Strasbourg

“ I remember Cologne and its cathedral almost in the bland dawn, and our fresh start thence for Strasbourg, now clearly recognised, alas, as a start back to America, to which it had been of a sudden settled that we were, still with a fine inconsequence, to return. We had seen Cologne cathedral by excursion from Bonn, but we saw Strasbourg, to my sorrow until a far later occasion soothed it, only as a mild monster behind bars, that is above chimneys, housetops and fortifications ”

“ Orchards surround the villages; rustic churches, covered with deep-hued tiles, rise up from the smiling groves; more imposing belfries mark the towns, and the magnificent spire of Strasbourg points out, through the transparent vapor, the old capital of the province. The whole plain is furrowed by fine roads in every direction, which, bordered by walnut-trees, form an immense net-work of verdure. Towards the north the valley of the Rhine is lost in the vapory distance; on the south the Vosges blend with the Jura mountains ”

“ It was with real emotion that after the Armistice I saw the statue, all symbols of loss and servitude removed, throned equally with her sister cities who encircle the great square. A visit to Strasbourg itself in the dawn of its liberation is a satisfactory and stimulating experience. The many vicissitudes of its history have left a clear architectural mark on the town. Strasbourg lies, a little way removed from the left bank of the Rhine, in the centre of a fertile plain. Looking southwards, the line of the Vosges mountains stretches far away to the right ”

“ I did not repent my Stay at Strasbourg; for tho' I had been at it before, yet I never was there long enough to make any Observation upon the Remarkables of the Place. Strasbourg [57] is one of the best Cities in Europe. 'Tis the Capital of Alsace, and was conquer'd by Lewis XIV. in 1682, without any Expence but of Menaces and Money. That Monarch fortify'd it considerably, and caus'd a Citadel and Arsenal to be built there, which are Monuments worthy318 of a Great King. The Cathedral Church has not its equal for its Bulk and Grandeur. ”

“ For Strasbourg is now one of the great strongholds of the German Empire. Haunted by the fear that France may one day come pouring up from the south to regain her lost city, the engineers of the [Pg 421] Kaiser have laboured with their every talent for her defence. Far-flung, a circle of fourteen forts girdles her round, and within them rampart follows rampart, culminating in the mighty citadel.
What hope can an army, however great, have of capturing such a place? In the mind of every German engineer there is but one adjective, and always one, associated with it—impregnable. ”

“ Forming a strikingly happy contrast to this huge, unmeaning production- -are the modest and unassuming monuments of Schoepflin, Oberlin, and Koch: men, of whom Strasbourg has good reason to be proud. Nor let the monument of old Sebastian Schmidt escape the notice and commendation of the pensive observer. ”

“ On leaving the fertile valley, where the quaint old city of Toul clusters by the bank of the blue Moselle, surrounded by a chain of hills, that are covered to their summits by teeming vineyards, green foliage, and fertility—on leaving it, we took the road direct to Strasbourg and the Rhine, every night engirding our camp and cantonments with strong out-picquets, as we drew nearer the vicinity of the foe. ”

“ May health experts and social reformers long be kept at bay from the old quarters of Strasbourg! The type of house which lends unique character to the city has a deep-pitched slanting roof broken by small dormer windows. The red tiles, flecked with green, have been mellowed by age into a subdued colour of great beauty. The houses, with wide lattice windows, are often decorated with wood carvings, sometimes old, often restored. The gables which lend so much character to this class of architecture are treated with considerable freedom and variety ”

“ We left Paris the following morning, and, partly by diligence, partly on foot, reached Strasbourg in a few days; thence we proceeded by Kehl to Freyburg, and, crossing the Lake of Constance at Rorschach, we entered the Bregenzerwald on the twelfth morning of our journey. I suppose that most men preserve fresher memory of the stirring and turbulent scenes of their lives than of the more peaceful and tranquil ones, and I shall not be deemed singular when I say that some years passed over me in this quiet spot, and seemed as but a few weeks. ”

