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diff --git a/40889-0.txt b/40889-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..61b47dd --- /dev/null +++ b/40889-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12790 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40889 *** + +Transcriber's Note: + + Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have + been preserved. Anglicized, archaic, or otherwise unusual spellings + of proper nouns were retained as printed. Examples include "Botzen", + "Kapuzingerberg", "Schonberg" and "Wencelaus". Inconsistent use of + diacritics was also retained as printed. Obvious typographical + errors were corrected. + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + + + + [Illustration: + A MAP TO + ILLUSTRATE + TYROL + AND ITS + PEOPLE] + + + + +TYROL AND ITS PEOPLE + + + + + [Illustration: THE GOAT HERD, KASTELRUTH, NEAR BOZEN] + + + + + TYROL + AND ITS PEOPLE + + BY + CLIVE HOLLAND + + WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY + ADRIAN STOKES + + THIRTY-ONE OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS + AND A MAP + + METHUEN AND CO. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + + + + + _First Published in 1909_ + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the following pages, which in addition to being a record of travel +in a delightful and too little known portion of the great +Austro-Hungarian Empire, are also an attempt to present within a +reasonable compass an account of the national history of a singularly +interesting people, the author has sought to deal more fully than is +usually the case in books of the kind, with the romance and legend +which is closely interwoven with the past of "the land within the +mountains," as Tyrol has not inaptly been described. + +It is truly a land of mountains, valleys, lakes, and rushing torrents +that may well have bred the race of romance-loving, poetic, and hardy +people who dwell in it. In the minds of those who know it there arises +almost inevitably a comparison with the nowadays overcrowded and +over-exploited Switzerland--and the comparison is, both as regards +scenery and general interest, greatly in favour of Tyrol. The tourist +and holiday-maker who frequent Pontresina or St. Moritz will find in +this comparatively new "playground for Europe" beautiful counterparts +of those places in Innsbruck, Meran, Botzen, Kitzbühel, and other +delightful towns; whilst the more strenuously inclined who delight in +mountain ascents will find the Dolomite region especially attractive, +and in many other districts also interesting climbs. By the shores of +the placid, translucent lakes, and in many a happy, secluded valley, +those in search of rest and quietude will find their desire fully +satisfied. And in such old-world towns as Innsbruck (of many +historical memories), beautiful Salzburg, charming Bregenz, Botzen, +and Meran the traveller with more artistic, literary, or antiquarian +tastes will delight. + +That Tyrol deserves to be better known few who have once come under +the spell of its charms of scenery, and the frank hospitality and +friendliness of its people, or have wandered amidst its lovely valleys +and mountains, will deny. + +The early history of this interesting country is shrouded in much +mystery, and to place accurately and date many events is a matter of +very considerable difficulty, and in some cases of well-nigh +impossibility, owing to the fragmentary nature of many of the existing +records, and the contradictory nature of the accounts and evidence +afforded by these. The greatest care, however, has been taken to make +the dates given as accurate as possible, and the best authorities and +descriptions of events have been consulted. Amongst others the works +of Dr. Franz Wieser, Hans Semper, Von Alpenburg ("Mythen und Sagen +Tirols"), Perini ("Castles of Tyrol"), Weber ("The Land of Tyrol"), an +excellent and interesting anonymous guide to Salzburg, Scherer, Albert +Wolff, V. Zingerle, Steub ("Die Verfassung Tirols"), Miller, and the +excellent publications of the Tirol and Salzburg Landesverbaende für +Fremdenverkehr, and other organizations. + +The spelling of names has presented much the same difficulty as the +correct dating of events. There are several, and in some cases many, +ways of spelling a large number of these. That of the latest edition +of Baedeker has been adopted where this has been the case and doubt +has existed. + +The author's especial thanks are due to Herr L. Sigmund, the Secretary +of the Austrian Travel and Information Bureau, not only for much +valuable information, but also for practical assistance whilst +travelling in Tyrol, facilities afforded for research, and the use of +some excellent photographs. + +To W. Baillie Grohman, Esq., of Schloss Matzen, Brixlegg, the +well-known authority upon Tyrol, for the settlement of several +disputed dates and accounts of historical events. Also for permission +to make use of information (not otherwise easily procurable) contained +in his exhaustive work "Tyrol, the Land in the Mountains," and for the +beautiful photograph of Schloss Matzen reproduced as one of the +illustrations in this present volume. + +To Dr. Richard Muendl, Imperial Councillor, Chief Inspector of the +Imperial Southern Railway, and a member of the German and Austrian +Alpine Society, for many valuable notes upon the Dolomite Region +incorporated in Chapter X. + +To Dr. Otto Rosenheim the author's thanks are given for permission to +reproduce some beautiful photographs of Tyrol scenery and Tyrolese +subjects in place of less pictorial work by the author himself. + +To many others, who gave information to the author during his travels +in Tyrol, relating to many interesting matters, acknowledgment is also +here gratefully made. + + C. H. + _June, 1909_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I + + THE ROMANCE AND HISTORY OF TYROL FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES + DOWN TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 1 + + + CHAPTER II + + TYROL FROM ITS INCORPORATION BY AUSTRIA AS A PART OF THE + EMPIRE TO THE PRESENT TIME 33 + + + CHAPTER III + + SOME CHARACTERISTIC LEGENDS, CUSTOMS, AND SPORTS 52 + + + CHAPTER IV + + INNSBRUCK, ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE AND TREASURES 71 + + + CHAPTER V + + THE ENVIRONS OF INNSBRUCK--CASTLE AMBRAS AND ITS + TREASURES--IGLS: A QUAINT LEGEND CONCERNING ITS CHURCH--THE + STUBAI VALLEY, AND SOME VILLAGES--HALL AND ITS SALT + MINES--SPECKBACHER'S OLD HOME--ST. MICHAEL 113 + + + CHAPTER VI + + SALZBURG, ITS HISTORY AND ROMANCE 147 + + + CHAPTER VII + + THE ENVIRONS OF SALZBURG--HELLBRUNN, ITS UNIQUE FOUNTAINS + AND GARDENS--THE CASTLE OF ANIF--THE GAISBERG--THE + KAPUZINGERBERG--THE MOZART-HÄUSCHEN--THE MÖNCHSBERG + --SALZBURG CHURCHES 176 + + + CHAPTER VIII + + SOME TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF SOUTH TYROL--MERAN, BOZEN, + KLAUSEN, BRIXEN, SPINGES, STERZING, MATREI 192 + + + CHAPTER IX + + SOME TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF WALSCH-TYROL: TRENT, ITS HISTORY, + COUNCIL, AND BUILDINGS--ROVEREDO AND DANTE--ARCO--RIVA 233 + + + CHAPTER X + + AMONG THE DOLOMITES, WITH NOTES UPON SOME TOURS AND + ASCENTS 254 + + + CHAPTER XI + + THROUGH THE UNTER-INNTHAL: KUFSTEIN--KUNDL--RATTENBERG, + AND THE STORY OF WILHELM BIENER--BRIXLEGG, AND ITS + PEASANT DRAMAS--THE FAMOUS CASTLE OF MATZEN--ST. + GEORGENBERG, AND ITS PILGRIMAGE CHURCH--CASTLE TRATZBERG + --SCHWAZ 281 + + + CHAPTER XII + + THROUGH THE OBER-INNTHAL: ZIRL, ITS CHURCH, LEGENDS, AND + PAINTED HOUSES--THE MARTINSWAND AND MAXIMILIAN--SCHARNITZ + --LANDECK--BLUDENZ--BREGENZ AND ITS LEGEND OF THE MAID 311 + + + INDEX 329 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + FACING PAGE + + IN COLOUR + + + THE GOAT HERD, KASTELRUTH, NEAR BOZEN _Frontispiece_ + + VIEW FROM THE RITTEN, LOOKING SOUTH-WEST 28 + + THE SCHWARZHORN, SOUTH TYROL 40 + + A VIEW OF THE TYROL ALPS 54 + + THE ORTLER FROM THE MALSER HEIDE 68 + + MOONRISE IN TYROL 94 + + A PINE WOOD NEAR INNSBRUCK 108 + + MOUNTAIN POOL ON THE RITTEN 128 + + A QUIET PASTURE 166 + + WINTER NEAR MERAN 192 + + A SOUTH TYROL FARMSTEAD 208 + + SUMMER-TIME NEAR ST. ULRICH, GRÖDENERTHAL 226 + + ALPENWIESE, ON THE SEISER ALP 256 + + MOUNT LATEMAR 276 + + A WAYSIDE SHRINE IN A PINE WOOD 298 + + AUTUMN IN SOUTH TYROL 314 + + + IN MONOTONE + + A VILLAGE ON THE BRENNER 10 + _From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim_ + + YOUNG TYROL 18 + _From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim_ + + A WAYSIDE SHRINE, TYROL 24 + _From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim_ + + ABOVE THE ARLBERG TUNNEL 32 + + SUNSET ON A TYROLESE LAKE 36 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + A TYPICAL TYROLESE LANDSCAPE 36 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + THE TRISANNA VIADUCT AND CASTLE WIESBERG 72 + + A PEEP OF THE ZILLERTHAL 72 + + THE FAMOUS "GOLDEN ROOF," INNSBRUCK 78 + + A TYPICAL INNSBRUCKER 88 + + VIADUCT ON STUBAI RAILWAY 130 + + VIEW OF THE GROSSGLOCKNER 130 + + THE MARKET PLACE, HALL 134 + + THE HALL VALLEY--WINTER 142 + + MOZART'S HOUSE IN THE MAKART PLATZ, SALZBURG 152 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + ONE OF THE FINEST DOORS OF THE STATE APARTMENTS IN THE + FORTRESS, SALZBURG 164 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + MOUNTAIN PASTURES 178 + _From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim_ + + HOHEN-SALZBURG AND THE NONNBERG 182 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + SALZBURG MARKETWOMEN 190 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + MERAN 198 + + SCHLOSS TYROL, NEAR MERAN 202 + + A STREET IN BOZEN 206 + + ST. CYPRIAN AND THE PEAKS OF THE ROSENGARTEN 212 + + MISURINA LAKE 262 + _From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim_ + + A ROAD THROUGH THE DOLOMITES 264 + + A PEEP OF THE DOLOMITES 270 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + THE LANGKOFEL 272 + _From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim_ + + A PEEP OF KITZBUHEL 286 + + SCHLOSS MATZEN 294 + _By kind permission of W. A. Baillie Grohman, Esq._ + + LANDECK AND ITS ANCIENT FORTRESS 320 + + CHURCH INTERIOR, TYROL 324 + _From a Photograph by Clive Holland_ + + + + +TYROL AND ITS PEOPLE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + THE ROMANCE AND HISTORY OF TYROL FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES + DOWN TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY + + +As early as the eighth century Tyrol received a name which could not +be bettered as descriptive of its scenery and institutions--"das Land +im Gebirge," the Land in the Mountains. Fascinating alike is the +scenery of Tyrol and its history. When one crosses the Swiss frontier +by the Arlberg route one at once enters upon a land of mountains, +rivers, and pleasant valleys. And with equal truth it may be said that +when one crosses the frontier of Tyrolese history one is at once +plunged in the midst of stirring, romantic, and gallant deeds enacted +throughout the centuries from that far-off age, when the Cimbri +penetrated and traversed the country and swept into north-eastern +Italy, down almost to our own time. + +That Tyrol should have proved the battle-ground of nations is, of +course, largely due to its geographical position. In early days it +formed a "buffer state" between the Roman empire and the territory of +the Cimbri and Alemanni. + +The question of the original inhabitants of Tyrol is still a much +debated one, and appears to be as far off final settlement as ever; +and this notwithstanding the enormous amount of interest which has +been manifested in the subject by scientists, archæologists, and +students during the last two centuries. Whether they were Cimbri, +Etruscans, or Celts is still doubtful, although many learned +authorities--more especially linguists--incline to the view that the +earliest inhabitants were mainly of the Ligurian race, who were +followed by Illyrians and Etruscans. + +And also regarding the manners, customs, and general characteristics +of these early inhabitants, whoever they may have been, very little +conclusive evidence is yet available. By both Greek and Roman writers +they were referred to as Rhætians, in common with the inhabitants of +Eastern Switzerland; and Horace himself speaks of "The Alpine Rhæti, +long unmatched in battle." Thus it is that the most ancient name by +which Tyrol is known is that of Rhætia. + +[Sidenote: INVASION OF THE CIMBRI] + +To the Romans, however, all-conquering though they were, little was +known of the country until the Cimbri penetrated its mountains and +traversed its valleys and passed on their way to the north-eastern +frontier of Italy about 102 B.C. + +By what route these barbarians crossed the Alps on their march to +invade north-eastern Italy there has been as much discussion as over +the question of the original inhabitants of Tyrol. And, although the +event to which we refer occurred scarcely a century prior to the +conquest of Tyrol by the Romans there is little information other than +of a speculative character to throw light upon the question at issue. +For many years the weight of opinion was in favour of the contention +that the Cimbri entered Southern Tyrol and eventually reached the +Venetian plains by the Reschen Scheideck and the Vintschgau, but the +later researches of Mommsen have served to give additional, if not +absolutely conclusive, weight to the view that the Brenner was the +route taken by the Cimbri[1] on their way southward from their +Germanic fastnesses, just as it was undoubtedly the route, but, of +course, reversed, chosen by the Romans under Drusus by which to enter +Tyrol on their march of conquest. + +One piece of evidence which would appear to be of considerable weight, +and as conclusively favouring Mommsen's view, is the fact that the +Brenner route forms not only the one of lowest altitude, but also the +only one by which the whole Alpine system and its parallel chains can +be crossed by passing over one chain alone, and in no other spot in +the range do two valleys on either side cut so far into the centre of +the principal chain of the Alps. + +Moreover, from Plutarch's "Marius" one learns the spot where the Roman +general, Quintus Lutatius Catullus, and his legions, which were sent +from panic-stricken Rome to check the advance of the invaders, first +encountered the Cimbri on the banks of the River Adige between Verona +and near the foot of the Brenner. The encounter ended in the triumph +of the host of skin-clad invaders who descended the snow-slopes of the +mountains with an onslaught so terrible that even the trained and +well-armed hosts of Rome had to give way before them. But the power of +Rome was not easily shaken, and the triumph of the Cimbri was but +brief. Their southward march was destined very soon to meet with so +severe a check that further advance on Rome, or into the heart of +Italy, was rendered impossible. In 101 B.C., the year following their +appearance in the beautiful province of Venetia, where they created, +so historians tell us, a terrible panic, the Roman arms triumphed at +Vercelli, when the invaders, led by Bojorich, suffered a crushing +defeat in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought, in which it is +said 320,000 were slain, and were driven out of Italy. + +The moral effect of this invasion upon the Rhætians, through whose +territory the Cimbri had passed, bore fruit a few years later, when +they attempted the same tactics, making frequent raids into Roman +territory. Some sixty years after the incursion of the Cimbri they +were defeated and driven back into their valleys and mountains by the +Roman general, Munatius Plancus; and a few years later, in 36 B.C., +not only was a fresh raid repulsed, but the invaders were followed +home, and a considerable portion of the district in the neighbourhood +of what is now known as Trent was taken possession of by the Roman +forces. + +[Sidenote: ROMAN CONQUEST OF TYROL] + +The Rhætians, however, were a hardy, valorous, and pugnacious tribe, +and so frequent were their attacks upon the Roman forces left to hold +the conquered country that the Emperor Augustus, about