Vienna, and to
hear he is at Baden, and then to be told that he comes
in every morning ; but this Baden, only seventeen
miles from Vienna, is a pleasant town on the varied
hill slopes, rising above the little river Schwechat that
has become a favourite watering-place, the Richmond
of Vienna, with good hotels, Curhaus, and, of course,
good music, and plenty of amusements and baths.
The hills around run up to 1000 and 1500 feet, giving
health and picturesque promenades.
But far more glorious scenery awaits us as we go
farther south, running through the vine district of
Voslau, that produces the excellent red and white
wine known by that name.
The whole district is picturesque and full of scenes
that make walking excursions in the district a delight.
Castles and ruins and pretty villages, and scattered
towns that are pleasant halting-places, and as at
Wiener Neustadt the historian and antiquary will
find much to detain him.
In not so far bygone days the railway broke off,
and we had to go by diligence over the Semmering
Pass, but since 1854 this mountain chain has been
conquered by the iron road, and one can quickly be at
the summit, 3000 to 4000 feet above sea-level.
Austria is famous for its remarkably beautiful
mountain railways, as the Arlberg and the new
Tauern railways ; but if these are grandiose, we
shall cross them both shortly, yet this Semmering
railway is hardly surpassed by them in strange
beauty and sudden surprises.
no
Lower Austria — The Semmering
The mountain pass, that now by steam links Vienna
with the Adriatic, has ever been a route from Central
Europe to the east ; and in 1184 Markgraf Ottokar V.
built a refuge or hospice here, as a halting-place
for the pilgrims to the Holy Land. The little town of
Spittal, on the southern slope of the range, by its name,
commemorates this fact, and the pass was used for
heavy goods, and became an important route in the
fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, But
it appears that, not until 1728, was a really good
road made over this pass, and then it was necessary to
utilise a couple of hundred horses daily to assist the
hauling of goods over the pass. The new road, super-
seded by the railway, but still used for local traffic
and pedestrians, was made in 1841.
It was a certain Karl Ghega, an Austrian, born in
Vienna, and a Doctor of Mathematics of Padua, who,
at the age of eighteen, becoming an Austrian official
in the Works Department, became enamoured with
the development of railways in England, and visited
that country, and Germany, Belgium, and France,
to study railway work, in 1836 and 1837, and again
he made a second visit to England in 1842, when he
also went to America, and after a tremendous struggle
against opponents of every type, including his brother
engineers and the Press, the work was carried
through, and after trial trips the line was opened
for passenger traffic on the 17th July 1854, the
Emperor Francis Joseph, a young man of twenty-four,
being the first passenger.
And truly it has opened a wealth of beauty and
a wonder of continuous sudden changes and surprises
to the traveller.
in
Austria
At Gloggnitz, one is still in the lowlands, with rich
fields, through which the river winds, and cultured
uplands. Then quickly we begin to ascend, and the
marvel of this early engineering feat begins to excite
one.
We twist round hill sides, through tunnels, and
getting different views of scenes, now on a level, then
far below, catching glimpses of snow on the heights
far above. We are rising up from the level of vine-
yards to the pine level ; the views embrace vast
stretches of landscape or deep, rocky ravines, with,
as at Klamm, a grand old castle ruin perched on its
rocky height. Then we crawl round on a dizzy
viaduct that gives a grand glimpse down through
the pines to the rich valleys, and so skirt the vast,
rocky wall of the Weinzettelwand, perhaps one of the
finest, if not most dramatic, scenes on the route. A
double tiered viaduct, 150 feet high, takes us over
the deep Kalte Rinne, that is a ravine wide enough
to give us time for a good long look at the very
beautiful view. Another viaduct, not of so dizzy
a height, leads us on to more tunnels, and we pull up
at the Semmering Station.
Just a couple of hours from the plainland and
crowded city streets of Vienna, and here we are amidst
the scent of the pines, with peasant girls offering one
Edelweiss blossoms. A trudge up through the wind-
ing forest road quickly brings one to the villas and
hotels of the Semmering.
We tramped up this road once on September 16th, a
hot fatiguing walk in the heat, but misty clouds swept
round us, and on the morning of the 17th, when we
awoke, snow lay all around, and from the terrace
112
Lower Austria — The Semmering
of the hotel (built by the Southern Railway) there
was a vast view of rocky, bare mountain ranges and
pine-clad peaks, all glittering in the first, pure snow
of autumn. One can be quickly in the deep silent
forest of the resinous pines, and in winter, skiing and
toboganning is to be had on splendid runs.
On another occasion when, in May, I was again on
the Semmering, at a luncheon on the great balcony
where one can sit and revel in such a glorious view,
it was my lot to propose prosperity to Austria.
With such a vast view of this corner of the beauty of
that Empire, the words of Goethe came to my mind —
" Oh wunderschon ist Gottes Erde
Und schon aur Ihr, ein Mensch zu sein."
The pure exhilarating air, the vast scene, the strange,
delightful beauty made one feel —
" God's in His Heaven, all's right with the world."
We could look out northward over the beautiful
province of Lower Austria, that has other charms
in its river scenery to call us back again ; for on the
Semmering we are on its frontier, and in descending
the heights on the southern side we shall enter
Styria, the ancient Steirmark of Austria.
h 113
CHAPTER XIII
STYRIA (THE STEIERMARK) AND GRAZ
THE province or dukedom of Styria is but
very little known to the English-speaking
traveller, and to say you are English,
especially if one confesses to a desire to
study more nearly than en passant the life in the towns
and in the villages of this fair province, is at once to
receive from every section of the people a hearty
welcome, and every assistance to gain a knowledge of
their historic monuments and their ofttimes quaint
folklore.
The entry into this province, via the Semmering, is
so very beautiful, one has a presentiment there must
come a reaction from the elation of mind at the
remarkable scenery that one looks out upon, as we
emerge from the tunnel, some 3000 feet up on the
mountain height. We know we are slowly dropping
down to the sea-level of the Adriatic. But as we
drop to the plain level and from snowy mountain
heights, wander amidst low-lying towns, surprises are
in store that intensely stir the mind, and allow no
dull moment of apathy to clog the brain with weariness
or ennui.
The Steiermark is a large province, and we shall skirt
its western frontier when running through the Tauern
Mountains ; but in descending to Triest we run
through its entire length, from north to south, and
114
Styria (The Steiermark) and Graz
so get a fair idea of its fertile land and pleasant
towns.
There are about a million and a half inhabitants in
the province, nearly a million being Germans, the rest
of Slav or Slovak origin, with a sprinkling of Italians,
Poles, and Croats. Agriculture is the principal in-
dustry ; in fact, a local writer in piteous tones pleads
that the capital, Graz, is not a " world town " with
many chimneys and great industries. But even as
we descend from the mountain heights, we quickly
see that forestry and agriculture are scientifically
developed.
We have already descended about 800 feet when we
arrive at Miirzzuschlag, where the river Murz, that
afterwards becomes the greater Mur, winds through a
lovely valley embowered in low, forest-clad hills, the
higher crags towering above. Here is a good halting-
place for the botanist or geologist, for these hills have
a rich flora and varied geological formations.
The valleys, as we creep downwards, are smilingly
prosperous, and here and there, as at Wartberg, a fine
old ruin gives work for the historian, and interest to
the archaeologist. Often, in early spring and in autumn,
this valley is flooded, and the rush of water is tre-
mendous. That there is a certain amount of artisan
life in the district is evidenced at Bruck, where many
busy factories pour forth their workers in the evening.
Here the lines branch off for Villach and the Kara-
wanken Alps, and for the lakes in the Salzkammergut,
and it is but a short run for Ischl. All these places we
shall visit later on, continuing now, down on the
southern route, for another thirty-four miles to the
capital town of Styria, Graz.
115
Austria
Graz
Graz, formerly spelt Gratz and pronounced
" Grates," rhyming to " gerate " (it has succeeded),
as a quaint poem by Gottfried Leitner expresses it,
in relating the legend of the founding of the town by
wanderers from the bank of the Isar in Bavaria.
But Graz goes back to Celtic and Roman times, and
the museums in this and neighbouring towns are very
rich from finds in the district.
Throughout this volume we are utilising notes
made on the spot, and the pamphlets and volumes
issued locally upon the history of the district. In
nearly every town in Austria there is always a learned
knot of enthusiasts who love their homeland, and
are proud of its history ; and someone, schoolmaster,
curator, priest, or historian, as a labour of love,
produces a book that is generally very interesting;
and there are also the unions or societies for pro-
moting tourist travel in every centre, who also issue
useful booklets, often very well written.
Here in Graz, in addition to local guides, there is a
most carefully written history of the Steiermark by
Dr F. Mayer, the Director of the " Landes-Ober-
realschule " (Higher modern school). The title page
of this gives a quaint view of the town in 1634, with
the castle and fortress on the precipitous, rocky
plateau above the river Mur, and the numerous
domes, spires and towers on either side of the river.
The picturesque castle height, with its strong, red
tower, at once arrests the eye, as one runs into the
town. This Schlossberg is the acropolis of the
Steiermark, and one instinctively makes for it on
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Styria (The Steiermark) and Graz
arriving in the town, which is the capital of the Mark,
and returns to it again and again, either wandering
up through the lovely parks and gardens below, or
quickly reaching the summit, 1650 feet above sea-
level, by a lift.
From the plateau is a vast view of the great plain
and the dark-red roofed town, the grey Mur rushing
through the midst of the city ; the last time I looked
upon it, it was in flood, a fierce, turbulent river.
Away to the south is a low range of hills, and beyond
is the vast loom of the mountains ; and at the west side
of the hill one looks down on a lovely valley, through
which pierces the Mur, whilst beyond to the north
are all the piled Alps, the dark forest slopes, and
nearer the picturesque hills and dotted villas.
At the spot where this view comes in, is a monument,
a Hon defending a flag, erected " To the heroic
defenders of this Schlossberg against French domin-
ance, 1809," erected in 1909.
Below to the south-east lies the vast town, filling
much space, with many trees shaded between the
houses. At sunset, the bells ring out from the many
church towers, and seem to tell of the life of the
city.
Upon this height, as we look out over so much of
Steiermark, we can listen to a few words about the life
of the people of this important homeland of Austria ;
for the story of the settling of this Markgrave gives
an idea of the race struggles through the ages in
all Austria, where sometimes one race, sometimes
another, has remained dominant, or in the
majority.
In the fifth or sixth century before Christ, the Celtic
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folk overran this district, driving out the earlier
people of whom little is known, save that they lived
by hunting and fishing, and by the land. Probably
about the same period the Etruscans, those artistic
settlers in North Italy, came over the Alps for their
commerce, and brought their products here, their
weapons, their household implements, vases, and
household and personal ornaments ; and as the
Etruscans faded from history, the Roman merchants
took up the story, and from the Roman port of
Aquileia (towards which we are travelling) came also
to the plains and the valleys of the Mur, and brought
their industrial products in exchange for the agri-
cultural products of the district.
The Noric branch of the Celts were not merely
agriculturists ; they understood mining and many
trades, and lived in towns and did much business,
especially with salt. They understood mining for
copper, iron, and gold, obtaining the latter also from
the rivers, and they wove woollen articles, making
ten varieties of material from sheep's wool, and by a
mixture of copper and tin produced a fine, gold-like
bronze that they used for weapons and implements,
and the excellence of Noric iron weapons was re-
nowned. They also coined money, imprinted with
Roman letters.
Many of these articles have been found in the
Tumuli and urn burying-places, and some beautiful
examples are in the Graz Landes Museum. In Maria
Rast a great find was made of over a hundred urns
with bracelets, brooches, rings, etc. ; these also are in
the Joanneum Museum in Graz.
In the year 113 b.c. the Romans had assisted these
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Styria (The Steiermark) and Graz
Celtic tribes against the Teutons, and later on the
Steiermark became part of the Roman province of
Norricum, and the Celtic roads were developed, and
Roman roads, especially the great military road from
Aquileia on the Adriatic, to the famous Danube road,
ran through the land, with, of course, the usual
stations and military forts or castles. Valuable
remains of this Roman period are in the museum, as
well as relics of the various religions of the Celts, and
all the various gods the Romans brought in their
train, Egyptian, Syrian, and especially Mithras, the
Sun god of the Persians, to whom many altars were
erected. Christianity was early adopted ; the precise
date is not known, but in the persecution of Diocletian
in 303 a Bishop Victorin suffered martyrdom, and in
the fifth century the Church here was well organised.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire the Avars,
and with them the Slavs, overran the district and
settled here. They are described as a peace-loving
folk, having the organisation, somewhat as it is to-day
in Russia, of the family, and groups of families, ruled
by a Starosta ; these again grouped into a community
under a Zupan ; and these communities had watch-
towers and fortresses and earthworks into which the
people fled for refuge in war time. They had their
own gods of which Morena, the god of winter and
death, was one of the chief, and they believed in
eternal life.
The neighbours of this Slavic folk were the
Bajuvaren or Bavarians, also heathen until 696.
Strife ensuing between the Avars and the Slavonians
the latter called in the Bavarian Duke Tassilo to their
aid, and later on, he going against the Franks, was
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crushed by Charlemagne, and then it came about that
the Germans occupied the land ; and as all unoccupied
land belonged to the Crown, and the Slavs only thinly
populated the territory, it was divided amongst nobles
and churches, and monasteries, and the Slavs were
utilised as workers on the land. Many Celtic, and
still more Slavic names are left in the district, and the
tenacity of the Slavs for their ancient customs and
their picturesque costumes will be seen in many parts
of Austria. This slight sketch of the peopling of the
Steiermark is fairly illustrative, with slight variations,
of the peopling of the whole of Austria.
But Graz is more German, therefore one sees but
little costume in the city.
The central point in this city of nearly 200,000
inhabitants is the Hauptplatz, with its busy market,
town hall, monument and fountains representing the
four great rivers of the Steirmark — the Mur, Drave,
Save, and Enns. But the most interesting point for
the traveller is the old courtyard of the Landhaus,
which is in the Italian renaissance style, with a triple
story of arcades, arches, and stairways. On the
west side is the famous well, a masterpiece of open
metal work, dating about 1590. The diet hall and the
wine cellar are worth visiting, but the strangest and
unique building that should draw every lover of
history to Graz is a massive building on the south
side of this courtyard. A ring at the bell will bring
the custodian, who is a lover of the marvellous collec-
tion entrusted to his care. Here in this Zeughaus or
Arsenal is the most remarkable collection, or rather
armoury, of mediaeval weapons the world has to
show.
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Styria (The Steiermark) and Graz
This is not a show lot of beautiful pieces of armour
and weapons as at Dresden, Madrid, Berlin and else-
where, but a real armoury of four wide floors all
stocked with mediaeval armour, waiting, waiting,
for a phantom army to come and be harnessed and
armed. Here are 28,000 weapons ; 14,000 men could
be armed. Here are 2500 suits of plate-armour
besides those in chain. Every possible type of
offensive and defensive weapon is here, and many
ingenious devices for crippling and maiming the
enemy. It is notable that there are no suits of
armour for men 6 feet in height, nor for big men ;
but as the custodian lovingly handled weapons
and armour, he proved they must have been very
muscular men to wield these weapons and bear
this armour. To wander through these solid, dim
floors, with all this preparation for a bygone war,
that comes not again, is to experience a most strange
sensation ; and many of the pieces are very beautiful
works of art, and others are devilish for their cruel
ingenuity.1
Another most remarkable collection is that in the
Kunstgewerbe (art trade) Museum.
This is housed in a fine, spacious building finished in
1895, near the old Joannuem Museum that holds the
antique, geological, and botanical collections.
One often hears statements upon Austria founded
upon trivial knowledge, or upon visits paid years ago.
The development of every town and district in Austria
has been tremendous during the last two decades, and
this museum is an example of this great work. Here
1 See article in the Morning Post, "The Armoury at Graz," August
24th, 1<J10, by J. B.
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are indeed historical and folk museums, filled with
artistic relics of past ages, arranged with every care and
foresight, dwelling-rooms of the district at various
periods, tools, personal ornaments, glass, musical in-
struments, dresses, iron work, porcelain ; and the
exhibits are so hung that they can easily be taken into
the technical schools for study, reproduction, or to
incite invention or design. There is a whole suite
of rooms, illustrating the life of the Steiermark with
figures in costume.
• The technical school is a magnificent building with
four faculties, and most elaborate and important
arrangements and apparatus for chemistry, engineer-
ing, building. The university is also a very handsome
building with an anatomical and physiological annex,
and a physical institute adjoining, linked with a
pretty garden and an observatory, and an excellent
library and botanical garden ; there are about 2000
students studying here. As far back as 1841 the
technical school of the Johanneum was said to be one
of the three schools in Austria, and Graz also had her
agriculture school and model farm and polytechnic
association.
A very pleasant ending to a visit to Graz is to cross
the rushing Mur from the west part of the town by
the old bridge, to wind up through the narrow and
busy streets, passing the cathedral, that in spite of
restoration is worth a halt, and then to work up
through the lovely Stadtpark, with its beautiful
flowers, shady trees, and often excellent music (a
Bosnian regiment was playing once when we fingered
here), then to climb the steep Schlossberg, and visit
the old clock tower and the Turkish Wells, and once
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Styria (The Steiermark) and Graz
more we can look out over the wonderful view,
down over the picturesque town, and try to recall
all the historic reminiscences Graz has brought to
mind.
On quitting Graz we turned southward, through the
Steiermark, and sometimes when the river is in flood
the valley is widely flooded. There are many small
spots of interest, but Marburg on the Drave makes a
useful halting-place, if only to study the excellent and
painstaking methods of fruit culture, and the school
established for teaching this.
• All through Southern, and, in fact, all over Austria
great care has to be taken to note which race peoples
the district in order not to offend susceptibilities ; in
Graz, as we have seen, it was German that was pre-
dominant, and therefore one would be careful not to
use the Slav salutations ; but as we run southwards
we come into a Slav district, and at Cilli we are amidst
a Wendish population, one of these towns whose
name dates back to the Celtic Roman period. This
makes a pleasant halting spot, a bright town ; the old
square towers in the Schlossberg form a picturesque
bit in the landscape, and the church bells have a
glorious tone. To those studying Roman life the
museum is well worth an hour amongst its local
finds.
The little river Sann adds to the beauty of the
scenery, that is very diversified with high hills and
rocky defiles, ruins of castles, pretty villages, and
small towns. At Romerbad the station is remarkably
pretty, and, as the name implies, here are curative baths
known to the Romans, and the country around, both
in forest, pastoral, and rock scenery, is full of pleasant
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charm. But we are approaching the frontier of
Styria, that is bounded by the Save which flows
into the Sann, and must quit this interesting mark
that has played no mean part in the history of
Austria.
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CHAPTER XIV
CARNIOLA (KRAIN) — LJUBLJANA (LAIBACH)
THE scenery as we enter Carniola, or Krain,
along the banks of the Save, is full of beauty,
and just a mile or two before crossing the
frontier at Trifail we have great cliffs that
are really open coal quarries ; and at Sagor, the
frontier town, are grand hills and cliffs rising sheer
400 to 800 feet in height. We are not far from
Hungary, and by following the Save eastwards Agram
is quickly reached ; but we journey on, along its banks
to the westward, emerging from the ravines, and soon
get a fine view of the Julian Alps that promise plenty
of work for the rock and mountain climber, and glorious
scenery for the lover of nature.
The capital of the province, Ljubljana, or Laibach,
forms an excellent centre for exploring the district,
and is a most interesting and pleasant place to sojourn
in. Railways branch off to that most fascinating
district of Alpine heights and idyllic lakes, Veldes and
Wochein Feistritz, and into Gorizia ; southward into
Istria and on to Triest and the Adriatic; and
eastwards to Hungary. Both history and modern
development tend to hold the traveller for some days
in the capital of Carniola, or Krain as the Germans
call this Duchy ; and in the near neighbourhood we
can study the peasant life in this homeland of Austria.
If in the Steiermark Germans predominate, here in
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Austria
Carniola the Slav is in the ascendant, there being over
500,000 Slowenisch to about 28,000 Germans, and
patriotism and race devotion is shown in the eagerness
of the people to be abreast with all developments.
With the military garrison there are about 50,000
inhabitants in the capital, and the diet house for the
local Parliament is a handsome building, with club
and reading rooms for the members, who are elected by
four classes of voters : the rich domain holders, the
towns, the peasants, and the general voter. The
Justice Palace, or Law Courts, is also a fine building,
and around it are pleasant gardens and lakes and
avenues of chestnut trees.
The Government House is another handsome
building, the residence of the Stadthalter ; and in
passing from this through the poorer part of the town,
that is well kept and clean, one sees a part of the old
Roman walls. The view from the south embraces the
pleasant shady avenues and gardens, the river from
which the town is named, and above all rises the great
mass of the castle, upon its dominating tree- covered
hill, whilst beyond are the green picturesque hills.
The town has been greatly developed of late ; one
passes through the old Ghetto, but no Jews are there
now. The old town hall is a picturesque building
with balconies and arches, but the building that will
hold the visitor, wherein he can study the history of
this district and the folklore of the people, is the
Rudolphinum, where the museum of the province is
installed.
Here the life of the district can be gleaned from
the well-arranged exhibits, and it was interesting on
one occasion when there to see a school of lads, some
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Carniola( K rain)— Ljubljana( Laibach )
without shoes, but decidedly clean, others well dressed,
all studying the life and history of their homeland.
The finds go back to the earliest lake-dwellers and
Neolithic times, including some remarkable pottery
with encrusted ornamentation, etc. ; thence to the
Bronze epoch, and a very rich collection of the Iron
period, that a local writer gives here as 900-400 B.C.
Belonging to the later Iron or Celtic epoch are richly
decorated swords, and a beautiful helmet collar, with
cheek pieces, upon which birds are chiselled. The
collection of the Roman period is also very rich,
especially in glass, and what is perhaps yet more
interesting, are the finds of the folk migration period
and the first Slavic settlers.
The history is carried on to later days, when the
struggle with the Moslem was desperate, and a flag
of 1593 recalls this epoch in their history.
Here, as elsewhere in Austria, the life of the folk
of to-day and yesterday is illustrated by models and
actual furniture, and household utensils of their homes,
and figures in the bright costumes. We went out on
the balcony of the museum, and looked out over the
town. As we had entered the city on this occasion, on
the eve of Corpus Christi, many peasants were flocking
in for the procession, and we noted the tone of colour
of many was a quiet grey, with a whitish head-dress,
but on the morrow we were to see all the more
brilliant-coloured dress of Upper Carniola, and these
dresses and the whole home-life of the folk is illus-
trated in the museum.
Before climbing up to the castle we made an
excursion with the learned curator of the museum
out to the village of Roznik, and in chatting with the
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peasants learnt that the small-holders worked about
5 acres of ground, and that the pay for workers in
harvest time was 4 Kronen a day, in winter 2 to 3
Kronen, but most of the hands engaged in this work
were women.
In the factories the girls earned 1.50 to 3 Kroner,
the men 3 to 5, really less than on the fields, because
they were also insured against sickness. From this
village we went on to St Veit, where we found them
busy sweeping the roads and decorating with young
trees and flags for Corpus Christi.
We had a chat in the house of a young carpenter,
who was also a small-holder of about 1| acres. A
smart, bright young fellow, full of life and keenness in
his work with wood, and in his fowls and pigs, and in
his garden. We went into his workshops ; the
technical schools had made him love and know his
work. In his kitchen all was clean. A white towel
was hung up for drying hands. The cooking utensils
were of bright metal, well polished ; there was a cake-
mould amongst them. In the sleeping-room for the
children all was clean and airy, and a big room, with
two beds in it, served as sitting-room, the beds
having tidy, pretty coverlets over them. Here
were flowers on a table, and flowers were wreathed
over a pier-glass and a crucifix. Everything was
absolutely sweet and pure.
We next visited a well-to-do farmer's house, who
farmed 60 to 70 acres. He cultivated hops and corn,
and kept cows. We went into his sitting-room and
kitchen and three bedrooms, all clean and orderly.
He was just putting up a new hop-oven with expensive
screen methods, and an excellent and unusual arrange-
128
Carniola(Krain) — Ljubljana(Laibach)
ment was his smoke chamber above the kitchen, that
utilised all the smoke for drying meats, etc. From
the farmer we got the prices of food for the towns, and
found that it averaged : bread, 1 Jd. per lb ; potatoes,
Jd. per lb. ; meat, 6d. to Is. per lb. At first he was
very reticent and reserved, but at last became very
friendly, and his wife came and offered us a slice of
their excellent brown bread, which, with a Slav, is a
mark of friendship.
We were fortunate to have introductions to a
Landrath, a Mr Lindtner, who was full of information,
and most kindly courteous in his assistance, and
with him we were enabled to see the Corpus Christi
procession from the balcony of the Parliament
buildings.
The troops were paraded, all wearing oak leaves in
their hats, a tribute to spring ; and as the procession
passed beneath us it was a pretty and impressive
spectacle. All the artistic and patriotic societies
took part. The national white head-dress of the
women was prominent, and as the first blessing was
pronounced the cannon roared out from the great
castle that was above us, and the bells clanged forth,
and the people lit candles in their windows to greet
the procession as it passed. Women in the National
costume, bands of music, the Philharmonic Society,
Marias tift Society ; little children all in white, bearing
candles and flowers ; officials of the town, monks,
and, last of all, the bishop under a gold canopy
in his rich vestments, and priests in gold and
white. When the bishop halted to bless the troops,
with the people in their brilliant colours all grouped
around, the scene was full of beauty, and recalled
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Austria
the fierce history through which the people have
passed.
The study of life here in the great market-place,
and in the churches gives many tokens of the life of
the people ; and a climb up the tree-clad height to the
great fortress above, affords in either a morning or
evening light a wide and beautiful prospect of the town
and all the country around. The castle buildings,
now used as barracks, are still very imposing, with
great round towers and overhanging bartizans, and
the views from the platform are superb. To the
north-west are the big range of hills, and the Alps
with the famous Triglav. To the west is the rich
plain land intersected by rivers. In descending from
the height we saw the pretty house of General
Radetzky, the General of the Italian wars, and the
walk down through the shady avenues with the birds
singing in the bushes gave a delightful finish to the
visit to this pleasant town that suffered so terribly
in the awful earthquake of 1895. It was here that
the Congress was held in 1821. That the people of
Laibach are very alive to modern developments was
evidenced in the handsome, well-arranged " Slavo-
nitz " newspaper office, where everything was up to
date, with a good library, each editor having his own
room.
Carniola, like Styria, has a history that carries one
far back into the dim, misty ages of the beginning
of the human race. The rich plain we looked down
upon from the great castle height was once a great
lake, and as we have seen in the museum, rich finds
have been made of these beginnings of history.
Legend says Jason and the Argonauts passed here on
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Carniola(Krain) — Ljubljana(Laibach)
the way from Colchis in distant Circassia ; and of the
occupation of the Celts there is ample and valuable
evidence in the museum. After the Celts came the
Romans, laying their high roads, and with more
perfect organisation, and the rich finds of gold and
silver objects prove, that this was a rich province
under Roman rule.
In the fifth and sixth centuries the West Goths
under Alaric, the East Goths under Theodore, and
the Longobards under Alboin, destroyed much of this
Roman civilisation, and the Huns led by Attila con-
tinued the work.
In the sixth century the Slavs appeared, and with
them the Avars, and the history of this district
developed as we have described the history of the
Styrians, until in 1335 the Habsburgers came into
power. Being near the Turkish border the district
suffered heavily in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
from Moslem invasion, and Laibach was attacked
but never taken.
131
CHAPTER XV
CARNIOLA, WOCHEIN FEISTRITZ, VELDES, AND
ADELSBERG
BEFORE proceeding on the southern route
through Carniola to the vast caverns of
Adelsburg we must make a north-western
excursion to the district that Sir Humphry
Davy so loved, and often visited in the eighteenth
century.
This district can also be reached by the Tauern
route to or from Triest, but it may be included in the
chapter on Carniola, as here may be studied amidst
scenes of remarkable beauty the Fauna and Flora of
Carniola, and the sportsman, and fisherman, and
Alpinist will have in this province wide scope for their
pet pleasures.
It was in rather a dramatic fashion that I first
learned that this rich corner of Europe was well known
to a famous Englishman in the eighteenth century.
I had arranged a journey for a party of British
writers and journalists through Bosnia, and on our
return when we arrived in Carniola, a well- printed
and well-illustrated newspaper was handed to us in
English and German, with a hearty welcome to the
English guests ; and to our astonishment more than
one good portrait of Sir Humphry Davy.
In the welcome it was stated that the English were
the " pathfinders," the pioneers, of the foreigners who
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Carniola, Wochein Feistritz
since have visited this country, and continued : " One
of the most important English naturalists, Sir
Humphry Davy, made our country known to the
world, as J. Gilbert, who followed the traces of the
famous Briton in 1861-62 and 1863,, writes in his
highly interesting book of travels. He (Humphry
Davy), the greatest ornament of the most fashionable
London Society, the representative of European fame,
had to come to the distant country of Carniola in
order to find a place " where a man can rejoice in his
life." And then followed a lengthy and learned
article upon the early English travellers who had
studied Carniola, and especially upon those sent by
the Royal Society as far back as 1648 and 1672, when
Dr Edward Brown made a long stay here. It was in
1818 that Humphry Davy first visited the district ;
and then again in 1827, staying at Laibach and in
the district for a month, returning again in August ;
and then, being very ill in England in March 1828, with
young Dr Tobin started on a tour and arrived in
Laibach on May 4th, putting up at the Inn Detela,
which stood where now stands the Union Hotel, where
we had halted in Laibach. Davy remained in the
district until October, then went on to Triest for a few
days, and returned again ; hunting, fishing and geo-
logising as before, and exploring until the 30th
October.
One of his notes on the district runs thus : "I have
again and again visited Laibach, and again and again
learned much that is new and beautiful, and wonder-
ful, in the district. The valley of the Save and its
waterfalls and lakes enticed me the most ; I know
nothing in Europe more gloriously beautiful."'
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Austria
It was strange that this document dealing with Sir
Humphry Davy's rapture at the scenes we were
visiting, should fall into my hands, for, but just
before leaving England, I had been working to have
a plaque placed on the house where Davy began his
scientific work in Clifton, at the home of Dr Beddoes,
and Signor Marconi had unveiled that plaque, a
fact that deeply interested our Carniola hosts when
I told them of the incident. The journal gave a most
interesting account of succeeding English savants,
explorers, etc., especially of Gilbert and Churchill
of the Geological Society, and also a detailed account
of the district, from which we must cull items upon the
various points of interest.
Davy's raptures over the Wochein Lake and
waterfall one can quickly understand when walking
along the shores of that idyllic scene. Where the
river runs into the lake it is of that strange, lovely
turquoise hue so rare, and yet so often seen in this
district, whilst the lake is of a dark green tone. A
steep scramble and climb leads us up over the lake
to the Savica Falls. A little wooden bench is here,
just as there was when Sir Humphry Davy came,
day after day, to revel in the scene.
And truly a wondrous and wild scene it is. The
mighty fall leaping 250 feet, from between the bare
grey rocks that climb some 1800 feet above, down
into a turquoise pool ; and then a little fall spending
itself in cascades, these forming into a rushing torrent.
A rainbow hovered over the pool, coming and vanish-
ing as the light played upon it from behind the fleecy
clouds.
The eternal roar, and thunder, and hiss of the
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Carniola, Wochein Feistritz
waters made titanic music for the ear, and on looking
back through the deep forest, a glimpse of a lovely-
lake was had, with the light falling upon it. Then
again we looked up at the fleecy-white foaming tur-
quoise-hued fall, and thought that this was the Save,
that great river that flowed into the Danube. We
are here, as it were, at the foot of the famous mountain,
the giant of the district, the triple peaked Triglav,
rising above the seven Triglav lakes to the height of
9400 feet.
The local Alpinists are a jovial and musical company
with a pleasant wit, and I was astonished to receive
at a dinner at Veldes an important document with
many seals, endorsed in English, " In the service of
its Majesty, c The Triglav.' " The document was
signed " Rex Triglavenses I.," and conferred upon me
the " insignia of an honorary citizen and Knight of
the Triglav Kingdom." The insignia was a handsome
badge, enamelled in the local colours of red, yellow,
green, and blue, with an edelweiss in white in the
centre, and the legend " Reg Terg-lovense " around
it. I found " his Majesty " was really Professor Belar
who had climbed the mountain twenty-five times.
We had some glorious music on this evening, from
a choir of peasants in pretty and brilliant costume,
who came from the Rotwein Klamm, and sang their
Slav part songs with vivid fervour and expressive
intonation ; and also from the " Glasbene Matice " a
men's choir from Laibach, who also sang Slav part
songs superbly. The Slav greeting in this district is
" Zivio " pronounced Jee, vio ; it is equivalent to
the Bohemian Na Zdar, but, of course, this should not
be used in a German locality, as also it is best not to
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use in a Slav district, " Hoch," or " Leb wohl," or
" Auf Wiedersehen."
The road from Feistritz to Veldes is full of enchant-
ing charm, and from it the lake is looked down upon,
lying like a jewel set in pearls of snow peaks. Here
some of the rushing streams are of delicate emerald
green, and the grey peaks rise up into the blue heavens,
until they are snow and cloud wreathed.