“ A passing gleam of lightning revealed to me a lofty square tower defended by outworks, having a deep ditch, palisadoes, and a drawbridge, which was up. It was evidently the castle of some Alsatian noble, probably a vassal of the Bishop of Strasbourg, to whom the province of Alsace at one time belonged. Being furnished with letters from king Louis on one hand, and with a passport from Duke Charles on the other, it now occurred to me that I should be pretty safe in venturing into this feudal tower, whoever might be its lord ”

“ There is one remarkable point about the town of Strasbourg, which is, that the Protestants and Catholics have, I believe always, and do now, live in a state of amity which ought to be an example to others. ”

“ That there are a large number of Germans in Strasbourg and Alsace generally is, of course, true. There were some 450,000 before the war, out of a population of rather more than two millions, and there are now at a rough estimate about 300,000, of whom nearly 100,000 are to be found in Metz and Strasbourg. The whole administration of the two provinces, with very few exceptions, was a German administration, imported from Germany, and up to the outbreak of war, the universities and the schools—i.e., the whole teaching profession—were German, and many of the higher clergy. ”

“ Hops are trained on rather a different principle from that usual in Kent, and the long trailing festoons of leaves and flowers languish one towards another like so many elegant and swooning beauties. Tobacco factories and breweries have been established in Strasbourg by the Germans; engine works and foundries also contribute to its wealth. But despite the commercial and manufacturing activities which have turned a city of 78,000 people in 1870 to one of 170,000 in 1911, the strength of Alsace [171] remains rooted in its agriculture and its agricultural population. ”

“ Strasbourg was formerly an Imperial City, the Magistrates whereof were Lutherans, but now the Catholics are the Masters, and have excluded the Lutherans from all manner of Employment. The King of France keeps a strong Garison in it, and the Commandant here for the King is the Marshal de Bourg. This Nobleman lives more retir'd than is usual for People that are in Power. ”

“ The Pope is beginning to perk up; and Italy and England and Russia seem ready to join in the war, now that France is down. Think of Paris being bombarded and smashed up like Strasbourg. We never shall see the grand old cathedral at Strasbourg now, it is so spoilt.
Vevay is crammed with refugees from Paris and Strasbourg. Ten families applied here yesterday....
Our house is brimful, and we have funny times. The sick Russian lady and her old Ma make a great fuss if a breath of air comes in at meal times, and expect twenty people to sit shut tight in a smallish room for an hour on a hot day. ”

“ When the brothers Louis and Charles met at Strasbourg in 842 to confirm an alliance they had formed against Lothar, Charles and his followers took the oath in German, Louis and his nobles in the Romance tongue of which modern French is the descendant. This they did that the armies on both sides might clearly understand how their leaders had bound themselves, and the Oath of Strasbourg remains to-day as evidence of this new growth of nationality that had already acquired distinct national tongues. ”

“ The Strasburgers had often experienced the hospitality of the Swiss. Now when, 150 years after the first journey of the porridge-pot, the city of Strasbourg had again announced a brilliant prize-shooting for crossbow and gun, and a strong detachment from Zurich had celebrated with them the first fortnight of the cross-bow shooting, then a number of young Zurichers, under the lead of some gentlemen of the council, determined to repeat the old voyage. ”

“ Presently our carriage stopped before a tremendous mass of masonry pierced by an iron, arched gate, through which double files of farm-wagons were rolling, escorted by customs guards and marines.
“No room! no room!” shouted the soldiers. “This is the Porte de Pierre. Go to the Porte de Saverne!”
So we passed on beneath the bastions, skirting the ramparts to the Porte de Saverne, where, after a harangue, the gate guards admitted us, and we entered Strasbourg in the midst of a crush of vehicles. At the railroad station hundreds of cars choked the tracks ”

“ After I had staid a while at Strasbourg, I receiv'd News at last from Berlin, together with Money to proceed in my Journey. I made haste thro' the Cities of Heidelberg [58] , Darmstad and Francfort, and stopt at Hanau, where I had the Honor of paying my Compliments to the Count of that Name, who commonly resides there. ”