twenty years +after the subjection of the Trent district, decided as a measure of +self-protection on the conquest of the whole of Rhætia, as far as the +River Danube. + +And for this work he deputed his two stepsons, Drusus and Tiberius. +The campaign, historians are agreed, was planned with great skill, and +probably by the Emperor himself. The Roman forces were divided, one +portion, under Drusus, entering Tyrol from the south, having Tridentum +(Trent) as its base; and the other, under Tiberius, delivering its +attack from the west across what is now Switzerland. Tiberius took +this route (the most direct, though a difficult one) because at that +time he was absent from Italy, in Gaul, as governor. Drusus had a more +easy task, and pushed his way up the wide valley of the River Adige[2] +to the present site of Bozen. His objective was the Pass of the +Brenner, which, once seized, would give him the command of the +country. His advance was not, however, made without opposition, for +the Breones and Genones, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Brenner, +attacked the Roman forces, and a fierce battle and series of +skirmishes ensued. Horace, in Book IV., Ode 14 and 4, gives a vivid +if, possibly, highly coloured account of the struggle which took place +in the gorge near Bozen. The river Icarous ran red with the blood of +both conquerors and conquered. And--as has been the case on many +subsequent occasions when fighting has had to be done by the +Tyrolese--the women played a valorous part, even, according to the +historian, Florus, throwing their infant children into the faces of +the Roman soldiery when other weapons failed. + +The campaign of the two stepsons of Augustus resulted in the complete +and final conquest of Tyrol. The victory, won in the narrow gorge of +the Eisack, was commemorated in the name of the bridge _Pons Drusi_ +spanning the river, hard by which now stands the interesting mediæval +town of Bozen. + +Successful as Drusus' forces were, none the less so were those of +Tiberius. There, however, is less record of his battles, and the +actual ground on which they were fought forms still matter for +conjecture. And equally uncertain is the exact spot where the two +victorious generals ultimately met. It is, however, thought by several +reliable authorities to have been somewhere in the valley of the Inn, +and probably not far distant from the present site of Innsbruck. This +view is made the more probable from the circumstance that a Roman post +was established at Wilten (now a suburb of Innsbruck) then known as +Veldidena. + +Here probably both armies rested after a campaign of great fatigue and +severity owing to the nature of the ground over which it was fought +and the stubborn resistance offered by the inhabitants. + +Soon Veldidena, from a halting-place of armies, became a town with +houses of considerable size, temples, baths, and surrounding _vallæ_, +or earthen fortifications formed to defend the inhabitants from sudden +attack. Although precautions of the nature we have indicated were +taken wherever a Roman post or station was placed, there is no +historical data to show that the Breones and other adjacent tribes who +were thus brought under the Roman sway did not very speedily +accommodate themselves to the new condition of things and become good +and peaceful citizens of Rome. It appears probable, however, that the +Rhæti did not adapt themselves to the altered conditions as speedily +as did their northern neighbours, the inhabitants of Noricum, with +whom certain Roman habits and customs (including the system of +municipal government) already obtained. + +From the evidence adduced by several diligent historians and from that +of one comparatively modern writer[3] in particular it is almost +certain that after the sanguinary and decisive battle on the banks of +the Eisack Tiberius set his face once again westward to resume his +governorship of Gaul, leaving his brother, Drusus, to continue the +subjection of Tyrol, and ultimately to found the important settlement +of Augusta Vindelicorum, now known as Augsburg. Here the Roman general +not only threw up a fortified camp, but also built a forum to +encourage commerce; and soon the settlement became the most important +Roman station to the north of the Central Alps. + +Some writers, doubtless bearing in mind the hardihood and bravery of +the native inhabitants and the mountainous and thus easily defended +nature of the ground the Roman legions had to traverse and fight over, +have expressed some surprise at the comparative ease with which Drusus +and Tiberius appear to have accomplished the conquest of the country. +More perfect discipline and arms of greater effectiveness will not, +however, we think, altogether account for this, for history has over +and over again proved that knowledge of the ground by the defenders +and mountainous regions count heavily against successful attacks on +the part of an invader. It can only therefore be supposed that the +various tribes who formed the inhabitants of Rhætia were either +antagonistic to one another or at least were not welded together in a +common cause against the invading Roman hosts, and thus the country +was conquered and kept in subjection with greater ease than would +otherwise have been the case. + +As a result of the invasion by Drusus and Tiberius and the Roman +legions the tract of country then and for some considerable time +afterwards known as Rhætia, but now known as Tyrol and the Vorarlberg, +ultimately became Romanized, and by the making of the Brenner Post +Road, which was constructed by the direction of the Emperor Augustus +between Verona and Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum), communication +between the Germanic Empire and Italy was opened up. Thus was the +lowest and most accessible of the passes over the mountains which +separated Italy from the barbaric regions beyond crossed by one of +those splendid military roads, which has endured nearly two thousand +years until the present day. + +[Sidenote: ROMAN OCCUPATION] + +The Roman occupation of Rhætia lasted for five centuries. Under the +rule of Rome the inhabitants learned much of those arts which remained +the heritage of conquered races long after the sway of the great Roman +Empire had come to an end. And traces of that rule, in the form of +weapons, ornaments, articles of jewelry and the toilet, and other +relics have from time to time come to light throughout the portions of +Tyrol settled by the Romans. + +Soon along the great Brenner Road, which formed a highway from Italy +to the northern lands beyond Tyrol, activity evinced itself. One of +the most important of the early stations upon it was Veldidena +(Wilten), where the road after crossing the main range of mountains +emerges from the Alpine gorge on the northern side into a wide and +pleasant valley. From this point--close to which, later on, the +capital of Tyrol was destined to be founded--the great Brenner Post +Road branched. One fork led by two divergent ways to the same +objective--Augsburg. The other led in a north-westerly direction by +way of Masciacum (Matzen) and Albianum (Kufstein) to Pons Aeni, which +in all probability closely approximates to the present-day site of +Rosenheim. This road ran down the wide Inn valley, nowadays known as +the Unter Innthal to differentiate it from the valley of the Upper Inn +which runs from the frontier of Switzerland to Innsbruck. + +It was along the great military road leading from Verona to Augsburg +that the chief Rhæto-Roman stations were placed. Amongst these were +Tridentum (Trent), Pons Drusi (Bozen), Vilpetenum (Sterzing), Matrejum +(Matrei), Scarbio (Scharnitz), Veldidena (Wilten). + +At first, doubtless, these outposts of Roman civilization were little +more than isolated fortresses, or even perhaps merely _speculæ_ or +watch towers, and of these many examples still remain, from which not +only could the road and its approaches be reconnoitred, but also +signals both by day and by night could be made. In the first case by +means of smoke or semaphores, and in the second by bonfires kindled in +cressets or on the hillside itself. + +[Sidenote: THE BRENNER PASS] + +Another highway into Tyrol through the Vintschgau came to be known as +the Via Claudia Augusta, which name was also improperly applied to a +portion of the Brenner Road. After much contention we think it is now +generally accepted that Mommsen, who has investigated and weighed the +evidence with astonishing care, is correct in assuming that the only +portion of the road via the Reschen-Scheideck Pass which should be +called the Via Claudia Augusta is that traversing the Vintschgau +Valley. The road was constructed not in the reign of Augustus, who +initiated the Brenner Road, but in that of his grandson, the Emperor +Claudius, about A.D. 46-47. It was intended to connect up the River Po +with the River Danube by the Reschen-Scheideck route, and along it at +various times since the middle of the sixteenth century milestones of +Roman origin have been discovered. Though from the fact that little +reference is made to it by the better-known Roman writers of the +period, one may assume that the Via Claudia was of quite secondary +importance to the Brenner Road. But nevertheless it seems probable +that it was the route used for the transportation of stores for the +Roman forces of occupation during the fifth century not long prior to +the evacuation of the country. The Brenner Road for a considerable +period after its construction appears to have been rather a highway +for commerce than a military road in the usual sense of the term. + +The chief article exported from Tyrol was salt from the still famous +salt mines at Hall, near Innsbruck, on the northern bank of the Inn. +There were also sent southward into Italy raw hides, timber, Alpine +herbs used in the preparation of medicines, liqueurs, and the purposes +of the toilet; and dairy produce of various kinds, of which cheese was +probably (according to Pliny) one of the chief articles. In those +far-off days, too, much excellent wine was grown far further north in +Tyrol than nowadays when the vine is not cultivated, for vintage +purposes at all events, further north than the southern slope of the +Brenner. + +In Roman times the Brenner also formed a link between Aquileia, one of +the most flourishing and important seaport cities on the Adriatic, and +Noricum. As did also another, then important but nowadays almost +deserted route, that of the Plöcken Pass, of which it is believed +Cæsar made frequent use. Along this several important stations were +founded, amongst them Tricesimum, Julium Carnicum (Zuglio), Aguntum +(Innichen), Lonicum (Lienz) and Sebatum (Schabs). Time, however, was +destined to divert the trade from the Plöcken Pass route to that of +the Brenner, and the settlements along the former gradually declined +in importance. + +As we have before stated, the Brenner Pass was not originally used so +much for military purposes as was afterwards the case. And it is not +until the latter half of the second century of the Christian Era that +we find it assuming importance as a military highway. Then the +frequent incursions southward of various Germanic tribes caused the +Romans to fully comprehend the strategical value of northern Rhætia. + +Two decades at least were occupied in the reconstruction of the +surface and bridges along the road which had owed its origin to the +Emperor Augustus, and the result was the building of a highway +suitable for the speedy passage and massing of large bodies of troops. +Of the stations which were founded along it we have already spoken, it +only remains to say that these were supplemented by "posts" which were +dotted here and there as they were along most other roads made by +Roman builders. They were, however, chiefly used for military and +state rather than for ordinary purposes. + +An interesting writer,[4] who has made the history of the Brenner a +special study, has thrown considerable light upon the inns and +hostelries which little by little sprang up to meet the requirements +of the travelling public of those days, who were not, as a rule, +permitted to make use of the official posts. Apparently, these refuges +from the other alternative of spending a night upon the road were by +no means luxurious. In fact, they were probably far otherwise, and +their chief redeeming feature was the undoubted cheapness of the +accommodation they offered. It could not be considered an extravagant +charge for a night's lodging with food of sorts when the bill amounted +to rather less than the equivalent of an English halfpenny! a sum +which would nowadays surprise the modern _oste_ or innkeeper of the +Italian Tyrol as much as his own charges would the Roman wayfarer of +long ago. + + [Illustration: A VILLAGE ON THE BRENNER] + +[Sidenote: ROMAN REMAINS] + +On the heels of Roman civilization, represented by commerce and +travel, which was destined not only to permeate conquered Rhætia, but +to penetrate the regions beyond, in course of time there sprang into +existence a fortress here and a castle there which not only served to +hold the land, but also to encourage and initiate civilization and +bring security to those residing in its immediate vicinity. Of +these, happily for the historian and antiquarian, many traces yet +remain. All along the Brenner the Romans found and were not slow to +seize upon natural coigns of vantage where their unexampled skill as +military builders and engineers permitted them to speedily convert not +easily accessible spurs of the mountains into impregnable fortresses. +Upon some of the castles, the ruins of which nowadays serve to render +these rocky crags of undying interest, the stars must have looked down +ere the dawn of the Christian Era. + +Of the occupation of Rhætia by the Romans, unfortunately comparatively +few authentic details have come down to us. But long ere the power of +Rome had waned, never to reassume its pristine greatness, the problem +of resistance to the invasion from the Teutonic tribes to the north +and north-east had become a very real one. Towards the end of the +third century A.D. the Alemanni crossed the Danube and threatened +Rhætia, and through it Italy. They were, it is true, defeated by the +Emperor Maximianus, but the check inflicted was but temporary. About +A.D. 260 Rhætia was invaded several times by the same barbarian tribe, +and on one occasion, at least, Tyrol was ravaged from end to end, and +the invaders afterwards entered Italy, which they penetrated as far +south as Ravenna, having first plundered and destroyed Verona. In the +reign of Claudius (about 269) there was yet another invasion, and +although the forces of Rome ultimately proved victorious in the +struggle with the Teutonic hordes in a battle fought at Naïssus on the +borderland of Tyrol and Italy, when 320,000 are said to have been +slain, there was no lasting peace. + +The inroads of the Goths vexed many a quickly succeeding Emperor in +the days when reigns were scarcely to be reckoned as frequently by +years as by months, and it was not until the reign of Aurelianus that +the Goths were driven out of Rhætia and Vindelicia. + +Under succeeding Roman rulers there were other raids by the Goths, +and then at last along the roads of Rhætia and over the passes of the +Brenner and the Plöcken poured the invading hosts which were destined +to bring about the eclipse of the powerful Empire which had for so +many centuries controlled the destinies of the greater part of the +then known world. + +Just as in our own land, history is almost silent for the period +immediately following the departure of the Roman legions, drawn off to +save Rome, if possible, from the invading hosts of the Goths and Huns, +so was it in Tyrol. Of the years of devastation by fire and sword +which succeeded the withdrawal of the Roman forces from Rhætia there +have come down to us but very scanty details. During this period much +of Roman art and civilization was undoubtedly blotted out by the +barbarian hordes; and, indeed, so far as can be ascertained, little of +either was ultimately left in Rhætia. + +Theodoric, the Ostrogothic