At Veldes we drove to the Louisenbad, and on the
balcony sat and wrote, and revelled in the soft
beauteous scene of castle and lake and little island of
St Maria im See.1
In spring the slopes of these mountains we have
looked out upon are a field of superb colour of myriads
of flowers, and on the lake side are baths of hot and
cold springs, or for the summer there are lake
swimming baths, and rowing and shooting and fish-
ing can be enjoyed ; and for the lover of early folk-
lore, stories of heathen Celtic gods, and of mediaeval
legends ; and peasant customs that recall both stories
and legends and primitive faiths.
We shall visit this district again in passing up from
Triest to Carinthia, the adjoining homeland ; but we
may give the sportsman and botanist a short hint of
the pleasure to be had in this nature-favoured spot
that Humphry Davy loved so well.
In Carniola, so famous for its Alpine beauty, the
botanist will indeed find a paradise. In Austria itself,
just as one may find every type of landscape scenery,
so also the flora is of infinite variety ; and the fauna
1 The Weissenfels lakes that are on the frontier of Carniola-
Carinthia are referred to in the latter section in an excursion from
Villach.
I36
Carniola, Wochein Feistritz
is of especial interest ; neither the naturalist, the
sportsman, the geologist, nor the fisherman need
depart empty-handed.
The flora is particularly varied, for here we shall
find both Alpine flowers and those too that gladden
the shores of the Mediterranean. Its inhabitants
claim that in this respect Carniola is the most
interesting country in Europe.
Amongst the rarer plants, we might mention
Festuca aurea (only found on the Vremscica), as also
Festuca carniolica (upon Nanos and in the valley
Rasatal), Fritillaria tenella (at Gaberk), Fritillaria
meleagris (at Laibach, etc.), and the scarce Pceonia
corallina (upon Nanos and Baba), Delphinium
hybridum (at Vrem), Aconitum albicans (Woch-
einer Alps), Ranunculus Thora (at Kumberg), Arabis
scopoliana (on the Schneeberg and also at Nanos),
Potentilla carniolica, Potentilla nitida (in various
localities), two rare varieties of Trijolium-noricum
and panonicum, the attractive Geraneum argenteum
(on the Crna prst and Lisec), Euphorbia lucida and
Euphorbia nicceensis (Zirknitzer See and at Vrem re-
spectively) ; and the following varieties of Viola
may be found — uliginosa, Zoisii, pinnata, cornuta.
Among the Gentians, Gentiana Frbhlichii is not un-
common, as also Gentiana triglavensis ; and amongst
others we might mention are Valeriana supina,
Scabiosa graminifolia, as also silenifolia ; Chrysan-
themum macrophyllum ; Centaurea heleniifolia,
Echinops ritro and Crepis grandiflora.
The animal world of Carniola is very varied, as
varied as the variety of the levels of the country. The
great Alpine ranges of the Julian, Karawanken, and
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other mountain heights, the lower pine forest hills,
and the level grassy plains, give a vast variety to the
fauna of the district.
On the Julian Alps are the chamois and roebuck ;
on the Karawanken the ibex, or horned goat ; eagles
float over the lower mountain heights, and in the
forests are blackcock, heathcock, ptarmigan and
grouse ; and in the deep forests wolves and bears are
yet to be met with. Hares are plentiful, and wild
cats not scarce, and wild geese and ducks are in the
lower moors and woods.
The fisherman can have good sport in lake and
stream with the various types of excellent trout,
carp, pike, and a fish known as wells, the sheath fish ;
and as we shall see at Adelsberg, for the curious and
specialist, the underworld of Carniola has its own
peculiar fauna, and even flora, that accommodate
themselves to the utter darkness of the numerous
caverns.
To reach Adelsberg from Veldes we must travel
back again to Laibach through Radmannsdorf and
Krainburg, both pretty spots for a halt, the latter
town being an excellent centre for mountain excursions.
We follow along the Save, that valley that a hundred
years ago Humphry Davy described as the most
beautiful in Europe, and yet to-day, how very few
English-speaking travellers know its beauty. We
shall be again in the near neighbourhood of all this
nature glory, when travelling up from the brilliant
sunshine of Dalmatia, and halt to explore Gorizia, and
all the exquisite beauty of Carinthia, two territories
that border on Carniola.
In leaving Laibach to journey due south, we are
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Veldes and Adelsberg
at once in a district full of strange problems for the
naturalist. We cross the vast moor or " Moss " that
has yielded so much of the life of the lake dwellers, and
run along the river which later on plays such tricks
of appearing and disappearing, like the rivers in the
Tatra and in Yorkshire, and the Ombla that we shall
see in Dalmatia. We halt at the pleasant little town
of Adelsberg, where, although it is only a place of a
couple of thousand inhabitants, yet the express
trains stop, for the marvellous stalactite caverns bring
about 50,000 people here annually, and the number
would be quintupled did the world know what is to be
seen in the netherworld of this region.
Before visiting the vast caverns, it is as well to
visit one of the inns in the town for refreshment ; for
the tramp through the underworld lasts two to three
or more hours, and is tiring because of the exciting
interest aroused.
The little church in the town is worth a visit,
especially if one sees as I once saw, a crowd of Slav
children who had come to visit the caverns, all in
their bright colours, here kneeling at their prayers
before starting homeward.
The entrance to the caverns is a little way from
the town, up a fine avenue of chestnuts, with lovely
meadows below, through which runs the little river
Poik that we met at Laibach under the name of the
Upper Laibach. Then one passes up between grey
rocks, and pines, soon coming to the arched gate
of the cavern entrance. No torches are needed now,
as all is lit up by electricity, and even a little railway
is laid for the long stretches in the caverns for the
weakly traveller. These things detract somewhat
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from the mysterious weird grimness, and the vast
gloom of the caverns, but the light shews us marvels
of beauty the torches could never reveal.
There are 20 kilometres of caverns (12 miles).
Vast halls, long mighty corridors, intricate mazes, and
beauteous niches on either hand as one enters and
passes up the long tunnel, and then soon, far beneath,
we can hear Poik rushing onward in its black depths.
One longs to halt, but we are told this is nothing, and
so it proves when the vast spacious Gothic halls are
entered. The pure, lovely, colossal stalactites and
stalagmites assume all types of form. The vast
ballroom has great pendants of stalactites, and here,
on Whit Monday and August the 15th, a peasants'
dance is held, and 10,000 people throng the caverns.
But it is best, at least at first, to be nearly alone ;
the awe and wonder is intense. At one place is the
tower of Pisa, at another an organ, and fantastic
pillars like palms. In the mausoleum are great
sarcophagi. The entry into the Francis Joseph's
Hall is very striking, and from here to the Calvary is a
succession of wonders. Terrific ! imposing ! are the
exclamations that come to the lips. In one place the
masses glitter as with rain-drops. Some of the pillars
and domes are as set with brilliants. The colours vary
from purest white to soft deep sepia. On the
Belvedere one looks down on the three lakes of
Tarturus, and as one enters the Loible pass a giant
lion guards the path.
Once when we were in these vast, sombre, dark
yet glittering halls, a weird, strange, soft cry came
through the night beyond us, echoing, and, as it were,
wailing, pleading amidst the pillars and arches. It
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Veldes and Adelsberg
was some children singing in a far-distant part of
this netherworld. On this occasion I was furnished
with much information by Mr Perko, the Secretary of
the Government Commission that rules the caverns,
and he showed me the strange string-like weed, that
grows in this world of night, and the blind eel-like
fish that live here. Some of the halls are 130 feet in
height and nearly 200 feet in length ; and great
stretches containing new wonders not yet shown
to the public, are being pierced through. It is a
thousand Cheddars in one, and it is more wonderful
than the great caverns of Han in Belgium. In one
place was a fallen pillar, very like the famous pillar
at the temple of Karnac. The age of an old twin
column was given as 190,000 years. Perhaps the most
beautiful and wondrous point is to stand on the top
of the Hill of Calvary with its crucifix, and hundreds
of pillars and pinnacles, and intricate mazes all around
one. Other wonders are in dark caverns, where fight
suddenly reveals the most delicate beauty of form and
colour. But we must leave this netherworld and
journey southward, and soon cross the frontier of
lovely Carniola, and enter the Kiistenland, or coast
land, and the province of Istria.
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CHAPTER XVI
TRIEST AND ISTRIA
AUSTRIA is pre-eminently the land of
dramatic surprises, and, after all the
beauties of Carniola and the mysteries of
Adelsberg, we cross, in descending to the
Adriatic coast, that most barren yet ruggedly beautiful
district of the Karst mountains.
It is an enlarged Dartmoor, with a wholly different
scheme of colour. Here the rock is of light grey, with
rich deep purple heather, and the rushing streams are
of that wonderful turquoise blue I know of in no other
district. It is said that all this barren rocky waste
was richly afforested in Roman days, and that the
Romans destroyed the forests to build their galleys.
But Austria's schemes for education and agriculture
and forestry are again making this wild lime stone
region of bare rock, fresh and green with foliage, and
the spines of larch and pine. One passes miles of
young trees making good headway, and soon this
district that for 2000 years has been a desolate waste,
will be a profit -yielding forest-land.
We soon come to Opcina, which has quite lately been
made a health-resort suburb of Triest. A mountain
resort with the pure air of the altitude of 13 to
1500 feet, including sea bathing ! An impossibility
it sounds, but a lift connects Opcina with the sea level
of Triest, so that one can live up here amidst pines, and
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Triest and I stria
rocks, and heather, and descend for a morning's sea
plunge to the level of palms and roses. The look-out
over the Adriatic, lying soft and blue in the sunlight
along the indented shore, will charm the traveller, who
gets thus his first glimpse of Adria's sea ; and land-
ward the view is very varied, with the grey scarps
of the Karst leading up to the nearly bare uplands ;
but the villages on the lower slopes are in rich vegeta-
tion of vines, and chestnuts, and pasturage. There
are good hotels, and pensions, and bathing establish-
ments on this height, some linked with the sea-baths
at the foot of the mountains. The ordinary rail takes
a long time to get down to Triest, as it dives into
tunnels, and winds and twists down the mountain
side, giving glimpses of the sea, and the town of Triest
and its harbour spread far below.
The city of Triest has a very modern appearance,
and at first sight there seems to be little to detain the
traveller, but the monuments that are left are of
great interest, and excursions may be made by water
to points of great beauty. I first entered Triest by
water on returning from Greece in 1886, by the Florio
Rubatino line of steamers, and as we entered the
harbour the low sloping, green lands and ridges of the
hills in the distance, and dotted houses, told of more
cultivation than on the Grecian hills. The town
itself was all varied with green from the open tree-
shaded spaces, and, as it was in the spring, the chest-
nuts and Judas trees were in flower.
To-day the fine buildings at the quay of the
Austrian Lloyd's palatial offices, and opposite the
palace of Prince Hohenlohe, the Stadtholder of the
province of Triest, with the town hall, enclose a hand-
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some square, the harbour and busy shipping forming
the front. The peculiarity of the clocks always
striking the hour twice, had worried me, because one
could get no satisfactory explanation of these re-
dundant strikings, but Prince Hohenlohe, upon my
putting the question to him, said it was because so
often people did not hear the first striking ; but
another reason given was that the clock of St Mark's
strikes twice, and Triest likes to copy Venetian
customs.
There are scenes in Triest, on the canal, that vividly
recall Venice, with her narrow waters, her rich-toned
sails, and public buildings. But Venice has not the
hills to climb that Triest can give you, neither has it
the terrific Bora that sweeps down off the Karst
mountains, that seem to shelter the city, and tears
great ships from their moorings, and will even lift
people bodily and hurl them into the harbour. The
city has nearly doubled its population during these
last twenty years, and now numbers considerably
over 200,000 inhabitants, largely an Italian-speaking
people.
Triest and its district has a population of Italians,
and Slovaks, with a small proportion of Germans, and
a sprinkling of Servian or Croats and Slavs, but
Italian is the language mostly used, although German
is understood in all the public offices and large business
premises.
There are winding routes for carriages through
streets and piazzas named after famous writers, such
as Silvia Pellico, Goldoni, that lead up to the upper
old town and the castle and cathedral, but for the
pedestrian the most interesting way is to climb by
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Triest and I stria
" The Steps of the Giants," that give occasion for
frequent halts to look down on the city below and
study the people who clamber up and down these
steps, but it is a hot climb on a warm day.
Arrived at the summit, from the embattled plat-
form near the cathedral, a great view repays the
climber. Far over the brown-roofed houses of the
whole city, with the dark smoke rising from the ship-
building yards, out to the Mole and lighthouse, and
far out to the open Mediterranean beyond. The bay
is sheltered from the east and north by the dark hills
and jutting headlands. Then when one has drunk
in the view one can turn aside and enter the cathedral,
some parts of which have stood since the days of
Rome's dominance. In the tower, at the entrance,
may be seen a pillar of the Roman Temple that stood
upon this site ; and in the Lapidarium, a tree- shaded
space with a museum near by, some most beautiful
relics of Roman sculpture and architecture, and also
a fine monument to Winckelmann, who was killed
here in 1768. The interior of the cathedral is at first
a great puzzle to the archaeologist. It is really two
early churches of the fifth and sixth centuries, linked
by a fourteenth-century nave. The inlaid marbles
and mosaics are of exceptional value. The cathedral
is dedicated to St Giusto, our St Just, and the frescoes
illustrating his life are remarkable. The church is
unfortunately very dark, and it requires good eyesight
to be able to examine the really interesting details of
this strange and impressive building.
To obtain even a wider view of the landscape
around, if permission is obtained, the castle height can
be climbed, and the grey ridges of the Karst mountains
K 145
Austria
can be seen, as well as the distant Alps. It is hoped
in Triest that even the dreaded Bora will be tamed,
as the afforestation of the Karst goes on ; and cer-
tainly the fresh vigour of the young trees we saw
in some of the rocky districts promised thorough
success to this bold movement, that should be a
tremendous lesson to some British, or especially Irish,
grumblers at home difficulties of cultivation, because
of indifferent soil.
Triest, like Pilsen, is noted for its beer, for here is
located the great brewery of Dreher, producing yearly
something like a million and a half hectolitres of the
well-known light beer.
It is a most interesting study to stroll along the
harbour and quays of Triest, and watch the arrival
of the Ocean liners, or still more, the small local
steamers from the near ports and islands of the
Adriatic ; and numerous are the excursions one can
arrange. In the town there are pleasant walks in the
Giardino Publico, where the band plays, and the
people are in light-hearted crowds, all orderly, but
jovial. One sees but little quaint costume ; now and
then a grey-coloured head-dress, but most of the girls
are bareheaded. Another popular place is the Bos-
chetto, a lovely wooded hill with oaks, ash, and many
trees, with shady little paths and water-courses, and
peeps down to the city below and the hills beyond.
Here, in the groves in spring, one can hear the music
and laughter of the crowds, and in the retired paths
the song of the nightingales.
Of the numerous excursions near Triest the one
that all take is to Miramar that lies just across the bay.
The pleasant way to reach this is by boat ; one can get
i^6
Triest and I stria
there by rail or tramway, but the approach to this
stately chateau and its beautiful gardens by water
is by far the most impressive. On landing at the
marble steps we ascend into the beautiful gardens,
with their bowers and seats in shady avenues look-
ing out on to glorious flowers. Perhaps between tall
dark cypress trees, on the blue waters of the bay there
floats a tiny boat with deep orange sails, under the
paler blue of the sky. All is beauty, colour, and soft,
contented peace ; and then one looks away to the
white marble palace, and remembers that it was the
home of Maximilian and his wife — he, executed in
Mexico, and she lingering on in Laachen as a demented
widow. The rooms within the castle are very lovely
and hold many art treasures ; but their greatest
beauty is the superb views from the windows upon
the beauteous bay, and the charm of landscape around
it. A day that gives very much to remember is one
spent in a trip to Capo d'Istria. A call at the offices
of the Austrian Lloyd's will secure much useful
information upon the possibilities of short or long
tours on the Adriatic, and also interesting local
booklets that give valuable notes.
Capo d'Istria can be reached in various ways ; its
name implies it is a headland of Istria, formerly an
island, and as one sails around the great point the
whole bay opens out, and soon a great building, that
we were told was the Carceria, is seen.
The little town is very quiet now, but on entering
the Piazza one halts almost with a shock of surprise.
Here is a miniature Venice. The Campanile, the Lion
of St Mark, and farther on the great cathedral, and
the Palazzo communale, with its Venetian windows,
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and estrade for public announcements. A veritable
bit of Venice.
Once when visiting here, II Brolo, the three old
churches and a monastery, with the rich old cloisters
had been utilised for an Istrian exhibition, and some
remarkable historic pictures and relics of the province
had been collected. Among their special art treasures
were Carpaccio's Virgin and Child, and a rich col-
lection of Pyxs and Chalices. In one of the churches
a Gewerbeschule (Trade-school) has been established.
The whole little town is full of rich corners and
quaint bits, and many of the houses of the former
patrician families still speak of their former state.
But Istria must not too long detain us, although in our
tour down the Dalmatian coast we shall halt at a
couple of points at the extreme south of the Istrian
promontory.
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CHAPTER XVII
DOWN THE ISTRIAN COAST TO DALMATIA, TO SEBENICO
THE fleet of Austrian Lloyd steamers that
make the tour of the Dalmatian coast are
varied ; some fine vessels of big tonnage
with every possible comfort, others
smaller, suitable for calling in at the smaller ports,
with not such luxurious accommodation, but with
all reasonable comforts, and it is on these steamers
that one sees more of the real life of the people, and
there is a marvellous deal of pleasurable, exciting,
and deeply interesting life, antiquity, and beauty to
be seen on this journey.
Leaving Triest, we recede from the city and glide
out over the wondrous-hued sea; as we look back
a deep cloud hangs over the town, proving how much
of work there is in the capital of Istria, the great
seaport of Austria ; but we soon lose sight of the
smoke, and see only the white and richly coloured
sailed boats, and the Medusae in the clear blue
waters, and the beautiful outline of the distant
hills. We are sailing into one of the most romantic
lands left to modern life, over a sea that is full
of beauty, but that can show its passion, especially
in the northern part, known as the Quarnero and
Quarnerolo, the two sections forming the beautiful
gulf that we shall traverse on our return route for
Abbazia.
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At first, after leaving the Gulf of Triest, we sail
down the Gulf of Venice, noting the strange deep
red hue of the earth on this coast, getting a
view of Mount Maggiore, near Abbazia, and a
glimpse of Venice. But we soon bear eastward
and begin to see the islands and towns on the
Istrian coast that are so full of antique lore and
remains, and whose people offer so many traits
in speech and in customs to interest the linguist and
the ethnologist. Rovigno is one of these towns
that well repays a halt. Here, again, is Venetian in-
fluence dominant in the architecture of the cathedral,
the campanile of which rises high above the city
dwellings. Sailing onwards we soon reach the small
isle of Brioni, a lovely little spot with most charming
walks — groves of arbutus and laurels that are filled
with nightingales, or of palms and magnolias,
scenting the air with their flowers. The sweet
scent of the flowers and the hay makes one feel we
are back in idyllic days, alone amidst nature, and
then we light upon excavations, with rich Roman
remains, villas, and temples, and we hear that Pliny
wrote of this island, and that in later mediaeval
times it was well known. Then suddenly, after
a lovely, silent walk amidst pastoral scenes, we
come back to the harbour to see a fine hotel
with a Kursaal, and all the amenities of life of
to-day. On one evening we spent here we looked
out over a roseate silver sea, with the little boats
with their rich-hued, ruddy orange sails, standing
out against the setting sun, whilst eastward were
the silver ripplets from the moon that was arising
over the silent wooded islet ; all seemed to speak
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Down the Istrian Coast
of absolute peace and beauty; but farther away
rose up on the sea the dark black mass of an
ironclad, and lights sprang up in the distance of
a town ; it was Pola, the great naval seaport of
Austria.
The first visit to Pola gives one almost a shock as
we steam in between the silent and wooded islets.
Suddenly we meet three or four torpedo boats, then
an ironclad. White-sailed yachts are dotted here
and there ; The surprise of an Austrian who had
never seen an ironclad, was intense at this sight.
" Dass ist kein Kriegsschiff " (that is no warship),
he muttered repeatedly, sotto voce. " What do you
think it is ? " I asked. " I don't know, but it is
no ship." He could not believe such a dingy, dark-
coloured wall of iron could be a ship, and as one of
them lay against the rocky islets it did look like part
rock, or too solid to float. But it is not the Austrian
navy that draws the traveller to Pola, although the
Marine Museum, with historic relics of Lepanto, and
other episodes in Austrian history, is worthy of a visit.
But the one thing that all go to linger over is the
great arena standing on the rocky hillside, in lonely
grandeur, where once 20,000 spectators looked on at
the games in Roman days. The interior of the arena
is a good deal filled in by debris of past ages, but the
outer walls are in good condition, and some excava-
tion has been done. Pola reminds one frequently
of the Isle of Wight by its modern life ; and then in
its churches one is pleasantly thrown back into
mediaeval days ; and then again by such monu-
ments as the Temple of Augustus with its relics
and the handsome Sergius triumphal arch, we are
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back once more in the midst of Rome's imperial
days.
There are excellent hotels in Pola, and delightful
music. Travellers, especially those with good intro-
ductions, can spend a most enjoyable time here ;
in the near vicinity are crowds of places where the
historian and antiquary can revel in the past life
of the district, and modern sport is not neglected.
As all the boats call in at Pola, and it is also linked
with the rail, it makes an excellent halting- spot for
exploring the promontory of Istria.
But we are now on the borders of Dalmatia, that
country into which Titus went. A learned canon once
travelled thither to find out why Titus took this
journey ; he came back deeply impressed with the
country and its beauties, but never solved the Titus
problem.
As we sail on southward we pass the two islands of
Lussino, the sea in the evening being tinted with opal
and gold, and in the far distance the grey islands and
white towns stand up against the varied outlines of
the Velebit mountains. Here the Austrian hills begin
to assume that strange, soft grey elusiveness in
certain lights that is so characteristic of Greek
scenery, whereas at other times cloud-covered,
they are stern, rugged, and hard in outline. After
having passed the open gulf of Quarnero there is
rarely any sea to affect unpleasantly the weakest
passenger.
The myriad islands and islets break all force to in-
fluence a good-sized ship, and the beauty and interest
is continuous. The only thing is, one wants to remain
on deck all night, the afterglow and mysterious
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Down the Istrian Coast
weirdness of the gloaming is so enticing, and then
very frequently one feels compelled to be up before
sunrise to see some famous spot.
I once entered Zara at 3 a.m. and went ashore in the
darkness, just as the first faint gleams of dawn gave
glimpses of towers and buildings. It was one of the
most impressive walks I have ever taken. All was so
silent. I met no one, but I passed through narrow
streets and under archways, and suddenly came into
the square before the cathedral. The grey gloaming
was increasing. I could trace the Romanesque arches,
and the tall towers, and all seemed to breathe of the
dead past in the darkness and silence, the life of the
centuries seemed present. Far, far back, even to a
thousand years B.C., legend says Zara was an im-
portant town, and the Romans have left many a
monument here, and on through the troublous ages
Zara has always been of importance. The curiously
varied races that have fought for and occupied
Dalmatia we shall have space to refer to in more
detail when sailing up the Bocche de Cattaro. As
I wandered on in the increasing light I came
to another open space, and here rose a tall
Corinthian column, certainly of Roman origin ; a
stray passer-by told me I was in the Piazza de
l'Erbe, and showed me that the ancient column
used to be a pillory, for there were still the irons
hanging by a chain. At its summit was a strange
beast, said to be the Lion of St Mark. As I
was standing before this column the light seemed
suddenly to increase, there passed over the square
a curious cold shiver, it was the shiver of the
dawn heralding another day that was breaking. I
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passed on in my walk round through narrow
streets, past churches that promised much of interest,
again through that archway that I learnt was the
Porta Marina. Now I could see the Lion of Venice
upon it, and the inscription that tells of the battle of
Lepanto.
That there are many interests aroused in Zara was
evident even in this walk in the dawning light ; and
afterwards I was able to see the beauty of the work
that has been left, and the remains that have been
collected in the museum of St Donato, formerly a
church built of fragments of Roman work, with narrow
Romanesque arches. This church has gone through
all kinds of vicissitudes, having been a military
magazine and a wine-cellar, but now the building is
rescued for an honourable purpose, and the collection
within its walls is of great historical value. The
learned Monseignor Bulic, of whom we shall hear more
at Spalato, suggests that here, or near here, was built
a temple to Livia, the spouse of the Emperor Augustus,
and part of this temple was used in the ninth century
to build this church.
In the cathedral is a vast deal to detain the traveller
— architecture, wood-carving, and rich metal shrines
for relics. In the church of St Simeon the minutely
worked and richly decorated sarcophagus with the
bones of Simeon is said to have been brought here
from Jerusalem in 1290. St Simeon is the patron
Saint of Zara, and on October 8th his feast is kept
up, an excellent opportunity to see the population of
Zara and the surrounding country.
To show that Zara is by no means to-day given
wholly up to antiquity, we once met a party of
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British tourists, who, at the short halt of the steamers,
entered the town solely to find the Maraschino factory,
for which the place has a great renown. As a fact,
there are several factories that make this liquor from
the fruit and leaves of the local cherry or small plum
that here has a peculiar flavour which will not survive
the transplantation of the trees. All around Zara are
spots of historic charm, and perhaps one of the best
routes whereby to explore the interior of Dalmatia
and the hill district is to take the route to Benkovac,
and on to Kistanje, and then on to Knin. Vineyards
and wild barren lands are passed, and there is plenty
of work for geologist and historian, and for the lover
of picturesque peasantry. Of course the best hotels
must not be expected in this district, but the strange-
ness and freshness of the experience well repays all
trouble and inconvenience, and between the towns
Kistanje and Knin, is the Roman Arch that tells of a
town referred to by Pliny as a fortress, that became a
most important commercial town of the Romans in
the fourth century, where many gold and silver coins,
inscriptions, and fibulae, rings, weapons, statues, etc.,
have been found.
In the picturesque town of Knin, that lies on the
river Krka at the foot of a precipitous crowned rocky
hill, there is a good hotel and an interesting house
industry of the peasants, and, above all, a museum with
finds of the Neolithic and bronze ages, and a remark-
able collection of Croatic antiquities, Byzantine coins,
and finds of women's ornaments, that are partly like
those found in Bosnia, and others as those discovered
amongst the Cechs and Wends.
From Knin excursions may be made into the water-
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fall district of the Krka. The Velebit mountains that
lie to the north rise to a height of 6000 feet, as do the
Dinaric Alps that lie to the north and east. The
costume, dances, and folklore of the peasantry is full
of matter for the student and artist.
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CHAPTER XVIII
DOWN THE DALMATIAN COAST FROM SEBENICO
TO CATTARO
FROM Knin the railway can be taken to
Sebenico, but we will resume our pleasant sea
route between the rocky islands and over
the gentle, placid sea, meeting those who
come overland from Knin at the port of Sebenico,
from whence also excursions can be made to the Krka
waterfalls. In this district the peasants wear a
gorgeous costume, the women covering themselves
with coins and filagree ornaments, and the men have a
rich-toned eastern dress.
There is an immense deal to excite the wonders of
the traveller in this district, both in the population,
the scenery, and the relics of past civilisation. The
quaint customs of the peasant folk, and their stern,
hard habits, the women still being treated somewhat
after the eastern fashion, as creatures of burden and
use, but yet with a freedom that is not eastern. To
see a group dancing, dressed in all their finery of coin-
decked headgear, and bejewelled dresses, is a fascinat-
ing sight. The peasants of the inland are called
Morlaken, from a combination of More, Sea, and
Volacco, Wallacks, say some writers ; but to-day
they prefer to be called Serbs or Croats, or simply
Dalmatians.
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Like all primitive races they are fond of festivals
and weddings, christenings, and funerals ; and fair or
market days give occasion for gatherings, whereat
their interesting dresses and customs can well be
studied. The scenery of the Krka, with its lakes
and waterfalls, reminds one somewhat, of what the
Trollhattan district in Sweden was before the falls
were despoiled of their beauty by big industrial,
ugly buildings ; but, of course, colour and vegetation
are very different here to the northern growth and
colour.
To get a good insight into the history, folklore,
population, and antiquities of this district, and, in
fact, of the whole of Dalmatia, a work by Reinhard
Petermann, issued by the society for developing
the kingdom of Dalmatia, is an excellent, learned,
and pleasantly written volume, well illustrated by
Herr Fischer ; we can merely suggest, in our
space, all the novel sights and fascinating history
that may here be met with and studied, and
must wander onwards, southwards to Sebenico,
that has been called from its appearance and
position a little Genoa. Here in the open space
by the Poljana the peasants of the district gather,
and in the cathedral they may be seen at the
festivals.
To see the very beautiful great doorway of the
cathedral, with its rich floreated and figured decora-
tion in pointed Gothic, is alone worth a halt in
Sebenico. Begun in the middle of the fifteenth
and finished in the middle of the sixteenth century,
the building is full of rich details and forms a
glorious whole.
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In the civic buildings Venetian influence is quickly
seen, as so frequently throughout Dalmatia, and in
wandering about the narrow streets, many of them
stepped, the jewellers' shops with the local trinkets,
and the figures of the passers-by bedecked with
these trinkets on their gay costumes, will fascinate
the artist and the lover of quaint, picturesque
costume.
It is not far from Sebenico to Spalato, but we must
make a halt at Trau en route, for it is perhaps the
quaintest, if not the most important, of these remark-
able towns. We coast around the point known as
Punta Planka, where the more eastern trend of the
coast begins, and soon reach the islet on which the
fortified Trau was built, a curiously picturesque
scene — the old town with its walls and the beautiful
campanile of its cathedral, all seemingly lying
in a placid sea of silver-grey, deep blue, or
ruddy-gold, according to the lights in which it is
seen.
A veritable mediaeval Venetian town, a happy
hunting ground for the heraldic student, for historian
and architect, and especially for the amateur of
peasant costume and lore. Herr Petermann regrets
that the Venetian occupiers built such terribly
strong houses 400 years ago, so that the grand-
fathers of the present race had not to rebuild,
but it is this that makes Trau so deeply
valuable to traveller and student. Cathedral and
churches, religious houses, and the homes of
wealthy burghers, all have rich architectural details,
and even carry us far back into Greek pre-
Christian days. We shall get a glimpse of the whole
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line of history of Dalmatia, and the variety of races
that have influenced it when we are at Cattaro. But
in spite of the enticements of Trau we must sail
out again over the placid bay in which Trau
lies, and onward round through the channel of
Spalato. that imperial city, the home of the Emperor
Diocletian.
There are other ways of arriving at Spalato than
by steamer, for here is (it seems incongruous) a
railway station, and one can drive from Trau to
Castle Vitturi, and thence, by boat, to Spalato,
thus seeing the Riviera of the Seven Castles, where
olive and myrtle, pomegranates and laurel flourish
luxuriantly.
As we sail into the harbour of Spalato, at
once the long line of palatial buildings that
faces the sea front arrests the attention. It is
our first glimpse of that marvellous palace built
by Diocletian ; the grand columns of the facade
are still there, with shops half hiding them,
but behind this long facade is the little antique
town, built literally in the palace of the Emperor;
the corridors and courts of the palace, now
serving as streets, and open spaces for the town.
But modern buildings have stretched beyond this
square space, for the town now has almost 70,000
inhabitants.
There is a marvellous bewilderment at first in
wandering about Spalato. The tiny streets, with
grand tall columns and arches and Latin inscriptions,
are so unlike any other town. The crowds of men and
women in strangely varied and brilliant costumes,
some with turban and fez, speak of the east. The
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passing from the Riva amidst the shifting and active
modern cafe life, into this city of the dead, so filled
with busy life, is a sensation that abides in the mind.
A Roman palace, and now a town where 3000 dwellers
have their homes ; of the great columns of the facade
thirty-eight remain out of fifty-two. There are also
interesting mediaeval remains, such as the Venetian
Hrvoja Tower, built in the fifteenth century. Many
will linger in the two market-places, the fruit and
green markets, to study the people, with their produce
brought in on gaily- decked asses ; but soon we see
the portal of the cathedral, and a sphinx resting under
a lofty arcade, and we find we are before one of the
strangest of ecclesiastical buildings ; this was the
peristyle of the palace, and is now the entrance to the
cathedral, once, according to some writers, the mauso-
leum of the Emperor. Immediately on entering one
sees it is a Roman building, temple or mausoleum, with
fine Corinthian columns of Egyptian granite sur-
mounted by lesser columns of porphyry. It is stated
by some to have been a temple of Diana — Signor
Parisic amongst others ; a richly sculptured frieze
of chariots and hunting scenes gives weight to this
statement.
The arrangement as a Christian Church in this
circular building is curious. The pulpit is in good
Byzantine style, and the stalls have very remarkable
carvings. The antique treasures preserved here are
very rich : early crosses and missals, and reliquaries.
Near the cathedral is the little Temple of Jupiter,
now the Baptistry. The doors of the cathedral, in
their rich early carving, remind one of the famous
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portals at Hildesheim, but these are of wood, not
bronze.
We passed onwards from this strange, fascinating
building, through the narrow streets, often with
good square arches, or round, vaulted arches, through
which in the narrow dark streets passed the gay colours
of the peasant dresses. On the land side of the town
we came to the Porta Aurea, or Golden Gate, a gate
long hid in the debris of later buildings, but now laid
bare ; and as we were fortunate enough to have
with us Mons. Bulic, the learned director of the
museum, and historian of Spalato, he took us up the
narrow steps to above the arch of the gateway, and
here to our delight and surprise was a tiny chapel,
about the size of that richly bejewelled Carl's chapel,
in Carlstein, that we saw in Bohemia. This chapel
is of the ninth century, and had been hidden for
ages, but the little early windows were still there,
and standing by the tiny screen that separated the
chapel from the entrance was a sweet-faced nun, thus
completing the beautiful picture of tins linking of a
Roman gateway to early Christian life, and on to our
own day.