“ Strasbourg, one of the chief ramparts of the empire of heresy, united for ever to the Church and to our Crown; the Rhine established as the barrier between France and Germany; and, what touches us even more, the worship of the True Faith authorized by a solemn engagement with sovereigns of another religion, are the advantages secured by this last treaty. The Author of so many blessings manifests Himself so clearly that we cannot but recognize His goodness ”

“ We unanimously directed our course (by the stars) due east, which would take us directly to the Rhine, and a considerable distance to the northward of Strasbourg; and at daybreak, on the 15th, we entered an excellent wood on a mountain’s side, close to the high-road, got well up into it, and had a full view the whole day of those who passed underneath, without a possibility of being seen by them. ”

“ The women, even to the class of menial servants, go abroad with their hair brushed and platted in rather a tasteful manner, as we even sometimes observe in the best circles of our own country. The hair is dressed à la grecque, and the head is usually uncovered: contrary to the broad round hats, and depending queues, of the women inhabiting the neighbourhood of Saverne. But you should know that the farmers about Strasbourg are generally rich in pocket, and choice and dainty in the disposition of their daughters--with respect to wedlock. ”

“ A Man that has a Taste for a plain home-bred Girl may here find Amusement and good Blood. 'Tis observ'd that the Lutheran Women are the most beautiful, and the Sex at this Place is said to be very indulgent, and very tractable; so that I should be apt to think, a Man need not be very open-hearted to them.
Tho' Strasbourg may be reckon'd among the finest Towns in France, one can't say there's a single House in it that is magnificent, or makes a grand Appearance. The Cathedral is a very stately Building of Gothic Architecture ”

“ CARE IS TAKEN THAT TREES DO NOT GROW INTO THE SKY. ELEVENTH BOOK. Frederica (continued) —Return from Strasbourg
After I had, in that bower of Sesenheim, finished my tale, in which the ordinary and the impossible were so agreeably alternated, I perceived that my hearers, who had already shown peculiar sympathy, were now enchanted in the highest degree by my singular narrative. ”

“ No. 79 dates from Louis XIII. At No. 90 we see traces of the old chapel of the Orphanage des Enfants-Rouges, so called from the colour of the children’s uniform. The eastern side of the Imprimerie Nationale adjoining the Archives, built by Delamair, as the hôtel de Strasbourg, and commonly known as hôtel de Rohan, because four comtes de Rohan were successively bishops of Strasbourg, is bounded by Rue Vieille-du-Temple, that too along its whole course a sequence of old houses bearing witness to past grandeur. No. ”

“ Strasburg (124) , capital, since 1871, of Alsace-Lorraine, on the Ill, a few miles above its confluence with the Rhine, 89 m. N. of Basel; a place of great strategical importance, and a fortress of the first class; is a city of Roman origin, and contains a magnificent Gothic cathedral (11th century) with a famous astronomical clock, an imperial palace, university, &c.; manufactures embrace beer, leather, cutlery, jewellery, &c.; there is also a busy transit trade; a free town of the German empire in the 13th century ”

“ Far in the distance, beyond the dark-green forests, we descry, with our field-glass, the cathedral spire of Strasburg. Turn whichever way we may, the view is superb, and the hill is indeed a kingly seat, for it commands as magnificent a prospect as king could wish to look upon.
Heidelberg is a paradise of pipes—so I thought till I reached Vienna; but meerschaums of splendid carving and quality are sold here at prices so low, in comparison with what they cost in America, that the temptation to smokers to lay in a stock is almost irresistible. ”

“ Strasburg, the frontier fortress of France, is situated very near the banks of the Rhine, and contains a population of sixty thousand, and a garrison of six thousand men in time of peace. It is the strongest fortification in France. It has the appearance of a German city, and that language is much spoken, and altogether it appears quite unlike France. The principal curiosity here is the cathedral, one of the noblest Gothic edifices in Europe, and celebrated for its spire, which is the highest in the world: it is four hundred and seventy-four feet above the pavement. ”