leader, who had conquered Italy in about +489, planned Rhætia and the Brenner as a barrier against the attacks +of northern invaders, a tribe of whom (the Baiovarii) ultimately +possessed themselves of Vindelicia and Rhætia as far as the southern +slope of the Brenner Pass. About this same period--the middle half of +the sixth century--a very considerable portion of north-eastern Italy +and that part of Rhætia in the vicinity of Tridentum (Trent) was +seized by the Longobards or Lombards. Their Italian Empire lasted for +two centuries, and eventually included the larger portion of what is +nowadays known as the Italian Tyrol. + +Meantime, the Baiovarii or Bavarians had conquered the upper part of +Rhætia, and in the beginning of the seventh century their Duke, +Garibaldi II., succeeded in checking the frequent inroads of the +Slavs, although he did not succeed in entirely excluding them from the +country; in the eastern portion of which they remained for a +considerable period. Towards the end of the eighth century (about 789) +the whole of what is now known as Tyrol came under the sovereignty of +Charlemagne, who crushed the Lombards, and a few years later succeeded +in also subduing the Baiovarii. + +During the centuries of internecine warfare, with its concomitants of +rapine and chaos, which succeeded the evacuation of Rhætia by the +Roman forces, most of the original inhabitants or peaceably disposed +Romanized Rhætians fled with other fugitives from the southern or +northern plains to the valleys and byways amid the mountains which +hitherto probably had been almost if not entirely unpopulated. Here +they settled, leaving the main routes open to the passage of the +Teutonic invaders bent on the plunder of the Italian cities and +plains, who, we may imagine, did not greatly trouble themselves +regarding the byways or waste time in conquering those who had thus +hidden themselves amid the higher Alpine valleys and fastnesses. + +The result of this is seen in the circumstance that whilst in many +cases the out-of-the-way places and villages to this day preserve +their original Romanized Rhætian names, those upon the main routes of +travel have in many instances a purely Teutonic nomenclature. + +[Sidenote: "THE LAND IN THE MOUNTAINS"] + +The great Empire which Charlemagne created had strangely enough no +natural delimitations, and when it was divided, in A.D. 806, into +three portions amongst his sons, the division was not made upon any +usually recognized system or plan. Tyrol still was unknown by that +name, the country about that time being known as "Das Land im +Gebirge," or "The Land in the Mountains." The immediate successors to +the divided empire of Charlemagne were far less able than he to cope +with the anarchy which so frequently overwhelmed south-eastern and +north-eastern Europe in those days. There was practically no such +unity as now prevails, and, owing to this, the powerful nobles and +ecclesiastics gradually succeeded in dividing up the land amongst +themselves according to the almost universal custom of the Middle +Ages. + +The records of Tyrolese history of the period are, however, so +wretchedly meagre that few positive and uncontrovertible facts have +come down to us regarding the events which immediately followed the +partition of Charlemagne's Empire amongst his sons. That the Brenner +Pass and Tyrol formed a sort of highway for successive invaders of +Italy, who swarmed across it from the East and North, there is, +however, little reason for doubt. As has been very truly said, "What +these vast expeditions, consisting of more or less disorderly masses +of curiously mixed races, all in the panoply of war, all eager for +booty, even if bent on a peaceable mission, meant for the countries +through which they slowly ate and robbed their way, it is not quite +easy to picture to one's self in these civilized days, when, even in +the fiercest war, the non-combatant has no reason to go in fear of a +violent death or having his women outraged before his eyes, and his +house razed to the ground." That such things took place in Tyrol is +made almost certain from the statements of contemporary writers, +amongst others, Gottfried von Viterbo, Vincenz von Prague, and Otho +von Freising. + +[Sidenote: OLD-TIME TRAVELLERS] + +It is the custom for most people to imagine that the "extras" for +lights, tips to servants, and attendance which so often makes the +present-day hotel bill exasperating, are a modern institution. This +is, however, not the case, for some most interesting and illuminating +diaries of early travel which were discovered in 1874 amongst the +archives of the monastery of Cividate show that at the commencement of +the thirteenth century there were a succession of inns already +existing along the Brenner route, where travellers could not only +obtain lodgment and entertainment, but even purchase necessary +medicines. There are also entries for lights, attendance, and +gratuities, which probably vexed the soul of the ecclesiastical +diarist we have referred to as much as they do modern travellers. + +Of the types who tramped or rode along the great Tyrol highway and +lodged at the inns, we have fortunately a fairly detailed and +accurate picture handed down to us. If only there had been a Tyrolese +Chaucer what a record might have been preserved! From the diaries of +the Bishop of Passau (whose notes we have quoted), however, we +gratefully gather that in addition to the ordinary itinerant merchants +and countryfolk there were bard musicians of both sexes, conjurers +(more or less skilful, and many of them charlatans), singers, +mendicant friars (some of little holiness), and the far-famed +minnesingers who for a considerable period had a great vogue at Courts +and castles. Along this famous high-road of the Brenner and through +Tyrol passed, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, many of the +pilgrims and Crusaders bound for or returning from Palestine or some +distant shrine of peculiar merit or holiness. + +[Sidenote: EARLY TYROLESE RULERS] + +One of the chief amongst the many changes and reforms instituted by +Charlemagne was the sub-division of the countries he had conquered and +welded together to form his Empire into margravates or departments +which he placed under the rule of his nobles and other officials whom +he appointed for the purpose. Although this system undoubtedly worked +well during his powerful sway, after his death and during the anarchy +and dissension which distinguished the reigns of his immediate +successors what might have been expected happened. The more powerful +of the nobles and officials and their descendants soon commenced to +regard their offices as of the nature of hereditary appointments, and +in consequence with the development of this idea small dynasties were +gradually founded, and towards the close of the tenth century three of +these had sprung into existence in Tyrol. These three Countships or +_Grafschaften_ were of Andechs, Eppan, and Tyrol, and the country was +eventually divided up amongst them and the great ecclesiastical lords +of the Sees of Trent, Brixen, and Coire. + +As is the case with so much of early Tyrol history and events, very +scanty information of a reliable character has come down to us +regarding the origin of these three great families of nobles who held +sway in the country. Nor is it for the purpose of this book necessary +to enquire closely into the evidence we have. The origin of the family +of Andechs is almost entirely unknown, although for a considerable +period they were the most powerful of the three families we have +named. The Eppans are believed to have been descendants of a natural +son of a Duke of Bavaria, and their long and bloody feud with the +Bishops of Brixen on account of lands taken from them and given to the +See is enshrined in Tyrol history and legend. + +The third family, the Counts of Tyrol, though originally by no means +the most important, was destined to outlast the other two, and +eventually to become possessed of most of the country and give its +name to ancient Rhætia. Although even in the days of the Roman +occupation there appears to have been a Castle Tyrol, which was the +residence of a centurion, the family, as it is generally known, is +supposed to have taken its origin from Count Hunfried who lived in the +reign of Charlemagne, and was also Count of Vintschgau. This noble +came into prominence on the division of Charlemagne's Empire amongst +his three sons; but it appears to be probable that it was not until +the middle part of the thirteenth century that one of the owners of +Castle Tyrol or Teriolis first took the title of Counts of Tyrol.[5] + +The earliest reference to the three Counts of Tyrol appears in the +archives about the year 1140, and we find the family dwelling in the +Castle Tyrol or Teriolis, near Meran. It was from this fortress, now +in a ruinous condition except for the chapel and fine porch dating +from the twelfth century, that not only the family took its name but +eventually the whole country came to be known. Gradually one by one +the possessions of the other nobles in Tyrol were taken from them or +became absorbed by marriage in that of the Counts of Tyrol. Until +about 1240 the then reigning Count Albert was able to style himself +Prince Count (or gefürsteter Graf) of Tyrol so widespread and rich +were his possessions. + +The Principality thus formed remained a fief of the German Empire +until the reign of Maximilian I. (1493) when it was incorporated with +the other possessions of the Crown. + +The first of the Prince Counts of Tyrol was successful, in 1248, in +obtaining from the Counts of Andechs the district of the Inn Valley, +once the site of Roman Veldidena, which place tradition asserts was +destroyed about A.D. 452 by the Huns under the leadership of Attila on +their return through Tyrol after their defeat by Aëtius at the battle +of Chalons. + +During the early Middle Ages the Premonstratensian Abbey of Wilten had +been built on the site of the ancient town, and later on the Counts of +Andechs, who had become possessed of land in the neighbourhood on the +banks of the Inn, became the most powerful and influential nobles in +the district. Under them a trading post or centre of commerce was +founded near the bridge over the Inn, the importance of which can be +easily understood when its proximity to the Brenner high-road, a then +busy thoroughfare, is borne in mind. From this bridge over the Inn was +derived the name of the town Innsbruck--afterwards destined to become +the capital of Tyrol--a mention of which appears for the first time in +archives of the year 1327. It was to the foresight and enterprise of +Otto of Andechs that the town owed the walls, towers, and +fortifications which were to stand it in good stead. Count Otto also +built himself a palace, which still is known as Ottoburg. + +Concerning the various princes who reigned over Tyrol in succession to +Count Albert down to Henry, the youngest son of Meinhard II., who, by +marrying the daughter of the King of Bohemia, claimed the throne on +the death of his father-in-law and took the title of king, although +forced to surrender his claims to Bohemia, and rest content with Tyrol +and Carinthia, it is not necessary to say much. This Henry was a +good-natured, easily influenced ruler, who by reason of these +characteristics fell almost entirely into the hands of the more +powerful of his nobles, who by flattery and supplies of money to meet +his spendthrift habits were able to acquire not only influence over +him, but also gain great possessions from and unchecked by him. Under +this ruler Meran became the capital of Tyrol; and Hall, Sterzing, and +other places were raised to the dignity of towns. + +Though easily led, Henry was not without his virtues, for he granted +several privileges which were in the interests of commerce, and under +his rule the hard lots of the villein and working classes were +lightened, and a heritable system of land tenure for the peasant class +devised and established. The effect of this was destined to be +beneficial not only to those it was primarily intended to assist, but +also to the nobles, and Henry himself. For as the nobles seldom or +never paid taxes it followed that, with increased prosperity, the +lower orders (who bore the greater part of the burden of taxation) +could be taxed to a higher degree without suffering in proportion. + +Many stories are current concerning the difficulties into which +Henry's wastrel habits got him. One of them is that he was unable at +Innsbruck to settle the bill of a fish and wine merchant, and as a +last resort gave this man, one Eberhard, the bridge toll, which it is +unnecessary to say formed a valuable consideration. + + [Illustration: YOUNG TYROL] + +[Sidenote: "POCKET MOUTHED MEG"] + +At his death in 1335 he left no male heir, the succession falling to +his daughter Margaret, known to history as "wide (or Pocket) Mouthed +Meg" on account of her remarkably ill-formed mouth. How her mouth +became so ugly is not exactly known. One story states the name was +derived from the word _Maultasche_, in consequence of her having had +her ears (or side of face) boxed or struck. The explanation gains +some weight from the fact that the blow was said to have been struck +her by one of her Bavarian relatives, and the circumstance that she +ultimately left her heritage to her Austrian cousins and not to the +Bavarian branch of the family, thus causing Tyrol to become a part of +the Austrian Empire. + +Eventually, after many abortive attempts to arrange a marriage with +the numerous suitors who were willing to become allied to perhaps the +richest though the ugliest heiress in Europe of that time, for her +inheritance comprised the dukedoms of Goricia, Croatia and Carinthia, +as well as the beautiful land Tyrol, Margaret was married, in A.D. +1330, to the youthful Prince John of Bohemia, the bridegroom being +nine years of age and the bride several years older. The latter was +destined to have a troublous career, ugly as her mouth in some of its +details; and the young couple, when (a few years after the formal +marriage) they came to live together, were almost from the first at +variance. + +John was feeble and of weak intellect, and Margaret as determined and +shameless as were many other women rulers in those times. Plots and +intrigues were rife, the former between the two parties who espoused +the German or Luxembourg (Bohemian) claims, the latter between +Margaret and her courtier and even peasant lovers, some of whom were +given privileges and even lands and patents of nobility by the amorous +princess of the "Pocket Mouth," who made several unsuccessful attempts +to get rid of her husband, until she frightened him into returning to +his own country. This desire accomplished, Margaret commenced to put +in operation her further plans. John was a fugitive, going from castle +to castle in search of shelter or sanctuary, awaiting assistance from +his father or the Luxembourg party, which was favourable to the +Bohemian side of the question. Soon the Emperor Louis, who was the +ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and a deadly enemy of the Bohemians, +saw an opportunity for accomplishing a long-cherished desire, that of +the acquisition of Tyrol. + +He found a ready accomplice in his good-looking, attractive son, who +appeared willing enough to marry another man's wife, however +ill-tempered and ugly, even before the first marriage was formally +declared null and void by the Pope, provided wealth and possessions +were acquired with her. However, when the Pope--who himself had cast +longing eyes on Margaret's possessions--heard of the proposed union, +he not only declined to annul the marriage between John and Margaret, +but threatened the latter with excommunication if she espoused the son +of Louis, who was his implacable foe. There were also reasons of +consanguinity which made the marriage impossible without the Pope's +sanction. Louis, however, not to be thwarted in his desire, set about +to find a bishop willing to defy the Pontiff and bold enough to +solemnize the marriage. Soon he succeeded in persuading the Bishop of +Freisingen both to annul the first marriage and celebrate the second. +Accordingly the Emperor, in whose train were numbers of nobles, set +forth with the bishop mentioned, and also the bishops of Augsburg and +Regensburg, for Tyrol. + +But whilst on the journey and crossing a pass (the Jaufen), which +afforded the quickest route from Sterzing to Margaret's home near +Meran, the Bishop of Freisingen's horse stumbled and threw its rider, +killing him on the spot. This accident so sapped the courage of the +other two bishops (who doubtless considered the event as a direct +message of wrath from Heaven) that they refused to go on with the +scheme upon which they had embarked. + +This did not, however, weaken the determination of either the Emperor +or Louis, who, on his arrival at Castle Tyrol, forced the terrified +resident chaplain to celebrate the marriage, although we are told the +people protested loudly, anticipating terrible punishments for +breaking the laws of the Church and defying the commands of the Pope. + +Nevertheless the event was celebrated with great festivities, and, so +far as one can gather, no immediate wrath from Heaven was experienced +by the evildoers. + +[Sidenote: ERA OF CIVIL WAR] + +During the weak rule of John, the various nobles in Tyrol had gained +great ascendency; had extended their possessions and rights; and had +in fact seriously weakened the sovereign power of their ruler. Louis +proved of very different metal to his precursor. He at once attacked +the nobles, who had aggregated to themselves unlawful or dangerous +authority, devastating their estates, burning and dismantling their +castles and fortresses, and exiling those who did not submit. Civil +war of the most bloodthirsty kind ran riot in Tyrol, and other +disasters in the shape of fire, which destroyed some of the most +important towns, including Meran the capital; swarms of locusts, +plague and earthquake, all afflicted the unhappy and unfortunate land. +It is needless to say that these terrible calamities were esteemed by +many Tyrolese as the direct expression by Heaven of anger at +Margaret's bigamous marriage and defiance of the power of the Church. + +The ravages of the Black Death were not less severe than in other +parts of Southern Europe, and, according to one chronicler, scarcely a +sixth of the population of Tyrol were left alive. As was so often the +case in the Middle Ages, some human scapegoat was sought for and +found; and the very common one was fixed upon--the Jews. The +persecution of this unfortunate race which ensued was of so ruthless a +character that neither women, children, nor the aged were spared, with +the result, we are told, that very few were left alive. + +Then succeeded a period of war. The supporters of the discarded +husband of Margaret--John of Bohemia--were not slow to seek to revenge +themselves upon her, and Tyrol was subsequently invaded by the King of +Bohemia, who was joined by the militant Bishop of Trent with +considerable forces. An active campaign followed, characterized by +great cruelty on the part of the invaders, during which the two chief +towns, Meran and Bozen, were captured and destroyed, and ultimately +Margaret was besieged in her own Castle of Tyrol. It was so admirably +situated for defence that in her husband's absence Margaret, who, with +all her vices and failings, was no coward, was able to defend it +successfully from all assaults, and did so until her husband was able +to return by forced marches, and surprising the besiegers, succeeded +in defeating them and forcing them to retire. The country, however, +suffered terribly during the enemy's retreat, as, in revenge for being +baulked of their prey, they burned and ravaged in every direction, and +spared no man from the sword. Indeed, the history of the campaign +exhibits in the most lurid light the underlying and primitive savagery +of all warfare in the Middle Ages. + +It was to meet the heavy charges arising from the prolonged campaign +and defence of his territory that Louis had to sell or pawn many of +his richest personal possessions, with the result that many nobles +(who provided him with money or other support) gained or regained +valuable privileges and a considerable accession of power and +influence. + +[Sidenote: STORIES ABOUT "MEG"] + +Into the whole course of this war and the history of +Tyrol--interesting and even fascinating though it be--it is impossible +for us to enter. Margaret ultimately (it may be noted) made her peace +with Rome, owing to the influence exercised over the Pope by her +Austrian cousins of the House of Habsburg, the condition of their +mediation being that she should leave to them and not to her Bavarian +cousins her heritage should her son and heir Meinhard pre-decease her, +and die without issue. + +Fate favoured the schemes of the Habsburgs, for both Margaret's +husband Louis and her son died before her, the latter at the early age +of twenty. As an example of the old saw, "Give a dog a bad name and +hang him," popular opinion laid both deaths at Margaret's door. Her +husband died in 1361-2 whilst on a journey to Munich in her company. +This supposed murder was, according to then common report, a _crime +passionel_ arising from Margaret's fear that Louis was about to +compass the death of Conrad of Frauenberg, a noble with whom she had +carried on an intrigue that had been common talk and a scandal for +years. On the death of his father, Meinhard assumed the responsibility +of government; in doing this he appears to have placed, or attempted +to place, some sort of check upon the shameless conduct and intrigues +of his mother, and when he died in January, 1363, his death, like that +of Louis, was laid at his mother's door. Popular opinion, however, has +been proved to have been in error by historians who do not favour the +supposition that she was really guilty of either death; and although +no explanation of the actual cause of Louis's death is forthcoming, +there would appear some evidence for supposing that Meinhard's +untimely end was unromantic and free from mystery, and, in fact, was +the result of drinking cold water whilst overheated from exertion. + +In those days, although news travelled but slowly according to modern +ideas, it was less than a fortnight ere it had reached Vienna, and +Rudolph IV. of Habsburg, by travelling "day and night," was at Bozen +eager to make certain his position as the eldest of the three brothers +to whom his cousin Margaret had agreed to cede Tyrol and her other +wide possessions. + +Around the picturesque, though licentious and uninviting, figure of +"Pocket-Mouthed Meg" has gathered an accretion of traditions and tales +unequalled by those attached to any other Tyrol ruler. But, although +she was for many years so outstanding a figure in the history of her +country and indeed of South-Eastern Europe, strangely few authentic +records or documentary corroboration of these stories have been +discoverable. + +Thus, by the death of Meinhard in 1363, the country became a portion +of Austria under the rule of Rudolph IV., who, though young, was wise +and far-seeing. However, he was not destined to long enjoy the +possessions he had acquired chiefly by skilful diplomacy, and on his +death, two years after his accession, Tyrol was governed jointly by +his two brothers--Leopold and Albert. + +During this dual control the Bavarian relations of Margaret made +frequent incursions into the country, especially in the neighbourhood +of the Unter-Innthal, and in 1369 succeeded in obtaining a large sum +from the Habsburgs at a temporary peace made at Schärding. Ten years +later the dual sovereignty came to an end, the two brothers dividing +the inheritance, Leopold taking Tyrol as his share. He was killed at +the Battle of Sempach on July 9th, 1386, where the Swiss gained so +signal a victory under the leadership of Arnold Von Winkelried. + +[Sidenote: DUKE FREDERICK'S REIGN] + +In 1406 Frederick, Leopold's youngest son, succeeded to the +sovereignty, which during his minority had been held by his elder +brothers and his Uncle Albert, who had ruled the country in so lax a +manner that the nobles gained a great ascendency. + +It was, indeed, no easy task to which Duke Frederick was called. The +nickname bestowed upon him, that of "the Empty Purse," was by no means +an exact description of his financial condition, save during a +comparatively short period of his reign of thirty years. It was given +him at the time he was an outlaw by reason of the ban of the Church, +and was obliged to fly for his life and take refuge amid the +mountains. His was a stormy reign. In the early portion of it he was +at variance with many of the most powerful of his nobles, who resisted +his attempts to curtail the power which they had acquired during his +minority. After the anxieties and hardships which ensued, when the +country was over-run by the Bavarians, and even the capital +threatened, Frederick was destined to have still greater trouble by +reason of his action at the Council of Constance, which was summoned +to settle the momentous questions as to who was the rightful head of +the Church, and who the ruler of the Empire. There were three +claimants for each position, nominated and supported by the rival +factions. The spiritual claimants were John XXIII., Benedict XIII., +Gregory XII.; and the temporal Kings Sigismund of Hungary, Jost of +Moravia, and Wencelaus of Bohemia. + + [Illustration: A WAYSIDE SHRINE, TYROL] + +Of the Ecclesiastical claimants John had Frederick's support, and when +the former, failing to get elected by the Council, had not only to +renounce his claims but flee for his life, Frederick assisted him to +escape from Constance. This act of loyalty to a friend almost cost +Frederick his life, as Sigismund (who of the three candidates had been +elected Emperor) was his enemy, and not only succeeded in persuading +the assembly to declare Frederick's throne forfeited, but also him and +his chief supporters and followers outlaws, to shelter any of whom was +a crime punishable with death. + +Frederick's evil case was made worse and his difficulties immeasurably +increased by the secession to the ranks of his enemies of his brother +Ernest, who had taken the Dukedom of Styria as his portion of the +inheritance. + +Duke Ernest took up the reins of Government of Tyrol, and there ensued +a period of bloodshed and disastrous Civil War in which the peasants +and the lower classes remained firm and loyal supporters of their +ruler Frederick, and the greater number of the nobility espoused the +cause of the usurper Ernest. At length a peace was brought about +between the two brothers, chiefly through the mediation of the +Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg, and the Duke Louis of Bavaria. The +reconciliation of Frederick and Duke Ernest, whose estrangement had +been brought about by Frederick's action in relation to Pope John at +Constance which had brought him under the powerful ban of the Church, +took place at the castle of the Archbishop at Kropfsberg. + +The remaining portion of Frederick's life appears to have been +peaceable, and notwithstanding his _sobriquet_ of "Empty Purse" he +left a huge fortune in treasure, which some authorities assert was the +greatest amassed by any ruler of those times. He was undoubtedly one +of the most able, and with the peasants and townsfolk most popular, +rulers Tyrol has ever had as a separate principality. He carried on a +struggle throughout his reign against the encroachments of the +nobility upon the lands and liberties of the people, which in itself +was a thing sufficient to gain him the love and loyalty of the great +masses of his subjects, which his affable manners, generosity, and +kindliness served to cement. To him belongs the credit of summoning +the first Tyrolean Landtag of any use or importance, held at Meran in +1423. Subsequently the Landtag was convened at Innsbruck, which town +in consequence gradually came to be regarded as the capital of Tyrol. + +On the death of Frederick he was succeeded by his son Sigismund, then +a mere lad of eleven or twelve years of age. The latter lived for some +seven years at the Court of Vienna under the control of his guardian +the Emperor Frederick III. Whilst in Vienna he became acquainted with +one Æneas Silvius de Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius II., a widely +travelled, able but licentious man who had journeyed so far afield as +Scotland, and who poured such glowing descriptions of the beauty of +the ladies of the Scottish Court into the young Duke Sigismund's ears +that he became possessed with a desire to marry a Scotch bride. Thus +it happened that when the daughter of Charles VII., King of France, +died (whom it had been intended by his father he should marry) the +young Duke Sigismund wooed and won Eleanor, daughter of ill-fated +James I. of Scotland, to whom as dowry the Duke gave the historic +castles of Ambras, Imst, and Hörtenburg for life. This gifted princess +lived in Tyrol for a period of more than thirty years, and by her +gentle manners, love of sport, especially hawking and hunting, and +social accomplishments made herself much beloved by her husband's +subjects. Her Court, for the size of the principality over which her +husband ruled, was very large and luxurious. + +During the reign of Sigismund the vast mineral wealth of the +Unter-Innthal district especially became opened up, and this enabled +the Duke to spend lavish sums upon pleasures, entertainments, arts, +and science, which soon caused his Court at Innsbruck to be spoken of +as one of the most refined, gay, and interesting in Eastern Europe. At +the same time Tyrol owed much to Sigismund, as he was a generous +patron of art and employer of artists of all kinds. + +[Sidenote: THE WAR WITH VENICE] + +On the death of his consort Eleanor he married, in 1484, the Princess +Catherine of Saxony, who was both young and beautiful. A man of great +judgment, he yet committed the grave error of provoking a war with the +Venetians, whose trade with Tyrol was an important and valuable asset +in the country's commerce and material prosperity. It arose from the +seizure of some rich silver mines the property of the Venetians in the +Valsugana, and the tense situation arising from this act was +aggravated shortly after, in April 1487, by the forcible seizure of +the goods of Venetian merchants who had come (as was their wont) to +the great fair held at Bozen. Over a hundred and twenty Venetian +merchants were also thrown into prison. In the war which ensued the +Tyrolese were ultimately victorious; but the victory was a Pyrrhic one +as Tyrol lost much by this struggle with the great commercial power of +those remote times. The Venetians took a speedy revenge, "boycotting" +Tyrolese trade, absenting themselves from the fairs and markets, and +avoiding using the Brenner Route which had very materially added to +the wealth of the country. + +Sigismund, as had other rulers of the Mountain Kingdom, fell out of +favour with the Church, owing to a quarrel with the Cardinal Bishop of +Brixen, Nicholas of Cusa, chiefly on account of the latter's +persistent endeavour to exalt the power of the Church at the expense +of the former's temporal authority, and it was only Sigismund's +indifference to religious matters and power in his own country which +enabled him to treat with unconcern if not positive contempt the ban +placed upon him by the Church of Rome. He even went the length of +making war upon the Bishop, and of besieging him in his castle at +Brunneck; and as a consequence was excommunicated by both Pope +Calixtus III. the Courageous and Pius II. + +In Sigismund's declining years he applied himself "to the task of +purchasing salvation in the manner approved by the Church he had +defied, and whose bulls, bans, and mandates he had scorned." He set +about founding monasteries, gave largely to charitable endowments, and +was generous in other ways to a Church which was anxious to pardon the +sinner who was willing to purchase absolution on satisfactory monetary +or other terms. One effect of this great expenditure was to impoverish +the country, which had already been much "drained" by