From this Porta Aurea we passed round to
the Porta Argentea, on the east wall of the
palace, where is housed the extraordinary rich finds
made by Mons. Bulic and others — not only at
Spalato but at Salona, the Pompeii of Dalmatia.
Here were we indeed blessed in having the
Monseignor with us, for he showed us of his
best treasures from under lock and key, and
most delightful was his explanation of the sites
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of the finds and the history and usage of them,
for they included women's ornaments, fibulae, rings,
earrings, trinkets, and curious locks of intricate work-
manship. Two inkstands he had found; only four
such are known in the world. One gold ring
was of complex work. It could be made into a
single broad ring, or into three rings, suitable for
man or woman. The sarcophagi were exception-
ally fine, with expressive sculpture, reminding one
in their beauty, almost, of those in the museum of
Constantinople, of Alexander and others, but they were
not of such great dimensions. Coins, statues, reliefs,
inscriptions, altars, vases, urns, domestic utensils,
including glass feeding-bottles, in fact, nearly every
item of Roman life that the earth has preserved
to us can be studied here, though badly housed, to
Mons. Bulic's repeated regrets. One of the best
books on this and Spalato and Salona is by Prof.
Jelic, Mons. Bulic, and Prof. Rutar ; the work
already referred to by Herr Petermann in German,
has also good chapters on this district and the
museum. Salona is but a short distance by rail
from Spalato, or half an hour's drive ; really this is
the best way to go, as the view of the city, bay,
and mountains tells one of the lovely site the Romans
chose for this town, the excavations of which Mons.
Bulic has superintended. I was pleased to meet
this enthusiastic and learned antiquary, for by a
curious sequence of events I have met most of the
great explorers of antiquity by the spade — Mr
Layard, Dr Schliemann, Comendatore Boni of the
Forum excavations, Prof. Salinas of Sicily, the
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Abbe Delattre of Carthage ; and Mons. Bulic is as
ardent as either of these explorers in his eagerness
for the work, but is terribly hampered by the want
of a suitable building and lack of funds. Much of
the Roman work in Salona has in former days been
utilised, and so destroyed, but columns, and pillars,
the city gates and walls, the theatre and amphi-
theatre can be traced, and, as in Pompeii, the streets,
pavements, and wheel ruts, vividly bringing back the
past.
It is with regret that one leaves Spalato and
sails out over the lovely sea, beneath the exquisite
blue of the sky, and looking back there rises
up that long, noble sea front, that now we can
understand.
To visit the smaller towns and the islands down
this coast, local Lloyd steamers should be taken,
such as the Triest-Metkovic or the Triest-Cattaro
route. There are crowds of peasants and merchandise
on these boats, and plenty of quaint scenes full of
strange beauty that are not so well seen on the larger
express boats. There are other lines of steamers
with lesser fleets, such as the Hungarian and the
Cesare lines, that it is as well to know of, as they
also call at the smaller places.
A vast amount of rich hunting ground for the
travellers lies on the route between Spalato and
Ragusa. On the islands — such as Brazza, Lessina —
one can get many a romantic story of bygone days,
and relics back into the Greek period, and at Metkovic
we are on the river Narenta, that descends through
Mostar in Herzegovina. Metkovic was a great Serbian
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stronghold ; from thence in their galleys the Serbs held
the whole district in awe, leaguing with the Saracens
and compelling even Venice to pay them tribute.
Not only is the history romantic, but the natural
beauty of these islands is so varied and beautiful.
One morning, in the middle of May, I came on deck
at 8 a.m. to find we were just off the steep rocky
islet of St Andrea, and on the south-east lay the
longer islands of Lissa. We were sailing over the
battle sea plain of 1866, when on that summer day
in July the Austrian navy, under Admiral Tegetthoff,
crushed the Italian navy and made the Adriatic so
largely an Austrian sea.
But we halted not at Lissa, but bore south from
St Andrea, for the small island of Busi, where are
ten caverns of varied beauty discovered by Baron
Ransonnet — one, the Bearshole, being over 160
yards in length ; but the most beautiful and wonder-
ful of these is the Blue Grotto, found by the Baron
in 1884, and as yet but little known to the world.
The island is very rocky, and yet with rich grass upon
the fairly high hills. The sea when seen with just
a breaking ripple is of a lovely aquamarine. As we
near the island the colour changes to a wondrous
crystal blue, and as we draw still nearer, beneath the
greyish yellow lichen- covered rocks, to an emerald
green. A few people were on the rocks, and boats
awaited us, and in the very gently heaving sea we
passed, sitting low in the boat, under the low arch of
the cavern, with just space for the boat to glide in,
where all was dark, and then emerged into a wondrous
strange shimmer of light. We were in a cavern, with
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the water beneath us full of light and of turquoise or
clear crystal tones ; then came a narrow passage with
rocks on either side, and the colour of the water was
of a superb hue. Slowly we emerged into a second
cavern, with a yet more intense light far beneath ;
as the oars slowly lifted, crystal gems of light dropped
from them, and looking back we saw a fairy scene of
supreme beauty. Beneath us the water, down to the
pebbles below, that looked as jewels, was of clear,
crystal silvery hue, faintly tinged with a tender blue ;
farther away it was of deeper blue ; and behind us
in the strange light came another dark boat, lying
on this crystal sea, so full of light. Half hid,
half seen, the figures in this boat, lit with the light
from beneath, were strangely weird. On looking
back as we issued from this natural marvel the effect
of the high vault of grey-yellow rock, warm in the
sunlight and the different colour of the open sea, was
very beautiful.
v In comparing afterwards the beauty of this Blue
Grotto of Busi, and that of Capri, we found opinions
very divided. Some said this cavern was the finer,
especially the passage from the first to the second
cavern, but that the blue of Capri was more pro-
nounced ; others that the blue tone here is the
finest ; but all agree that we had seen a marvel of
nature, and are thankful that the sea had permitted
our entry, for with even a little wind the entry is
impossible.
We sailed back past the grey stone isle of Lissa,
with high hills and little herbage, until on the south
side we saw some trees, and then steered onwards
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between Lessina and Curzola, with, on the port side,
Sabbioncello, and ahead Meleda.
As night was falling we halted on the coast of
Sabbioncello, at the little port of Trstenik, or Terstenik,
which lies in a little bay. A tiny hamlet lay under the
high hills with a little mole on which gleamed a red
light. The people put out a couple of boats to see this
strange sight of a big ship all lit up, with music and
dancing on board, for we were on one of the finest of
the Lloyd fleet, the Thalia, with people from twenty-
four nations on board for an International Press
Congress, and our music re-echoed against the silent,
grey, rocky hills, that had never, perchance, before
given back such sounds.
The southern point of Sabbioncello is not far from
the entrance into Gravosa, the port for Ragusa, that
powerful city that dates back to the sixth century B.C.,
when the Greeks founded here Epidaurus. But
before ascending the long incline to the walls of
Ragusa there are some nature marvels to hold us for
a time at Gravosa, the port for the heavy traffic of
Ragusa.
This town stands at the mouth of the Ombla,
that here opens out into a lovely bay surrounded by
wooded-terraced hills and dotted dwellings, inter-
cepted by groups of tall, dark cypress trees. A
peculiar little excursion is to ascend the fiord-like
opening of the Ombla, shut in by precipitous high
rocks, to where the river flows in pure crystal water
over a weir. Beyond this is a building where artificial
ice is produced, and rising beyond this we see a great
amphitheatre and wall of rock, with, it appears, no
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outlet ; but at the very foot of this rock, and from
it, as it were, there runs a large body of water, exactly
as does the Aire in Yorkshire at Malham Cove, but
with a far greater body of water. Near the falls is
an old chapel dating from the twelfth century. A
quaint little excursion this, leading pleasantly up to
the beauty of Ragusa, which we can reach from here
by water or road, the way from Gravosa to Ragusa
being a gentle ascent of three kilometres, say two
miles, that is worth walking, for the gradual opening
out of the wonderful view, and the pretty entrance
into the antique city, between lovely gardens, and
picturesque houses, emboAvered in cypress and palms,
oranges and myrtles, glorious roses and flowers, and
every type of southern vegetation.
And yet the entrance to Ragusa should also be
made by water to get the view of its walls and towers,
and all its picturesque buildings, but we shall see
this in returning from Cannosa and Lacroma.
Ragusa itself is full of mediaeval charm, both of
people and city, with a wealthy population enjoying
the twentieth-century amenities of good hotels and
social life. The view from the terrace of the Hotel
Imperial at once tells how much there is to see in
Ragusa, and the palm-shaded gardens, full of glorious
flowers, gives rest and quiet after exciting sight-
seeing.
To descend from these modern surroundings, down
the hill to the erstwhile drawbridge and solid round
towers and imposing walls of the town, is to leap
back in the centuries, while the groups of peasants
with bedecked mules and asses, the men in fez and
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turban, and the women in bright, very varied costume,
all aid the sensation, and as we pass on down the long
Corso, or Stradone, and come to the open spaces with
public buildings and churches, cathedral, and, above
all, the rector's beautiful palace, one can picture
fifteenth-century life ; nay, on a fete day one has
it here.
In the small market-place still stands the rich
architecture of the old patrician houses. Balconies
and portals and coats of arms are all well executed.
Whilst standing here on a soft spring day, the
weird wailing notes of music of a funeral procession
pierced through the air, and the church bells clanged
forth as the funeral procession drew near. On another
occasion we were present in Ragusa for Corpus
Christi procession, when the roads were strewn with
flowers and the scene was indeed rich in mediaeval
form and tones.
The little Mint, now the Dogana, has some very
rich Venetian work in its windows and arches;
opposite is the Roland statue, and close by is a lovely
Renaissance fountain, where the women in the pretty
costumes foregather, forming pretty pictures, while
their vases are rilling.
The Loggia under the rector's palace, where there
is a cafe, forms a pleasant resting-place, and one can
examine the capitals of the pillars and their rich
sculpture, of such subjects as the Judgment of Solo-
mon, iEsculapius, etc., the whole reminding one so con-
tinuously of Venice. It has suffered much, since first
built in 1388, from fire and earthquake. The inner
court is most picturesque, with its arcaded arches and
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fine stairways, and above one sees here and there the
iron klamps, or ties, holding the building together
after the earthquake.
A building that suffered terribly from the 1667
earthquake was the cathedral, but it has very much
within it of interest. The building is said to owe its
origin to a vow of Richard Coeur de Lion ; it is a fact
that he was the guest of the Ragusan Senate in 1192.
Especially noteworthy are the treasures of bejewelled
reliquaries that are marvels of Byzantine and other
schools of the metal-worker's art. The greatest
marvel of all is the gold reliquary, that holds the head
of St Rlasius. Brought from the east in 1206, it is
of the old Byzantine Justinian's period, and en-
riched with twelfth-century medallions, with Longo-
bard inscriptions. Another rich reliquary contains
the hand of the Saint, and the whole treasury is
nearly equal to that of Santiago for rich work and
precious bejewelled metals.
But Ragusa and its surroundings, so fascinating
are they, claims too much of our space, but before
quitting it we take a boat across to the little isle of
Lacroma. We pass out round the harbour, and see
well the grim old walls and red roofs of the houses
of the town above the lovely blue of the water. A
white-robed courteous monk received us, and con-
ducted us up the idyllic little rock landing-place to
the monastery. We are where Richard Coeur de
Lion is said to have landed on his hapless return from
the Crusades, here fulfilling his vow to build a church
on the spot whereon he should be saved from the
tempest. One tradition says he founded the cathedral
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THE WALLS I IF RAG1 SA
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of Ragusa, i.e. Maria Maggiore. A later monarch
who lived here was King Maximilian. The gardens
are now partly in decay, but are yet very lovely. In
the beautiful cloisters the masses of roses are in
clusters of hundreds, and aloes, vines, and palms
flourish profusely ; on the rocky coast the water is so
pure and crystal, one longed indeed to linger on this
lovely silent isle.
Another remarkable water excursion is to Cannosa,
where lives the learned Count Gozze, whose family
is one of the oldest in Ragusa, having been
patrician in the tenth century. We were favoured
with introductions to the present holder of the title,
and found him a most charming host and learned
historian. We landed at the little port, and were soon
in the rich vegetation that formed the gardens of
Count Gozze's home — prickly pear, camphor trees,
bamboos, oranges, mandarins, great clusters of arum
lilies, bread fruit-trees, interspersed with fountains
and statues. In one place was an oak 700 years old,
but in the village at the top of the hill were two
gigantic plane trees, one of which it took eleven
persons with outstretched arms to encircle, the trunk
being about 66 feet in circumference. The whole
place and the people are interesting, and in the
count's house are treasures of art and antiquity of
great value.
One can quickly reach Herzegovina from Gravosa
by rail, but we must steam out of the picturesque
bay southward, to enter that strange, beautiful fiord
of the Dalmatian coasts, the Bocche di Cattaro.
The steamers frequently enter the Bocche, or mouth
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of Cattaro, very early in the morning, and the entry
and sail up the Bocche is one of the most enchanting
sights the world has to give. It was at five a.m. on
a lovely morning late in May when we had the
best entry into the Bocche, and as we made the
Punto d'Ostro the sun was just climbing over the
grey rocky hills, and ahead were the mist-wreathed
mountains of Montenegro. A tiny ruddy-sailed bark
lay on the blue bay. Hills were all around us as we
glided in ; an old Roman fort told of the centuries of
life ; then we came to a narrow pass with a town
ahead, Ercegnovi, or Castelnuovo, as the Venetians
named it, the scene of many a fierce struggle,
especially between cross and crescent. We can steam
close in as there is deep water, and we see the old
castle and square tower and lovely woods above.
The scene is very like the Bosphorus, and lying here
was the yacht given by the Czar of Russia to the
Prince, now the King of Montenegro.
We bear nearly east over the sea, now grey in
shadow, then turn sharply to the right southwards,
and we are in the middle of the narrow Kumbor
channel ; a black mass lies ahead under the shadow
of the mountains — it is an ironclad, and on the other
side, at the narrowed point, are other vessels. This
narrow pass is very lovely, like one of the beautiful
passes on the Danube.
We then bore across the wide, beautiful inland sea
towards the island of Stradioti, with the tiny islet
and church of Sam Otok before it.
Here was a flat plain land with the hills rising
above, grey and wreathed in mists, and all round a
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placid silver sea, a scene like the Italian lakes plus
the Bosphorus, and in the grey morning light we
saw shoals of fish, of which there were tunny, sardines,
and mackerel. But now we turned northward, and
made for the Channel of the Chains, the most narrow
part of the Bocche, and blocked formerly by chains.
It is only 1000 feet across, yet there is twenty
fathoms depth of water, and the hills run up to 3000
or 4000 feet.
As we issue from this pass a superb scene of glory
and beauty opens out. Two romantic little islets
are ahead, floating in a turquoise sea, St Giorgio
and Madonna della Scapella, with churches, and
spires, and domes, partly hid by tall cypress trees,
and ahead are the towns of Perasto, famous, like Devon,
for its seamen, and Risano, the earliest Illyrian
settlement, behind which climbs up, in serpentine
fashion, the old road to Montenegro.
We now steer eastward, and bearing to the south,
are in the spacious Gulf of Cattaro. As we skirt
along the southern shore we pass the two townlets
of Upper and Lower Stoliva. Green pasture is on
the lower slopes and on the grey heights above. All
these little townlets have their old churches, with
well-built Venetian types of campanile, that o'ertop
the tall dark cypress and olive trees. Ahead we could
see the snow still on the mountains of Montenegro.
On the opposite shore, that is not far off, is the little
town of Dobrota, where the houses have portholes
for shooting in case of an attack, and on our port
side is the town of Perzagno (Prcanj), where for many
years they have been building a cathedral.
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But ahead is Cattaro, and as we enter the sunlight
comes down from between the hills, and lights up
the line of mist on the mountains, and the low-lying
mist on the lake-like beautiful bay, and this strangely
enchanting entry into this land of novel charm is
ended. We have given it some space, but how in-
adequate to even imply all the beauty, and history,
and legend that clings around the Bocche di
Cattaro.
The quay at which we land is really the promenade
and market-place of the town, and is full of brilliant
detail of the varied peasant life. The handsome
Montenegrin women, in their picturesque little caps
and coloured dress, bring their produce here for sale,
and the stalwart men, and the men of Cattaro and
the hills around, and the peasants wearing the fez
and Turkish breeches, all form wondrous groups of
form, and colour, and character.
The town, seen from the beautiful harbour, has a
most romantic ensemble. The great wall zigzags
up the craggy hill, locking the city in beneath the
precipitous cliff that entirely overhangs it. By the
old zigzag path one can climb up to Montenegro in
three and a half hours, and in eight hours to the top
of the mountain, and it is worth while to climb up
this steep, many-stepped path to above the houses,
to look down into the town and out over the beautiful
bay. The great cathedral, with its double towers,
lies in the square, and the strangely quaint, narrow
streets that lead up to this are full of bits of archi-
tectural beauty and history. Venice, of course, asserts
herself. The Porta Marina, through which we passed
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Down the Dalmatian Coast
into the town, has the Lion of St Mark upon it.
The cathedral goes back to the eighth century, and
enshrines the bones of St Trifon, whose day, the third
of February, is held as a festival by the Marinarezza,
formerly a guild of seamen of the whole of the Bocche ;
here alone is a subject for the historian. There is
another little church, St Luca, that reminds one of
the small old cathedral at Athens ; here the Greek
rites are observed.
The town of Cattaro is one to slowly wander about in,
and watch the strangely varied crowds, and gaze into
the quaint shops with the hand workers at their work,
especially at the filagree work, and then to go out to
the Riva and watch the marketers and people from
the coast and mountain towns.
An insight into the history of this district gives
a new light on many problems of to-day, and upon
the varied races that are united under the Austrian
Crown ; and at the risk of allowing too much space
to Dalmatia, we give a succinct summary of the
history of this district.
The languages spoken are chiefly Croatian and
Serbian, really a single language with a double
alphabet, the Serbians using the Russian letters and
alphabet, the Croats the Latin. Rizano claims to be
the earliest town on this fiord of the south, dating
from 228 b.c, and in 168 b.c. the last old Illyrian king
was led in triumph as a prisoner to Rome, and from
138 b.c. the Bocche became part of the Illyrian Roman
province. In the ninth century a.d. the Saracens
destroyed Cattaro, and in the tenth century we have
the first entry of the Slav folk, the Serbians, into this
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local history, and in 1002 the famous Bulgarian Czar
Samuel, who figures so prominently in Bulgarian
legend and history, captured Rizano and Cattaro.
A romantic and tragic point in this history was
when the Norman Princess Jacquinta came here and
succeeded in making her son George, king. This
period, with the history of the Princess Jacquinta,
has been utilised of late in local drama. In the
middle of the fourteenth century the Serbians, with
the help of the men of Cattaro, seriously defeated
the Bulgarians, and for a time held the district ;
and in 1370 the town placed itself under the pro-
tection of Ludwig the First of Hungary ; but the rule
of Hungary was short-lived, and King Turtko of
Bosnia and Serbia stepped in and seized upon this
and other territories given up by Elizabeth of
Hungary. This reign also was short-lived, and after
a victory over the Ragusans, Cattaro remained a free
town and a republic for a while, until 1420, when the
Venetians, under Pietro Loredano, appeared, and on
the 23rd of April agreed that Cattaro should retain
its free government, that Venice should not hand it
over to a third state, and also that it should retain its
right to coin the " Triffoni " coins, with the patron
saint St Trifon on them. For a time under Venetian
overlordship there was peace ; then came the
Moslems, and from 1480, in view of this danger, a
Venetian commander, with the title of rector, resided
in Cattaro, but in 1483 the Turks captured Castelnuovo,
and for 200 years the struggle between cross and
crescent continued, until in 1687 the Venetians re-
conquered Castelnuovo and the Bocche became wholly
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Down the Dalmatian Coast
under the rule of Venice, a rule that was light, and
gave freedom to the people, with but few taxes.
In 1797 Austria became overlord of the Bocche in a
fairly peaceful fashion, but in 1806 the French fought
for the district, and the Russians occupied Cattaro ;
but in 1807, after the peace of Tilsit, the Bocche was
handed over to the French, who held it for six years,
until the battle of Leipzig ; then the French general
held it until December 27th 1813, when he capitu-
lated to the English fleet under Hoste. The English
rule only lasted twelve days, when Hoste handed
Cattaro over to Montenegro, whose prince held it until
June 14, 1814, when again the Austrians marched in,
and since that date, with the exception of certain
risings in 1840 against taxes, and later on in one or
two towns against conscription, risings that Austria
has dealt with in a lenient and diplomatic fashion,
this, during more than two thousand years most
troubled land., has been at peace, in its marvellously
beautiful home, where nature has been lavishly
prodigal with almost every type of blessing she can
bestow.
This curt history will show of what strangely
mingled origin are the people of this homeland of
Austria, and what volcanic elements she has to lead
and control.
The express steamers take one quickly back from
Cattaro and Ragusa to Triest, but we must bear
up eastward and sail up the ofttimes turbulent
Quarnero, to halt awhile at the new resort on these
Adriatic shores, the gay, prosperous bathing resort of
Abbazia that so rapidly has become a European
pleasure resort. Abbazia is a paradise of roses and
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palms. On one palm trunk a rose tree was climbing,
that was said to have four thousand blooms upon it,
and the sight of it confirmed the statement. Hand-
some villas and lovely walks skirt the soft languid
sea that laps so gently on the pebbly and rocky beach,
where numerous bathing resorts are well arranged.
There is a palatial Kurhaus, plenty of music and
amusements, and the music is peculiarly interesting,
because of the proximity of all types of national music,
Slav, Magyar, and Italian, and this is given by wander-
ing musicians who play with enthusiasm and brilliancy,
and we have as well the choice, effective rendering of
great works by good Austrian orchestras, and the
excellent orchestra of the Direction.
The view from the promenade, and from between
the trees and palms of the gardens of all the bay with
its dotted towns, including Fiume, is very lovely ;
the soft blue sea and grey-brown rocky bays, with
idyllic little hamlets, the fashionable resorts, such as
Lovrana, with their palatial hotels and luxurious
southern gardens, all redolent with sweet-smelling
flowers and trees, make the whole bay a most enchant-
ing winter and spring resort, and in summer it is not
too hot. The Monte Maggiore is a prominent feature
in the view, and this shields Abbazia from all chilly
winds. Not a quarter of a century old, Abbazia has
no old buildings to renovate ; all is of the newest, and
the curative institutions are scientifically up to date
and under careful control of the Administration, and
sports, regattas, illuminations, excursions, dances,
theatricals, give no chance for ennui ; whilst the lover
of nature is quickly alone in a deep forest, or on a
silent sea beach ; and the student of man and history
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Down the Dalmatian Coast
will soon discover near by old towns and quaint
hamlets to interest him deeply with architecture
and folklore.
But we must quit the Adriatic shore, passing up
the pretty zigzag road that climbs up to the station
of the Southern railway.
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CHAPTER XIX
THROUGH KUSTENLAND, GORIZIA (GORZ), AND
CARINTHIA (KARNTEN)
TO travel from Abbazia, in the soft gentle
air of the Adriatic, to Gorizia, we double
back on our route to Triest from Carniola,
and running westwards at St Peter's
commence the northward trend of our journey at
Opcina above Triest, still bearing westward across
the Kiistenland, i.e. coast lands.
There is a town lying somewhat to the south of this
route that is of great importance from the historical
point of view, the Roman city of Aquileia, that has
been so often referred to, and whence come the rich
finds of Greek and Roman antiquity which we shall
see in the museum at Gorz.
But in Aquileia also is a museum, in what is now
but a townlet, although of great importance as a
Roman city before Attila, in 451 a.d., swept down
upon it. The colony was founded 200 b.c. After
Attila's vengeance the dwellers in Aquileia fled to
the Lagunes and founded Venice. An eleventh-
century cathedral proves that the town recovered
from this blow of Attila's, and was of importance in
mediaeval times.
To English travellers Aquileia is interesting as
the spot where Richard Cceur de Lion was wrecked on
his return from the Holy Land, and afterwards spent
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Klistenland, Gorizia, and Carinthia
so many months in prison. We have given the other
account of his landing at Lacroma, and his fulfilling
his vow in Ragusa. The route from Opcina to Gorizia
traverses a great distance of the wild barren Karst
mountains ; like Dartmoor, a wild waste of rock and
heather, but with many parts being reclaimed and
afforested, and looking rich and green between the
grey, rocky wilderness.
At Gorizia, or Gorz, we are still amidst a southern
vegetation of palms and magnolias and roses. In
the pretty public gardens these flourish, and the
hotel garden has seats amidst a wealth of myrtle
and oleanders, and in the spring beneath palms in
rich golden bloom.
In the Piazza Grande one looks up to the dominant
castle, its grey old walls and towers standing out
above the wooded slopes that lead up to it from the
town. Below in the Piazza, the Jesuit church in
Renaissance architecture, with the picturesque onion
domes, stands just before the Neptune fountain. The
whole town has a peaceful placid look about it, in
spite of the great barracks that line the road leading
out to the railway.
The chief thing to linger over in Gorz, beyond the
natural beauty of the vegetation of its surroundings, is
the old building in the Piazza Corno, utilised as a
museum. This was not in the order and excellent
arrangement generally found in the Austrian museum,
but the collection is of great value, especially the
finds from Aquileia. Early Roman and Greek heads
of great beauty and care of workmanship, earlier
finds of bronze and iron weapons, and vases and
some interesting Egyptian tablets. There is also a
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collection of coins, and interesting glass, and some
fine Etruscan vases.
The town itself is of the Italian type, with narrow
arcaded streets, and three languages are spoken —
Italian, Slav, and German. The cathedral is hardly
worth a visit save for its rich treasury, formerly
belonging to the Patriarch of Aquileia.
The district we traverse through Gorizia to enter
Carinthia, or Karnten, is through a most wild, strange
district of deep mountain ravines and narrow defiles,
where mountain torrents of a delicate turquoise hue,
varying to creamy white, rush between the fantastically
worn grey rocks, and give constant music beside the
winding roads. In some places the rivers form little
lakelets of this soft hue, surrounded by coral-like
rocks in graduated steps. At St Lucia we are nearing
Carniola, but we pass through this district which we
have already visited, and after passing the long
Karawanken tunnel, that opened this country
more fully to the world, we pass Rosenbach, and
make our halt in Villach, one of the chief towns in
Carinthia.
The development of this district through the new
railway that since 1897 has made Villach a most
important centre for all travellers has been most
remarkable. I first visited Villach in that year when
there was but one small station and the ordinary
inn accommodation. Now there are two impor-
tant stations and numerous large hotels, although
perhaps the old spacious inns hold their own for
comfort.
The town has a busy prosperous air, the people
here being largely of German stock, as is the whole
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[N Mil. [ZONZO VALLKY
Klistenland, Gorizia, and Carinthia
of Carinthia, with, of course, a mixture, about 25
per cent, of the Slav or Slavonian folk, who still
wear the picturesque dress on church fetes and
holidays.
The district around Villach is full of opportunity for
delightful expeditions and excursions ; the town itself
has a pleasant, old-world air about it. The charm and
even wonder in visiting these towns is to be amidst
medigeval surroundings, old churches, old monuments,
inns with arched passages and vaulted pillared
chambers, and yet to be also in the midst of
the latest developments of science and building
art.
The view from the bridge over the Drave that here
rushes tumultuously through the town is very pleasant,
with a good view of the Dobratsch mountain. A
stroll up the main street to the fine Gothic church of
St Jacob will disclose many historic memorials, such
as the house of Theophrastus Paracelsus, where
Charles V. stayed in 1552, and some good examples of
wood and iron work. The monuments in the church
are very remarkable, and the carved figures of value
for the dress of the period. The marble pulpit is a
fine piece of work, with figures of Adam and David,
etc., well executed. It is worth while being here for a
service, for the organ is a fine one and the singing
good. The history of the district can be studied in
the museum ; and of present developments one of the
most interesting places is the woodwork school, where
the very heart of the worth and uses of wood is laid
bare to the pupil. Every type of tree is studied and
the possibilities of the usage of the wood illustrated.
Here indeed the meaning of woodwork (that much-
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belittled word in our English scheme of education)
can be understood : what a mass of artistic and
useful knowledge and work it comprises. Here was
work from the most simple toy cut out with a knife
by a child, to the elaborate, artistic articles for the
home or the church. Decorative work of every de-
scription ; designing from nature, leading on to the
highest of the woodworkers' art, and sculpture of
which we saw some powerful examples, such as figures
of Dante, Samson, and the Christ. In chatting with
the director, who, like so many of these heads of
schools, museums, etc., in Austria, had studied well
the work of other countries, whilst speaking of Eng-
land he said, " Your drawing and painting are good,
but you have no idea of house industry, and your poor
have no idea of art ; here the poorest boy can see
with an artistic eye, and utilise his seeing for the
useful."
It is a pretty walk across the fields from Villach to
Warmbad, one of the most remarkable bathing resorts
in Austria, lying in a scene of great beauty. One can
drive, or use the railway that in a few minutes runs to
the little station of Warmbad — Villach, as it is called.
The little station itself is a beauty spot. Here one can
sit on the platform amidst the flowers, with a glorious
view around of snowy mountain peak, and green
pasture meadows, fir forests and orchards. The
station and waiting-rooms are absolutely clean, speck-
less, and with most artistic pictures of the wonder
nature scenes attainable in the district. A gong of
a mellow tone tells of the coming of a train, but after
the rush and hubbub is over, all is peace again, and
the peaks of Mittagskogel and Tiirkenkopf rise up
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Kustenland, Gorizia, and Carinthia
majestically in the sunlight, over the plainland around ;
and from the station a few minutes' walk through a
pretty tree and flower-planted park leads to the
bathing establishment of Warmbad, a series of
handsome buildings in a lovely garden, with fountains
and chestnut avenues leading away to mountain
walks.
The pure upland air, the scent of the pines and the
flowers, the ripple and rush of the Gail Stream that
flows at the foot of the hill, with numerous mountain
streamlets rushing down to it, all give a delightful
sense of calm, idyllic beauty, and the establishment
adds all the delightful pleasures of cultured life. The
baths were known to the Romans and also to
Napoleon ; the height above the building is called
Napoleon's Hohe. It is small wonder that these
heights have ever been extolled.
After a plunge or two in the crystal swimming-bath,
I asked a doctor friend the meaning of the strengthen-
ing, exhilarating effect, a " jump over the moon "
type of feeling. I was told that a year or two ago
they could not decide what caused this effect, in spite
of many an analysis. But lately they had tested for
radium, and found important radio-activity, and
that probably was the cause of this exhilaration : at
least it is there; and the bathing arrangements in
this bath of many springs is a delightful experience.
One feels whilst swimming the continual bubbling of
the tepid, crystal, clear water, for, as the name
denotes, the baths are warm.
On the opposite side of the road, to the various
houses of the establishment, there is, next the post-
office, an inn for the peasants, that is an absolutely
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astounding lesson for Britishers. I was here once on
a Whitmonday, and, perchance, few things can better
illustrate the life of the people in their homelands in
Austria, than a word upon the sights I saw on that
day.
The inn, with its garden, cafe, and restaurant is
marvellously clean. In the garden are tables with
coloured cloths upon them ; in the restaurant, of
course, the cloths are white. The rooms are white,
vaulted, with stencilled decorations. The walls are
panelled and wainscoted with good woodwork ; the
pillars are also panelled with pictures of youth and the
seasons, and copies of the procession of Trade Guilds,
from the paintings of Hans Makart, so that the work-
men can see the glorification of their trades. Be-
tween the pillars are boxes of greenery, ivy, etc., and
this is trailed round the windows ; there are hat
and coat pegs between the pillars, and all is spotlessly
pure and clean, with flowers on the tables, and the
tables set for meals have pink and white cloths. I
went into the kitchens, and the copper utensils and
everything was polished and pure, and the cooking
was excellent. But I asked, " Is this for the peasants,
all so prettily arranged ? " " Ah, yes," was the reply ;
" they would not come here if it were not clean and
well arranged." On this Whitmonday the garden
was full of people, most of whom were doing walks
in the mountains, and they stir themselves betimes ;
at 9.30 I saw a young man and girl come in, of the
poor, middle-class type, and have their lunch and light
beer. They had walked over the mountains and it
was midday to them. The smaller, older inns in
Villach on the same day were also full of people in
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Kiistenland, Gorizia, and Carinthia
the evening, drinking light beer before starting
homeward ; here the surroundings were not so good,
but that such a place as that at Warmbad can be
established and supported is an impressive lesson
for us in England. And close by is a spacious swim-
ming-bath for the poor. A grand bath with the
mountains above one, and a rush of the crystal
water over a rocky fall forms a douche in this tepid
nature bath. The cost is only 20 heller (two pence),
including clean bathing dress, and a large bath
towel.
The dress of the peasants in the district is full of
colour and quaint effect. A pleasant surprise was
arranged on the Napoleonshohe on a lovely day in
June, when the sun was intensely hot. A party of
English visitors were enticed in the hot sun up to this
height, where a soft, green plateau, with many trees
around it and brush-wood, was all that was visible,
somewhat to the chagrin of the heated, tired guests,
when suddenly there appeared from the bushes
groups of young girls in the brilliant costumes bear-
ing, in the Slav tongue, a Zakouska — " five o'clock
tea " in English — only, all types of little delicacies
were added to the tea. The dress of the young girls
was a white head-dress with brilliant coloured neck-
cloths, with rich needlework ; a jacket or vest of
many colours, while the sleeves of the chemisette were
spotless white ; the waist was encircled by a girdle
of needlework of varied hues, and the very short,
thickly pleated skirt of different tones came down
to the knees, below which came very thick, fancy-
knitted white stockings, with bright coloured garters
and high laced boots.
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All were chatting in an unknown tongue, but it
was whispered one was an English girl, whose tongue
did not betray her, but her legs did, for they
were of a slimmer build, in spite of the thick
knitted stockings, than those of the sturdily-built
local maidens. Such quaint surprises and almost
operatic scenes as this can be met with at many
a village festival or church holiday throughout
these districts.
There are scores of excursions and mountain climbs
around Villach that, with Klagenfurth, the capital
of Carinthia, form the two principal centres for
mountaineers, fishing, or sport expeditions in the
province.
There is ample sport in spring, summer, and
autumn in this district, and in the winter they
boast of the longest and finest toboggan and ski
runs in Europe, and the mountaineer can get most
exciting and arduous climbs. Warmbad itself
lies at the foot of the Dobratsch Mountain, that
rises about 7000 feet above sea-level, and from
Villach can be seen the whole range of the Kara-
wanken Alps, and the Mangart group that rises to
nearly 9000 feet.
That it is not too hot here for pleasurable
enjoyment of mountain excursions in summer,
may be illustrated by a day spent on June
9th in a little tour that gives a good insight
into the strangely wild romantic scenery of the
province.
Travelling first to Tarvis over a lovely country
with rich meadows and wooded hills, with a fine view
of the Mittagskogel, following in part the valley of the
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Kiistenland, Gorizia, and Carinthia
Gail that rushes turbulently onward to the Drave,
we are just on the frontier of Carinthia and Carniola ;
and as we journey on we get lovely peeps between the
pines of the Mangart Mountains, and beyond the
serrated broken-up peaks of the Raible Dolomites.
A magnificent scene, the great crags and towering
peaks and snowy clefts, and below the green uplands
and dark fir forests.
We arrive at Weissenfels, a little smoky, iron,
industrial town, but in a few moments we climb above
the smoke of the works, that lie in a close little valley,
and we follow up a mountain stream, a glorious
stream, rushing and tumbling and foaming valley-
wards, and are soon at the Weissenfels Lake, with its
great falls, and water of a most delicate green, varying
to a deeper hue. Above towers up the majestic
Mangart, almost perpendicular, to the height of nearly
9000 feet. A soft mist lies in the peaks, and cool,
pure snow rests between them. Another ten minutes'
walk and we reach the Oberessee, or Upper Lake,
a tiny, quiet lake of an emerald green ; low down
around it are the soft, dark woods and fresh, green
pines in shadow, and above in brilliant sunlight the
sharp, grey rocks rising up to the mist, and far above
in the deep blue sky.
This scene is really in Carniola ; the two provinces
have so much in common in their lake and mountain
scenery, and in their people.
The capital of the province of Carinthia is Klagen-
furth, a fine old town lying on a level upland, nearly
1500 feet above sea-level, having a glorious view of the
Karawanken chain of mountains ; a pleasant place
to halt in, with, as everywhere in Austria, a good
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museum and opportunity for historical studies, that
we cannot always obtain in English provincial towns
of 25,000 inhabitants.
Here is placed the Diet chamber of the province,
and the tree- shaded open spaces make it an agreeable
resort whence to sally forth and explore Carinthia.
The educationist will visit the well-equipped agri-
cultural and mining schools.
It is but a short distance from Klagenfurth, by
carriage or tramway, to that gem of the province of
Carinthia, the Worther See, and we are near also that
rocky defile with its waterfalls known as the Rotwein
Klamm, whence came the peasant singers we heard
at Veldes in Carniola.
In both these provinces music abounds, and here
on the softly beautiful lake, the Worther See, we heard
a men's choir, who sang the expressive and passionate
Carinthian folk-songs, that sounded marvellously
sweet and beautiful as the harmonies floated over
the mirror-like waters of the lake. Much of
their music is not published ; it is local work, and
like so much of the best work done in Austria, in
music, science, literature and art, the authors of
really great work seem content with local fame,
and there is often a deep reverence shown locally
for the author or artists who deal with local subjects,
and idealise and elevate local legend and history.
Here in music the name of Thomas Koschat is
revered, as one who has done much for the Carinthian
folk-music.
The little isle of Maria Worth, in the midst of
the lake, adds to the charm of the scene of lake and
green pasture-land, forest and surrounding mountains
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Kustenland, Gorizia, and Carinthia
rising into the varied cloud forms that veil their
summits.
There seems a jovial light-heartedness and joy of
living in the dwellers on the lake, and a story is told
of the priest on the island of Maria Worth who laughed
so loud he could be heard on the other side of the lake.
A party would leave one behind to tell a story, and
then row across the lake, and it was soon known when
the story was told, by the hearty laugh coining across
the water.
Steamboats ply on the lake that is eleven miles
long, and there are many pleasant resorts on its
shores, one of the favourite ones being Portschach,
where the Wahliss establishment and its pretty park,
with lovely views, is a most popular resort. Here
can be heard the local part-songs and excellent
orchestral music, and the music lover, especially
of folk-songs, will be carried away by the fire and
enthusiasm and pathos thrown into the fine part-
songs of Carinthia, and the work of Koschat sung
by patriotic enthusiasts with excellent voices and
good expression.
The mountaineer and sportsman can have plenty
of sport in Carinthia ; red buck, and other deer,
chamois, ibex, hares, pheasants, partridges, wild duck,
are amongst the game. The King of Saxony has a
shooting estate here, and the rivers, the Gail and the
Drave, and the lesser streams and lakes, give ample
sport to the fisherman.
Carinthia has within its borders a stretch of the
most beautiful part of that great engineering achieve-
ment that has opened up a new delight to European
travellers — the Tauern Railway. In journeying
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from Opcina to Villach, through the Kiisten-
land and Gorizia, we have seen some of it, the
Karawanken section, and now we shall traverse
Carinthia from south to north, from Villach to the
Tauern Mountains, that give this part of the railway
its name.
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CHAPTER XX
THE TAUERN RAILWAY TO BAD GASTEIN
THE southern portion of the new line of
the Tauern Railway, known as the Kara-
wanken Railways that we have traversed
in travelling northward from Triest, passes
through country and scenery that is strangely full of
nature wonders. The exquisite colour that delights
the eye in the rushing mountain streams, and the
southern flora, has by the time we reach Villach
undergone a great change ; in piercing the vast mass
of the Karawanken Alps, between Assling and Rosen-
bach, before we reach Villach, we leave the southern
languid air and warm tones of colour, but by no means
quit the strange beauty by which this line fascinates
the traveller at every mile along its route.
Geographically the line shortens the distance from
Central Europe to the Adriatic by some 250 kilometres ;
politically it is said to be linking up the German
population of Bavaria and those dwelling in the partly
Slav provinces of Carinthia and Carniola. German
excursions from this district to Munich are arranged ;
on one occasion a thousand went from Villach alone
on such an excursion.
To the ordinary traveller the line has opened up a
country full of strange delights, hitherto difficult to
approach, and the impetus given to the development
of the towns on the route has been most remarkable.
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Austria
At Spittal, where hitherto had been the old type of
comfortable hostelry, at once were built three large,
palatial hotels, so confident are the people of the
charm and wonder of the surrounding lake and
mountain scenery ; and the whole district is full of
life and development.
Amidst this life on its outskirts, the old town itself
is still very quaint. It lies on a deep plain surrounded
with snowy peaks, and in its centre rises the great
square mass of its castle, in a pretty park and garden,
the residence for centuries of the Princes of Porcia.
The walls of the castle are decorated with illustra-
tions in gesso work, and plaques of various princes
of this family, that claims a very ancient descent.
In the centre court around which the castle rises
in three tiers of Renaissance arcading, enriched with
medallions, there are the arms of Portia and Porcia,
" ex sanguine Regum Troianorum et Sicambroium
progenitus." But alas, all this long line of descent
has fallen on evil days, and the castle is decaying.
All was silent as I stood in this court. A bell in beaten
iron was there to summon the retainers and varlets in
attendance, but the cord was broken. On the north
side of the castle were frescoes in colour, of cupids,
and illustrations of hunting and fencing, and above,
in black and white, knights and bishops ; one name I
could read was Sylvius of Padua. In the garden were
some palms, but stunted by the northern air, and
above the avenues of trees rose up the snow-flecked
mountains, but the only life in the gardens were the
birds, all else seemed dead, and only echoed the note
that emperors had stayed here, and also Wallenstein.
It was pleasant to go back again into the little town,
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The Tauern Railway to Bad Gastein
through the old gateway, and down the hill past an
old house with illustrating gesso work and dial, to the
bridge that spans the swift flowing Lieser. The
church is a very fine fourteenth-century building, and
the fine-toned bells struck out for the midday hour
as we looked at the most interesting monuments that
are around its outside walls.
The larger river upon which Spittal stands is the
Drave or Drau, that joins the Danube at Belgrade ;
and but 13 kilometres distant is the picturesque
Millstatt on the lake of the same name, a most
lovely little town lying on a promontory that juts out
into the lake, with a wealth of lake, and mountain,
and forest-gorge excursions, all around it.
Soon after quitting Spittal we leave the old rail
of the Sudbahn that leads over the Brenner to
Innsbruck, an old engineering marvel, and enter upon
this new link with the north ; at Miihldorf we are
amidst trees, rich fields, and pasture slopes, dotted
with grey, shingle-roofed houses amidst fruit orchards.
The peasantry still stare and wave hands to this new
thing in their fives. We soon begin to climb up to a
different vegetation.
This Tauern Railway is by no means one upon
which a quiet settling in a corner with a book or paper
is likely to satisfy any traveller. The corridors of the
train are filled with eager sightseers, to catch the
romantic glimpses of castle and valley, waterfall and
dizzy viaduct ; and one good hint is to travel first-
class, but take a slow train, then one can have a
carriage to oneself, and move from side to side as the
train moves onward.
It is interesting to note the heavy timber barri-
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cades on the mountain sides as a protection against
avalanches, and the strong stone block-houses for the
guardians of the line, and the stone zigzags up the
banks to prevent landslides. And when one looks at
the powerful engines that are attached for the work of
these gradients, and then at a slight fairy-like viaduct,
one feels an awesome dread lest we go crashing into
the valley, far, far beneath.
From Miihldorf we climb slowly up past the deep
Klinzerschlucht or ravine, with a peep at a pretty
castle, and slowly and laboriously we attain Kolbnitz,
from whence some very delightful excursions can be
made, especially to the Danielsberg. As we ascend
higher the changes of vegetation are very remarkable ;
here, in the late spring, are racing, spuming, white-
foamed streams rushing down to the valleys ; the
snow peaks are all around, but the lower slopes are all
parti-coloured with flowers. As we go on, ever up-
ward, the scene changes to more terrific grandeur,
and at Penk we look far down on the Mollthal. We
flash in and out of the tunnels, and get peeps of most
romantic mediaeval castles perched on rocky peaks,
and then wide vistas down into valleys. One glorious
view is down into the Mollthal, with the isolated
basaltic-like peak, the Danielsberg, upon the summit
of which a temple to Hercules formerly stood. Here
is a most beautiful view. The peep down into the
valley of the Moll, with the castle of Unterfalkenstein,
gives a wondrous masterpiece of Nature's composition.
Another romantic spot is on the viaduct that leads
to the tunnel that pierces below the great mass of
rock on which stands the wide, massive ruins of
Oberfalkenstein. It is in this district that great
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The Tauern Railway to Bad Gastein
engineering feats of overcoming difficulties were carried
out. Viaduct after viaduct, then galleries, then
tunnels ; every type of obstacle was encountered and
overcome. The engines used upon these lines, and
upon other of the mountain railways of Austria, are
big, powerful machines, full of ingenuity and modern
development, and excite the admiration of the
engineering expert.
A pleasant halting-spot is Obervellach, lying in a
rich upland valley, with innumerable opportunities
for excursions, and comfortable inns to which to
return. The church is of interest to the lover of
Gothic work, and the altarpiece is an example of the
Dutch master Jan Scorel of the early sixteenth century.
Not far off is the castle of Groppenstein, with its two
square towers and embattled walls, that with its
surrounding wall and outlying towers, perched on the
high-wooded rock, forms so picturesque a scene from
the railway.
Between this little town and Mallnitz we pass in a
valley the electric works that drive the fans for the
air in the Tauern tunnel that we are nearing.
Mallnitz is only a widely scattered village with a
quiet beauty around it, contrasting with what we have
traversed, and with what we shall see as we travel
onward ; but all around the valley loom up the grey
crags and snowy peaks far above the dark pines.
Now we soon enter the tunnel that opened in
1909, pierces the Tauern Alps and, gave freer access
to these picturesque scenes.
It is about five miles in length, and the line ascends
to the height of about 4000 feet. By the express
trains the time in the tunnel is only about ten minutes.
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Austria
Before entering from this south side the view is very
imposing. The snow peaks and glaciers, with, on
the left hand, the wide valley, and river and streams,
all form a glorious picture ere we dive into the dark-
ness, and as we issue, again is there a glorious
picture ; now, on the right, are the rocky snow peaks
and white glaciers, with rushing waterfalls on all
sides as we halt at the station of Bockstein, beneath
the lofty mountain mass of the Hohe Tauern, that
forms the boundary of Carinthia and the Duchy of
Salzburg. We descend the pass, noting the heavy
work to prevent mountain slides, and enter the beauti-
ful Bockstein valley, wherein lies the picturesquely
placed little town of Bockstein, within an easy walk of
Bad Gastein, the famous health resort.
There are several hotels and a Kurhaus at Bock-
stein ; mountaineers and nature lovers may prefer
exploring the district from here instead of from
Gastein.
198
*v~-<
MAI.l.M IX
CHAPTER XXI
THE TAUERN RAILWAY TO SALZBURG
IN the Duchy of Salzburg we are in a territory
that has been known to English travellers for
centuries, the capital Salzburg, early in the
eighth century, had already its bishop, and was
raised to an Archbishopric in 798 by Charlemagne.
But the latest development in this Duchy of the
twentieth century,the Tauern Railway, has opened to
English travellers districts of natural beauty hitherto
unknown to them, and made easy of access spots
that before were only reached on foot or by driving.
As we have seen, Dame Nature has been effusively
lavish in every division of Austria, almost squandering
her glories and beauties with apparently reckless
profusion. But she has not in other homelands of
Austria exhausted her power of exciting wonder and
surprise, and here, at Bad Gastein, as we enter the
little station, is a scene, even at its door, of quiet, ex-
quisite beauty. From a little height above the station
road is a fine prospect looking up the Bockstein
valley, and within a minute or two we are far from
all hint of railways, and amidst flowers, and mosses,
and leaping brooklets, and tiny waterfalls, in the pure,
mountain air.
The town of Wildbad Gastein persistently re-
minded me of the little town of Lynmouth in Devon-
shire; but here everything is upon a gigantic scale.
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The little brawling, snow-white falls of the Lyn are
multiplied a hundred times, nay more, enlarged into
the thundering, foaming, terrific falls of the Ache,
that leap down betwixt the narrow, rocky gorge in
two mighty falls, one of 200, the other of nearly 300
feet, threatening to overwhelm the villas and hotels
that are perched and dotted on rocks and every avail-
able plot of level space.
Between the two falls is the bridge with the covered
way, to protect the passers from the spray clouds
that arise in steam-like vapour, and it is a fairy-like
yet titanic scene to stand near these ceaselessly roar-
ing waters and watch them lit up by the coloured
light thrown upon them. They are veritably alive,
smoking, foaming, thundering and hurtling onward,
rushing downward to the valley.
In the church of Gastein is a picture of the legend
of the origin of the Spa, the stag finding the water.
Until this new railway was open, the Gastein valley
and this noted Spa was only reached by a drive of
three or four hours from Lend, but now the station is
on the outskirts of the town.
In former days Bad Gastein was widely known
from the fact that it was the favourite health resort
of the Iron Chancellor, a fact that is commemorated
on his residence the Schwaigerhaus, whereon is in-
scribed :
Furst Bismarck
wohnte in den jahren
1877, 1878, 1879, 1883, 1886,
IN DIESEM HAUSE.
A delightfully beautiful spot he chose for a peaceful
retreat from the fierce turmoil of his iron life, and yet
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The Tauern Railway to Salzburg
with a reminder of the tumultous in Nature and man,
in the ever thundering, passionate force of the rest-
less falls of the Ache.
One of the best of the many walks in and around
Bad Gastein is that known as the Kaiser Promenade,
leading to the right up above the church over a little
wooden bridge with a veritable little bit of Lynmouth
around one. Not far on is a bust of Kaiser William I.
with seats around it, and a pleasant garden with the
now distant music of the falls still in the ear. The
idle promenade of the lounger can be turned into a
brisk walk by continuing on to the Schwarzen Liesl
Cafe and Kaiser Wilhelm Institute — a pleasant climb ;
and at the cafe is a superb view of the whole Gastein
valley to the smaller, older town of Hof Gastein.
High up, half hid in mist, tower the snowy peaks that
shut in the valley, along which wind river and road,
and dotted here and there in the green pastures are the
grey chalets and white houses ; this view is to the
north, whilst to the west are yet higher peaks and the
Schareck Glacier. The resort, the Schwarze Liesl, takes
its name from the favourite hostess of years ago.
Now the place is a retreat for old warriors who are
invalided, but the cafe is still a favourite resort for
the public.
Gastein is the starting-point for a score of
expeditions, either easy walks or arduous climbs
up to 10,000 feet ; the Schareck and the Sonnblick
are about this height. The latter is perhaps best
ascended from Mallnitz in ten hours ; it is interesting
as being the highest meteorological station of the first
class in Europe, and the ascent is easily made.
But from our halting-place at Liesl's we will get
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slowly and pleasantly back to Gastein, along the sweet
pine-scented road, with pretty peeps of snow peaks
between the dark pines. Even our own footfalls are
hushed on the fallen spines of the trees, and do not
disturb the song of the birds. At a hamlet we get
a view down to the little town of palaces below, and
the great white falls rushing between them, and then
we pass on to the Hohebriicke over the great fall ; a
lad who comes up calls it the Schrecks or Fearsome
Bridge, and truly fearsome is the mighty leap of the
vast mass of rushing, thundering waters ; and from
this bridge a steep path can be taken, that leads
close down by the great fall that deafens with its
thunder.
Another easy walk but a healthful climb is to the
Windischgratz height, but the walks around are in-
numerable, and the limited space for promenade where
the band plays in the town is thus compensated.
The waters are pleasant drinking, and together with
the baths, that are well arranged in the hotels, are good
for nerve diseases, rheumatism, and kidney, and other
complaints ; their radio-activity is very great. The
promenade salon, a covered promenade with reading
and other rooms, makes a pleasant resort in bad
weather, and from it the falls and their ceaseless play
can be watched, or the light effects studied when
they are illuminated. But perhaps the exhilarating
properties of the air, and the endless opportunities
for excursions, great or small, makes Wildbad Gastein
the health resort that it certainly is.
In quitting this mountain paradise we resume
the route of the Tauern railway, and run along a
mountain ledge the whole length of the Gastein
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The Tauern Railway to Salzburg
valley. The town we have just left looks like a scene
on the stage, backed with pines and snowy peaks and
feathery waterfalls. We begin to descend and cross
the great bridge, the Angerbriicke, which is nearly
300 feet high and more than 300 feet wide. The scene
is fearfully grand where the torrent bursts through the
rocky cliffs, and rushes forcefully on.
We halt above the town of Hof-Gastein, the little
town with its black, red, and grey roofs, and tall church
spire, lying under the hills ; the soft tone of the cow
bells ascend in the still air, and tell of the principal
occupation of the dwellers in the valley. As we slowly
descend, the scene is ever changing and full of strange,
wild beauty. Tunnel, and bridge, and viaduct lead
us on downwards. At Klammstein, in the deep gorge
or Klamm, there is a chill air, and brooks from all
sides come leaping down in white cascades. Over
the torrent of the Ache rise the bare, rocky snow peaks.
We pass the Swiss-like grey chalets, with heavy stones
on the roofs ; on the rich green uplands the river gets
wider, and beyond Mursangerbach we see the old road
far below, beside the river, slowly, slowly climbing
upwards, with a carpet of flowers and rich vegetation
on either hand. Onward we go, ever descending,
crossing torrents and viaducts, increasingly excited by
the vast variety of strange, beauteous nature, until
we join in with the old Salzburg railway, and are soon
at the beautifully placed station of Schwarzach St
Veit, in the rich upland valley, above which peep
the snow peaks and through which runs the river
Salzach. The little town of Schwarzach has quite
enough interest to beguile an hour or two during a halt.
The scene along the banks of the river interests, and
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the old church that is linked with the famous fighting
Schwarzenbergers, whose castles we saw in Bohemia,
especially at Krumau (Krumlov), calls up the past.
Whilst halting here one day for a train connection
we strolled up above the church to the little cemetery,
where the nuns or sisters of the convent adjoining the
church are buried ; and whilst I was alone, pondering
amidst the simple graves, and looking round at the
lovely scenes of mountain and upland, a sister
appeared, and with silent, loving care sprinkled holy
water on the graves of those sisters lying peacefully
below. In the calm evening light, with the soft
pink hues just flushing the distant snow peaks, this
pious action seemed so tenderly loving, and so in
keeping with all nature around ; the dead and their
deeds were remembered, and nature in it's young
forces told of new life and fresh energy sprung from
the seed of death ; and so I stole quietly away, soon
to be again rushing towards Salzburg.
We are now on a part of the road that is well
known, but still a road of a beauty that never tires.
Especially at St Johann im Pongau is there a great view
around of the rocky peaks and pinnacles, snow swept,
and yet here and there snow flecked ; the eyes seemed
glutted with beauty all through this district, and yet
the mind is not satiated. Below the peaks are the
dark pine-clad heights, and at their feet the swift grey
river ever rushing onward, and St Johann makes a
pleasant halting-place for mountain expeditions or
less adventurous excursions.
The scene increases in almost theatrical effects as
we near Salzburg and skirt around the massive block
of the Untersberg, with a splendid view of the great
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The Tauern Railway to Salzburg
citadel of Salzburg on its high rocky plateau. If
this approach is made at sunset, often the upper
snow-covered peaks are suffused in the deep red of the
Alpine glow, and the scene is surpassingly beautiful,
and Salzburg seems to promise a strange charm and
glamour — a promise that its history and associations
and wondrous setting soon fulfils.
205
CHAPTER XXII
SALZBURG AND THE SALZKAMMERGUT
THERE is a passage in the Studio volume
on the Peasant Art of Austria that says,
" Unfortunately there is no open - air
museum in Austria where we can wander
at will and form a complete picture of how the
peasants lived in the past, or how some of them live
at the present time." But in Austria we have some-
thing better ; we can still go in the villages and see
the life of the peasants, preserving, in some places,
all their brilliant costumes, their ceremonies, and their
superstitions, their old-world, at least mediaeval, life,
and then presto ! we are in a scientifically equipped
technical school, or a well-managed agricultural or
forestry museum, and see these same peasants
studying the latest science of their daily work.
Nowhere more heartily entered into and enjoyed
is the music, song, and dance of the peasants in their
picturesque costume than in the Salzkammergut,
and on fete days these peasants come into the capital,
and under the shadow of the grim old fortress, and
vast church buildings that speak so eloquently of
former fierce power, the peasant is as jovial to-day,
and as picturesquely artistic, as he was when rack and
dungeon threatened him with torture and doom.
On one occasion we heard in Salzburg, from a local
choir in their local costume, some excellent music, and
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Salzburg and the Salzkammergut
one of the performers on the xylophone was an old
lady of about eighty, who was an intense enthusiast,
and a wonderfully vivacious performer on that curious
instrument. After the music came dancing, entered
into with a verve and joviality that was contagious,
proving how the joy of life is retained by this love of
music and dance, and old patriotic customs.
The population of the province of Salzburg is
almost wholly German, the folk of other races number-
ing only about a thousand, and the religion is
almost wholly that of the Roman church, having
had its bishopric over a thousand years.
The city, like so many cathedral cities, is a quiet
old - world town, but singularly interesting, both
from its situation and from the wealth of old
buildings that are left in and around it, in spite
of the fact that so much has been lost through fire.
A good spot to take a first survey of the lower
town is upon the bridge that spans the swift-flowing
Salzach. From this bridge the old narrow streets
that cluster under the great rock which towers above
cathedral and palatial buildings can be seen winding
their way up to the great fortress of Higher Salzburg
that crowns the rock, and here in the lower town is
much to hold the visitor. There is one name that
stands out above warrior and ecclesiastic, the name
of Mozart. The house where the great musician, the
marvellous boy-composer, was born, and the museum
that contains the MSS. of those compositions so mar-
vellous in a child, MSS. of his later works, his instru-
ments, portraits, and other objects connected with his
wonderful career, that had so sad an ending, are all
of intense and pathetic interest. But when they
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Austria
show you the poet's skull, a feeling of horror comes
over one ; it is too pitiable to see this poor bone
that once held the brilliant brain that produced such
glorious work handled, and placed here for show.
Bury it ! put it reverently away ! is the exclama-
tion and earnest prayer that at once comes to the
mind and to the lips.
The quaint old courts and squares around the
cathedral, and the palatial residences of the princes
of the State and the Church, give many a fine archi-
tectural study; but one of the most quaint and
antique bits of Salzburg is the churchyard of St Peter,
said to date from the period of the earliest bishops
of Salzburg ; the graves, following the eastern custom,
are hewn out of the rock, and each grave has its own
holy water stoup. In the church near by are curious
carvings of the Adoration of the Magi and the
Resurrection, the Roman soldiers bearing cross-bows.
All around there is much of interest, both archi-
tectural, monumental, and historical.
This churchyard is near the winding path that
ascends to the summit of Higher Salzburg, and al-
though now there is a lift, yet the slow walk up,
with the gradual opening out of very varied views, is
well worth doing.
There is a fine view from the Festungs Gate. Over
each gate are figures of bishops and coats of arms.
From the plateau on the summit the view on all sides
is superb. The low-lying plain is shut in by mountains
some snow-capped, others of bare grey rock, whilst
lower down the heights are dark with pines. To the
west the plain stretches away in the distance, dotted
with white villages and castles amidst the varying
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Salzburg and the Salzkammergut
foliage and bright green pasture meadows, through
which wind the grey waters of the Salzach.
On the north side immediately below lies the old
town, with its domes and spires, and red-roofed and
white buildings, the view being shut in by the dark
wooded slope of the Capuzinerberg. Away to the
south the plain at the foot of the mountains is
varied by charming tiny lakes, with dark woods
around them, dotted with country houses.
One of the principal of the mountains that rise
over the plain-land is the vast mass of the Untersberg,
beneath which Charlemagne is said to be lying,
waiting for a united Germany once again to arise
and rule. The cloud effects on the mountains are
nearly always beautiful, sometimes the Untersberg
will be veiled in mist, whilst the height of the Hohe
Goll stands out clearly in the sunshine like a white,
soft cloud in its pure snow mantle.
The interior of the castle is well worth a visit if
only to recall all the brilliant scenes that have been,
enacted here. Some of the rooms date from 1501
The little library is very quaint, with the old paintings
and bookshelves.
The chapel of St George has over its door some
good carvings of St Christopher and Archbishop
Leonard, who died in 1519.
There are many places of public resort in and
around Salzburg, two favourites being the heights
of the Monchberg and the Capuzinerberg ; this
latter is over 2000 feet above sea level, and in
the garden is the little house of Mozart, brought
from Vienna, in which he wrote the Zauberflote.
From here a lovely walk leads through the woods ;
O 20Q
Austria
all is so softly calm, but there comes up from the
town the rich boom of the church bells into these
silent woods ; then we reach an Aussicht, and, as
from the fortress, the views are extremely lovely and
strangely diversified. Another newer point that a
cog railway has made easily accessible is the summit
of the Gaisberg that is over 4000 feet above sea level,
and whence the view is most extensive.
After looking upon all these great marvels of nature,
it is a strange thing to go out into the well-kept
Stadtpark, and just beyond to visit the Mirabelle
Castle, where the ingenuity of man has been exercised
in a strange fashion, in building a house and gardens
for the amusement of a mistress of Cardinal Wolf
Dietrich in 1606. The gardens are full of quaint
devices, such as one sees in the Pallavicini gardens
near Genoa, or in the grounds of Linderhof, one of
the palaces of King Ludwig II. of Bavaria. Here are
surprise fountains that drench the unwary spectator,
mechanical working and moving toys of a most
elaborate type, grottos, caves, and statuary, with a
lovely lake and pretty gardens, and the views around
of the town and mountains are full of beauty.
There is history and tragedy, romance and beauty
enough, clinging to and around Salzburg to hold one
for many a day ; set, as Salzburg is, in the midst of a
land that is teeming with natural beauty, embodying
very diversified scenes. One of the most picturesque
and charming little lakes is that of the Zeller See,
that lies south of Salzburg, and can be visited on
travelling from that town to Innsbruck. Here we
get a view of various chains of mountains including
the Tauern, and all around the lake are dotted pretty
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Salzburg and the Salzkammergut
villas in pretty gardens, and the little steamer makes
it very easy to get to all the parts of the lake for
mountain excursions, of which there is a veritable
plethora from which to choose. Bathing, boating,
and fishing, and in winter, skating, and all kinds of
sport can be enjoyed here, and the climber has a very
wide selection of varied heights.
211
CHAPTER XXIII
THE SALZKAMMERGUT
THE curious title of this district has become
a word that calls up visions of a strange
beauty of lake scenery, but really it is a
historic name with great meaning. It is
the territory or property of the Chamber governing the
salt industry ; and of the value of this industry we
have had a glimpse when we were at Prachatic, the
quaint old town in Southern Bohemia that was on
the salt path from Bavaria into Bohemia, in which
country there is no salt. We are in this territory
not far from the frontier of Bavaria, and the district
now known as the Salzkammergut includes portions
of Upper Austria. The Crownland we shall traverse
in descending the Danube, and also a part of Styria
(Steiermark). The absurd custom of giving the
name " Swiss " to any district that has lakes and
mountains, and, as in England, to districts that
have hills a few hundred feet high, might well
become obsolete.
We have Saxon Switzerland, Bohemian Switzer-
land, valleys in England with hills, 150 feet
high called Swiss valleys, and here an attempt is
made to call this lovely gem of Austrian homeland
Austrian Switzerland, whereas colour and form are
very different to the Swiss lake scenery, and to
many eyes the beauty is more varied, more gem-
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The Salzkammergut
like in colour and form, although not so colossal
in shape or height. Each country has its own
peculiar beauty, and the distinctive national
name should be given to distinctive national
beauty.
Here the name of the Salzkammergut lakes recalls at
once, to those who know them, a vision of marvellous
beauty. In leaving Salzburg for a tour in this
artist's paradise we are quickly in the midst of the
lake and mountain scenery. The great barrier of
the Drachenwand rises up, and then after Plomberg
we come upon the idyllic Mondsee, with green woods
and the sun throwing beams of gold upon the low
pasture-land, recalling in some measure Loch Lomond
in Scotland ; then we see the little Eglsee, a lake
of dark, slate-blue hue, succeeded as we travel on, by
exquisite peeps of the Grottensee, the colour of which
is reflected from the woods that surround it. At
all these spots one would fain halt, so tempting are
the walks and the little hotels dotted along the
lakes; but we journey on to St Gilgen that lies so
peacefully at the head of the lake Aber, or St
Wolfgang. The lake is of a lovely blue, and the
houses amidst the foliage are dominated by the
tall, white church tower rising to its red dome and
little spire.
The view down the lake is gentle and peaceful,
the wilder rocky crags being distant, and the lower
slopes wooded and green with trees and pasture.
White sails float over the lake, and there is ample
pleasure on its waters for lovers of sailing or rowing,
fishing or bathing, and the lake steamers quickly run
to many a beauty spot by its waters. The colour of
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the water changes according to the surroundings and
the tone of the sky, sometimes being of a clear delicate
emerald.
Even here in this, to English ideas, remote spot,
the system of Austrian education helps the clever but
poor scholar ; for on the height above Falkenstein
Ried, on the opposite shore to St Gilgen, is a
summer-holiday resort for the needy pupils of
the Vienna Gymnasiums and Real Schools, giving
them a vigorous, hearty holiday, with mountain
expeditions, and genial sallies amidst these lovely
surroundings.
We are close to the principal market town of the
lake, St Wolfgang, and in journeying thither by the
boat, we pass a rather curious thing upon a lake, the
tall lighthouse tower, an old square building, with an
octagonal tower, with embattled summit, standing
proudly as a sea lighthouse, at the mouth of a frontier
river, but here it is only the little Dittelbach that
comes down from the Schafberg. If the track of this
stream is followed up, a pleasant climb leads to
some fine waterfalls.
The little town is so delightfully placed, and is so
picturesque in itself, that it makes a most pleasant
halting spot, and the peasantry are a kind, jovial,
free folk ; preserving their old customs, loving music
and dancing, and holding their mountain traditions
in reverence. Their dress is much of the serviceable
Tyrolean type, the men, as the women, loving colour.