the demands made +upon it by Sigismund's patronage of art, love of women, and lavish +entertainments. + + [Illustration: VIEW FROM THE RITTEN LOOKING S.W.] + +[Sidenote: MAXIMILIAN I] + +Maximilian, his cousin (afterwards the famous Emperor Maximilian I.), +succeeded him on his abdication in 1493. He was in a great measure an +ideal ruler for Tyrol, whose brave, independent people were touched by +the spirit, frankness, and great personal bravery of their new prince. +Fond of war, he was equally devoted to the chivalric jousts and games +of the period, and, if one may believe historians, to these sterner +qualities was united a kindly and approachable disposition which +further endeared him to his people. It was only in the latter portion +of his reign that he lost touch with and hold upon them, and, owing to +the heavy drain that incessant wars and military operations had placed +upon the country, necessitating heavy taxation, became in a measure +unpopular. + +From his biographers one gathers that the Emperor was deeply affected +by the change of attitude of the populace towards him, and he referred +to it bitterly on several occasions. During some considerable time +before his death he always went about accompanied by his coffin, which +he is stated to have described as "the one narrow palace which +architects can design at small cost, and the making of which does not +bring ruin upon princes." + +During the reign of Maximilian to Tyrol was added other and +considerable new territory, including the Ampezzo district; Rovereto; +the three lordships of Rattenberg, Kitzbühel, and Kufstein; the towns +of Riva and Arco; a portion of the present Vorarlberg; and a portion +of the Pusterthal. Maximilian also did something for education in his +capital of Innsbruck, where he built a new palace which was first used +at the time of his second marriage with Maria Bianca Sforza of Milan +in 1494. + +He was succeeded by his two grandsons, the Emperor Charles V. and the +Archduke Ferdinand. The former, however, found his dominions so vast +that he soon resigned his Austrian possessions (including Tyrol) to +his brother Ferdinand, who afterwards became Emperor. The reign of the +latter, though long, was not a happy or prosperous one. The religious +disturbances brought about by the Reformation, which Ferdinand +severely suppressed, and risings of the peasants in consequence, made +his name detested in Tyrol, so that in the War of the Schmalkald the +inhabitants supported Charles V. It was at Innsbruck (after two +unsuccessful attempts to leave Tyrol) that he was surprised by his +treacherous friend Maurice of Saxony, who had marched his army rapidly +into Tyrol intent upon capturing Charles. The latter, who had no army +with him, having arrived at Innsbruck on his way to the Council of +Trent, in order to escape had to leave his palace at dead of night in +torrents of rain in May 1552--a man broken in health and tired of +life. + +It was this Ferdinand who founded the famous Franciscan Church at +Innsbruck with its world-renowned tomb in memory of his grandfather +Maximilian I. + +On the death of Ferdinand, in 1564, he was succeeded on the throne of +Tyrol by his second son who bore his name. A romantic interest +attaches to this Archduke, who after much opposition on the part of +his family married the beautiful daughter of an Augsburg merchant, +Philippina Welser, who ultimately succeeded in winning the Emperor's +sanction to the marriage.[6] + +The thirty-one years' reign of Archduke Ferdinand was chiefly notable +for the encouragement given by him to Art. Indeed, during this period +the country reached its highest culture. The world-famous art +collection now in Vienna, concerning which most authorities are in +agreement that it was the most extensive and beautiful formed up to +that period, owes its existence almost entirely to him. In his Castle +of Ambras, near Innsbruck, he gathered together art treasures that are +now, as regards many examples, almost if not quite unique; and by so +doing ensured his position with posterity as one of the first, most +learned, and most discriminating of art collectors and connoisseurs +the world has known. + +[Sidenote: A ROYAL ROMANCE] + +Ferdinand and his beautiful spouse remained throughout their married +life devoted to each other, although when the former's father, in +1563, recognized the marriage it was agreed that any children born to +the pair should not be recognized as of Royal birth, the alliance +being regarded as morganatic. The story that Philippina died a violent +death seems to have no basis upon fact. + +Ferdinand after the death of his first wife married Anna Katharina +Gonzaga of Mantua, to whose devout tendencies and influence over him +Innsbruck and the neighbourhood owed many of its religious houses and +institutions. + +On the death of Ferdinand, as his and Philippina's children could not +succeed to their father's possessions and title for the reason we have +mentioned, and as there were no children of the marriage with Anna +Katharina, Tyrol reverted in 1595 to the Emperor Rudolph II., who soon +appointed his brother the Archduke Maximilian as Regent. This prince +was the head of the Teutonic Order, and bore the title of +Deutschmeister. After his death Tyrol reverted to the Emperor +Ferdinand II., who in 1622 celebrated his second marriage with +Eleanora Vincenzo of Mantua at Innsbruck. The event was celebrated +with great magnificence even for a period when entertainments of the +kind were veritable triumphs of splendour and art, and the wedding +feast was served by Tyrolese noblemen. + +Ferdinand soon appointed his brother the Archduke Leopold as Regent, +and on his death in 1632 the latter was succeeded by his widow, the +wise and beautiful Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Medici, who +governed Tyrol during the minority of her two sons. Her chief +counsellor was the brilliant and distinguished Chancellor Wilhelm +Biener. The Archduke Ferdinand Charles came of age (and succeeded to +his estates) in 1646, and in default of male heirs was succeeded by +his brother Francis Sigismund in 1662. The reign of the last named +lasted only three years, and came to a sudden and tragic close on the +very eve of his marriage. Popular opinion ascribed his death to +poison, given to the Archduke by his physician Agricola, the latter, +at the time, being supposed to have been instigated to the crime by +some Italian nobles whom the Archduke had banished from his Court. On +the death of Sigismund the second Tyrolese-Habsburg line of rulers +came to an end. + + [Illustration: ABOVE THE ARLBERG TUNNEL] + +It was then that Tyrol finally came into the possession of the +Emperors of Austria, by whom the ancient title of Prince-Count of +Tyrol and other subsidiary titles are still borne. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Several well-known authorities still refuse to accept this theory. + +[2] Also called the Eisack. + +[3] Mommsen in his "Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum." + +[4] W. Von Rodlow. + +[5] This view of the origin of the country's name is, we would add, +disputed by some authorities.--C. H. + +[6] This is disputed by some authorities, but would appear to have +been the case.--C. H. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + TYROL FROM ITS INCORPORATION BY AUSTRIA AS A PART OF THE + EMPIRE TO THE PRESENT TIME + + +During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) between the Catholics and +Protestants of Germany, which was renowned for the victories of +Wallenstein and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Tyrol did not altogether +escape its influence though playing no very important part in the +struggle. One result was, however, of considerable importance to a +family of great note in Tyrol. It brought about the ruin of the +Fuggers, whose financial assistance to various rulers of Tyrol and +Eastern Europe had been generally forthcoming when required. Owing to +their possession of the two famous castle-fortresses of Tratzberg and +Matzen their prosperity or otherwise was of considerable importance to +Tyrol. + +From the date (1665) when the country became completely incorporated +as a part of the Austrian Empire it did homage to the Emperor Leopold +I., sole heir of the joint Austro-German possessions. It was during +his reign and on account of this circumstance that Tyrol became deeply +involved in the War of the Spanish Succession, and was the object of +attack on the part of both French and Bavarians, Leopold being the +Austrian claimant to the Spanish throne, and Philip of Anjou, grandson +of Louis XIV., the French aspirant. + +In 1703 the French troops, under General Vendome, entered Tyrol from +the South and unsuccessfully besieged Trent on their way northward to +Austria; and at the same time the Bavarians overran the country by +routes which they had traversed from almost time immemorial when +making their periodic raids upon the Tyrolese. For a considerable +period the invaders were successful, and many villages and castles of +the Unter-Innthal and contiguous districts were destroyed. The capture +of the capital was the cause of the uprising of the Landsturm, or +general levy of the peasants; and during 1703 a number of fierce +engagements were fought between these ill-armed but brave Tyrolese and +the Bavarian and French troops. One of the most noted battles was that +which took place immediately after the Tyrolese had destroyed the +Pontlatz Bridge which spanned the River Inn, by which the Bavarians +were about to cross. In this engagement the latter, under the +leadership of the Elector Maximilian Emmanuel, were utterly routed by +a much inferior force of the Landsturm, and driven back from North +Tyrol. Following up this success the Tyrolese concentrated their +energies upon the French force under General Vendome which they +compelled to retire into Italy. + +The Emperor Leopold I., not wishing to reside for any length of time +at Innsbruck, had created the office of Statthalter or Governor of +Tyrol and Vorarlberg, an office which has been filled ever since till +the present day, with the exception of the period of the French and +Bavarian wars with Austria in the early part of the last century. + +The Emperor did not live to see the ultimate triumph of his forces. He +died in 1705, and was succeeded by his sons Joseph I. and Charles VI. +On the death of the latter in 1740, owing to the fact that with him +the Austrian male line became extinct, the Empress Maria Theresa ruled +in his stead. During her long reign the Vorarlberg became an integral +part of Tyrol owing to the fact that it was an Imperial fief which +reverted to the Crown by natural process on the extinction of the line +of feoffees. Maria Theresa and her husband the Emperor Francis I. +came to Innsbruck in 1765 for the wedding of their son Leopold, Grand +Duke of Tuscany (afterwards the Emperor Leopold II.), with Maria +Ludovica, daughter of Charles III., King of Spain. The Tyrolese and +the Innsbruckers gave a warm welcome to their sovereigns, and the +festivities were upon a most magnificent scale. The gaiety was +destined, however, to be clouded and put an end to by the sudden death +of the Emperor (husband of Maria Theresa), who expired at the palace +immediately after his return from the Italian Opera. It was he, +Francis Stephen of Lorraine, also Grand Duke of Tuscany, who founded +the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which still rules over the +Austro-Hungarian Empire. + +[Sidenote: REFORMS OF JOSEPH II.] + +On the death of Maria Theresa in 1780 she was succeeded by her son +Joseph II., upon whose accession many innovations were introduced in +Tyrol as well as other portions of his wide empire. His salutary and +liberally conceived reforms, more especially as regarded the Church, +were brought about by a desire to adjust political and religious +affairs and do away with anomalies. + +Inasmuch as Joseph's scheme embraced the suppression or abolition of +numerous priories, monasteries, churches, and other religious +institutions, it is little to be wondered at that his action met with +the most strenuous opposition from the Church whose property was +threatened. One act, the closing of the University of Innsbruck, which +had been founded by Leopold I. in 1677, it is not easy for any one at +the present day to understand. The Emperor Joseph II.'s scheme of +reform was not successful, although it had arisen from honourable +motives and a sincere desire to redress some very crying grievances. + +He was succeeded in 1790 by his brother, the Emperor Leopold II., who +reopened the University, and undid much of the work his predecessor +had accomplished with regard to the suppression of religious houses. +He, however, reigned but two years, and was followed by his son +Francis II. of Germany and Francis I. of Austria. This ruler came to +the throne at a great and unhappy crisis in European history. The +French Revolution was at its height and the ensuing period of the +"blood lustful" Napoleonic Wars made of Europe a vast camp and battle +ground. It was also a period destined, as events proved, to make Tyrol +famous for all time, to develop the best instincts of her people, and +to exhibit the race in a heroic and romantic light. + +To understand the position of Tyrol at this epoch it is necessary to +briefly sketch the events which led up to the struggle as it affected +the "land in the Mountains." Mantua, an Austro-Italian possession, +fell before Napoleon in 1797, and immediately the young general sent +an army under Joubert into Tyrol, the routes into the country being +left almost undefended by the retreat of the Austrian forces towards +Carinthia, after their defeat at Lodi on May 10, 1796. + +[Sidenote: FRENCH INVASION] + +Once more the Landsturm was raised in South Tyrol, and again the +peasant forces (to whom the name of "ragged coats" had been +contemptuously given) engaged in a terrific struggle for their beloved +land with the not only better armed but more numerous detachments of +French and Bavarian invaders. Even the well-tried legions of Napoleon +were destined, however, to find them as redoubtable as had formerly +Maximilian. + +Under the gallant von Worndle the Inn Valley Landsturm was led down +into the Pusterthal, where it was joined by the Austrian forces under +Generals Laudon and Kerpen. Napoleon's troops, although well led, and +possessing all the advantages that experience and a knowledge of +strategy could give them, nevertheless could not withstand the +terrific onslaught and heroic bravery shown by the Tyrolese. A fierce +and bloody engagement was fought at Spinges which resulted in the +triumph of the peasant forces and the utter rout of the invaders, who +were compelled to evacuate the country. About the same time + +another smaller engagement took place near Bozen, where a mere handful +of peasants engaged a much superior force and defeated it. This +otherwise comparatively unimportant event has gained fame and +significance from the fact that this small body of Passeyer peasantry +was led by a tall, broad-shouldered man with a long brown beard, named +Andreas Hofer, who was destined afterwards to play so great and +remarkable a part in the history of his beloved country. + + [Illustration: SUNSET ON A TYROLESE LAKE] + + [Illustration: A TYPICAL TYROLESE LANDSCAPE] + +After the Battle of Spinges hostilities were ended for a time by the +Treaty of Campo Formio, October 17, 1797. + +During this preliminary struggle against the French it is estimated by +several authorities that upwards of 100,000 peasants took up arms in +defence of their country, amongst whom were many women and young +maidens. The total population of Tyrol at that period did not probably +much exceed three quarters of a million. + +The peace secured by the Treaty of Campo Formio did not, however, +endure very long, for early in 1799 the war broke out again, and the +French under General Massena entered Tyrol, on this occasion by way of +Switzerland through the mountain passes, the Bavarians supporting the +invaders by incursions over the frontier in the direction of Salzburg. +In an engagement near