The dress is suitable for their mountain work, and
the men look stalwart, sturdy fellows in their round
hats with a feather, their short jackets, and tight
breeches and strong boots.
214
Ml INDSEE
The Salzkammergut
The hostelries are good, and one gets personal
service. The chief historical monument in the town
of St Wolfgang is the church, with its tall, square
tower and arcaded court around it, through the
arches of which such exquisite pictures of lake and
mountain are framed. Here also is the well of St
Wolfgang, with a statue of the saint, and this quaint
inscription, the spelling of which is very curious and
phonetic.
" Ich pin zu den Eren Sanct Wolfgang gemacht,
Abt Wolfgang Haberl zu mannsee hat mich betracht,
zu nutz und zu frumm der armen piligrumb, die nit
haben Geld umb zu kaufen Wein, dye sollen pei diesen
Wasser frellich seyn. Anno den 1515 jar ist das werk
volpraht, Gott sey gelobt."
Within the church is the famous carved altar-
piece by Michael Pacher, a veritable triumph of the
sculptor's art, of the year 1481. The central group
represents God the Father enthroned ; before Him
is kneeling the Virgin Mary, and above soars the
Holy Spirit in dovelike form. The delicate tracery
of the Baldachins over these principal figures and
over the side figures of St Wolfgang and St
Benedict is most artistic in treatment and design,
and every detail of the subordinate work shows
intense loving care in its execution. The whole of
this altar-piece, both before and behind, in paint-
in<r and in sculpture, is full of beauty and historic
value.
Various relics of St Wolfgang, who, in the tenth
century, was Bishop of Regensburg, are preserved
here; his cell has been enclosed in marble, and
around it is built a chapel in Renaissance style, and
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Austria
this chapel is a great resort of pilgrims, who pray
here and get small medals and diminutive hatchets
blessed by touching with them the Chalice used
by St Wolfgang ; this is preserved in the Sacristy.
The hatchet has become the insignia of the
place. Little rosettes decked with silver hatchets
are given or sold to visitors. The legend is that
St Wolfgang threw his hatchet from the top of
the Falkenstein, the mountain we passed by the
lakeside, and it fell where the church now stands,
and is walled up in the central altar. A very early
but good example of throwing the hatchet ! But
St Wolfgang is also the defensive patron against
fire and hail, two great enemies of the peasants'
crops and homes in their mountain districts. Viktor
von SchefM brings the Wolfgang pilgrimage into one
of his religious songs.
If St Wolfgang for a thousand years has attracted
pilgrims to his shrine, to-day another marvel is
drawing vast numbers to this lovely spot — a nature
and science marvel — the mighty Gibraltar-like cliff
of the Schafberg, rising precipitously to the height
of nearly 6000 feet. This is ascended by the tooth
railway that, alas ! does away for so many with the
healthful climb, with its halts for the beautiful out-
looks betwixt the pines. By the mountain railway
also, the peeps to be had as we ascend are strangely
lovely. At first we ascend through fruit orchards,
then we come to the pines, and, as we rise higher and
higher we get peeps of strange beauty. Lakes lie
below like gems of turquoise or emerald ; others are
of a deep green, or of a cobalt blue ; and as we still
ascend we reach the snow — pure patches lie here and
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The Salzkammergut
there by the side of the rail. At the upper station
we are in winter ; snow lies all around ; we have a
little walk to reach the peak's summit, and then a
vast and glorious panorama is around and beneath us,
with a wonderful effect of changing light. Vast
ranges and peaks of mountains, all snow-clad ; to the
east and north those jewel gems of lakes. Well may
they say this Schafberg is the pearl of the Salz-
kammergut. Away to the south-west rises the great
Untersberg, and to the north is a vast plain, and far,
far away rise up the dark lines of the Bohemian forest,
beyond the Danube.
On all sides is a scene of exquisite and
marvellous beautj\ The sun lights up vast ranges
of peaks and ridges, glittering with snow ;
each detail is a beauty, and the whole holds one
spellbound.
Here on this height in the crystalline snow grow
Alpine flowers that are eagerly picked, and often
unwittingly terrible risks are incurred, for the sheer
fall from the strange " Sheep's Head " summit (hence
the name) is a drop of some thousands of feet, and
the overhanging edge is deceptive.
This panorama of lake and mountain shows how
absolutely inexhaustible are the excursions and
pleasures to be had in this neighbourhood, and also
gives one a slight, and yet bewildering idea of all
the sights this part of Austria alone can show the
traveller ; for not only do lake and mountain, valley,
plain, and upland invite us, but a great stretch
of the Danube valley is within our sight to the
northward ; and it is a curious reminiscence that in
the little town of St Wolfgang, Kaiser Leopold I.
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Austria
took shelter whilst he was permitting John Sobieski,
the Pole, to free his capital, Vienna, from the
Moslem.
The Schafberg is a vain height, for it mirrors its
protruding precipice summit in three lakes. The
whole district entices one forcibly to linger amidst its
strange beauty and genial folk. As we leave the
inn of St Wolfgang the old hostess hands us a
souvenir of the Saint, the little silver hatchet tied up
with the local colours, red and white ; and with a
" Griiss Gott " thus bids us warmly farewell.
It is but a very short run by railway from St
Wolfgang to Ischl, where we are in different sur-
roundings. Instead of the simple townsfolk and
peasantry, we are amidst fashionable, yea, court
life, for Ischl is a favourite home of Kaiser Franz
Josef L, and great hotels, Kurhaus, fashionable
crowds, and great orchestras attract the beau monde
of Europe to Ischl. These sudden contrasts of life
are so frequent in Austria, and add to the charm of
travel in her borders.
Ischl may, in spite of its fashion, be said to
be a jovial place, the nature around it and
the deliriously pure air seeming to have an effect
upon the invalids even, and the incursions of the
peasants of the district with their music and
dances, their popular and wedding feasts, help
quickly to drive away depression, or that sense of
sadness, which in some health resorts often comes
over one.
Here the baths and inhalation establishments, and
the springs where the visitors resort for cures, are
pleasantly situated, and the Kurhaus and hotels
218
The Salzkammergut
take care that no ennui intrudes itself amidst patients
and visitors, and especially is this good for the con-
valescents who flock here from the cures of other
resorts, such as Marienbad, Carlsbad, etc. Excellent
Vienna orchestras and theatrical companies provide
alternate amusement to the dances, evening re-
ceptions, and excursions on lakes and mountains ;
and sport, fishing, tennis, rowing or sailing, and
mountain explorations fill up the days pleasantly
and healthfully. For the invalid not yet strong
enough for these undertakings, the tree-shaded
promenades by river and mountain, with the superb
views all around, ever varying, ever changing, soon
makes one forget all ones ills, and soon leads on to
strength to take the more exacting expeditions, such
as up the valleys of the Traun or Ischl, or to the
numerous heights around, where such wide views are
to be had, or to the spectacle that Ischl always
suggests to visitors, the wonder of the Salt mountain,
whose mines when illuminated form so fascinating
a spectacle.
The dress of the well-to-do peasants in this district,
as at St Wolfgang, lends itself to most picturesque
effects of both form and colour, and those who are
fortunate enough to see a farmer's wedding, with its
accompanying ceremonies and dances, will have a
scenic spectacle far more picturesque than many an
operatic scene.
They study well in the lake district dramatic
and scenic effect, and do not forget the beautiful
effects with which nature has endowed them.
A noteworthy, interesting instance of this useful
entwining of nature's handiwork with their own
219
Austria
plans was given by the authorities of the Salz-
kammergut, when the men and women of some
twenty or more nationalities visited the province
after the International Press Congress had been held
in Vienna.
Ischl was en fete. Carriages decorated with
flowers and acacias received the guests, who
were well entertained, but late in the evening
they were taken on to Ebensee, too late, as some
guests growled, to see the glorious scenery ; and as
dusk was approaching two gaily decorated boats
received the polyglotic visitors to take them on to
Gmunden.
Slowly out over the calm lake, now deep in colour,
moved the ships ; the dark isolated peaks rose up
to the night, and one could yet see the varied colours
of the rocks, grey and red, and scored with the water
torrents of winter. Still the deep pink of the sunset
lit the lake, and on the left rose up a great mass as
of a widened sugar cone, but only dimly could the
mountains be seen in the half-light. Suddenly the
bands were silent, the ships glided on very slowly
over the dark waters, and another smaller ship all
illuminated was seen emerging from the shadow of a
great mountain : then the ships stopped ; and from
over the lake came a voice from the smaller ship
offering a welcome to the strangers who had come
from all parts of the world to the Salzkammergut.
It was the President of the Province who spoke,
and on his ceasing rockets went up, the lake was
lit up, and all around on height and in valley
the peasants lit bonfires, and slowly the illuminated
boats glided into Gmunden, where all along the
220
The Salzkammergut
esplanade were illuminations and fires greeting the
foreign visitors, and welcoming them to a local feast,
full of local colour. All the men and girls who
attended were in the pretty local costumes, and
great beer casks decorated with flowers were being
tapped by lusty mountaineers, and local orchestras
were giving folk - dance music ; joviality reigned
supreme. A striking contrast to all this cheery
noisiness is the life on the higher aim, amidst the
troups of peaceful cattle, browsing in the rich, deep
pastures, breaking the silence of the eternal heights
above by the mellow tone of the cow bells.
This life is full of charm and strange remoteness
to the wandering traveller who crosses the mountains
and halts suddenly as he comes out upon an unex-
pected turn in his thread-like path, that gives him
a view down upon some such lake as the Traunsee,
at the head of which Gmunden stands — a lake so
curiously varied in its beauty, assuming colour so
diversified, and with such vast masses of mountain
forms around it. Early one morning we sailed
across it in the quiet grey light ; a soft mist veiled the
great height of the Traunstein, a mountain of nearly
6000 feet, that makes a good climb though not a
high one.
Below there stood out in the deep, green water the
lovely point of Traunkirchen, with the old church
perched on the Johannisberg ; a point that is
exquisite in form and colour, and a quiet resting-
place for those who prefer the smaller places to
the fashion of Gmunden and Ischl.
The views are everywhere beautiful and full of
contrasts, steep, barren, precipitous cliffs alternat-
221
Austria
ing with deep, green forests, and little villages in rich
pasture-land, and far above the towering crags glitter-
ing from snow fields even in late summer. And,
although to the casual visitor the population in the
summer months may seem wholly given up to the
catering for passing visitors, yet there is a great deal
of industry carried on in these towns, and develop-
ments of industries, as at Ebensee, at the northern
end of the lake, where there is a good wood-carving
school.
The network of railways, or carriages, will quickly
take the traveller to the other lakes in this inexhaus-
tible district of Nature's beauties. Attersee, which
we looked down upon from the Schafberg, the largest
of all Austria's lakes, is worth visiting, if only for
the wondrous blue of its waters. But it is also lovely
for the great variety of its scenery, and the steamboat
that sails over its bosom gives every opportunity for
reaching the various resorts on its shores, from whence
expeditions can be made into the mountains, and
combination tours can be arranged with railway
and steamers, to include the whole of the lakes in
the district. This lake is 20 kilometres long (12
miles) and 3 kilometres broad; it lies in its moun-
tain nest 465 metres above sea-level. One of the
pleasantest, and also a fashionable resort on this
lake is Weissenbach, where there is a luxuri-
ous hotel crouched under the precipitous hills,
whence romantic walks and climbs in the deep
klamms or gorges can be made, and expeditions to
higher points that give good work to the climber.
Although one is quickly away from every sign of
haunt of man, yet from this lake one can go by electric
222
The Salzkammergut
railway to the Mondsee, which lake we passed before
arriving at St Wolfgang. There are two other gems
in this lake district, lying to the south of the larger
group of lakes, that also possess peculiar charms, or
rather there is a group of some eight or nine lakes, the
largest of which are the Hallstatter See, and the
Alt-Ausseer See. The former, if only for the pleasure
of seeing the quaint old town of Hallstatt, with its
Tirolean-like houses, perched one above the other, all
with the wide roofs and wooden balconies, and its
two churches, one with its tall, thin spire on the level
little promontory that juts out into the lake. This
is the Protestant Church, whilst the Roman Catholic
Church is more massive in form, and is perched above
on a rocky ledge beneath the mountains that rise
high above it.
Here there is much local life and industry, and a
royal technical school for wood industries, by no
means to be likened to our own woodwork schools,
as we have seen elsewhere. The museum here is
of curious interest, especially for its Celtic relics.
Hallstatt, although only a quaint, small town, will
entice many who wish to study the life of the folk
of the district, and also for the immense variety of
walks and excursions within easy distance to water-
falls and idyllic little villages, by forest and mountain
footpaths. From Hallstatt another group of little
lakes, the Gosau lakes, can be reached either by
carriage or by foot.
There are so many " most beautiful " points in this
district, that it is indeed astounding for the very
prodigality of Nature's choicest compositions ; one
hesitates to quote the local statement that here amidst
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their smaller lake jewels is the finest point in the
Salzkammergut, but Gosau, a little town of about
1500 inhabitants, has around it the mountains of
Hohen Dachstein, the Donnerkogel, the Zwieselalm,
and other heights, and a group of little lakes that
are romantically beautiful. The water is of a deep
crystal green, and towering above are the glacier-rifted
heights of the Dachstein, and other mountains, such
as the four domed summits of the Donnerkogel, partly
bare rock, partly white with snow and ice, the whole
forming a series of views that enchant with their
beauty.
Here there is no danger of the terrible crowds
from which it is impossible to escape in certain
European mountain resorts ; but that the force
that Nature exercises in this district is no longer
to be allowed to be exercised for the production
of beauty only, is evidenced by the fact that an
electric power station is being built here with 18,000
horse-power machines to utilise the water-power of
the district.
A railway runs from Hallstatt to the other group
of lakes, the Aussee group. We are still on the Traun,
the little tumultous river that gives its name to the
Traunsee, emerging from the lake at Gmunden, and
we are still in the salt district, for close to Aussee
are the works of Kainisch. We have crossed the
Styrian frontier in this little journey and are back
again in the Steirmark, but still in the old Salz-
kammergut.
The market-town of Aussee is fairly large, having
about 12,000 inhabitants, and possesses a fine
Kurhaus and good hotels. It lies on the highway
224
The Salzkammergut
from Gratz, the capital of Styria, to Salzburg, a grand
route to-day for the automobilist through marvellous
scenery and quaint towns. The old churches of
Aussee tell of an interesting past, and have some
relics of their mediaeval days still to interest the
historian. But it is the delightful nature wonders
around Aussee that attract, and in an hour we can be
at the lake of Alt-Aussee, with that strange, weird
range of mountains around us, the Tote, or dead
mountains, or on another road, in still less time we
reach the Grundlsee, where a little steamer takes
us up this romantic little lake, with vast rock
walls, and precipices all around, giving peeps to
the higher, gloomy heights of the Totegebirge. At
the end of the lake is the little landing-place at
Gossl, and from here the trip can be extended to
the other smaller lakes, the Toplitz and Kammer
Lakes.
Vast rock walls enclose the Toplitz Lake, and in
the yet more deeply rock-embedded Kammersee is a
romantic waterfall, the source of the Traun, that all
along its course so adds to the beauty and wild,
forceful charm of the scenery.
One can return again and again to the seductive
charm of this lake district of Austria. Every
faculty of man is brought to bear in enjoying
its nature and its beauty, and all knowledge
adds to the pleasure of its wonders of mountain,
river, rock, forest, woodland, lake and pasture-
land; for botanist, and geologist, mountaineer,
fisherman, and huntsman all have exciting ex-
periences if they thoroughly explore the district ;
and in the old towns, and amidst the folk of
p 225
Austria
the district, the historian, the ethnologist, the
archaeologist and antiquary can all add to their
knowledge and alight on items of interest that will
add to the pure fascination of the scenery around
them throughout the Salzkammergut.
226
CHAPTER XXIV
THE DANUBE FROM THE BAVARIAN FRONTIER TO LINZ
WE are now again approaching that mighty
river that has had through the ages so
powerful an influence upon the Danubian
Empire.
It is but a short railway run from the lake district
to the Bavarian- Austrian frontier on the Danube,
just east of Passau. From Gmunden the line runs
via Attnang Ried and Scharding on the tributary to
the Danube, the Inn ; and quickly arrives at Passau
in Bavaria, where we take the Danube steamer, and
for a short distance float as it were in neutral waters,
having Austria on the right hand shore and Bavaria
on the left. But immediately this Danubian Empire
asserts her romantic spell. The waters of the Inn
from the Tirol run side by side with the Danube for
some distance without mingling, and on the left hand
the waters of the Ilz do the same, so that from the
deck of the steamer are seen the three colours — on the
left the almost black Ilz, on the right the green Inn,
and in the centre the yellowish-green Danube, for the
Danube is never blue, save perchance far down near
its mouth, where the wide expanse of water under a
blue sky then becomes blue.
In descending and ascending the river many
times, I have never seen the wondrous legendary
blue that is supposed to be the colour of the water.
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Austria
In 1873 falling into poetry, or at least rhyme, I
wrote :
" The schoene blaue Donau is not blue,
But glitters with a yellow-greenish hue."
That was in August. At other times when the glacier
water or mountain floods are pouring in, it is of
greyish-yellow hue. In one of the latest books on the
Danube by Walter Jerrold, a statement is made by a
captain that it is blue in the winter, but in October,
down where it is miles in width, below Rustchuk,
the water was of a greenish-yellow tinge, so the
Blue Danube waltz has much to answer for.
The retrospect to Passau is very beautiful, but soon
the first of the Danube castles, Krempelstein, is seen,
perched on its rocky height with soft, tree-bedecked
hills around it, and this as it were, tunes the mind to
the romance, pleasure, and calm enjoyment mixed
with intellectual excitement there is in a voyage
down the Danube through the two Crown lands of
Upper and Lower Austria. Another local name for
this castle is Schneiderschlossl, i.e., " The Tailor's
Little Castle," and a legend is told of the tailor who
cribbed the rich brocade for the Bishop of Passau's
suit, and was thrown from this rock by the devil in
the shape of a goat.
Sometimes there is more than intellectual excite-
ment such as that aroused by the beauty and charm
of historic scenes or peasant grouping, for in times
of flood or very low water the Danube can be fierce
and turbulent, or tricksy is its behaviour, and the
navigation requires extreme skill and caution, but
these are rare if exciting events ; generally a voyage
down this mighty flood is wholly a delightful ex-
228
The Danube
perience, for the saloon steamers are fine boats,
with good living on board.
It is not necessary to sleep on board on this Upper
Danube journey. Halt can be made at the picturesque,
historic towns, or pretty villages, and a month can
well be spent on Austrian soil between the Austrian-
Bavarian frontier, that is but a kilometre from Passau,
and Pressburg or Posony, the Hungarian frontier
below Vienna.
The population of Upper Austria, the Crown land
that possesses so much of this romantic lake and river
scenery, is almost wholly Teutonic, numbering nearly
a million souls, with only about 5000 of various races,
Cech, Italian, Slovens, intermixed here and there.
And the pretty costume of the peasants on the river
banks has almost disappeared. In 1873 one saw now
and then the gorgeous black and gold jacket and white
sleeves, but to-day on the great Holy Days, at the
favourite shrines and pilgrimage churches, still as we
shall see, crowds of peasants from various provinces
may be seen on the steamboats, and the fore part of
the ship is always interesting for the life of the people,
be it in their strenuous work-a-day life, or in their
holiday moods.
If but very few books have appeared in English
during the last century on Austria, there have been
many books on the Danube, such as Planche's
" Descent of the Danube." One of the best works
with highly idealised steel plate engravings is Beattie's
" The Danube " illustrated by W. H. Bartlett, and a
quite modern book that gives many of the legends is
" The Danube " by Walter Jerrold ; another modern
book, Capt. B. Granville Baker's " The Danube with
229
Austria
Pen and Pencil," has good illustrations from the
author's pencil, but travellers will do well to get the
little handbook issued by the Danube Steamboat
Company in several languages, including English, that
is an excellent key to the whole of the river, and is
well illustrated. From source to mouth the Danube
is a mighty and glorious stream, full of romance,
and strange wild beauty.
The pleasurable excitement in journeying on its
waters soon begins, for quickly below Krempelstein
we see in the middle of the river the, in old days,
dreaded Jochstein, the home of a Danube " Mermaid "
of the Loreley type. A dark rock rising in the centre
of the stream, with a little shrine upon it, once a
stronghold, to-day only a praying shrine, with the
arms of Bavaria and Austria cut out upon the rock ;
and now on either hand villages and hills, churches
and castles and monasteries, in ruins, or inhabited,
keep the traveller's mind occupied with legend and
action.
At Marsbach one sees two old Robber Knight's
castles, in sight of each other — Rannariedl and
Marsbach — picturesque enough now these castles, in
artistic ruins, or renewed, as some are, for modern
residences, but fierce evidence of the days gone by,
when travellers and merchandise on the river were
seized as booty. A heavy raft floating by this castle,
with a small house upon it, and ten men guiding its
course, tells of the travel of old days. Near here
the river doubles back on itself, and the scene is very
lovely ; lofty, rocky, abrupt, woody heights on the
one hand, and on the other, sloped corn or pasture
fields, with an old white ruin amidst the hills. Then
230
The Danube
again the scene changes, and the river is as a lake
shut in by abrupt rocky, volcanic-like hills. This
part of the river is full of ever changing beauty ;
even the Austrian books will persist in comparing it
to the Rhine, but what a libel on the Danube ; the
beauty here is far more continuous and more varied
than on the Rhine, and I have walked and otherwise
journeyed up and down that river over a period of
many years.
The names of the villages here nearly all end with
Zell, i.e. cell, and the suggestion is that this favoured
spot by nature was a retreat of many of the early
Christian hermits in days of persecution, and the
churches with the tall slight towers, and domed
summits, sometimes in low toned reds, at others in
rich verdigris bronze, keep up the legend of hermit
and monk.
This part of the river is full of twists and turns
through the varied narrow gorges. The Danube by
no means flows ever eastward, but is twisted by the
hard rocks and mountain heights to every point of
the compass, and the hills continually vary in form.
As we near Neuhaus, they become steep and pointed
and the rocks stand up in castellated forms from
amidst the trees. But at Neuhaus, the hills and
woods recede from the river, and the old castle with a
romanesque tower, stands proudly out on its granite
seat, above the little town, that is surrounded with
hop gardens, and piles of timber making up for the
rafts.
Great barges with the pointed painted prows lie
here for the river traffic, and the river itself is wide
and calm after its rush through the narrow passes.
231
Austria
The stream, however, was not too wide, but that
in old days it could be blockaded with chains to stay
an enemy's course down the river. In the days of
the Turkish terror, the great buildings of the castle
were used as a refuge for women and children.
On floating down from Neuhaus there comes a
most glorious stretch of the river. One can look
ahead now and see the glittering water shining far
away between the hills. A steamboat is slowly
coming up the stream, and in the distance the view
is shut by green sloped hills, and an old ruin on a
wooded height. The old rambling ruins of Schaum-
burg are close to Aschach, and legend and history mix
themselves up in tradition. The Schaumburgs were
a powerful family here and in France, and their
history goes back to the twelfth century. According
to the historian, iEneas Sylvius, the name should be
Schonberg ; in Latin he gives it " De monte pulchrio."
But there are other things besides human history
to fascinate one on this river. One of the most in-
teresting things on the Danube to study, is the timber
work. The great piles of logs are seen waiting at the
out falls of the mountain streams, that have brought
them down to the Danube, and a halt at some of these
tempting spots gives pleasant opportunity to stroll
away up amongst the upland meadows, through
which these tributaries run, and there from some
rustic bridge to watch the men at work on the logs
getting them in their wayward obstinacy to travel
on down stream ; for as the rushing stream carries
them on, they have an almost fiendish habit of piling
themselves up, blocking all passage. It is quite
exciting work to see the woodsmen, with their long
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The Danube
spiked and hooked poles, freeing them and starting
the logs again on their journey. One reviewer in
writing upon the novel, " John Westacott," noted the
point, that in that book, incidentally I told the
life of a fir tree from the seed dropped into some rock
cranny until the tall pine was floated down the river,
and became the high mast of a ship, or of one of the
1000- ton barges one sees lower down the stream ;
and it was from foresters on the Danube banks
that I gleaned my knowledge of this fascinating
study.
From fighting baron to forester, and from history
to legend, from mediaeval robber's nest ruins to
modern tourist resorts, are the type of variation and
ever changing interest that hold one on the Danube.
The story of Undine has a new charm, and the
quaint old phraseology of the Niebelungen Lied suits
the stately flow of the river, down the banks of which
Kriemhild passed to the Huns.
It was at Passau that she came to the Danube.
" Am Donauflusse kamen sie in das Baierland."
To her uncle the Prince Bishop of Passau, — as she
passed by Aschach the scene that met her eyes must
have been much as that which delights the traveller
of to-day. She passed the night at Everdingen, which
is close to Aschach, and as we leave that town we get a
view in the distance of the Alps ; their white heights
and glaciers glittering amidst the dark towering
masses. The river now becomes wide, lined on either
side with trees and fields, and the hills recede to a
distance, and so give this beauteous view of the
Alps.
We are now in the heart of the district where
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the Peasant's war of 1626 took such a hold, and the
student of this period will do well to make a halt, and
glean the local traditions. The Imperial General was
Herbertstorf, and the peasants' leader a hatmaker,
Stephen Fadinger, a local Andreas Hofer, who con-
quered from this point to Linz, where he was wounded
and died ; he was buried where Kriemhild halted at
Eferding. The war was terribly bitter and cruel ; and
General Herbertstorf had the body of the peasants'
leader dug up and sunk in a swamp.
The Danube now flows on less swiftly as we descend,
and winds between numerous flat islands, herons
standing idly on the banks. Sometimes it seems im-
possible to pass amongst these wooded islands, but
suddenly a passage opens out of the lake-like expanse,
and the scene changes from rock and pine to corn and
pasture and fruit orchard, dotted with dark roofed
cottages.
It is interesting to watch the navigation of the river
steamboats that draw only four feet of water. Often
as we glide through the rapids and over the shallows,
those who understand the man (or men) with the lead
at the bows, will hear him call out, a depth with only
a few inches to spare. The lead is really a sounding
pole marked in red and black with the measurements ;
and on the big saloon boats often there are four men
at the wheel, so powerful is the current, and I have
seen a man hurled from the wheel on to the lower deck
when the current nearly overpowered the men. The
river is also well marked out with poles and buoys.
The officers of the ships are most courteous and
gentlemanly, wearing a quiet handsome uniform,
and always ready to give all reasonable information.
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The Danube
As we near Ottensheim, we pass another raft with
six men tugging at the great sweeps, and two men at
the end of the raft with poles, sounding for depth.
They have their small hut on board, on which is
mounted their flag, and as we slow down to pass
them, that the wash of the paddles shall not swamp
their piled-up timber raft, the square turretted tower
of the Castle of Ottensheim, with the white buildings
around it, comes in sight. Clustered amidst trees it
stands out upon a rocky point in the river ; already
in the distance we can see the height of the Postling-
berg, that looks down upon Linz. The pretty
Chateau of Ottensheim is of ancient date, being
mentioned in the twelfth century ; lately it was the
residence of Count Coudenhove, with whom, in Prague,
when Statthalter (Viceroy) of Bohemia, I had the
pleasure of some interesting conversations, especially
upon the important regulation of the Moldau and
Elbe floods, and shipping development, and the im-
provements at the junction of these two important
rivers. Now, as we float past his Chateau, again the
scene changes. The rocks and wooded heights close
in, the fine old Cistercian monastery of Wilhering is
passed ; still higher rise the hills and clustering
rocks, and the two pointed towers of the Castle of
Buchenau is seen on the left, and then all seems closed
in ; but we sweep round a sharp turn, with an old
fort on either side and a fort on a height, and suddenly
Linz appears, shut in by a sharp promontory with a
white chapel on its summit, amidst the dark firs.
For a time Linz is lost to sight, but we steam on round
another promontory to the left, and the whole beauti-
ful sweep of the river is in view with the bridge of Linz
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crossing the wide river, now placid, and on the left
rises the height of the Postlingberg.
The many spired and domed town lies mostly on
the right hand, opposite this height, and with the flat
country beyond, stretching away to where the broad
glittering Danube flows on to the hills beyond,
combines to form a very lovely scene, and tempts to
a long halt in this important city, the capital of Upper
Austria.
In spite of the importance and beauty of this
province, it is but thinly populated, the sum of its
inhabitants only reaching about a million, and of
these, the city of Linz claims about 70,000, with about
14,000 in its suburb or town of Urfahr, on the left
bank of the river. In 1896 both towns only numbered
about 55,000 inhabitants, showing the recent de-
velopments of the city.
This advance is largely owing to the railway de-
velopments already noted, and Linz has become an
important railway centre, linking up the great seaports
of Hamburg and Triest. An Exchange has also been
established, and a great museum developed, whilst
the educational establishments are very important.
These include a Commercial and a Railway Engineers'
School.
The adoption of electric tramways, and the
mountain rail up the Postlingberg, have also greatly
helped the increased prosperity of this ancient city,
known to the Romans under the name of Lentia.
On my second visit to Linz, in the year 1873, it
was a very quiet country town, and to show how
careless the authorities were of sanitary caution in
those days, the first sight I saw as I went up in the
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The Danube
early morning into the Hauptplatz from the Erzherzog
Carl Hotel, was a man being borne in on a litter of
tree branches, dying, if not already dead, from
cholera. As I was just recovering from an attack
of this same scourge, I well remember the shock the
sight gave me, but such a thing to-day in Austria is
impossible, and medical and sanitary matters are well
looked after everywhere.
In spite of the splendid position of Linz on the
Danube, and the finding of Roman remains within
its borders, history is reticent upon events in its life,
and it is not before 1098 that it is mentioned as a
walled town ; tradition has it that Richard Cceur
de Lion was entertained here when coming up the
Danube after being liberated from Diirrenstein. A
curious glimpse of church history is given in the fact
that in 1236 three bishops, and the Patriarch of
Acquileia with other nobles, and the King of Bohemia,
were besieging the town. Since that date it has
suffered greatly from sieges, plague, insurrection, and
fire, and in spite of the attention bishops gave it, it
was strongly Protestant in 1550. To-day in the
whole Crown land of Upper Austria there are only
about 20,000 Protestants. It became a Bishopric in
1785, and it was at this time the woollen manufactures
of Linz were the most prosperous in Austria.
The words of one of these manufacturers, or rather
managers, in 1841 to Herr Kohl, gives a striking
contrast to the tone to-day of master and men. " The
inmost soul of all art is religion, and the fear of God,
and our work is a kind of art. I take no workmen
of whose character I am not certain. I pay far more
heed to this than to their skill," and this manager, or
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rather " Imperial and Royal Inspector of Woollen
Printing " encouraged pleasant chat whilst the work
was going on, and talked of putting up Schiller's
words :
" Wenn gute Reden sie begleiten
So fliesst die Arbeit munter fort." *
To-day, there are important locomotive works, and
also spinning and weaving mills, and breweries, in
the town and district.
The modern museum at Linz is one of the finest in
Austria, well placed with a garden around it, and with
a well executed illustrative frieze running round its
exterior, above the windows, and the collections are
well arranged and of immense value, educationally
and intrinsically.
The prettiest view of Linz is seen in coming across
the great bridge and entering the Franz Joseph Platz.
In the centre of this, the Grande Place of Linz, rises
the roccoco column of the Trinity, erected to celebrate
the cessation of two great plagues — the pest, and the
Turks, who at last were driven back. Here in the
early morning the milk and vegetable sellers still
have some characteristic costumes, broad hats and
black and white head-dresses, and on fete days, in the
old cathedral close by, peasants from the surrounding
country may be seen in their costumes.
Like all other cities in Austria, Linz during the
last twenty-five years has sprung to new life, and the
handsome public buildings, such as the Railway
Offices, the General Savings Bank, the Parliament
* " When genial chat with work combines,
Then Labour pleasantly moves on."
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The Danube
House for Upper Austria, with its pretty poetical
monument to the Kaiserin Elizabeth, the Merchants'
Hall, and the various educational buildings, especially
the Railway Technical Schools, all speak of modern
advancement and eager, intellectual development.
Few of these buildings were existing when I first knew
Linz, and it is a very different thing to walk in and
around Linz to-day and in the seventies of the nine-
teenth century. The churches have always some fete
or Saints' day to celebrate. I was once present at a
most solemn service here in memory of Her Majesty
the Kaiserin Elizabeth, when the music was most
impressive.
An interesting example of development is illustrated
by my first ascent of the Postlingberg in the seventies,
and again in the twentieth century. Wishing to see
the view of Linz by moonlight from this height we
strolled up the Danube, and, led by some village lads,
in the dusk clambered up a goat's path, coming
suddenly to a great slit in the rocks, which we had to
leap, and so in a tough scramble, which one man of our
party gave up as too stiff, we came out on the summit
of the Postlingberg, and a glorious view of Linz was
below us. As we stood silently in the moonlight,
looking at the calm view, some singing arose in the
quiet night, and we found it was some watchers at a
lime kiln, passing their time by singing and jodling
after the Tyrolean mode. Such was our poetical,
interesting experience in the seventies ; to-day an
electric tram takes us across the Danube to Urfahr,
and then a mountain railway quickly lifts us up the
1800 feet, and lo ! there is a great hotel and restaurant,
with a grand terrace, whereon one can dine and watch
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the sunset effects on the distant Alps and the play
of light and colour on the nearer heights. The
Salzkammergut and half Upper Austria is in view,
and the onward sweep of the Danube into Lower
Austria, whilst below, as on a raised map, is the city
of Linz. Very often the terrace is occupied by some
congress or company, and some good music may be
heard, and joviality prevails. If one is lazy enough
to ride up to the summit, at least one should walk
down the mountain, halting at the old forts, and at
the interesting pilgrimage church, before descending,
and enjoy the varied views as we descend to the town.
It is interesting that in the Niebelungen Lied no
mention is made of Linz, and the dangers of attack
and robbery on this part of Kriemhild's journey is
vividly depicted. Her next halting-place is beyond
where the Traun falls into the Danube, where from
her proud castle the fair Gotelinde rides out with a
gay company of knights and maidens of high degree
and great beauty to welcome Kriemhild, and give
her " night quarters."
240
l.\ THE STODER \" \ I I \A
CHAPTER XXV
THE DANUBE FROM LINZ TO VIENNA
WE must quit Linz, leaving much of its
pleasant excursions and of its history
unsaid, and follow on Kriemhild's route,
but by boat.
It is always well to study the retrospect as we
leave these halting spots on the Danube. Here this
is very beautiful, but as we sail on, far over the flat
land, on the right comes in the view of the Alps, the
white snow glittering in the morning sun. On the
left the sloping hills are interspersed with wood and
corn. Herons stand on the pebbly beaches, and the
river winds on between rich meadows.
We float on past castles, and halt at busy riverside
towns, where the peasantry, heavily laden, especially
in the autumn, come on board, with the produce of
fruit and vegetables.
One of the greatest of the vast monasteries so
plentiful in Austria is soon approached. This monas-
tery of St Florian, the arch-protector against fire,
is an immense building. The author, Herr Kohl,
gives a very full account of this monastery, as
he saw it in 1841, and he speaks of this cloistered
palace as magnificent, and of the kindly work of the
fathers. As we shall halt at a similar vast monastery
at Melk, we here can only refer to the fact that it
possessed 787 houses and farms in the nineteenth
Q 241
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century, and has a great collection of MSS. and early
printed books, and thus hint at the whole charm of
the place and its surroundings. Near by is a castle of
Prince Auersperg, who was for some time lately the
vigorous, learned, and courteous Minister for Agricul-
ture. A prosperous town and a good halting-place is
Mauthausen, where the life of the folk can be studied.
As Maut the first syllable of its name implies, it was
a taxing border in bygone days, and the Avars
established a heavy tax here on the Danube mer-
chants. Later Barbarossa's crusading fleet was
stopped for toll, but that led to the burning of the
town. On the opposite shore the Enns flows into
the Danube. Near here stood the Lauriacum of the
Romans, an important river station, whence, legend
has it, the Christian faith was spread abroad through
Austria. These slight hints of history give sugges-
tions to the student of antiquity or medieeval lore of
the vast field for research there is throughout this
district ; and in many a monastery, and in the
archives of the towns and churches, there are
probably documents lying perdu that would throw
valuable light on the past. We have passed
St Florian, where there are 70,000 volumes and
many MSS., and we shall see at Melk how glorious
can be a monastery library, if we had not already
learnt it at Prague and elsewhere ; it was in
such hoards of documents that Palacky found so
much for his most fascinating historical work. The
Enns forms the boundary of the Crownland of Lower
Austria, and we are once again in the province of the
capital ; but how much there is to see and delight in
ere we see again the tall spire of St Stephen.
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
As we pass along onward over the greyish-green
waters we get a lovely peep between the trees of the
castle of Wallsee, a great castellated palace dominated
by its high square tower. A curious evidence of the
change come over the life of the district is given by
a description of the work and life of the beavers,
who built their houses and bred on the river banks in
the early half of the seventeenth century. Steam
has probably driven them away, as it has driven the
crocodiles from the Lower Nile.
It is at Wallsee that the greatest beauty of the
Danube commences, so say many writers, but it is
very difficult to exactly state which part of the
Danube can ^laim pre-eminence in beauty. " Only
in a series of dithyrambics and to the accomplishment
of the harp are they worthily to be sung," exclaims
one writer as he describes the scenes after leaving
Wallsee. Sometimes in the evening the men of the
boat, or passengers, sing on the bows the folk songs of
the district, and this is a more appropriate accompani-
ment to the beauty than even the harp.
As we approach Grein the high rocks and wooded
hills close in on the river, and there seems no way out.
Then the waters open out into a lake-like expanse, and
the pretty detached little town of Grein appears on
the left. Years ago, when I first saw this spot, it was
a village-like town with only its white homely houses
and great square castle, and its church, with a red
topped roof and tiny tower, but to-day castle and
church are there still, but all along the shore are
picturesque villas and pretty hotels tempting one
desperately, to land and halt here for exploration of
all the romantic scenery that seems so poetically and
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caressingly to envelop Grein. Well may it be called
the pearl of the Danube for itself and its surroundings.
An hour's walk from Grein is the little Bath of
Kreuzen, and the picturesque Chateau Clam.
Another interesting walk is to the Stillenstein Klamm,
the very name inviting one to a stroll up between
its romantic cliffs. " The mountains rise steeply on
either side as we pass up the Klamm, clothed from
the very water's edge with beech and pine and
other trees. About the great grey boulders of rock
are a profusion of ferns and mosses. The whole is
like the beauty of some Devonshire lane and stream :
a kind of lyric loveliness, that uplifts and gladdens,
where the grandeur of the great river to which the
stream is hurrying has something rather of epic
sweep and solemnity." So writes Walter Jerrold of
this mighty edition of a Devonshire ravine, and we
are soon to see, in quitting Grein, how the Danube
in old times could be not only epic but tragic in its
fierceness.
As we leave the pleasant landing-stage and move
out into the wide stream all is placid, and looking
back the river is shut in by hills, as if it were a lake.
The passengers crowd to the bows of the boat to
get the view and the excitement ; as we quickly get
into the rush of a rapid ; steam is shut off, and we
move swiftly onwards, borne by the torrent, down
the Greiner Schwall, on the surging, boiling waters.
Then comes a quiet short stretch of the river, and the
rocks narrow in ; again we are in the boiling waters ;
the rocks seem to overhang the river, and ahead
there is a little rocky islet with a cross upon it ; it
seems we must crash into it, but we rush past this
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
isle that divides the river, and are quickly in the
boiling, surging Strudel. The boat sways and trembles
in the rushing current ; ahead is a strong old ruin,
the castle of Werfenstein, and we are again in peaceful
waters, with the high walls around us ; but quickly
we are once more in surging waters. On the left we
see an inscription telling how the dangers of this, the
Wirbel, have been lessened, and we pass on into quieter
waters. But let me quote : —
" Agnes watched the scene, but it was beyond her
power to take in the sight of rocks and chalets, wood
and covert, and rocks piled in fantastic shapes around
her. The waters foamed and boiled, the steamer
seemed to shake and tremble beneath their feet. The
river grew narrower and more narrow, until the leap-
ing, tossing waters seemed to give no room to pass a
high-peaked, fir-clad rock ahead. All eyes were
strained. It was but a few moments ; the ship seemed
to leap onward, and they were safely past the old
ruin below the cross-capped rock, and the passengers
breathed again, as the ship still went swiftly on, now
in calm, placid water, with a wider course, and high
hills overshadowing them.
" The vicar and his daughter both turned to Ralph
with an exclamation of surprise at this exciting scene ;
but Ralph said : ' Look ahead, we shall soon be in
the Wirbel ' ; and ere many minutes had elapsed
again the steamer was rushing through the boiling,
surging waters, that whirl round the rock and ruin
of Haustein." So I wrote in " John Westacott "
many years ago, and to-day the scene has but little
altered, and this note describes how rapidly the
scenes are passed.
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There is much of history and legend clinging round
this romantic pass, and the Worth island carries us
back into Celtic and Roman days. All river traffic
could easily be blocked by the possessor of this islet.
The cross has a legend of its own, of a certain Count,
who, with his wife, was wrecked in trying to pass the
Strudel ; he saved himself, and in grief at the loss
of his wife became a hermit on this island. The
wife too was saved from the stream, and she mourned
her husband for twelve years ; but hearing of the
holy hermit on the island, went to him for pious
consolation, and lo ! it was her husband, and as a
thank-offering for their salvation and reunion they
erected this cross.
The speed at which we rush down this most in-
teresting part of the river compels one to visit the
spot again and again to understand its beauty ; a
good way is to come up the river, as, of course, the
struggle against the stream compels a slower pace.
A cannon is generally fired as we enter the gorge, to
halt anything leaving Grein. When this happens
at night the effect of the thundering reverberation
echoing from rock to rock and hill to hill is very
alarming to the passengers sleeping below, a fact I
utilise in " John Westacott," that story being dated
during the Franco-Prussian War.
The granite rock formation is deeply interesting
to the geologist ; and the botanist who wanders up
the Klamms will find interesting specimens to repay
the time, even if the romantic scenery is not sufficient
repayment.
As we come from the rush and hurry, and fretting
wear of this rocky gorge, we see, as the river widens
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
out a peaceful little village, with white houses, per-
chance on a fete day hung with flags, that contrast
with the dark firs on the over-towering hills, and
then we soon come to Sarmingstein, with its old, grey,
round ruined tower.
The passenger boats in the old days, before
steam, were called the Ordinari, and the rowers and
steerers had to be very adept and alert to bring
their boats through the rapids, and how the passengers
must have rejoiced when they reached Sarbingstein,
now called Sarmingstein. The legends, and history,
and stories upon this part of the Danube are
voluminous — the Devil's Tower, and the Black
Monk, magical lights and disasters. The searcher
into folklore and legend can have his fill here. By
watching rafts rush these and other rapids, one can
glean somewhat of the peril of the old days. In
some cases the raftsmen have high seats to jump
into as they rush a torrent, and it is exciting to see
them work their rafts into position, and as they are
entering a surging rapid, jump on this raised seat to
be out of the rush of the water.
At Sarmingstein the view is wholly changed, and
it is very beautiful ; on the right are pleasant slopes,
with occasional rocks and pines, interspersed with
soft green pasture and delicate - tinted birch and
other trees, contrasting with the dark fir patches ;
and here and there are dark wooden, and white
chaiet-like houses. In the autumn an added colour
is given by rich corn plateaus, high up, whence the
forests slope to the river.
Calmly we sail on now. A raft is lying on the
river with one solitary man upon it. The left bank
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becomes flat with picturesque bits of dark rock
jutting up here and there, backed by richly cultivated
hills.
Then the river winds, and ahead on an out jutting
bluff we see the white walls of the stately castle of
Persenbeug, commanding this upper stretch of the
river, and a wide stretch of waters beyond. The
corruption of this word from Bosen — Beug or the
" evil (dangerous) bend " — is a curious one ; formerly
it was dangerous, to-day it is a lovely spot, and the
royal castle and park are open to the public, and just
opposite, on the right bank, is the old town of Ybbs, all
combining to make this a delightful halting-place for
either modernist or the archaeologist, or Nature friend.
This point of the Danube was utilised as an im-
portant station by the Romans, as the name Pons
Isidis implies, and all through the ages it has been
utilised as a military station. Persenbeug became a
castle in the ninth century, and later on the Graf schaft
or county, linked with it, was a wide and rich one.
Fistright and ecclesiastics struggled here for suprem-
acy, as everywhere, and the arrival by water of the
Emperor Henry III., with Bishop Bruno, must have
formed a stately pageant ; but it ended tragically,
for the floor of the banqueting hall fell in with
Emperor and Bishop and Abbot, and hostess, the
Countess Richlinde, all falling into the bathroom
below — a proof that they had bathrooms in days of
yore in these castles. One account gives it that the
Bishop fell on the edge of the bath-tub ; and in
Austria I have seen a bathroom, with an enormous
tub that required many a bucket and much labour
to fill it, and anyone who fell on its solid edge would
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
certainly be killed, as were the Countess, Bishop
and Abbot, the Emperor escaping.
The gardens and park of the castle are well laid
out, and the views, especially from the towers, are
superb, embracing the hills and rocks around the great
reaches of the Danube, and far-away glimpses of the
Alps.
Ybbs has good baths and good inns and delightful
walks, and here, where an Englishman would only
look for a primary school, is a most important fruit -
culture school, and, of course, a good local museum.
All down the river it will be seen how carefully the
fruit orchards are tended. It was somewhat of a
surprise to meet here a torpedo boat flotilla — one
scarcely expects to see warships on a river — but the
Danube, especially lower down, is carefully patrolled
where the river becomes a vast frontier.
From the river across the flat country by Ybbs
we get the outline of the Alps, and the whole scene is
very peaceful and beautiful as we pass onward by the
little town of Sausenstein, with its old castle and
church, and then ahead on a high hill we see a great
church with two towers and black domes, and soon
reach the town of Marbach.
This is one of the most famous spots on the Danube,
and if one is here on the great fete days of the church
on the hill, the Maria Taferl Church, the crowd of
peasants in their various costumes is most interesting
and picturesque. It is curious, then, to see the crowds
on the steamboats of the pilgrims coming from the
festival. The peasants in their bright colours mingling
with the acolytes, still wearing their red cassocks
and white surplices. All wear medals and flowers,
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and pictures of Maria of the Taferl. The church, so
conspicuous from a distance, is about 1500 feet above
sea level, and stands upon a plateau that gives a
grand prospect for hundreds of miles ; and for many
a year the people have flocked to the spot as to a local
Lourdes, or Lorretto. The origin of the devotion
to this " Maria of the little table " is said to have
been an image of the Virgin that hung in an oak
tree over a stone table, whereon the peasants used to
feast after giving thanks for a good harvest. A
peasant essayed to cut down this tree, but his axe
cut his foot, and looking up he saw the image, and
was contrite, whereupon the image immediately cured
his foot. This miraculous cure was quickly spread
abroad, and the fame of the image has spread even
to this day, and vast, and most varied, are the crowds
who, for three days now in every September, pray for
benefactions at this shrine of Maria Taferl.
The local literature throughout Austria is always
interesting, and often learned, and here the legends,
and shall we say superstitions, are worth reading, and
a local romance of the Middle Ages, entitled " Jesse
and Maria," embodies a true picture of life on the
Danube shores of that period.
We must not halt too long at these romantic spots,
for greater scenes, if not more beautiful, are ahead.
There is a fine wide stretch of the river ere we come
to the much-sung of Pochlarn — Great Pochlarn on
the right, and Little Pochlarn on the left bank.
Even the Danube Steamship Company's guide falls
into rythmic prose as it approaches Pochlarn —
"Es rauscht ein Klang von Nibelungen Lied ueber den Strom" —
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
but it also tells of the days when Pochlarn was the
harbour for the Roman river flotilla, and the valuable
collection of the stone age found near by, and pre-
served in the museum.
It was here that the windows of the castle were all
freely open, instead of suspiciously closed with shutters,
to greet Kriemhild and her retinue. Many a stanza
is given to her reception at Bechelaren, as the Lied
spells it, by the young daughter and spouse of Riidiger —
" Die Fenstern an die Mauern sah man geoffhet stehn
Die Veste Bechelaren war auf gethan zu sehn " —
and their entry into the wide halls of the castle, below
which ran the Danube, is well described, and a rich
exchange of presents was made, ere Kriemhild passed
onward to Medeliche, or Molk (Melk) as we know it
now.
Perhaps it is from these stanzas that the name
" Blue " Danube has been taken, for Kriemhild was
escorted, " Die blaue Donau nieder bis gen Mutakaren
hin," i.e. " along the banks of the Blue Danube from
Molk to Mautern."
But before we reach Molk, we pass the picturesque
old castle of Weiteneck, a curious romantic old pile
on a precipitous rock, with a great square tower, and
tower on tower around it, and a little stone balcony
above the dark rock. Here, as nearly always near
these strongholds, there is broken water and rapids,
proving a dangerous passage, and a better chance to
pounce on booty or enemy. This was one of the
castles of Riidiger, the husband of Kriemhild's
hostess.
And now ahead comes in sight one of the most
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vast and important, and most imposing buildings
on the whole stretch of the Danube, the great
Monastery of Melk. As the great pile of buildings
comes in sight, stretching along the rocky wooded
ridge, high above the river, the stately domes and
towers and long palatial line of the monastery com-
mand a halt, and we disembark at the quiet landing
stage, and drive up through the quaint old town
to the Stoklassa Hotel, in a lovely avenue, from
whence we look out on to the great monastery.
The birds are singing, and there comes up the
musical ring of hammer on anvil, but again, as every-
where in this Danubian empire, close by, in this
little old-world retreat, there are great new school
buildings.
But as in Rome, and Athens, one is at once
attracted to the forum and acropolis, here it is the
vast dominating Stift or monastery that entices, and
we proceed up the Stiftweg, through the first gate,
and up the steps to the great gate, with the date
1718 upon it. Roccoco statues are upon it, and as
we cross over the drawbridge and enter the first
court, we see an old round tower on the right hand,
a remnant of twelfth- century work. We pass on
through a great Portico, and then enter the inner
court, with a great bronze fountain in the centre.
The buildings around are of the classical order, and
as we halt and look around, we feel as though we were
in some great college ; but all is silent, and there is no
quick young life surging around. We pass on along a
corridor, and enter the church. All is in the richest
roccoco style and a blaze, but yet an artistic blaze
of gold, with rich carving over the stalls, and a Last
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
Supper over the altar. The special Loges or pews
for the abbot, or nobles, are above the altar, and are
closed in and glazed.
The great bells boom and clang as we stand before
the altar, in front of which swings a great artistic
lamp in silver and copper. The dome is of great
height, and is all illustrated, and the pulpit is a
gorgeous mass of rich gold, expressively carved.
At the side altars also there is some most excellent
carving, especially one scene of the Circumcision.
The relics, skeletons, and bones are decked out in
silk and velvet, and jewels and gold, and in the
chapels there is very much of artistic worth and
quaint interest. As we come out of the west doors
of this impressive, vast, gorgeous building, we step
out through an archway on to the famous balcony,
that with its arch forms so conspicuous a point from
the Danube. From it, what a glorious expanse of
view, superbly beautiful, we look upon. The glitter-
ing broad flood of the river, the hills beyond, and
castle and hamlet, forest, woodland and pasture;
a view that ever lingers impressively in the mind.
As we were slowly strolling back through the
courts, an old priest appeared — a Friar Tuck-like
priest — and we began a chat ; but ere long another
keen-faced brother appeared, and joined in the talk,
and on finding we were interested in history and
antiquity, soon told us he knew Egypt and Tunis,
and the name of Pere Delattre of Carthage quickly
formed a bond of union between us. We were
delighted to hear the newcomer was Brother Berthold,
known to the world as Dr Hofer, and as he soon had
to leave he arranged that Dr Schachinger, the
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librarian, should meet us at 9 o'clock in the morning
and show us what we so longed to see, the library, and
also other treasures of the monastery.
But ere Brother Berthold left us, he took us up
through the garden to the north side of the monastery
to the Loggia, now used as a restaurant for the
students, and to the east, up an avenue, that recalled
Addison's walk ; the whole thing continually re-
minded one of Oxford. We passed on round to the
fish-pond, and to a view outlook, where were seats,
and a table, all covered with Latin and German
phrases, in praise of the beauty of the spot.
And truly here also was another glorious view of
hills and corn and forest, and to the east, the high
dark clustering hills of that district we are about to
enter by the Danube gate, the Wachau, the much-
praised tourist district of the river. All was so still
and peaceful, nought but the birds broke the silence,
but there was a disturber of the peace, a very tiny,
but potent one, the Gelsoe ! — a very special mosquito,
with a very special sting, that breeds in the little
stagnant ornamental ponds. But some brothers
were strolling to and fro in the arcaded walks un-
heeding these tormentors. Palms and accacias, and
the red Glycena tree, and other botanical varieties
were in the gardens, and we had a chat with the
gardener, who regretted more was not done here, and
as usual with so many Austrian workmen, he tried to
get information on English gardening, and asked if
we get good orchids, and showed us some plants, like
ice plants, he called Portutac flowers. From the
gardens we passed on through the terraces, and had
a peep at the Skittle Alley, where some students were
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The Danube from Linz to Vienna
amusing themselves ; near by were two towers, one
round, the other twelve-sided, with great bastions, a
remnant of the older buildings, and here we sat and
rested again to the song of the birds, accompanied
by the sounds of the roll of the balls.
As we passed down to the town all was peacefully
still, the quaint old gable roofs leading up to the vast
line of the monastery, that with its domes and spires,
now lit up by the setting sun, wholly dominated the
town.
Then suddenly the town was alert. The firemen
were out ; they put their hose in the Roland well,
ladders were run up to a house ; all the, till then, sleep-
ing town came out to see. A little fat captain gave
vigorous orders. The hose was rushed up on to a
roof, and soon a good jet of water was passing over
the house, and landing in the street on the other side
of the way, and the brave firemen in red and black
brass-bound helmets rescued imaginary fair maidens
from imaginary flames, for it was only practice for
the Fire Brigade. So we left the pleasant little town
and went down to the arm of the Danube, and across
the bridges, and enjoyed the picturesque view from
below of the majestic pile of the buildings and
the famous Loge and its archway before the double
towers of the great church.
The next morning we were in the library at 9 a.m.,
and had just time to drink in all the fascinating
charm of this most beautiful home for books ere
Prof. Fr. Schachinger arrived, and gave us a hearty
greeting. Around us, in good bindings, were about
70,000 to 80,000 volumes. Old globes and charts
and folios lay on the tables, and in glass cases were
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the choicest treasures, and all in such a beauteous
home — this stately hall enriched and decorated with
carving and inlaid woods, and the ceilings illuminated
with paintings. Many a treasure of early printed
books we were shown, and Gutenberg's work of
1450-55; a German Bible, 1473; a Molker Mass
Book of 1483 printed in Nuremberg ; a " Beda "
MS. of the ninth century, and some most lovely
missals ; a splendid example of the Koran. One
could linger in this beau ideal of a library for days,
but we passed onward through the Kaiser Zimmer
(Emperor's room), where Marie Antoinette amongst
others had stayed, and later, Napoleon in 1809, when
the French troops drank from the abbey cellars to
the tune of 50,000 to 60,000 pints of wine a day.
When the Emperor Francis Joseph was married to
the Empress Elizabeth, they stayed here. The
dining-hall is a stately room ; from this we passed
out to the great archway to get the view in the
morning light ; now better understanding the build-
ings, having the great church behind us, the library
on the right, and the dining-hall on the left, then
facing about to look upon the impressive scene of
nature. But Melk had yet treasures of art wherewith
to surprise us, and we were led into the Praelatie,
and were shown some interesting portraits of past
abbots, and in the house chapel, a fine expressive
" Marie " of Albert Diirer. The present abbot is the
president of the wine industry of the district, and, said
our guide, " he has great possessions." Regret was
expressed to us that the abbot was then in Vienna,
and our regret was intensified when we learned that
we could not see the famous Cross of Melk, for the
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abbot always held the key, and so we did not see this
gem of metal work of the fourteenth century, of gold
and silver, and pearls and jewels. But we were
taken into the sacristy, and there we saw gems of
ecclesiastical art, equal to those in Moscow and Rome
— rich vestments and bejewelled mitres; crystal
cups for the sacramental wine and water ; richly
jewelled Bishop's croziers and staves ; Mass vest-
ments of the fourteenth century, one having Christ
and John and Marie on the one side, and on the other
the Crucifix, and sun and moon ; other vestments
of the sixteenth century — a rich storehouse of
mediaeval craft and bejewelled needlework, full of
beauty of workmanship.
It was with regret we again went down the long
slope into the little town, and bade adieu to the
great buildings above. But the little church and
its quaint monuments around its outer walls soon
occupied our attention, and this, with the museum
and its historic treasures, gave us further insight
into the history of Melk, that dates from Roman
days. A Benedictine monastery was established as
far back as the eleventh century, and from that
day to this Melk has lived in history, and often
made history.
We have lingered long in Melk to try and give some
idea of the history, art, folklore, and legend there is
stored up in so many of these abbeys and monasteries,
and also in the castles, throughout Austria, and
English visitors who show a respectful interest in
any of these subjects, or a love of beauty or antiquity,
are always most courteously received even without
introductions.
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When Kriemhild halted here at Medeliche, as Melk
was then called, she and her retinue were handed
wine in rich cups of gold. We had seen the jewelled
cups and had drank in great delights of the beauty
of the place and its possessions.
2^8
CHAPTER XXVI
THE DANUBE THROUGH THE WACHAU TO KREMS
WE sail away down the broad flood pi the
Danube, but quickly the river narrows,
the hills and rocky heights close in,
and we are entering the romantic stretch
of the river that is called the Wachau. Monasteries,
ruins, and picturesque villages succeed each other.
Schonbuhl or Schonbichel, with the old round tower
and more modern square buildings, lies on a rocky
eminence close to the river, the wooded and cultivated
hills sloping around and above it. Then come
wild, jagged, rocky heights, and high on a terrific
height, overhanging a precipice, with apparently no
access on either side save up this dizzy height, is
perched the strong robber's nest of Aggstein, an
astounding point, the castle seems in the sky. Below
is a tiny village, crouching on the river's bank
under this castle-crowned rock ; a wild, fearfully
wild spot, yet very beautiful and full of hints of
strange romance.
Seen from below the castle seems small, but above,
amidst its walls, there is ample room for housing
retainers. The local legends do not fail in romance.
We have referred to the hunger towers of these
castles, as the ingenious device for getting rid of one's
enemies ; but here, the fiercest robber knight of all,
a certain Schreckenwald (Fear of the Forest) or
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Schreck von Wald, was more refined in his revenge.
He had his " rose garden," a slit, or ravine, deep in
the mountain side, whence was no escape. Into
this he lowered or hurled his victims. But one
victim escaped even from the rose garden, a brave
young knight who had worsted the Baron in war and
in love. Having learned the secrets of the castle, he
returned when an orgie had slackened the castle
watchs and Schreckenwald was hung to a beam
in the hall where he had been feasting, and
the rose garden was planted with the chief of his
retainers.
To the lover of mediaeval lore or architecture, the
castle is full of points. It dates from the twelfth
to the fifteenth century, and the triple bridges and
gates from the land side formed a famous defensive
work. A monument to Viktor v. Scheffel, the poet,
is now erected here. As we journey eastwards, every
village and church and ruin has its legend.
A strange geological curiosity, a gigantic wall of
rock that seems to be leaping down the mountain, is
called the " Teufelsmauer " or devil's wall. Satan
meant to flood the whole valley by running this wall
across the river, but an alert cock crowed vigorously
and disturbed him, and woke the folks around.
The cock is commemorated for his alertness, on the
church steeple of St Johan.
As we approach Spitz, the view is very romantic
on either side. Here the vine is seen more widely
cultivated, and Spitz makes a good halting-place for
those who prefer a market town to a fashionable
resort. There are scores of excursions from this spot,
and the fruit industry can well be studied here ; in
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the spring the cultivated slopes have a wondrous
charm of blossom.
The river now is fairly wide, but it soon closes in
again with picturesque hills and with jagged rocks
as we reach St Michael's, where everyone looks for the
hares on the church roof, said to have been placed
there to commemorate a great snow fall that allowed
the hares to rove over the church.
A turn in the river, and we are in sight of
that castle that all English travellers eagerly look
for.
The story of disaster to a brave man, and his rescue
by a restless faithful friend, through romantic
stratagem, has held its sway over folk for 800 years ;
and so as we approach Diirrenstein all eyes look out
to see the walls of the castle where Richard the
Lionheart was imprisoned, until he heard the song
of the troubadour Blondel.
The remnants of the castle are on a rocky height,
and a line of rocks runs down to the river in irregular
shapes. Above the castle the rocks are fantastic,
so that it is difficult to tell rock from castle, or from
the defensive wall that runs down to the little town
beneath, with its old houses and pointed church tower.
There is not much of the castle left. When I first
saw it in 1873, I noted there were four tall corners
remaining, but these appear more like the peaked rocks
than built walls. Few people disembark here ; they
are content with the passing glimpse of the castle
from the river. On a packed boat, lately, I and my
wife were the sole visitors to Diirrenstein.
We passed up through a little tunnel in the rock,
on which the town is built, to the " Gasthaus zum
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Richard Lowenherz," literally the guesthouse of
Richard the Lionheart. The very name satisfied
us ; but above was a pleasant platform on the rocks,
tables under flowering oleanders, and we found good
feeding and excellent wine, and cleanly rooms at this
guesthouse.
We climbed to the castle up a rugged path, and
we watched the peasants come in from their labour
with their patient oxen, much as they did in Richard's
time, and we heard the clack of the handloom, and
the thud of the flail, as though we were in centuries
long flown by.
Part of the Keep, as well as isolated towers, remain.
1 clambered into the heart of the castle where wall and
rock is intermingled, and there are some windows
and doors still left, overgrown with bushes. In one
chamber, half rock, half dwelling, one might well
conceive Richard to have been held in harsh durance.
It is now a weird place, but a glorious view is had
both up and down the river from this height, and the
silence is intense. The great linking wall and watch
towers running to the river are in good preservation
and should be cared for. The east gate of the town
is also intact, with people living over the gate, look-
ing out over the vineyards that produce a famous
wine, the Donau Perle (Pearl of the Danube).
The little town itself is still as in the fifteenth
or sixteenth century — great gateways to the
houses with arms on the walls, vaulted rooms
and narrow streets, and as the sun is setting,
the deep-toned vesper bells ring out, and we can
hear the bells of Rossatz in the distance, far across
the river.
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The Danube to Krems
The strong old walls that flank the river side are
the once handsome buildings of a chateau, and a
Clarice or St Clara nunnery. Over the door of an
Augustinian cloister is an imposing piece of work,
with scroll and arabesque ornamentation. Inside
the door are quaint carvings of figures in broad hats
and bearing spiked clubs ; and also of Roman warriors,
with spears and feathered helmets, and others in
trunk hose — a curious medley. But the doors lead
into a lovely little courtyard with trees and flowers,
and a passage into the church, where are old frescoes
and old doors richly carved.
Many of the houses are mediaeval, on one we read
the couplet —
" So lang im Glas noch blinket der Wein
Bruder lasst uns frohlich sein."
Carpenters and peasants now live where noble and
knight and wealthy burgher dwelt in mediaeval days.
The frescoes in the Augustinian Church of the
" Driving out the money changers " and " Christ in
the Temple " are good ; there is also a fine picture, by
Schmidt of Krems, of the beheading of Faustina, and
the relics of the Faustina and the Holy Clement are
richly enshrined. There is an immense deal in this
church to detain the lover of mediaeval work ;
to-day abbot and brothers and priests are gone,
and only a Pfarrer serves in this once wealthy and
important building, and in the town there are
now only four hundred folk, of whom sixty are
children. But the whole town breathes of the past,
and it was with real regret we quitted our inn, that
had been a part of the Augustinian Convent, the
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walls being seven feet thick, and the great door dates
from the fourteenth century. Truly Durrenstein
has far more than the shades of Blondel and his im-
prisoned master to hold and attract the traveller,
and we leave much of its history unsaid. As we
sailed on down the Danube flood we had an excellent
retrospect of Durrenstein, with its peak on peak of
rock, and its walls that enclose the town.
But the Danube gives but little time for
retrospect. Ahead on a high hill is seen another
monastery. An enormous mass of buildings, with
its red roof and turrets backed by wooded hills.
It is the Benedictine Abbey of Gottweig, and
we must disembark at Mautern to visit this
further treasure-house of books and over a
thousand MSS. Engravings, coins, and other
art treasures are here also in rich abundance.
When I first saw Mautern there was a picturesque
old wooden bridge, with a crucifix upon it, linking
Mautern with Stein; to-day there is a stiff iron
bridge that spans the broad river, but the old
square ruined tower and the churches, one with a
square tower, the other with an Eastern dome of
the onion type, still remain.
Now the scene ahead is totally changed, and all is
calm and flat, and thickly wooded islands block the
view down stream. But the Eastern domes and
high Romanesque towers of Stein, and the continuing
houses of the little town of Und linking it to Krems
all plead a halt ; so we disembark at Krems, from
whence to study the district ; for all around in
streets and buildings are interesting relics of fasci-
nating history. Let us print the old witticism :
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The Danube to Krems
Stein und Krems are three towns. The catch
lies in the name of the little town "Und," really
"and" in German. Stein "and" Krems are three
towns.
On the Danube, as everywhere, the tourist stream
has its special halting-places, but these towns are not
tourist-fashionable, so there is no crowd of vehicles or
hotel touts to worry the traveller. We found it a hot
walk in the month of July from the boat to the town
of Krems, but there was a pleasant avenue of trees
to give welcome shade. We halted at the " Golden
Stag." The names of the inns in these old towns are
always reminiscent of old life. We soon found that
Krems is a veritable storehouse of bygone life. The
streets are bright and clean, and the shops up to
date ; but the quaint corners, the old gates and
towers, make us halt constantly. Modern amenities
are not neglected ; there is a pretty park with
beautiful flowers and fountains, and near this lies
the new part of Krems that is rapidly developing.
But, alas, some interesting old work has lately been
destroyed. When there, in 1908, at the south-east
end of the town, one saw some old houses being
destroyed that were well illustrated by Sgraffito
work — a Star and the I.H.S. with two figures, and
above, a crucifix ; query was this representing the
Trinity ; above was the date 1561. Below were
scenes from the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal with
the pigs in a village ; and the next scene, on the
right, was a feast, bringing in the jugs and dishes,
and the musicians entering. On the left the first
scene was gone, the only word left was " Bruder "
(brother) ; of the middle scene some dancing feet
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only were left, and the upper raised part was just
being obliterated with new plaster, but the words
were still left, " Vom Verlorenen Sohn." So they were
destroying most valuable work that was well worth
preserving, and that proved how interesting a town
Krems must have been in 1561.