Feldkirch in Vorarlberg General Massena was +defeated; and upon making a fresh attack the French, hearing all the +church bells of the district ringing on Easter Eve and mistaking them +for the alarm bells summoning the Landsturm, hastily abandoned their +intentions and retreated across the frontier into Swiss territory. The +victories of Marengo and Hohenlinden on June 14 and December 3 of the +next year, brought about the Treaty of Luneville on February 9, 1801, +by which the Bishoprics of Brixen and Trent (already in a sense +belonging to Tyrol) were made integral parts of the country. + +Hostilities were continued, however, in other parts of Europe, and +the long war dragged on, Napoleon over-running the Continent and more +especially South-Eastern Europe almost unchecked, till Ulm, where the +Austrians were defeated October 17-20, 1805. The French army under +Marshal Ney afterwards entered and occupied Innsbruck. Then came the +disastrous Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, where Napoleon defeated +the combined Russian and Austrian forces. The power of the latter was +shattered, and by the Treaty of Pressburg, December 26, 1805, Tyrol, +which now for upwards of four hundred years had been one of the chief +possessions of the house of Habsburg, was ceded to the victors. The +Bavarians took the northern, and the French the southern portion. Not +only was the country for a time lost to Austria, but even its name was +taken from it. The new owners promptly divided it into three +departments known by the names of the three chief rivers--the Inn, +Eisack, and Adige. + +In the beginning of the year following the Treaty the Bavarians took +formal possession of their new territory. During a period of some +three years the Tyrolese fretted under the rule of their conquerors. +But the time was not spent merely in idle murmurings or in servile +acceptance of the conqueror's yoke. The peasants who had fought so +bravely for their land and liberty in ancient times, and in 1797 and +1799, were eager once more to take the field to recover their lost +freedom, and to drive the usurpers of their beautiful Tyrol for ever +beyond its frontiers. + +[Sidenote: RISE OF ANDREAS HOFER] + +Day by day, week by week, month by month a general rising of the +community was being gradually organized by three men more +particularly, who were each of them destined to become famous, and to +go down to posterity as the saviours of their country. Of these +Andreas Hofer, born of Inn-keeping parents at Sandyland in the +Passeyer Valley in 1765, was destined to outshine both in his life and +death his two companions, named Speckbacher, born at Rinn, and +Haspinger, the tall, red-bearded Capucin monk, known respectively as +"the fire-devil" and "the red beard." + +The task that Hofer and his companions set themselves was no easy one. +The country swarmed not only with the soldiers of the Bavarian +occupation force, but with spies who seem always to spring up whenever +the price of treachery is worth earning. The punishment for men taking +part in any such schemes as that in which Hofer, Speckbacher, and +Haspinger and their faithful companions were engaged in was death. +Death not only for the principals, but death for the humblest +participant. Nevertheless the plan prospered. It is interesting to +remember the very large and important part which was played in the +organization of the peasants' uprising by the Tyrolese innkeepers, or +_wirthe_, who were very dissimilar to the ordinary conception which +English people have of men of their class. They were usually the most +wealthy as well as the most solid members of the village communities +in which they dwelt and kept their _Wirthshaus_, around which, indeed, +much of the social as well as the municipal life of the village +centred. They were better informed than many of their neighbours, for +whatever travellers came to the villages found their way to their +hospitable roofs; and what echoes of the outer world ever reached the +secluded villages filtered its way, as it were, through them. It was +in these men that Hofer found his greatest allies and ablest +assistants. During the three years which succeeded the Bavarian +occupation and the peasant rising, the innkeepers of Tyrol were busy +gathering round them small bodies of trusted men, who, fired by a +common desire to free their country, would, indeed, have suffered +death rather than betray a single word of the secret arrangements of +which they gradually became cognizant. + +When many of the preparations were completed Andreas Hofer commenced a +correspondence with the Government in Vienna--which seemed so +incapable and unwilling to assist the brave people it had seemingly +abandoned in their struggle for freedom--in the person of the +Archduke John. But although Hofer and his companions do not seem to +have received very much definite or material encouragement from the +Emperor or his advisers, they proceeded to Vienna, had several +interviews with the Archduke, who appeared to be most favourably +inclined to their scheme, and at these interviews the plan of campaign +was definitely formulated. In the end Hofer returned to St. Leonard +raised to the dignity of Commander-in-Chief of the national forces, +and with full powers to do what he deemed best in the interests of the +country. + +What he did not, however, secure was any support from Vienna in the +form of arms or disciplined troops with which to leaven his "ragged +coats." The courage of the men who entered upon a campaign against +trained and tried soldiers armed with the most up-to-date weapons of +those times can scarcely be estimated just as it most certainly cannot +be over-praised. Owing to the rigorous search for arms which the +Bavarians and French had instituted in almost every dwelling in the +land, during the two or three years which intervened between the +Treaty of Pressburg and the uprising of the peasants under Hofer, it +was not possible to obtain and store new weapons in any quantity even +if to do so had not been rendered difficult from the hosts of spies +which overran Tyrol and seemed to lurk beneath almost every rock. Thus +it was that out-of-date weapons--most of which had seen service in the +war of a century before--billhooks, scythes, clubs and pitchforks, +with whatever other arms their own ingenuity could devise or the +village blacksmiths make, were pitted against the arms of some +precision of the French and Bavarian troops. All that the peasant +forces had to sustain them in the struggle against well-armed and +disciplined veterans, superior as regards knowledge of warfare, was +dauntless courage and a greater acquaintance with the country and of +hill fighting. + + [Illustration: THE SCHWARZHORN, S. TYROL] + +Upon Hofer's return with his companions from Vienna his Inn became +the resort--more or less secretly--of all who were truly desirous of +joining the popular movement and of freeing the country. Many, we are +told, blamed him for trusting so implicitly all who came. But to +objectors he made the same answer: "There are no traitors amongst my +countrymen." That his confidence was not misplaced was abundantly +shown by the fact that the secret of a conspiracy so vast that it may +be said to have extended north, south, east, and west almost +throughout Tyrol was unrevealed until the ever-memorable night of +April 10, 1809, when the time fixed for the uprising arrived. + +[Sidenote: THE SUMMONS TO ARMS] + +On the evening of that day the peasants of the Passeyer and other +valleys were called to arms by means of great fires which blazed out +in the darkness of the clear April sky in long, ruddy banners of +flame. Every hill crest in the vicinity of the Passeyer Valley had its +signal fire, and these were answered by others on the mountains +overshadowing the distant valleys. On the morrow Andreas Hofer found +himself at daybreak at the head of nearly 5000 men who had one and all +"confessed" and received the Sacrament ere taking up arms in their +sacred cause of liberty. + +The Bavarians were at once hotly attacked and routed; and on the 12th, +soon after dawn, upwards of 15,000 peasants had rallied to Hofer's +standard and appeared before Innsbruck. With indomitable bravery they +captured the bridge over the Inn, carried the heights by assault, and +entering the town engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand conflict with the +troops of General Bisson (who was in command of the joint French and +Bavarian forces) and compelled him to surrender. + +In the deadly conflict of the streets, which ran red with blood, and +into whose mire peasants, French and Bavarian soldiers and officers +alike were trampled by the on-press of the Tyrolese, the ruder weapons +of the latter, consisting of heavily butted fire-locks, broad knives +used in husbandry, scythe blades attached to staves, and bludgeons +cut from the thickets of the mountain side, were as deadly and even +perhaps more so than the weapons of their enemies. + +Down the ancient streets, overshadowed by the everlasting snow-clad +mountains; into the narrow byways and courtyards of the ancient town; +along under the arcades of the old-time Herzog Freidrich Strasse, +swept the Tyrolese, slaying as they went, until the invaders, driven +from cranny to cranny, struck down in the open, compelled many of them +to retreat along the Inn banks till they fell back into the swiftly +flowing river, cried for quarter and surrendered. + +At Wilten, on the outskirts of Innsbruck itself, the fiery Speckbacher +surrounded a Bavarian force of nearly 5000 men and took them prisoners +of war. Thus after less than four days' fighting the Tyrolese had +defeated the Bavarians, captured Innsbruck, and compelled the French +commander to sue for quarter. And in their hands they held two +generals, 132 officers, nearly 6000 men, three standards, five pieces +of cannon, and 800 horses. + +By the end of April, Tyrol was again free of invaders with the sole +exception that the Bavarians still held the castle of Kufstein. + +It was now that the Government in Vienna made one of the many serious +mistakes which throughout its dealings marked the policy pursued in +relation to Tyrol's struggle for freedom. General Chasteler, of whom +it was said that "he always came too late and went too soon," was +given the supreme command. And from that moment the advantages gained +by Hofer, his brave companions-in-arms Speckbacher and Haspinger, and +the peasant troops, were lost. In an almost incredibly short space of +time Chasteler succeeded in losing all that had been won. At length +his failure to hold what had been committed to his charge became so +obvious that he retreated beyond the Brenner, leaving Andreas Hofer to +do the best he could in defence of the portion of Tyrol not then +reconquered by the enemy. In little more than a month from the time +the French and Bavarians had been driven from Innsbruck they entered +it again in triumph; and thus, on the 20th of May, Tyrol was once more +to all intents and purposes conquered. + +The brave leader of the peasants, however, was determined to make one +more supreme effort to free his country from the French and Bavarian +yoke, and after summoning to his standard all who were capable of +bearing arms, he had the satisfaction of once more driving the +invaders from Innsbruck, and freeing for the second time the country +he loved so well. + +[Sidenote: THE CRUSHING OF AUSTRIA] + +This triumph was not, however, destined to endure, for the Austrian +forces under the Archduke Charles suffered a crushing defeat from +Napoleon's troops at Wagram on July 5 and 6, 1809, and were forced to +sue for peace or at least an armistice at Znaim, in which Tyrol was +ignored. Amongst other things, by the subsequent Treaty, Austria ceded +all her sea coast to France, as well as considerable territory to +Saxony and Bavaria. But it was not until the French, Bavarian, and +Saxon troops, straight from their victory at Wagram, to the number of +some 50,000 men, entered Tyrol under the command of Marshal Lefèbre, +and the Austrian army marched away out of Innsbruck in full retreat +before the advancing enemy, that Hofer realized that he and his cause +once more were abandoned by the Emperor and his advisers. + +Again Hofer came to the rescue; and, though in a measure a fugitive, +in one of the little-known gorges, he managed to send forth from +valley to valley his summons to the people to gather once more round +his standard. That none should certainly know from these summonses +where he lay concealed it was his wont to sign them "Andreas Hofer, +from where I am "; whilst in return those communicating with him +addressed theirs "To Andreas Hofer wherever he may be." + +He once more succeeded in inspiring his fellow-countrymen with his own +undying, unyielding patriotism. Gathering his forces together in a +gorge of the Mittewald he awaited the enemy's advance. We cannot do +better than draw in part, for a description of what followed, from the +stirring and vivid narrative of Albert Wolff. The vanguard of Marshal +Lefèbre under the command of General Rouyer advanced to Sterzing; and +then a column of Saxon troops to the number of about 4000 was thrown +out beyond the village towards the gorge of Stilfes with orders to +sweep away the insurgents. The idea that the untrained, ill-armed, and +heterogeneous peasant forces could successfully resist the victors of +Wagram appeared ridiculous to the Marshal and his officers, even if +the Tyrolese were so foolhardy as to make the attempt. For some +distance the Saxons advanced without either meeting with opposition or +discovering an enemy; and then, when the whole column, had fully +entered the defile from the mountain sides above them there resounded +a sudden, terrifying cry of "To the attack, and no quarter." + +The cry was followed by a starting up of thousands of peasants, men, +women, and children, the aged and the young, from behind the boulders +on the hillside, from out the hollows. Down the steep mountain gorge +crashed rocks, tree trunks, baulks of timber, earth and stones loosed +from the restraining ropes by the Tyrolese, sweeping every obstruction +before them, and falling upon the penned-up Saxons like an avalanche. +Then, as the latter were vainly and fiercely struggling to extricate +themselves from the debris and entanglements, the peasants rushed down +the mountain side and hurled themselves upon their bewildered foes, +shouting Hofer's battlecry, "For God and our Country." + +The enemy, utterly routed, turned and fled--what remained of +them--towards Innsbruck, pursued by the Tyrolese led by Hofer, +Speckbacher, and by the red-bearded Capuchin Haspinger, who held in +one hand a crucifix, and in the other a bloodstained sword. Upon the +Saxons the Tyrolese had no mercy, and hundreds were cut down as they +fled along the road back to Innsbruck. + +[Sidenote: TRIUMPH OF HOFER] + +In little more than a week Hofer, by a vigorous following up of his +victory in the Pass of Stilfes, had once more repulsed the invader, +retaken the position on Berg Isel, and established his headquarters at +Schönberg. These historic eight days of fighting and victory are known +in Tyrolese history as "the great week." + +Innsbruck still, however, remained in the occupation of the enemy. To +take the town was a task that might have given pause to any less brave +and venturous a commander than Hofer. But he was not the man to hold +back from a complete freeing of his beloved land from those who had +invaded it. The plans were laid, the day fixed, and the advance +ordered. On the morning of the attack, at five o'clock, Haspinger the +militant Capuchin, a commanding figure upon whom the light of early +dawn threw an almost uncanny refulgence, celebrated Mass before the +assembled peasant host, who knelt in serried ranks, ragged, unkempt, +but inspired to great deeds by memories of their past victories. After +this solemn observance Haspinger once more became a captain of troops +rather than a priest; and springing into his saddle he drew his sword +and led on the left wing. Andreas Hofer himself was in the centre, and +led the attack there, marching right on to