Just below this house was a bridge (iron, alas),
over a brook, and from here one could see the site
of the old town and the towers and walls ; and
it was deeply interesting to dive into the centre
of the town through its narrow streets with old
towers and arches and oriel windows, and many fine
old houses.
The Pfarrkirche has much within it of real artistic
value ; it dates from the eleventh century, but was
rebuilt in the seventeenth century. The pulpit is a
fine piece of carved work, illustrating the conversion
of St Paul ; and the frescoes of the virtues are good.
A quaint spot surrounded by old houses is the
Frauenberg, on which stands the church of this
name, older than the present building of the
Pfarrkirche ; over the door are the words : " Ora pro
nobis mater misericordia 1477 " ; it was rebuilt at
this date after the Hussites " profanation " of the
older building, but the Jesuits in 1616 restored
it.
There is good work in this church by the famous
artist, Kremser Schmidt, whose work we met with at
Melk and elsewhere. There is a great deal of excellent
work both in painting and carving, and the church
is a good example of thirteenth-century work. Out-
side, between the buttresses, the life of Christ is
depicted, the figures being life size, and the painted
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The Danube to Krems
background represents Jerusalem. From the church
is a fine view of the vineyards all round Krems, and
from the tower a wider view of river and landscape.
High up in the tower lives the watchman, who strikes
a bell every quarter of an hour, and rings a bigger
bell, the " Braunglocke," for a quarter of an hour
in early morning to call the vineyard workers to their
task ; in old days he rang also to call them to break-
fast and prayer. A day could well be spent in and
around this church, so full is it of quaint art and
history.
We found that another historic church had suc-
cumbed to curious uses, but was now partly rescued
for a worthy aim by having one half of it turned into
a museum. This was the Dominican Church, the
western half, the church of the laity, is the museum ;
the eastern half, the church of the order, is used as a
theatre, and it looked sad to see the tawdry scenery
lying about in a noble old religious building, for this
church was re-built in 1444, after a fire in 1410. We
had to get the key of the western half from the Herr
Propst (i.e. Prior), Dr Anton Kerschbaumer, who
really was the founder of the museum in 1889, and
who saved the old church from being a corn ware-
house. His own house was most quaint and full of
treasures. We found the nave of the church made
a noble museum, the collection, although so young,
being really fascinating and, historically, of great
value, but more space is required to get good
organisation.
In 1897 part of a building in the old cloisters was
added to the church for the Palaeontological section,
a collection of real importance ; and the Palseo-
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lithic and Neolithic divisions are also most important,
containing some remarkable stone weapons. The
" Hundsteige " collection alone has 20,000 implements
and weapons. This find is said to be the richest
Palaeolithic find in Lower Austria, and prove these
men of primitive days were by no means without
culture.
In the bronze exhibit are some very beautiful
examples of torques, weapons, etc., and one bronze
sword that is a superb gem. When they built the
new bridge over the Danube, urns and other pre-
historic articles were found, and of later work,
especially Roman, there are a crowd of articles, some
of peculiar interest.
There is another section in this museum, illustrating
the guild life of mediaeval days, that is full of charm ;
the rich banners and insignia of so many trades are
here. The cask binders' banner, that is illustrated
after a painting by Kremser Schmidt, has Noah plant-
ing the vine, a Rubens-like woman treading out the
grapes in a tub, and a man at work on the casks ;
another man is pouring out the new wine, and all is
artistically harmonised. There is rich glass, books
and MSS., old punishment instruments, and a crowd
of objects that will detain the enthusiast for many
a day.
From Krems it is but a pleasant walk through
Und to Stein. To-day there are houses all the way.
And in Stein we again meet with Kremser Schmidt.
In spite of his name the people of Stein claim that he
was born there, and that the beautiful frescoes in the
Rathaus are his work. From Stein we can cross the
bridge to Mautern, and so on foot, or by aid of rail
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The Danube to Krems
or steamer, explore the whole district, with Krems as
headquarters.
Of history Krems has had a surfeit. From pre-
historic days on through the days when the Romans
came with their swift-moving boats on this Danube
frontier. Then came the Slavs, and the Bajuvaren,
i.e. Bavarians. In 995 Krems is named as a town,
so that its claim to be the oldest town in Lower
Austria is established, Vienna only being named a
town in 1037 and Tuln in 1014. The oldest seal of
the town has the Bohemian Hon of King Ottakar, with
a vine stem and bush ; this was succeeded by the
Hapsburg seal, the Hon being displaced by a helmet
with a " bush " of peacock's feathers issuing from it.
Husite and Hungarian attacked the town, and the
Turkish invasion injured it ; and in later days it suf-
fered from the Swedes and its conquest by the French ;
and, as though war were not sufficient evil, attacks
by nature's forces — ice and floods, hail, pest, and
fire — have terribly assailed and tried it. To-day it is
a picturesque flourishing town, and is doing much
to benefit and advance its people under a peaceful
rule. Its educational institutions, its trade and
commercial and agricultural schools are doing good
work, but are not so perfect as in some other parts of
the Empire.
v Ere leaving Krems we had a hot walk up through
vineyards and round the walls that climb up the hill-
sides, with their watch towers, to find the " Mandl
ohne Kopf," the little man without a head. It is a
curious headless figure in armour on a wall in a garden
near one of the round towers. Like the " Ring " in
Nuremberg, those who have not seen the " Mandl "
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have not seen Krems. The figure represents a
Swedish major who vented his wrath against holy
pictures and images in the Frauenberg church.
And on the feast of St Ignatius (July 31), whose
statue he split in two, he was reconnoitering near this
tower, when a shot from the Austrian forces on the
Danube island took off his head, and he is there to
this day, headless, on the wall.
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CHAPTER XXVII
THE DANUBE FROM KREMS TO THE AUSTRIAN FRONTIER
IT is with regret we leave Krems, for it is the
eastern gate out of the pleasant district so
full of natural beauty and historic lore, the
Wachau.
Now, soon all around is flat ; great islands break
up the river, which is very wide, and we are quickly
looking out over the Tulln plains. Tulln
" Ein Ort am Donau flusse der liegt in Osterland,
Und ist geheissen Tulme "
So sings the Niebelungen Lied, and it was to " Tulme "
that King Ezel rode forth to meet his bride. Small
wonder the " Staub der Strasse " (the dust of the
route) was never still. For Christian and heathen
were with him. Russians, Poles, Greeks, Wallachs,
Danes, Thuringians, some with twelve hundred men,
others with a thousand. It must have been a brave
sight around Kriemhild's spacious tent on this plain
of Tulln in the sixth century, if this Lied history is
to be credited. In earlier days the Romans had
established a camp here, and Tulln as a border town
has had an exciting history.
The river becomes shallow and soundings are con-
stant as we steam ahead, but on the right we quickly
see a line of low hills ; it is the Wiener Wald, the
Vienna forest, that the keen sight of the famous
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Burghermeister Lueger has secured for ever as a
mighty garden city and pleasure ground for the
capital. But there is yet a romantic castle to attract
us before we reach Vienna. Greifenstein is seen on
the side of a wooded hill. There is plenty of legend
and romance clinging to Greifenstein. A mark on
the rock of a griffin's claw is said to have given the
name to the spot. A more poetical story is told of
the unexpected return of the lord of the castle from
the Crusades ; and behold his wife met him arrayed
in her best, and her beautiful hair in long golden
plaits decked with ribbons. She was too beautiful ;
how did she know he was coming ? His jealousy
was aroused and he called the castle confessor to him,
but the confessor gave no satisfactory reply, so the
enraged lord hurled him into the Hunger Tower, and
his lady's entreaties for mercy confirming his suspicion,
he revenged himself upon her by cutting off her long
love locks. He swore he would never release the
confessor until the stones of the stairway were worn
so deep that he could lay the locks of hair in the hole.
So all who ascended and descended this stairway out
of pity for their priest, said, " Greif an der Stein "
(pounce on the stone), and soon a hole was worn, and
one day the lord, descending, tripped in this hole, and
was picked up dead at the foot of the steps.
As though to sustain an interest in this part of the
river until we enter the portals of Vienna, there now
comes in sight, on the right hand shore, an immense
mass of buildings, with domes and towers, surmount-
ing a high hill. A small town in itself this great
building. Bigger, if anything, than Melk is this impos-
ing Augustinian Monastery of Klosterneuburg. Here
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The Danube to Austrian Frontier
also are rich collections of art treasures, about 40,000
volumes of books, and no less than 13,000 MSS. Here,
as in so many abbeys, the cellars and the gigantic
casks, perhaps more noticed than the MSS., are one
of the sights for the curious. The wine of the
district is a good wine, and the monks know its
value.
But we are now again in Vienna, and if we wish to
continue our journey through Lower Austria to the
Eastern frontier, we can sleep on board and so be
ready for the early start in the morning, going on
board over night at the Prater Quay.
The commencement of the journey is through a
somewhat montonous flat country. Deeply wooded
islands of great size break up the volume of water
into many channels. As we look back we see the
smoke of the great city lying over the plain, and catch
glimpses of St Stephen's lofty spire. Soldiers are
drilling on the banks. Very soon we are passing the
greatest of these islands, Lobau, whence Napoleon
in 1809 passed onwards to the crushing defeat of
the Austrians at Wagram, on to the peace of Znaim,
that pleasant town where we halted in Moravia.
We pass villages in quick succession, the banks
of the river still being very flat, and reach the
market-town of Fischamend.
In ordinary times the journey down this part of
the river is uneventful, but the Danube has its moods
and its passions, and in flood time and in drought,
even on this part of the voyage, one may be in dubiety
as to progress. In the severe drought of 1911 the
great saloon steamers could not go up to the Prater
Quay, so the smaller boats were utilised, and
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passengers were told that the saloon boats would
meet them at Fischamend ; but on arriving there, no
smoke was seen of the bigger boat, and the soundings
gave only just enough water in that great wide river
for the lesser craft, and great pebble banks were
visible everywhere, and with frequent soundings we
crept along and were soon hours behind time.
We are now in a district that would well repay
a long halt by the classical student, the province
of Pannonia, which Tiberius conquered, so making the
Danube the frontier of the Empire.
Vindobona (Vienna) was on the western boundary
of this province, and Carnuntum, the capital, influenced
the whole of this district, where rich have been the
finds of Roman remains.
The fact that it was here that the Stoic
Philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, wrote his Meditations,
and that Diocletian and other emperors lived,
makes the ground deeply interesting. The Vandals
settled here in the fourth century, and after the
death of Attila in this province in 453, the
East Goths occupied the district. At Deutsch-
Altenburg, the first important town we come to,
the remains of this important occupation can be
studied, for in 1904 the Emperor Francis Joseph I.
opened the Carnuntum Museum, that contains a rich
collection of Roman antiquities, and the amphitheatre
and baths, and other remains of the Roman capital
have been opened up in recent excavations. At
Petronell still stands one of the great Roman gateways,
a massive arch with the characteristic brick, or rather
tile work, worth halting for in this frontier town.
Above it rises a hill with a path to its summit called
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The Danube to Austrian Frontier
the Hiittelberg, because the folk made it as they
made those hills we saw in Cracow and Lemberg, by
carrying up the mould in their hats.
The peasants on board and their dress tell us we
are nearing the Hungarian frontier, and soon ahead,
down the broad stream, we see rising above the plain-
lands a high, flattened, conical hill with a great fortress
upon it. A town with a church tower clusters on the
river bank beneath this hill, and the great walls and
square towers of the castle protect, as it were, the
walls of the town that runs down to the river-side.
For a time, as we sail on between willow-clad islands,
this hill is lost to sight, and over the islands rises a
high, crooked peaked mass of hill, all wooded, with a
ruin surmounting it, and as we come round a bend in
the river we see that this second castle is on a rock
some 200 feet high, percipitous to the river, and with
a guarding wall with round and octagonal watch-
towers ensuring the land side from attack. This is
the fortress of Theben ; a double castle, its two great
bastions at the gateways, with embattled walls con-
necting them, overlooking the little town beneath.
As we go round again we see the other castle of
Hamburg, and this castle of Theben on either shore
of the Danube command the two bends of the river,
having a great view on either side to west and east,
and from the north a river falls into the Danube ; it
is the March that forms the frontier line of Austria
and Hungary. At Hamburg we must end our voyage
down this romantic, fascinating river, but still romance
clings to us, for that ruin on the summit of the broad-
capped hill is the Heunenburg or Huns Castle, where
Kriemhild and King Etzel halted with all their retinue
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for the night, after staying eighteen days in Vienna
for the wedding festivities. Hamburg, on the south
shores of the Danube, Heimburg as it is called in
the Lied, formed the entry into King Etzel's land,
and Hainburg has been fought for throughout the
ages. Celt, Huns, German, and Turk have all
struggled for its possession, but since 1490 it has been
Austrian, and it is a fitting and poetical spot whence
to bid adieu to the great river Danube in this book
on Austria.
We are in sight again of that great mountain
chain the Carpathians, that by its vast line of heights
links us up with the Giant Mountains, the northern
frontier of the Empire ; by the Danube we are linked
with the eastern and western frontiers, and if we take
the old Roman Danube road we reach the Adriatic,
and from this historic ground we take a flying course
south-eastwards, and land on the northern shores of
Lake Garda, for our tour, through the Tyrol, perhaps
to English readers the best known province of
Austria.
276
CHAPTER XXVIII
THROUGH THE TYROL FROM LAKE GARDA TO TRENT
(TRIENT OR trento)
AGAIN the scene changes from river and
rocky heights, vast monasteries and
castled crags, to the shores of a southern
lake.
" Kennst du das Land wo die Citronen bluhn,"
wrote Goethe, when he journeyed on the shores of
this lovely lake of Garda, and truly this town of
Riva inspires poetry, the south-eastern outpost of
Austria lying nestled beneath high hills that shadow
the soft, turquoise blue crystal waters of the lake.
Riva is the southern point of the province of the
Tyrol, that has become the pleasure-ground of the
world. Innsbruck is the most northerly town ; the
Engadine bounds the west, and on the east the little
town of Toblach is on the confines of Tyrol.
Of the importance of the Tyrol to the health and
pleasure-seeking people of the world, one is promptly
convinced by a glance at the very long list of health
resorts comprised in a schedule arranged according
to their heights above sea-level. No less than 351
places are so registered, ranging from 1300 to 9400
feet above the sea, and scores of these hundreds of
places are well-known resorts.
But Riva does not appeal to the lover of crisp
mountain air, but rather to the lover of soft zephyrs
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and the lazy life, although close at hand there is
ample scope for mountain adventure.
In walking from the Italian frontier to Riva, we
pass through some very beautiful scenes. The mighty
crags rise crag over crag, high above the lake. In
places the hill-sides are walled up in terraces for the
lemon gardens. The rocks are of reddish granite hue,
and the lake is shut in on either hand by precipitous
heights of about 3000 feet ; one great peak is isolated,
and below this is the pretty fall of the Ponale with the
ruins of a castle. The road runs along the ledge of
rock, winding round the vast buttresses, one needle
of rock springing up at least 3000 feet, and the view
of the little town of Riva as we come round is very
charming.
We descend from the height to the level of the lake,
and enter a hotel with a courtyard surrounded with
arches, and a garden with cypress trees and flowers ;
before us is the mirror-like water of the lake ; around,
the high, grey-peaked rocks tower up, and just above
is the great square tower of the castle of the Scaligers,
and half way up a rocky steep is a white castellette,
with a round-fronted embattled tower, and other
outlying walls and a tourelle.
On the lake the little white-sailed pleasure-boats
and the greater fishing-boats with yellow sails glide
past, and it is pleasant to sit amidst the flowers and
dream, or to take a plunge in the crystal waters of
the lake as a revivifier after a warm day's walking.
The district between Riva and Trent is a rich district
in many ways, both historically and for its southern
vegetation. Here, Indian corn, and olives, and vines
grow profusely, proving the variety of life there is
278
Through the Tyrol to Trent
m the Tyrol, when this district is contrasted with
the mountain heights we shall shortly traverse.
\It was in the autumn of 1880 that I first walked
and rode up through this district by the old diligence
route. As we approached Arco, the old castle on an
isolated black rock seemed to block the route, some
400 feet above the pleasant town, that to-day is a
favourite health resort, amidst cypress and olives,
orange and lemon gardens, and palms. Here is a
school to promote the local olive wood industry. We
follow up the course of the river Sarca, passing the
village of Dro, most picturesque with its southern
type of cottages, and then crossing a bridge beneath
which the stream rushes and foams, divided by an
islet ; beyond on a barren rock we see the castle of
Drena, and beyond this we pass through a wild,
beautiful district. At one spot there are great blocks
of rock, all sliding down into the grey-green waters of
the Sarca. Peasants pass by on their asses, or leading
patient, meek oxen, with their great wooden yokes,
through a rich country of maize and mulberry, olives
and vines, that are trailed along from pole to pole.
Then the scene changes and we pass through a wild
district of stone and cliffs, with a great natural giant
wall at the top, through which the road pierces. Then
again at the little village of Le Sarche we cross the
Sarca that comes rushing in from the mountains that
surround us on all sides. We soon arrive at the pretty
little lake Toblino, with its picturesque chateau.
The road winds round the lake, that on one side lies
in the basin of the grey limestone hills, and we get
good views of the castle, its round tower, and
defensive walls.
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Austria
A good halting-spot is on the bridge that spans
the stream between the two lakes, to take in the
beauty of the scene around. We pass in through the
village of Padernione, and then climb the hill-side
and look down on the lake below, with its castle in
the centre, the rich, luxuriant vegetation all around,
and above the barren, craggy heights.
Then comes a piece of road that to the pedestrian
is as an oven, between two walls of rock. We are
not far from Dante's Inferno, and this is a taste of
it ; but we get a peep between the rocks, of lake, and
castle that tells us paradise here is below ; but we
press on to Vezzano, where, under the welcome shade
of the vine leaves, our host produces an excellent
little dinner, especially a soup with Knodeln
(dumplings), that a German student with whom
we were walking devoured voraciously. The fruit
here was exceptionally good, the wine heady as
this southern wine is apt to be. The route
after Vezzano is very picturesque, it winds on over
a village, climbing a height, and then the little lake
and village of Terlago is seen far below us ; another
of these mountain lakes, like a basin with white shores,
appears, and ahead is the village of Cadine.
The pass has led us a little north of Trent, and
now we bear southward, to the fort built in the rock,
that guards the entrance to the valley of Vela, with
rocks overhanging and sheltering it, and water running
beneath. One great rock mass stands alone, and
water forces its way around either side. The view
ahead of the grey, cloud-capped peaks is very fine, and
below are the white village and waterfalls and caves.
It is a district full of charm and of Nature's choicest
280
llii: SCENE WHICH INSPIRED DANTE'S INFERNO,-- I 111. LARIN] 1>1 MARCO
NEAR fRIESTE
Through the Tyrol to Trent
compositions. We cross a little bridge beneath which
the stream rushes, and then we get a peep of the open
view beyond. A waterfall dashes beneath the arched
road, and as the view opens out the river Adige comes
in sight, and the road winds down between high peaked
rocks, and then the rich wide valley of Trent comes
into view, and the white town lying under the opposite
hills, its white houses climbing here and there the
lower-wooded slopes. A mass of castellated rock
stands isolated in the valley, surrounded with vines,
and blocks the view as we enter the town of Trent
(Trento or Trient) and pass on over the bridge to the
centre of the city.
This tramp is so exactly the opposite to the usual
type of walk one expects to hear of when a tramp
in the Tyrol is mentioned, that I have given it some-
what in detail, to show what a strange variety of
scenery and surrounding nature one can have in this
favourite province. Of mountain climbs over ice
and snow, amidst morraines and crevasses, there are
thousands in Tyrol — we shall meet with them ere
long — but Trent is too interesting and historic a
town to rush away from, without a fairly lengthy
halt.
The tiny railway that runs from Riva to Mori,
and then joins on to the main line to Trent, passes
through a district equally interesting as the road we
walked, and a digression should be made to visit the
castle of Lizzana, where Dante lived for some time. It
is said that he gleaned an idea for his Inferno from a
savagely wild scene that is near here — a great sea of
rocks hurled hither and thither, in most awful, awe-
inspiring disorder. The little train crawls and twists
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slowly through one part of this terrible labyrinth,
with just space for its passage between the great dark
masses of rock. It is in Canto XII. of the Inferno
that Dante writes :
" The place whereto we came to make descent
Was Alpine rough, and no man's eyes could bear
The further cause that made me ill content.
"As this side Trent the ruin lieth, where
Was struck Adiges river in the side
Through earthquake, or supports that yielded there."
Certainly this pass is supremely savage and worthy
of being an aid to the poet's idea of an entrance to
Hell ; perchance it is the moraine of some mighty
glacier, or the fact that a town was buried here in
the ninth century by a mountain slide may account
for this wild freak of nature.
By this route we pass through Rovereto, where
to-day the grape cure is practised under specialists.
The position of this town is very romantic, and
although in sight of the snow peaks it is a good
winter resort.
From the balcony of the Imperial Hotel in Trent,
looking out over the pleasant gardens, with the
imposing statue of Dante in the foreground
embowered in trees and flowers, one can trace
most of the principal buildings of the city. The
towers and domes and such bits as the jewel-like
morsel of the Torre Verde, or Green Tower, all
speak of its history that goes back to pre-Roman
days.
The epoch that its name at once recalls is that of
the sixteenth century, when the great Council of
282
Iw-fw
A HACK STREET I\ I'RENT I
Through the Tyrol to Trent
Trent was held. The church in which the Council
sat is much to-day, with very slight alteration, as it
was then, and a picture of the Council, preserved in
the church, shows the semi-circular arrangement of
seats and the general ordering of the Council,
that sat intermittently, under three Popes, from
1545 to 1563. Many of the seats bear the arms
of the families who occupied them. The cathedral is
a fine Romanesque building, with two great lions
over the north door that are curious. Many of the
streets are delightfully quaint, and full of colour, with
the old arches and palaces.
The great Castello Buon Consiglio, formerly a
palace of ecclesiastical princes, is most interesting
and quaint, and as we emerge from this, that is shown
by an under officer, as the building is now used as a
barracks, we are in a lovely part of the old town, with
the Torre Verde as the central gem. Excellent music
can be heard in Trent. On one occasion we were
fortunate enough to hear one of the most celebrated
bands of the Austrian army, and its rendering of
very varied types of music was most masterly, and
delicately powerful. Both strings and brass were
good, and the men were also good vocalists, singing
to their own accompaniment. On another occasion
we heard a good rendering of "Aida," with perhaps
a little too much forte expression through the entire
performance.
In these towns the museums should never be
missed. They are never a dull, dusty, collection
of heterogeneous articles, and here the Roman
remains and MSS., are exceptionally valuable ;
there are also educational establishments, including
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commercial and industrial schools that are worth
visiting.
Innumerable are the excursions that can be made
from Trent. The Tourist Information Societies,
can be relied upon for useful data for ordinary
travellers or climbers.
284
ROS] m;ari en FROM I III. I'SCH vminthal
CHAPTER XXIX
THE TYROL FROM TRENT TO MERAN AND CORTINA
TYROL is beyond all the other principalities
and provinces of Austria the district for
the pedestrian ; but the railways to-day
quickly bear the walker to the district
he chooses for his excursions, and as he travels to
reach his destination, snowy peaks and glacier heights
plead to him to halt for exploration.
The railway running from Trent to convey us to
the enticing spot for Alpinists, Cortina, runs due north
to Bozen, where a branch line leads away westward
to Meran, the main line passing on northward to
Franzensfeste, where the eastern route runs us down
to Toblach for Cortina.
\ But these railway journeys are never monotonous.
As we left Trent on one occasion, on crossing the
Avisio, that is well described by the guide books as
a torrent, we saw where this mountain stream had
rushed down and carried away whole houses in its
fury. It is but an hour's run to Bozen, and the line
passes through cliffs, and then along peaceful fruitful
valleys, where little white townlets he around up-
rising churches, campaniles, the metal domes of which
sparkle in the sunlight. After passing Auer the
snow peaks come in sight, and on one point stands out
a fine old- walled castle, four square, with four round,
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towers at each corner, and then Botzen, or Bozen, is
seen.
Bozen, the old mediaeval town, is now linked
across the river Talfer with the rising town of Gries,
formerly a village, now a growing health resort ; but
Bozen has much besides its mere position to attract
the traveller and student. To the English-speaking
public it is best known as the starting-point for tours
amongst the Dolomites.
Although Bozen is in the midst of this ice and crag
climbing district yet it is only 850 feet above sea level,
and it is the home of a great flower and fruit industry —
peaches, apples, pears, walnuts, figs, cherries and roses
and violets, and other flowers are here in profusion,
and are scientifically cultivated and sent far and wide
over Europe. It is gloriously hot in summer, but one
can quickly be high up in the mountains to such a
resort as Oberbozen, over 4000 feet above sea level,
and get the crisp, cool air and magnificently glorious
views of the range of the Dolomites, the Oetztaler,
and Brenta and other groups.
Nature can give few grander spectacles than to
look upon Rosengarten at sunset from Oberbozen, or
from Klobenstein, which can also be reached by the
same mountain rail that brought us to the Oberbozen.
The only drawback to these marvellous, glorious views
is the sense of dejection, from the conviction that it is
impossible to know even the marvels that nature
has to give in this circle around us, of jagged, strange-
formed peaks, and vast height masses, mist veiled
and ice scored, glowing in such beauteous hues in the
waning light ; the snow fields tinted with roseate
hues, and below the lesser slopes in grey shadow, dark
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The Tyrol to Meran and Cortina
with the pines. There are scores of excursions and
mountain expeditions around Bozen, and the journey
by road to Toblach and on to Cortina is a glorious one.
One of the streets in Bozen is named after Defregger,
the artist whose powerful work has so illuminated
the history of the Tyrol, and the life of its people ;
we shall touch upon this life and its history when
halting at the capital of the principality, Innsbruck.
In Bozen the intellectual life and its business develop-
ment is aided by schools that assist the special needs
of the district, a good new museum and plenty of
music, and, of course the hotels are good as through-
out the Tyrol ; we shall be able, at Innsbruck, to
give a reason for this quality in hotel management in
the Tyrol.
It is but a short run by rail to Meran, that lies a
little higher than Bozen, being nearly 1100 feet
above sea level. The former villages of Obermais and
Untermais are now joined to Meran, and the beautiful
promenades by the slopes of the Passer stream are
the resort of the invalids who flock to Meran for lung
and other complaints. It is exceptionally an air- cure
resort, and everything possible is done to secure quiet
pleasure and comfort for the invalid.
The mountains around rise up to 10,000 feet, and
these screen Meran from nearly all winds, except the
southern, and the register of sunshine for ten years
was 197 full sunshine, 32 slight sunshine, and only
10 rainy and 7 snowy days during the autumn season.
For the vigorous Alpinist there is plenty of work
near Meran, and throughout Tyrol sport of all sorts
can be enjoyed in summer and winter.
There is one interesting spectacular speciality at
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Meran that can be seen on a smaller scale in many
towns and villages in Tyrol, but here at Meran is the
famous Folk's Theatre with a company of over 300
peasants, performing local plays illustrating Tyrolean
life. The historical life that has passed through such
noble episodes, and the life of the Aim and villages hid
away in the eternal silences beneath the snowy peaks.
The Tyrol is a land of mountain peak often
castle crowned as at Sigmundskron, and mountain
lake. To look upon a contour map of the principality
is to look upon a sea of giant heights and slow moving
glaciers, evolving a territory of sublime beauty. And
these heights in our days have given tasks to the
climber that in former days were deemed impossible.
As a writer on mountaineering lately expressed it ;
this generation " has ascended precipices which our
forerunners called perpendicular, and descended gullies
which before were deemed death traps."
But we must quit this district of Meran and Bozen,
that gives ample scope for pedestrian and climber,
and travel up the old railway en route for the Brenner
Pass to the fortress of Franzensfeste, whence we branch
away eastward through the Pusterthal for Toblach
and Cortina.
We are traversing Tyrol to give glimpses of its
inexhaustible store of mountain resorts and endless
variation of scenes. As we leave Bozen we see the
grey river rushing between the rich vine-covered hills.
The rail twists and winds between rocky cliffs, past
wooden mills and wooden bridges, on over mountain
torrents that hiss down into the seething river.
At Klausen is a wonderfully picturesque spot, with
the white towers of the castle of Sabiona on a
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The Tyrol to Meran and Cortina
precipice above the little town, a castle that goes
back to Roman days, and the tower has quaint bits
of mediaeval work to detain the traveller. The river,
the Eisack, here is deeper and calmer, having some
restful moments in its headlong strenuous career.
We cross it ere we arrive at Brixen, lying in a wide
upland, the hills receding and opening out wider views.
Here the scene begins to change from a southern to
a northern aspect. The houses that cluster round the
town, that is dominated by the little white double
church towers, with dark domes, are of the Northern
Tyrol type, with great stones on the roofs, and the
vines instead of being trailed along from post to post
in pretty southern fashion, are planted in rows as
on the Rhine. Pines cover the upper slopes, and
beeches and chestnuts the lower banks of the hills.
All these towns breathe of bygone ages, the cathedral
and the Johannis Church carry us back beyond
mediaeval days ; but there is a most up to date modern
curative life carried on here, and for pedestrian work
Brixen is a splendid centre.
Franzensfeste is but a couple of miles from Brixen,
I and as we enter we see the massive old forts that
defended this pass in bygone days. We are now
2476 feet above sea level, and we bear away here to
i the eastward down the famous Pusterthal, that leads
down to the Drave or Ober Drau valley, and so links
us up again to the romantic district of the Drave and
Gail valleys where we halted in Carinthia.
The ramifications and valleys leading from this
main valley are simply inexhaustible, and mountain
work of every type is plentiful enough to satiate the
most determined climber. From Bruneck there is
T 289
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now an electric railway that in an hour bears one to
Taufers, and from here a score of excursions can be
made. The spacious old castle so picturesquely laid
out, as it were on a rocky perch, with its round
Tourelles and square massive keep, has some excellent
architectural work, and is most imposing amidst the
mountains.
But the town of Toblach is perhaps the favourite
halting-place for the ordinary tourist, or for the
mountaineer, the latter going on to Cortina.
This little town of Toblach lies is an upland valley
4133 feet above sea level, and in winter and summer
it is full of life.
Cortina, or to give the full name, Cortina d'Ampezzo,
is but about nineteen miles south of Toblach, and this
has become one of the most favourite resorts, also
both in summer and winter, and especially for rock and
mountain work. I will let a friend who has climbed
most of the difficult heights in Tyrol, Switzerland, and
the Pyrenees speak of the work around Cortina.
" The village of Cortina lies at an elevation of about
4000 feet, and is most picturesquely situated in the
Ampezzo valley.
"The route from Toblach leads through a wild
gorge, passes the light green tinted waters of the little
Diirrensee. where the valley opens out, presenting a
striking picture of mountains and glacier backed with
the huge, jagged, serrated mass of Monte Cristallo.
" The hamlet has a population of only about 800
inhabitants, and yet here lads may be seen painting
and drawing from nature, making filagree work, wood-
mosaic, and other artistic objects in the cabinet-mak-
ing school, where the highest art of the wood worker
290
The Tyrol to Meran and Cortina
is taught ; and, as at Zakopane, there is also a good
lace-working industry of women, and the artistic
quality of the work is of a high order.
" Within a radius of five miles are a dozen first-class
mountains, ranging in height from 8000 to 10,600
feet, offering climbs unsurpassed in difficulty by any
in the Dolomites — noted as it is for the severity of its
rock climbs, many presenting the appearance of
colossal church spires, pinnacles and towers, which
catch the flush of evening light until they glow as
burnished copper. The place also affords glorious
opportunity for those who enjoy excursions and
promenades of less exacting and less exciting
character.
" Speaking generally the climbs are only suitable for
experts ; many of them present no serious difficulty to
Alpinists, others are very difficult, such, for instance,
as the climb up the north face of the Kleine Zinne,
which a few years ago was pronounced by the most
expert guides of the district to be unclimbable ; and
can now only be ascended by those who are satisfied
with the scantiest hand and foot hold on the ledges
and in the cracks of nearly vertical walls of rock,
many hundreds of feet in height. But the rocks are
sound and solid.
"The climb to the top of the curious Cinque Torri
rocks is unique, inasmuch as seven- eights of the
climb is accomplished within the gloomy interior —
in the heart of the rocky masses — and it is only when
you near the summit that you come out into broad
daylight. Then one must climb upon the difficult ledges
of the upper fifty feet of these apparently inaccessible
rocks, which are split and fissured so sharply from
291
Austria
each other that a good jump would carry you from
one summit to another."
So speaks my friend who has climbed these heights
of which he speaks, and he has jotted down the types
of climb of the principal of these expeditions —
Name.
Height.
Remarks on the climb.
Monte Cristallo
10,495
Fit only for experts with steady
heads.
Piz Popena
10,310
Very difficult.
Kleine Ziune .
9,020
North face extremely difficult ;
impossible to descend by this
face.
Cinque Torri rocks .
7,750
No serious difficulty.
Sorapis .
10,520
Toilsome and difficult.
Nuvolau .
8,460
Not difficult.
Monte delle Marmarole .
9,620
Not difficult for experts.
Croda da Lago
8,887
Very difficult.
Antelao .
10,710
Superb point of view ; no difficulty
to experts.
Tofana .
10,635
Not difficult.
Becco di Mezzodi .
8,430
Not difficult.
Croda Rossa .
10,330
Toilsome and difficult.
This sketch of mountaineering work at Cortina will
suffice to show what vast scope there is in Tyrol for
all kinds of mountain work ; and we must let this
district speak for all, leaving the Alpinists to fill in
all the infinite variety, minutiae, and endless chain of
excitement of the work from a variety of experiences
throughout Tyrol. We must double back to Franzen-
feste for the route over the Brenner to Innsbruck ;
again following up the rushing Eisack, as we look
ahead after leaving Franzensfeste, we see as we
approach Sterzing the fields of pure snow lying in
the peaked, jagged rocks, and the little town is most
picturesque, lying on the lower hills that are cultivated
292
r
CRODA DA LAGO
The Tyrol to Meran and Cortina
with care, and with grass and trees to their very
summits. On the lower slopes are the brown chalets
and grey-green streams, and little white villages
climbing the rich green slopes. Then the scene
changes to wild savage rocks with hardy fir trees,
and with ever-varying scenes we climb on to the
summit of the Brenner pass, 4490 feet above sea
level. The first of the railway passes over the Alps,
opened in 1867, a marvel of engineering work at
that period.
As we begin to descend, a solemn little dark green
lake varies the scene, and the line winds along a
precipice that is so sheer from the carriage windows,
that once when passing along it, a young American
travelling companion went to the other side of the
carriage to give a little extra balance to the train.
The rail winds and twists and curves above lovely
valleys, and gradually the streams become wider, and
we drop slowly down until we wind on through a
fruitful valley, and Innsbruck is reached.
293
CHAPTER XXX
INNSBRUCK AND THE ARLBERG
INNSBRUCK is very frequently the gate by
which travellers enter Austria. In this volume
it will be the gate, with the magnificent
avenue of the Arlberg, by which we quit this
Empire, so munificently blessed by Nature, and so
fascinating in its history and its people.
The principality or crownland of the Tyrol with the
Vorarlberg has a population of about a million in-
habitants ; the German element largely predominating,
which it does to a greater extent in the north, while, in
the south, an Italian element amounts to over 300,000
souls. It has been said that the principal occupation
in the Tyrol is hotel keeping, but we have seen how
keenly other industries are fostered and developed in
various parts of its 10,000 square miles of area, which
is over 11,000 square miles if we include Vorarlberg.
The spacious well-built capital has a population
of about 60,000 inhabitants, and its buildings and
streets are dignified, and not unworthy of the massive
nature's handiwork, the snow- clad mountain ranges
that literally overshadow the city. I first visited
Innsbruck on a hot August day many years ago,
and it was indeed hot. But in winter the mountain
heights that encircle it, especially on the north, make
it a pleasant place to live in, and in the Spring it is a
delightful halting-place.
294
INNSBRUCK
Innsbruck and the Arlberg
There is plenty of history and of historical buildings
to interest in Innsbruck, and one can wander up and
down its Maria Theresa Street, and under the old
arcade, and look up to the mountains high overhead
again and again, and then wander on past that gem
of house architecture, the Goldenes Dachl (the little
gold roof), and study the frescoes and sculpture on
it, and stroll on passing some rich examples of
mediaeval houses, through the Burggraben, to the
open spacious Rennweg, with the pretty Hof Gardens
and park. But facing this Rennweg is the entrance
to the sight of Innsbruck, that is worth travelling
very far to see. The Franciscan or Hof Church, with
that marvellous monument, one of the grandest, most
artistic, and yet strangest that the world has ever seen ;
the monument to Maximilian, with the exquisitely
wrought bronze figures around it ; and near by. close
to the door, is the simple monument to the daring,
indomitable patriot, Andreas Hofer, the noble inn-
keeper who entered this church to give thanks to
God for his second freeing of Innsbruck. The story
of Hofer the patriot and martyr, and his heroic
struggle that lasted just ten months and ten days,
is well told in a local book by Charlotte Coursen,
which also gives a good resume of the history of the
Tyrol.
There is a very beautiful walk along by the rushing
Inn, the Ferdinand's Allee, that gives pretty peeps
between the trees of the town, and good views of the
mountains along the Inn valley. At the end of this
walk is the chain bridge, and the new lift up the
Hungerburg ; a strange thing this, but an easy way
of climbing the height. The Inn, as it rushes on,
295
Austria
recalls our start for the tour down the Danube, just
below Passau, where it merges itself in the greater
flood.
To the economist and the educationalist, one of the
most interesting things in Innsbruck of modern life
is the Handel's Akademie, or Commercial School.
This is a most spacious handsome block of build-
ings, with every facility for technical classes, and
there is one course of instruction given here that is
unique. A most elaborate well thought-out course
for students studying with a view to the manage-
ment of hotels. It was, I believe, Herr Karl Landsee,
a cultured, far-seeing citizen of Innsbruck, who im-
pressed upon the educational authorities the fact that
the chief industry of the Tyrol, and a most important
industry throughout the Empire, was hotel-keeping,
and whilst courses of education were organised for
every trade and profession, there was none for either
hotel managers or waiters, and he pointed out the
great variety of subjects such men should study to be
good managers. At last the courses were arranged,
including buying, cooking, glass, linen, furnishing,
languages, geography ; habits of other nations,
sanitation, and the multifarious things a good waiter
and a good manager should know. This may account
for Innsbruck's boast — they have some of the best
hotels in the world.
After studying this modern institution, it is not
far to the Karlstrasse, wherein is the great National
Museum or Ferdinandeum. Here the history of
Innsbruck and of the Tyrol can be studied from pre-
historic times down through the ages ; and in the
picture gallery the life of to-day, as depicted by
296
I.\ THE ARLBERG PASS
Innsbruck and the Arlberg
Defregger, will bring back many a scene witnessed
on Aim, and in the villages, as well as recalling the
fierce struggles of these stalwart mountaineers to
preserve their liberty.
All around Innsbruck are excursions innumerable.
The quaint old town of Hall is one of the easiest day
excursions, and a pleasant way to reach this now is
by the tramway, as one gets good views en route, and
one can stop at will. The grouping of the buildings,
especially round the Rathaus at Hall, is full of delight-
ful architectural morsels, and the copper domes of
the cathedral, with their ofttimes brilliant colour, add
to this charm. The town has a dignified antiquity,
and it has preserved a good deal of its mediaeval
aspect, and to both historian and architect, and more
especially to the artist, it has very much of interest.
The noble towers of the Stift and Pfarr churches,
and the solid Miinster Tower form effective bits, and
the scene here on a market-day haunts one for a
long time. Another excursion now made very easy is
to Igls, by carriage, or the route to Berg Isel can be
taken, and then passing the massive and beautifully
decorated Castle Ambras, which is also a museum of
arms, etc., we reach Igls by tramway. The views
from this pleasant height, especially if one walks on
to Rosenhohe, on the edge of the pine forests, whose
soughing ever speaks of the sea, are always very
impressive, even as seen on a rainy day ; the cloud
gloom over the mountains that now hides and now
reveals their glory and vastness is perhaps as beauti-
ful as the effect on a clear sunny day, when the snowy
heights glitter in the sun. In the spring these heights
are a glory of Alpine flowers, and as we look at the
297
Austria
peaks around we can see how inexhaustible are the
expeditions that can be made from Innsbruck, afoot,
in motor, by rail, or by tramway. One list of thirty-
four excursions within a ten-mile radius of the town,
including some most interesting spots, lies before us,
and as in returning from the heights we look down
upon the capital of Tyrol, with the grey waters of
the Inn rushing through its pleasant tree-bordered
gardens, above which rise the historic spires and
towers, one gleans faintly how these scenes inspired
the patriotism that urged on their national hero,
Andreas Hofer, to his heroic actions, and that to-day
inspires a glowing love for their country in the hearts
of peasants and burghers — a love expressed in their
songs and national music.
We quit this gate of the Tyrol ever with regret,
but what a glorious avenue have we to pass through
ere we quit the confines of Austria ! first of all
running up the Inn valley, then climbing the giant
walls of the Arlberg, and on through the Vorarlberg
to the frontier.
As we rise slowly from the Innsbruck level, which
is 1880 feet above sea level, we look away to that
tremendous wall of rock, the Martinswand, that
governs the Inn valley, and soon see peaks of the
Dolomite type rising up to 8000 or 9000 feet — such
peaks as the great sugar loaf of the Tschirgant.
Castles are perched on apparently inaccessible heights,
and ever the Inn rushes on, through rocky defiles and
dark ravines, whilst the good roads tempt the
motorist, and the little footways up through dark
pine forests tempt the pedestrian.
The town of Landeck makes a good halting-spot
298
HAM. IX TIROL
Innsbruck and the Arlberg
in this district, but we climb on upward, and, as we
near St Anton, get a striking view of the bluish ice
cliffs on the glaciers of the Rimer Mountains that
rise over 10,000 feet into the heavens.
At St Anton we are in one of those lovely rich
upland valleys, dominated by its dark red church
spire that always seem to breathe peace. As it
is over 5000 feet in altitude, in winter there is
plenty of snow for winter sports. After quitting St
Anton we enter the famous Arlberg Tunnel, that is
about 6J miles in length, and has made possible
this railway journey through a district so full of
beauty. The tunnel passed, we begin to descend,
having reached the height of 4300 feet.
We look down into deep Klamms and Schluchts,
gorges and ravines, and then over dark forests to
snowy peaks against blue sky and white clouds. The
scene is ever changing; we drop slowly down, on
through tunnels, over viaducts, that give wondrous
peeps into lovely valleys or up to serrated peaks
and snow-clad heights. We rush through cuttings
and along precipices, until we arrive at Bludenz,
where it may be said is the end of this great romance of
engineering skill. The groups of mountains we have
passed through run up to 12,580 feet, and especially
in the Stanzer Valley between St Anton and Landeck
are they full of rugged grand beauty, and the ex-
peditions that may be made in this district are endless.
From Bludenz we run on along the widening valley
of the 111 to Feldkirch, and either quit Austria at the
Frontier Station of Buchs, or we may follow along
the valley of the Rhine that here skirts the Austrian
territory to Bregenz, the capital of the Vorarlberg,
299
Austria
where we are on the shores of the Bodensee, or Lake
Constance.
Bregenz has suffered the usual fate of frontier
towns, and has endured warfare under various nations.
In the days of the Romans it was known as Brigantum,
a fortified station, and for centuries it was one of
the chief fortified southern German towns. It was
stormed by the Swedes in 1646, taken by the French
in 1796, so that Bregenz has a notable history. To-
day it is a small country town little frequented by
tourists, but a pleasant place for a halt, with plenty
of interesting work for the pedestrian or motorist,
and for the historian and archaeologist in the near
neighbourhood. In winter I have seen good skating
on the lake, where in summer, boating, bathing and
fishing can be enjoyed, and here on this extreme
western point of Austria we conclude our pilgrimage
through its homelands.
We have traversed the Empire from the Giant
Mountains to the Adriatic and from the Russian
frontier to this western frontier by the Rhine, and if
the vowels, A, E, I, O, U, adopted by the Emperor
Frederick III. in the fifteen century, cannot be used
with his words " Alles Erdreich 1st Oesterreich
Unterthan," or in Latin, " Austria Est Imperare
Orbi Universo," a phrase that no Emperor or monarch
has yet ever truthfully been able to adopt ; yet if we
look at the strangely rich territories and the varied
climates, and valuable natural productions of her
homelands, if we take the word Erdreich in its literal
value of "earth, soil," and to mean Nature's king-
doms, not political kingdoms, the words may be used
to-day, for there are few empires possessing so vast
300
Innsbruck and the Arlberg
a diversity of Nature's riches. And we have been able
to give glimpses of the diversity of the people who
inhabit this territory — varied, antagonistic, emulous,
and yet all working forward in one conglomerate
mass, uplifting their homelands and their people,
and in so doing advancing the great Empire of Austria,
and maintaining her position as the great balancing
influence in Central Europe.
301
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Index
To lessen the number of references, the pages are not cited in which only
a casual note is made of a place or person, or where the subject is continued
on successive pages.
Bajuvaren, the, 119
Beddoes, Dr, 134
Beethoven, 47, 98
Belar, Professor, 135
Benedictine Abbey of Gottweig, 264
Benkovac, 155
Beskiden Mountains, 63
Bezdez, or Bosig, 12, 13
Bismarck, Fiirst, 200
Black Lake, 35
Blondel, 261
Bludenz, 299
Bocche di Cattaro, 171
Bockstein, 198
Bodenbach, 8
Bodensee, or Lake Constance, 300
Bohemia, 9, 24
Bohemia, Northern and Eastern, 8
Bohemia, Southern and Western,
30
Bohemian glass, 23
Bohemian Paradise, the, 14
Boni, Comendatore, 163
Books on the Danube, 229
Bora, terrific, 144
Bozen, 285, 286
Brazza, 164
Brenner Pass, 293
Brigantum, 300
Brioni, 150
Bristol Castle, 17
British writers and journalists in
Carniola, 132
Brixen, 289
Brown, Dr Edward, 133
Bruck, 115
Bruneck, 289
Briinn, centre of cloth and leather
trades, 49, 50, 57
Buchs, 299
Budweis, 31, 32
Bukowina, 82, 83
A, E, I, O, U, 300
Abbazia, paradise of roses, 177
Adelsberg, 138
Adelsberg vast caverns, 139
Adersbach, 9
Adige River, 281
Adriatic, 114, 143
Afforestation of the Karat, 146
Aggstein, 259
Agricultural and forestry schools, 99
Alps, the, 241
Alt-Ausseer See, 223
Altvater, 43
Altvater, ascent of, 44
Andreas Hofer, 295, 298
Anne of Bohemia, 17
Anne, Queen, to Richard the Second,
22
Aquileia, 118, 119, 180
Arco, 279
Arlberg, the, 8, 294, 299
Army of the Dual Empire, 104
Arsenal of Graz, 120
Attersee, 222
Attila, 274
Auersperg, Prince, 242
Aussee, 224
Aussig on the Elbe, 39
Austerlitz, 57
Austria, into, via the Elbe, 8
Austria, Lower, 108
Austrian Empire, political necessity .
105
Austrian Lloyd's palatial offices, 143
Austrian Lloyd, 149
Avars, the, 119
B
Baden, 110
Bad Gastein, 193, 199
303
Austria
Bukowina history, 90
Bukowiner Hohe, 74
Bulgarians, settlements of, 87
Bulic, Monseignor, 154, 162, 164
Burghermeister Lueger, 272
Burgstein or Sloup, 11, 12
Busi, Blue Grotto of, 165
C
Calais, 8
Capo d'Istria, 147
"Cardinals' Page," 17, 34
Carinthia (Karnten), 180
Carlsbad, 8, 38
Carniola history, 130
Carniola, or Krain, 125
Carnuntum, 274
Carnuntum Museum , 274
Carpathians, 63, 72, 89, 98, 276
Carpenter's house, 128
Castle Ambras, 297
Castle Vitturi, 160
Castelnuovo, 176
Cathedral of St Vitus, 23
Cattaro, 157, 174
Cattaro history, 176
Cech students, 27
Celtic tribes, 119
Chabowka, 70
Chains to shut off the Jews, 66
Chambers of Commerce, not as in
England, 53
Chamber of Commerce of Lwow,
79
Charles Bridge, 27
Charles IV., 19
Chods, the, 35
Christianity, early adopted, 119
Cinque Torri, 291
Clementinum, 23
Clifton, 134
Cobenzl, 98
Commerce, Chamber of, 86
Corporate life of small towns, 58
Corpus Christi procession, 127, 129
Cortina d'Ampezzo, 290
Council of Trent, 283
Court of Charles V, 19
Cracow, 63, 67
Croatian and Serbian languages,
175
Cultivation, intense, 21
Curzola, 167
Czernowitz, epitome of Austria, 83
D
Dalmatian coast, 157
Danielsberg, 196
Dante's Inferno 280
Danube, moods and passions, 273
Danube navigation, 234
Danube saloon steamers, 229
Danube Steamship Company, 108
Danube, the, 97, 227
Danube Valley, 217
Davy, Sir Humphry, 132, 133, 134,
136, 138
Defregger, 287
Delattre, Abbe, 164, 253
Deutsch-Altenburg, 274
Diocletian, 119, 160, 274
Dobratsch Mountain, 183, 188
Dolomites, the, 286
Domazlice (Taus), 19, 35
Donnerkogel, the, 224
Dorna Watra, 89
Drage, Geoffrev, Austria Hungary,
102, 103, 104
Drave, 120, 183, 195
Drena, castle of, 279
Dresden, 8
Drought of 1911,273
Diirrenstein, 261, 264
Dvorak, 19, 27
Dzieduszycki Museum, 79
E
Eastern Bohemia, 16
Ebensee, 222
Economic situation, 103
Edmunds Klamm, 9, 10
Education, Austrian, 214
Education, Austrian, excellent
system, 52
Educational establishments of small
Austrian towns, 58
Education, Report on Technical and
Commercial (CD. 419), 104
Edward VII., King, 38
Eger, 8, 39
Eisack, the, 289
Eisenstein, 35
Elbe, 8, 10, 17
Elizabeth, Queen, 22
Emperor Henry III., a stately
pageant, 248
Engandine, 277
Engineering feats of overcoming
difficulties, 197
304
Ind
ex
English fleet under Hoste, 177
Enns, 109, 120
Epidaurus, 167
Ercegnovi, or Castelnuovo, 172
" Eros and Psyche," remarkable
drama, entitled, 80
Ethnographical Museum, 27
Ethnology, 48
Etruscans, the, 118
Etruscan vases, 182
F
Factories, 101
Farmer's house, 128
Fauna and Flora of Carniola, 132
Feistritz, 136
Fete, picturesque, on the Vistula, 66
Fire alarm, ingenious method, 92
Fir tree, life of, 233
Fischamend, 273
Fischer, Herr, 158
Flower Corso, Vienna, 97
Flushing, 8
Folk's Theatre, 288
Folk museums, 122
Folklore and legend, 247
Forestry, 142
"Forgotten Great Englishman, A,"
17
Frain, castle of, 60
Francis Joseph I., 93, 111, 274
Franzensbad, 39
Franzensberg, 51
Franzensfeste, 288, 289
Frauenberg, 32
Freedom in Austria, 103
Friedland, 12
Furstenberg Gardens, 24
G
Galicia, 63, 77
Garda, lake of, 277
Gasthaus zum Richard Lowenherz,
262
Gelsse, the — a very special mosquito,
254
General Radetzky, 130
German population of Bavaria,
linking up, 193
German students, 27
Ghega, Karl, 111
V 305
Giant Mountains, 11
Giant Mountain excursions, 14
Giewont, the, 71
Gilbert, J., 133
" Gleaming Dawn, The," 17
Gloggnitz, 112
Gmunden, 221
Gorizia (Gorz), 180, 181
Gosau, 224
Government credit, 104
Gozze, Count, 171
Gratz or Graz, 114, 115, 116
Gratz, castle of, 47
Gravosa, 167
Greifenstein romance, 272
Grein, town of, 243
Greiner Schwall, 244
Gross and Klein Skal, 14
Gross Skal, 15
Grossen Winterberg, 9
Grottensee, 213
Guild life of mediaeval days, 268
Gutenstein, castle of, 37
II
Haida, 12
Hamburg, 275
Hall, 297
Halstatter See, 223
Handel's Akademie, or Commercia
School, 296
Hapsburgs, the, 106
Health resorts, Bohemia, 37
Heathen customs, 46
Herrenskretchen, 8, 10
High Tatra Mountains, 69
Historical studies, opportunity for,
190
Hofer, Dr Brother Berthold, 253
Hohenelbe, 14
Hohenfurth, 34
Hohenlohe memoirs, 17
Hohenlohe, Prince, 17, 143
Hook of Holland, 8
Hotel keeping in the Tyrol, 294
" Houses," i.e. clubs of the different
nationalities, 84
Housewifery school, 72
Hradcany, Royal Palace of the, 23
Hradschin, 22
Hunger tower, 13
Hunger Wall, 27_
Hungarian frontier, 275
Hus, canonised as a Saint, 22
Austria
Husinec, 35
Huttelberg, 275
Ice-exuding holes, 59
Ilz, the, 227
Industrial life, 104
Inferno, Dante's, 282
Inn, the, 227, 296
Innsbruck, 8
Innsbruck, 277, 294
International Challenge Shield, 20
International Press Congress in Ischl,
220
Ischl, 115, 218
Iser Mountains, 11
Italian frontier to Riva, 278
Jacquinta, Norman Princess, 17G
Jagerndorf, 44, 45
Jerrold, Walter, 228, 244
Jewish burying ground, 23
Jewish Town Hall, 23
Jews in Galicia, 80
Jicfn, 13, 14, 16
Joanneum Museum in Graz, 118, 121
Jochstein, 230
John Hus, birthplace of, 34
Johnsdorf, 10
John Sobieski, overwhelmed
Turkish force, 67
John Westacott, 233, 245
Joseph II., Emperor, 52
Julian Alps, 125
Julian Alps, fauna of, 138
Jung Bunzlau, or Mada Boleslav, 15
K
Kahlenberg, 16, 98
Kalte Rinne, 112
Kamnitz, 10
Kank, 16
Karawanken Alps, 115, 188, 193
Karawanken tunnel, 182
Karlin, 22
Karlov church, 28
Karlsbrunn, 43
Karlstein, 30
Karluv Most, 23
Karst Mountains, 142
King Etzel, 275
Kistanje, 155
Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia,
188, 189
Klamm, 112
Klausen, 288
Kleine Zinne, 291
Klosterneuburg, 272
Knight of the Triglav Kingdom, 135
Knin, 155
Kolbnitz, 196
Kohl, Herr J. G., 26, 237
Koschat, Thomas, folk music, 190
Koscieliska Valley, 73
Kosciuszko's tomb, 65
Kosciuszko, 78
Kosciuszko Hill, 67
Krapfenwald, 98
Krempelstein, 228
Krems, 264
Kremser Schmidt, 266, 268
Krems history, 269
Kriemhild, 251, 258, 275
Krka River, 155
Krumau, or Krumlov, 33, 34
Kubelik, 27
Kustenland, the, 141
Kutna Hora, or Kuttenberg, 16, 17
" L'Autriche a l'aube de XX
Siecle," by Max Marse, 102
Lacroma, isle of, 170
Laibach, 130, 138
Landeck, 298
Landsee, Herr Karl, 296
Lauriacum, 242
Layard, Mr, 163
Leitmeritz, or Litomerice, 11
Legend, land of, Bohemia, 41
Lemberg to the Bukowina, 77
Lessina, 164, 167
Libussa, Princess, 22, 28
Life on the higher aim, 221
Lindtner, Mr, 129
Linz, 32, 109, 235, 236
Lissa, 165, 166
Liszt, 47
Living cheap in Austria, 101
Lizzana, castle of, 281
Ljubljana (Laibach), 125
Lobau, 273
Ludi Horecza, 87
Lussino, 152
Lwow, or Lemberg, 77
306
Index
M
Mala Strana, or Little Town, 24
Mallnitz, 197
Mandl ohne Kopf, 269
Mangart group, 188
Marbach, 249
Marburg on the Drave, 123
Marconi, Signor, 134
Marcus Aurelius, 274
Maria Rast, 118
Maria Taferl Church, 249
Maria Worth, isle of, 190
Marienbad, 8, 37, 38
Market women, rich beauty of colour,
64
Marsbach, 230
Matejko, 67
Mathilde of Schreckenstein, 40
Mauthausen, 242
Mautern, 264
Maximilian, King, 171
Mayer, Dr F., Steiermark by, 116
Macocha, legend of, 55, 57
Meleda, 167
Meran, 287
Metkovic, great Serbian stronghold,
164
Mies, 37
Millstatt. 195
Mirabelle Castle, 210
Miramar, 146
Mittagskogel, 188
Molk (Melk), 241, 251, 252 256
Mollthal, 196
Mondsee, 213
Morena, goddess of Death, 46-119
Morfill, Professor, 67
Morskie Oko, or Meeres-auge, 73
Mountain work around Cortina, 290
Mozart, 207
Muhldorf, 196
Mur River, 116, 117, 120
Miirz River, 115
Museum of Industrial Art, 23
Music, excellent, in Trent, 283
N
Napoleonshohe, a pleasant surprise,
187
Naprstek's Museum, 25
Narenta, 164
National Bank, 103
Navy, 104
Niebelungen Lied, 233, 240 271
Neuhaus, 231, 232
Newspapers, 100
Noric branch of the Celts, 118
Nowy Targ, 70
Oberbozen, 286
Oberfalkenstein, 196
Obervellach, 197
Oester- Reich, 94
" Oesterreichisches Statistisches
Handbuch," 41, 99
Olmiitz, 48
Oman, Professor, 83
Ombla, the, 167
Opcina, 142
Oppa falls, 44
Oppa, Gold, White, Middle, 44
Oppa, the, 43
Ossolinski Museum, 79
Ostend, 8
Ottensheim, 235
Pacher, Michael, altar-piece by, 215
Padernione, village of, 280
Palacky, 104
Palacky's History, 17
Palaeolithic find, 268
Palm Sunday in Moravia, 46
Pannonia, province of, 274
Paradise for sportsman, fisherman,
or mountaineer, botanist, or
geologist, 68
Parisic, Signor, 161
Parliament House, 24
Paracelsus, Theophrastus, 183
Pay for peasants, 128
Payne, Peter, the " Forgotten great
Englishman," 37
Peasant Art of Austria, 206
Peasant folk, quaint customs, 157
Peasants' peculiar dross, 75
Perasto, famous for its seamen, 173
Perko, Mr, 141
Persenbeug, castle of, 248
Petermann, Reinhard, 158
Petronell, 274
Philanthropic institutions in Vienna,
96
" Pictures from Bohemia," 13
Picturesque dress, women in, 36
Pilsen, 36
307
Austria
Plants, rarer, 137
Pochlarn, Great, 250
Pochlarn, Little, 250
Podiebrad, 17
Pola, 151
Poles free under Austria, 63
Ponale, 278
Population and race, 99
Population of Upper Austria, 229
Poronin, 70, 74
Portshach, 191
Postlingberg, ascent of, in the
seventies, 239
Powder Tower, 21
Prachatic, 34
Prague, 16, 19, 21, 28
Prater Quay, 108
Prater, the, 97
Prebischthor, 9
Premysl, 22
Prokov, Rock town of, 16
Prussian campaign of 1866, 16
Pruth, the, 85, 87
Punta Planka, 159
Pusterthal, the, 288, 289
Quarnero, 152, 177
Quarnero and Quarnerolo, 149
11
Race difficulties and aspirations, 105
Ragusa, 164, 168
Raible Dolomites, 189
Railways of Europe, grandmother
of, 32
Railways, productive, development
by the State, 103
Ransonnet, Baron, 165
Reichenberg, 11
Reichsrath, the, 102
Religious establishments in Czernow-
witz, 85
Report for the Board of Education
on Technical and Commercial
Education in Central Europe
(CD. 419), 79
Rex Triglavenses I., 135
Richard Coeur de Lion, 180, 237, 261
Richard Coeur de Lion, guest of the
Ragusan Senate, 170
Richard the Second of England, 17
Riva, 277
Riva to Mori, 281
Rivalry of the varied races, 24
Rizano, 175
Rock towns, 9
Roll, the, 12
Romerbad, 123
Rosenbergs, 16, 33, 34
Rosengarten, 286
Rossatz, 262
Rotstein, 15
Rotwein Klamm, 135, 190
Rovensko, 15
Rovereto, 282
Rovigno, 150
Roznik, village of, 127
Rudolphinum, 23
Rupert, Prince, 22
Ruthenians, absolute freedom
Galicia, 82
S
Sabbioncello, 167
Sadagora, 83, 87
Sadowa, 16
St Anton, 299
St Barbara, Church of, 16
St Florian, 241
St Gilgen, 213
St Giorgio and Madonna della
Scapella, 173
St Johann, 260
St Johann Pongau, 204
St John's, 28
St Martin, 28
St Martin's, mine of, 16
St Peter and Paul, 28
St Stephen, 106
St Veit, 128
St Wolfgang, 213, 214
Salinas, Professor, 163
Salona, the Pompeii of Dalmatia, 162
Salzburg, 206
Salzburg, Duchy of, 199
Salzkammergut, the, 115, 206, 212
Salzkammergut Lakes, 213
Samuel, Bulgarian Czar, 176
Sann River, 123
Sarca River, 279
Sarcophagi, exceptionally fine, 163
Sarmingstein, 247
Save, 120, 125
Savings Bank. 86, 100
Saxon Switzerland, 8
Schachinger, Dr, 253, 255
Schafberg, the, 216
308
Index
Schandau, 8
Scheffel, v. Viktor, 260
Schliemann, Dr, 163
Schlossberg, 116, 122
Schneekoppe, 14
Schonbrunn, 93, 97
Schonbiihl, or Schonbichel, 259
Schools, excellent, 45
Schreckenstein, castle of, 39
Schreckenwald, the robber knight,
259
Schwarzach, St Veit, 203
Schwarzenberg, Prince, 33
Schwarzenberg territory, Natural
History in the, 32
Sebenico, 157, 158
Sedlec, 17
Semmering Pass, 110
Semmering, the, 108, 114
Sevcik, 27, 35
Shaduf wells, 81
Siemiradzki, 67
Sigmundskron, 288
Silesia to Moravia, 43
Silvio Pellico, 52, 144
Skoda establishment, 36
Slav part songs, 135
Slavonian folk, picturesque dress,
183
Slum, town without a, 28
Smetana, 19, 27
Smichov, 22
Sobieski, John, 65, 77, 90, 218
Sokol, 84
Sokol Athletic Society, 36
Southampton, 17
Southern Railway, 109, 113
Spalato, 160
Spielberg, the, 51
Spittal, 111, 194
Spitz, 260
Sports in the forests and mountains,
41
Sport, plenty of, in Carinthia, 191
Stalactite caverns, 74
Statistical Central Commission,
Royal and Imperial, 98
" Statistisches Jahrbuch der Auto-
nomen Landesverwaltung," 99
Stein, 264
Stertzing, 292
Stillenstein Klamin, 244
Stradioti, island of, 172
Strahov monastery, the, 27
Styria, the ancient Steiermark of
Austria, 113
Styrian Alps, 98
Sudden contrasts of life in Austria,
218
Sudeten, the, 43
Sumava, 35
T
Tabor, founded by Zizka, 31
Tannenberg, 11
Tarvis, 188
Tatra Mountains, 74, 75
Tauern Mountains, 114, 132
Tauern Railway, 191, 193, 195
Tauern tunnel, 197
Taufers, 290
Taus, 19
Technical Schools, 99
Tegetthoff, Admiral, 165
Teplitz, 39
Tetschen, 11.
Teufelsmauer, 260
Teyn Church, 21
Thaya Valley, 57
Theben, fortress of, 275
Tillage, excellent, 100
Timber work on the Danube, 232
Titian, 19
Tobin, Dr, 133
Toblach, 277, 290
Toblino Lake, 279
Toplitz and Kammer Lakes, 225
Totegebirge, the, 225
Trau, 159
Traunsee, 221
Traunstem, 221
Trautenau, 11, 16
Trent, Trento or Trient, 281
Triest, 142
" Triffoni," coins, 176
Triglav, 130
Triglav Lakes, 135
Troppau, 45, 47
Trosky, 15
Trstenik, 167
Tschirgant, the, 298
Tulln, 271
Turnov (Turnau), 11, 13, 15
Tyrol, 277, 281, 285
U
Und, 264
Undine, 233
Ungarisch-Hradisch, 57
Universal Suffrage, 103
309
Austria
Unterfalkenstein, 196
Untersberg, the, 209
Vandals, the, 274
Veit Stoss, 64
Veldes, 136
Velebit Mountains, 152, 156
Vezzano, 280
Vienna, 91
Vienna Flower Corso, 97
Villach, 115
Vindobona (Vienna), 274
Vinohrady, 22, 28
Vistula, 63
Vltava, 23, 27, 33
Vorarlberg, 294
Voslau, 110
Vysehrad, 23, 28
W
Wachau, the, 254, 259, 271
Wages, for men, for women, 52
Wages in factories, 128
Wagner, 19
Wagram, 57, 273
Waldstein, 14, 15, 16
WaUensteins, 12, 15, 45, 61, 194
Wallensteins, palace of, 24
Wallsee, 243
Walpurgis night, 31
Walter Crane, 57
Warmbad bathing resort, 184
Wartberg, 115
Weckelsdorf, 9
Weinzettelwand, 112
Weiteneck, 251
Wenzel's chapel, double church,
upper Roman Catholic, lower
Protestant, 61
" Whisky's had nae chance," 37
White Dunajec, 71
White Mountain, 22
Whitmonday at Warmbad and
Villach, 186
Wiclif period, 17
Wiener Wald, 271
Wochein La\e, 134
Wonder Rabbi Friedmann, 88
Wood-carving and the lace-making
schools of Zakopane, 75
Woodwork school, 183, 222
Worther See, 190
Wyclifite wars, 40
Wyscherad, 22
Ybbs, 24S
Zakopane, 69, 70, 75
Zara, 153
Zeller See, 210
Zizkov, 22
Znaim, 58, 61, 273
Zwitta River, 55
1 04 89
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