Innsbruck. + +A contemporary account describes the hero as being "transfigured with +a grandeur scarcely earthly, as, burning with patriotism, he urged his +horse forward into battle." With his long beard, which had gained him +the nickname of General Barbonne amongst the French, flowing in the +wind, and his war cry of "Onward for your country and your Emperor! +God will protect the right!" he led his forces so irresistibly that +the troops of Marshal Lefèbre gave way and evacuated the town. On the +following day, August 15th, which was the fête of the Blessed Virgin, +Hofer, at the head of his victorious peasants, made his third entry as +victor into the capital. + +Around him thronged the citizens, overcome with transports of joy, +pressing him so closely that many were trampled beneath his horse's +feet. In the enthusiasm, relief, and triumph of victory, Hofer was +named with one voice dictator of Tyrol. But there was that strange +analogy which links Hofer's attitude in the hour of triumph so closely +(notwithstanding the differentiations of sex) with that of Joan of Arc +and with Cromwell. Turning to the thronging multitude, which filled +the narrow streets to overflowing, he cried out, with a gentle and +almost pitiful glance at their upturned faces, "Do not shout in +triumph; but offer thanks to God and pray." At the door of the church +of the Franciscans he dismounted, and entered the building to return +thanks to God, and remained there in prayer, unmoved by the cheers and +"Hochs" of the great assembly of his troopers and fellow-countrymen +outside, the sounds of which, as they came in through the constantly +open doors of the church at that hour, bore no personal significance +to him. + +On leaving the building he was waited upon by the chief citizens, who +expressed their undying gratitude to their deliverer. But in response +he said, "By my beard and St. George, God himself and not I has been +the Saviour of our country." + +Andreas Hofer was destined to show that he was not only a warrior, but +also an administrator, actuated by the most lofty desires for his +country's good. In every act of his government could be detected the +truly religious and patriotic character of the man. And during the +short time that he reigned in the palace at Innsbruck, waiting +anxiously for the approval and the help from his Emperor in Vienna, +his conduct was marked by dignity, kindliness, and strength. But alas, +his triumph was but brief. In less than two months after the retaking +of Innsbruck, a fresh Bavarian army was entering Tyrol by way of the +Unter-Innthal, and taking Speckbacher unawares the invaders gained a +partial victory; and ere the disaster of October 10th could be +retrieved, the Treaty of Vienna was agreed upon (October 14, 1809), by +which the hand of one of the Habsburg princesses was promised to +Napoleon as the price of peace. + +Tyrol by this new arrangement remained Bavarian, and the Archduke John +himself called upon Andreas Hofer to lay down his arms. The latter did +not obey. He persuaded himself that the Treaty of Vienna was without +substance, or merely a trick to enable the invaders to make good their +fresh hold upon the country, and he decided to continue the struggle. +His followers, however, were discouraged by the callous way in which +the Austrian Government had invariably left them to fight their own +battles alone. + +Speckbacher, too, was deserted by all save a mere handful of men, and +after remaining in hiding for some time and escaping capture by a +miracle he succeeded in getting to Vienna. The Capuchin Haspinger +afterwards joined him there, and was ultimately made curate of +Hietzing, near Schönbrunn. It then became clear to Hofer that to +continue the struggle for freedom just then was useless and, indeed, +impossible; so he dispersed his own handful of faithful friends and +supporters, telling them, "We shall meet again before long, for Tyrol +will not perish." + +[Sidenote: HOFER AN OUTLAW] + +With these prophetic words, which were destined never to be realized +so far as the meeting with his faithful comrades in arms was +concerned, Hofer took farewell of his companions and fled a fugitive +into the mountains of the Passeyer Valley. + +A price was put upon his head by the Bavarians and French, who +recognized that their peaceful occupation of the conquered and ceded +territory depended very greatly upon the capture and imprisonment or +death of Hofer, who, as a popular hero, held so high a place in the +hearts of his countrymen; and that for him to remain at large would +constitute a perpetual menace. + +For a long while Hofer was able to elude the vigilance and discovery +of his would-be captors. Technically, and owing to his abandonment by +the Austrian Government, he was a rebel on account of his refusal to +lay down his arms when commanded by the Archduke John to do so. In the +end, as so often happens, there was one found base and treacherous +enough to betray the fugitive for blood money. Guided by such an one, +named Raffl, some Italian gendarmes, supported by a small detachment +of French soldiers, made their way amid the intricate mountain paths +to the chalet where--near St. Leonard, but far from other +habitations--Andreas Hofer had for some months lived with his family, +now broken down by despair for his country, anxiety and privation. + +He made no resistance, and was immediately taken to Mantua, escorted +(such was his fame and the fear lest he should escape or be rescued) +by four French officers, a battalion of infantry, and a detachment of +cavalry. No effort appears to have been made by the Austrian +authorities to save the hero to whom they owed so much, and Hofer was +tried by court-martial under the presidency of General Bisson, and +condemned to be shot. + +[Sidenote: THE DEATH OF HOFER] + +On the morning of February 20th, 1810, Andreas Hofer, who lay in +prison but a short time after condemnation, was awakened early and led +forth to die. At the gates were gathered a handful of his friends and +companions in arms who had been captured and brought to Mantua, or had +followed him there, and these knelt and entreated his blessing as he +passed by them; this he gave calmly, remaining far less outwardly +moved than they who received it. + +Then onwards to the Ceresa Gate, where the firing party halted. Hofer +declined to have his eyes bandaged; neither would he kneel. But +standing erect with unwavering courage he faced the file of soldiers, +who with loaded muskets were to do him to death. Giving his last +remaining piece of money to the corporal, he said to him, "Aim +straight." Then he calmly gave the signal to fire. + +The muskets rang out, the bullets sped to their mark, and one of the +noblest of patriots Europe had ever seen fell without a groan. + +At his own last request his body was buried at Mantua in the garden of +his friend and father confessor, Manifesti. There it lay for fifteen +years, until one night three officers of a Tyrol Chasseur regiment +stealthily removed the remains, distressed that the hero of Tyrol +should lie buried in foreign soil. The body was first taken to Bozen, +and shortly afterwards to the Abbey of Wilten. + +When later a funeral worthy of his fame was accorded him, deputations +came from all parts of Tyrol to pay their tribute to the greatest hero +in its history; and amid a throng which was perhaps never before +equalled in the streets of Innsbruck, the remains of Andreas Hofer +were with great appropriateness borne to their last resting-place in +the church of the Franciscans by twelve innkeepers. On the coffin lay +his hat, sword, and decorations, and upon it were the armorial +bearings of his family, which had been ennobled by the Emperor Francis +I. in 1819. And thus, in a tomb cut from the marble of the Tyrol he +loved, his body was laid to rest. + +In the same year that Hofer died, Tyrol was divided into three parts. +Italy took the southern, Bavaria retained the northern, and Illyria +the south-eastern or Pusterthal district. So it remained for three +years, until 1813, when the power of Napoleon was once and for ever +broken in eastern Europe, when he was defeated at the fierce battle of +Leipsic on October 16-18, by the allied forces of Austria, Russia and +Prussia. In this battle (known as "the battle of the nations") upwards +of 400,000 men were engaged; a fifth of the number were slain. The +allies were helped at a critical point of the fighting by the +defection from Napoleon of a large force of Saxons. + +In the following year Tyrol was reunited to Austria with the addition +of the Ziller and Brixen valleys and Windisch-Matrei. On May 27, 1816, +the Emperor Francis I. (who in 1806 had resigned the title of Emperor +of Germany, retaining only that of Austria) entered Innsbruck to +receive the allegiance of the people. His reception was most +enthusiastic, the people rejoicing unrestrainedly at once more gaining +their freedom, and being reunited to the Austrian Empire. + +During the revolutionary excitement which pervaded Europe in 1848 the +then Emperor of Austria, Ferdinand, and his Empress took refuge in +Tyrol; and in the Austro-Italian War of 1848 the Tyrolese greatly +distinguished themselves by their bravery and good marksmanship. + +There remains little more to add concerning Tyrol's history. On +December 2, 1848, the Emperor Francis Joseph I. succeeded his uncle +Ferdinand, who abdicated after ruling the country for thirteen years +under the guidance of the powerful Prince Metternich whose reactionary +policy provoked the Revolution of 1848. + +In 1859 the Austro-Italian provinces, with the exception of Venice, +were absorbed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, previous to the formation of +the Kingdom of Italy. In consequence Tyrol became the frontier of +Austria to Italy, and of increased importance. In 1866, during the war +between Austria and Prussia, the latter supported the Italians in a +scheme to seize Southern Tyrol. The Tyrolese Jager and Schutzen forces +took a prominent part in the campaign, and were engaged with great +credit at the Battle of Custozza, where the Austrians with 70,000 men +defeated the army of Victor Emmanuel, nearly twice as strong. +Afterwards, when the Prussians defeated the Austrians at the Battle of +Sadowa or Koniggratz on July 3, 1866, and a fresh attempt was made to +seize South Tyrol, the inhabitants once more showed that their +old-time courage and resource was not diminished. + +[Sidenote: TYROL OF TO-DAY] + +Since then Tyrol has been happily both peaceful and prosperous; +advancing in the arts, and with a system of education which is bearing +good fruit. + +What the future of this favoured and beautiful land may be, who can +tell? Perhaps the secret is already locked up in the chancelleries of +Eastern Europe. + +But the wise and beneficent ruler who now guards the destinies of the +many-sided Austrian Empire is old, and when the end comes it does not +need the keen observer to possess much gift of anticipating events to +predict that Tyrol may be the scene of yet further struggles when +Germany's desire for a seaport on the Mediterranean via the Adriatic +has possibilities of accomplishment. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + SOME CHARACTERISTIC LEGENDS, CUSTOMS, AND SPORTS + + +Just as is the case with Switzerland so in Tyrol the land itself, its +history, even its geological evolution, seem in a measure reflected in +the character and disposition of its people. One cannot indeed be any +long time in Tyrol without becoming aware of and appreciating this +fact. In the kindliness and hospitality of the Tyrolese one has +reflected the characteristics of aloofness from the outer world, and +dependence upon one another, which the position of their "land within +the mountains" typifies--characteristics which have grown (and +fortunately have not yet become, at least in the more remote parts, to +any large extent tainted by considerations of self-interest) from the +circumstances of former days, when individual hospitality had to serve +for the absence of inns and commercial conveniences of the kind. So, +too, in the rugged, patriotic, and sturdy natures of the people one +can trace a parallel with the configuration of their beloved land; as +one can also trace in their single-heartedness, piety, poetic traits, +and simplicity, the frugal and laborious lives which the majority +lead, unvexed in former times by the fret of small things, and through +succeeding ages strengthened by the great needs of patriotism and +self-sacrifice which the political crises outside their own borders +often brought home to them by invasion and attempted subjection. + +[Sidenote: A DELIGHTFUL LAND] + +It is not at all wonderful, then, that a people dwelling in a land of +such surpassing beauty, where flower-bedecked upper pastures melt away +into rocky peaks, glaciers, and snow-clad heights; where the music of +tinkling brooks trickling down the mountain side and the roar of +greater torrents are ever with them; with the eternal silence of great +heights surrounding them and, as it were, shutting them in from the +outer world, should be gifted with an appreciation of romantic beauty, +legend, and poetry beyond the common run of mortals. + +As we have already shown, much history and many stirring events have +been enacted within the mountain-girdled borders of Tyrol. And, +nowadays, when the country is coming slowly but surely to her own as a +delightful holiday ground for weary dwellers in Western cities, many +of her valleys bring to the minds of those who know something of the +country's story dramatic and romantic memories of the stirring events +and legends which have through past ages become associated with their +names. + +Scarcely a valley, village, or townlet, whether set high or low in +this enticing land, but has its own legend or story. And in almost all +of the less travelled corners one finds strange, and to most +travellers incomprehensible, dialects still lingering amongst the +peasantry, notwithstanding the fact that gradually the Germanization +of even the southern portion of Tyrol is being brought about. In one +or other of these dialects which so survive, scholars and philologists +of former times have thought the key to the ancient language of +Etruria might be discovered; and in more modern days there has been +the same hope expressed, but as yet it is unfulfilled. Müller,[7] for +one, thought that in some secluded valley of the Tyrol or Grisons the +key to the riddle in the form of "a remnant of the old Rhætian dialect +might be discovered." Müller's hope has since then in a measure been +realized through the efforts and researches of Steub, who, whilst +travelling in Tyrol in Alpine districts in 1842, found some +fragmentary remains of a dialect approaching very nearly Etruscan, +though not sufficiently full to form any very important or extended +key to the tongue. His book[8] contains the results of the inquiries, +tests, and deductions which he was at first led to undertake by the +strange names of the towns and villages which he came across in his +travels. Then he collected these, and we are told set to work "testing +them with Celtic, but discovering no analogy he tried other tests, and +with the Etruscan met with some considerable success," which was +chiefly valuable, however, as confirming the theory and ancient +traditions of a Rhæto-Etruria. Many of his conclusions, however, have +never been accepted by philologists either of his own day or of later +times; and some of the word examples he gives as having analogies are +quite incomprehensible to the ordinary student. + +[Sidenote: THE LANGUAGE] + +To all intents and purposes German and Italian are the languages +spoken throughout Tyrol, a knowledge of which will be sufficient for +all ordinary purposes of travel. The former prevailing in the +Vorarlberg and North Tyrol; the latter in South Tyrol and Wälsch +Tyrol, though German is found in both of these districts, and in South +Tyrol very considerably. + +In the Vorarlberg, however, one comes across numerous words and +expressions which are undoubtedly of Italian origin, and are remaining +evidences of the periods when the Venetian Republic ruled over a +district now a part of Tyrol. The Italian word _gútto_, a can or +feeding-bottle, for example, has its counterpart in _guttera_; whilst +from _fazzolétto_, a handkerchief, one has _fazanedle_; and from +_gaudio_, joy, we have _gaude_; and from _cappéllo_, a hat, has +probably come _schapel_. + + [Illustration: A VIEW OF THE TYROL ALPS] + +A very considerable number of words of French origin or of marked +similarity to French words are found in parts of the Vorarlberg. +_Gespousa_, a bride, has a distinct philological affinity to +_épouse_; and _au_, water, pronounced very similarly, can be traced to +_eau_, and is found common to both North Tyrol and the Vorarlberg. +_Shesa_, a trap or gig, bears a marked resemblance to the French +_chaise_. + +Even England appears to have contributed a considerable number of +words to the vocabulary of certain districts of Tyrol, though perhaps +they are, more strictly speaking, words similarly derived from German +or Norman French which have become common to both. In _gulla_, a +gulley; _gompa_, to jump; _datti_, daddy; _witsch_, witch; and many +others this is traceable. It will be gathered from these few examples +that the language and dialects of Tyrol are composite of several +tongues, as is almost always the case in countries which have seen +many vicissitudes of occupation and development. + +[Sidenote: FOLK TALES] + +In Tyrol, which has experienced these and possesses such a large share +of romantic beauty, and even nowadays some "solitary places," there +need be little wonder that legends, superstitions, and myths are found +nearly everywhere. Almost every village has its own, whose origin has +been lost in the mists of antiquity, and whose date can only be traced +uncertainly by its analogy to some other similar, more widely known, +and more easily dated legend, tale, or superstition. Many of them +enshrine actual events recorded and re-recorded with poetic license +and varying accuracy, so that at last what was originally founded upon +fact has in process of time become overlaid with much poetic imagery +and fiction. To most of these tales and accounts of events each teller +added something of himself suggested by his knowledge, imagination, or +art; and thus ultimately what had once been facts became legends +common to all throughout the length and breadth of the land till some +one set them down in permanent form by writing or printing. Then the +variations in a measure ceased. + +Tyrol is full of these legendary tales, superstitions, and myths, to +which, indeed, the geological situation of the land and the simple +habits of the people conduce. When we remember that in ancient times +it was the universal custom to ascribe all manifestations of Nature's +laws which could not be easily traced and understood to the +supernatural, it is little wonder that the simple, unsophisticated, +and uneducated Tyrolese should have so attributed many of the wonders +amid which they lived. One very noticeable feature of the Tyrolese +character is demonstrated by the fact that, notwithstanding the +centuries of evolution during which superstition played so important a +part in the life of the people, and the existence of an unreflecting +belief in the supernatural, their many virtues, especially those of +patriotism, industry, frugality of living, morality, hospitality, and +religion, have not, as with some other nations, become impaired. + +Amongst the many legends of a startling and supernatural character +which are found throughout Tyrol, is one connected with the pretty +little village of Taur in the Innthal. It has to do with a hermit who +lived in the seventeenth century in a cell overlooking the Wildbach. +He is often said by the countryfolk to have been St. Romedius himself, +though this, of course, could not be the case. One night, whilst the +holy man was engaged in his usual meditation and prayer, a tapping was +heard against the little window of his retreat. Upon opening the door, +what was his amazement to see, not the benighted traveller he expected +to find craving his hospitality and shelter, but the spirit of his +friend the priest of Taur who had recently died. The latter entreated +the holy man to have compassion upon him, saying, "Have pity upon me, +Father, for my sufferings are terrible. Once when three Masses had +been ordered and the fees paid I forgot to say them, and now for this +sin I am being punished more than I can bear." + +Then the legend goes on to say that he laid his hand upon the +low-pitched roof of the little porch outside the hermit's cell, and +the holy man afterwards found that the wood was charred and the +impression of the tortured priest's hand was left indelibly in the +wood. The poor suppliant begged his old friend the hermit to say the +Masses, and to pray and fast for him. This the holy man promised +faithfully to do; and keeping his promise, a year and a day afterwards +the spirit once more rapped upon the casement and told him that he was +now free of purgatory. In the chapel there hung at least a few years +ago, and we believe now hangs, the tile with the mark of the priest's +hand branded into it, beneath which is written an account of the +miracle, with the date February, 1660. + +In Wälsch Tyrol, especially, there are many folk-lore tales having a +distinctly Biblical origin or suggestion. Possibly they are oral +versions of Bible incidents handed down from generation to generation +in the early years of Christianity and during the Middle Ages, until +they have gradually in process of time and varied repetition lost +their strictly Biblical character. One of the most usually met with +(it is told by most Wälsch Tyrol mothers to their children, and is a +favourite on account of its dramatic end, and because virtue triumphs) +bears a very strong resemblance to the story of Joseph and his +Brethren. The story runs thus: "Once long ago there lived a king who +had three sons. Two were quite grown up, but the third was a child, +and was his father's joy and favourite. One day the king, who had been +out upon a hunting expedition, returned home from the chase of the +bear and chamois fatigued, and dispirited because of the loss of a +favourite feather[9] which he was accustomed to wear in his cap. There +was a hue and cry raised, but no one could find the lost article. At +length little (Joseph) came to his father and urged him to grieve no +more but to refresh himself and then rest, "for," said the child, +"either I myself or one of my brothers will find the feather." + +Then the king, pleased with the child, and doubtless hopeful that he +would be the one to find the missing plume, said, "To whomsoever finds +the feather will I leave my kingdom." + +The three brothers set out on their search, and after much trouble the +youngest suddenly espied the object for which they were looking. But +the two elder men, consumed by jealousy at the thought of Joseph's +inheriting the kingdom, led him away into a wood and killed him, and, +taking the feather to their father the king, told him that they both +found it and thus jointly claimed the reward. Regarding the missing +(Joseph) they said that whilst searching for the feather they missed +him, and suddenly looked up to see him being borne away by a bear into +the recesses of the woods, and as they were unarmed it was impossible +for them to attempt to rescue him. The king was consumed by grief; +search was made, but the body was not discovered; and it was not until +the proverbial year and a day afterwards that a shepherd boy came +across (Joseph's) bones, and, taking one of them, fashioned it into a +primitive flute or shepherd's pipe. The wonderful part of the story is +still to come. No sooner had the shepherd commenced to play upon the +pipe than it told, in the voice of the poor child victim of jealousy, +the whole story. The shepherd took the pipe to the king and played +upon it before him. The king listened, and, accepting the miraculous +tale it told, ordered his two sons, who were present and struck with +amazement and fear, to be instantly put to death. + +There are scores of other stories of a similar character told during +the winter evenings around the fire in Tyrolese huts and houses. Some +have a family likeness to tales of our own land, such as Cinderella, +Puss in Boots, Jack and the Beanstalk (only the giant is often +replaced by an immense toad who guards fabulous wealth, that is only +to be obtained by killing the toad in single combat, which feat is, of +course, performed by the poor boy who wishes to marry the Princess), +Red Riding Hood, etc. An account of these, however, rightly belongs to +a volume of comparative folk-lore, and for detailed description we +have no space in the present one. + +[Sidenote: SOME QUAINT CUSTOMS] + +Of the many quaint customs which still prevail in different parts of +Tyrol, those relating to Christmas and to All Souls are amongst the +most tender and picturesque. In North Tyrol, more especially perhaps +in the district of the Unter-Innthal, Christmas, which is called +Christnacht and Weihnacht, is celebrated by the gift of _Klaubabrod_, +a strange cake-like compound made of dough, almonds, slices of pears, +and other preserved fruits and nuts, which, at least with the +generality of foreigners, must, we think from personal experience, be +"an acquired taste." The Zillerthal maidens are specially +well-instructed in the making of _Klaubabrod_, and the one prepared +for the family consumption, if the maker be engaged, must have the +first slice cut out of it by her betrothed, who then kisses her and at +the same time gives her some little present as a mark of his +affection. In former days it was the custom of the Bishops of Brixen +to make presents of fish to members of their household and to all in +their employ. The fish came from Lake Garda, and was allowed by custom +to pass through the dominions of the reigning Count of Tyrol and the +Prince Bishop of Trent exempt from the toll which would otherwise have +been levied. + +In Wälsch Tyrol there is a curious Christmas custom still to be met +with which consists of the arrangement, by the father of the family, +of a number of heaps of flour upon a table or shelf. In these are +hidden various little presents, and when the children and other +members of the household have been admitted they take their heap +according to the drawing of lots, or the result of some contest or +competition. + +The belief that animals have the gift of speech, which has during past +ages been prevalent throughout Christendom, still prevails in some +parts of the more remote districts and valleys of Tyrol; and strange +stories are told of things said by beasts and over-heard by human +beings which have come true, so that animals evidently are accredited +also with the gift of prophecy. + +At Epiphany, in many parts of Tyrol, performances very similar in +character to the English old-time "mummers" are given. Generally three +of the village boys dressed up to represent kings, one having his face +blacked, go from house to house singing. Sometimes a Herod will appear +at the window of the house and reply to their songs in rhyming +couplets. After which the singers stand in turn and sing, and end with +a chorus which contains broad hints that they would not refuse some +refreshment were it offered them! They seldom or never fail to receive +this, as usually some provision has been made by the hospitable +village folk for the purpose. + +The blessing of cattle on the Eve of Epiphany was at one time an +almost universal practice with the Tyrolese. This, however, has been +largely discontinued, although still extant in some hamlets of the +remote valleys. + +As showing the almost universal prevalence of certain ideas underlying +customs, though often varying in details, one may quote the observance +of All Souls in Wälsch Tyrol, which bears a marked resemblance to the +beautiful and even more pathetic ceremonials connected with the Feast +of Bon Matsuri in far-off Japan. In parts of Wälsch Tyrol, although +the graves of the departed are not decorated nowadays, as is so much +the practice in Germany, the parish priests gather their parishioners +together in the churchyards and recite the Rosary whilst kneeling +amidst the graves. In many parts loaves, called _cuzza_, are given to +the poor with small doles of money, and sometimes bean soup. In +former times, however, these doles, which are for the refreshment of +the souls of the departed, were actually laid upon the graves +themselves, apparently in the belief that the souls would come forth +and partake of the food so lovingly provided. Pitchers, cups, and +other vessels containing fresh water were also placed so that the +souls might slake their purgatorial thirst. It is in this latter and +ancient, and not in the less symbolic modern observance that the +analogy to the Bon Matsuri of Japan is so distinctly traceable. + +[Sidenote: MARRIAGE IN TYROL] + +Of the curious customs which once prevailed very widely, and are even +now to be found in the more remote districts, those relating to +marriage are amongst the most quaint. The month of May is, strangely +enough, unpopular; with us the opposite appears to be the case. The +favourite day is a Thursday. In fact, one writer ventures to say, +"throughout Tyrol a Thursday is chosen." Monday, however, is the +favourite in one of the smaller valleys of the Windisch-Matrei +district. + +On the night before the wedding there is usually a great dance given, +and in towns often a hall is hired for the purpose, where the +contracting parties are well known, in a good position, and have a +large circle of friends and acquaintances; and in villages where the +same circumstances occur an elaborately decorated barn is often used +for the merry-making. + +From the time the wedding is announced or the "banns" published the +betrothed maiden is known as the "Pulpit Bride" or _Kansel-Braut_. +These village wedding festivities are often rendered picturesque and +even mediæval in effect, as the peasants frequently wear the costumes +of former times, and the barn is lighted by pine torches or equally +primitive methods. The dancing is kept up till early morning, in fact +often until sunrise; and not till then do the guests disperse, some of +the more favoured going on to the bride's house for a substantial +breakfast, or, as it is called, _Morgensuppe_. Whilst this is in +progress the bride is usually attired by her girl friends (quite a +number of them frequently sharing in this interesting and even +exciting ceremony), and those who have not come in to breakfast may +continue the dancing. One of the special adornments worn by brides is +a knot of long ribbons or scarlet leather worked with gold thread, +whilst blue bands, worn round the arm, and the hat ribbons are of the +same colour. These were anciently thought, and are indeed still so, to +have special powers to preserve the wearer from goitre and other +complaints. + +The bride's procession, which forms usually at about ten or eleven in +the morning, is headed by musicians. But before starting the guests +assemble round the table in the living room and drink the good health +of the happy couple out of a large bowl from which the latter +themselves have drunk first. The nearest relatives and friends of the +bride usually form a kind of guard of honour, being known as "train +bearers," although we fancy a "train" is seldom worn by a peasant, or +by one of the lower middle class. These "train bearers" surround the +bride, and, except in inclement weather, walk with their hats in their +hand, and sometimes bear garlands of flowers. In some districts it is +the custom for the priest to accompany the bride to church, not as +with us to await her arrival there, walking on one side of her whilst +the parents walk on the other. Orange blossom is seldom worn, save by +the rich; peasant girls wearing as a substitute a spray or wreath of +Rosemary, which it is also a common practice for them to do in Italy +and Spain. The plant is considered emblematic of the purity of the +Virgin, and for that reason highly valued. + +[Sidenote: COSTUMES] + +Very frequently a Tyrolese bride wears no special bridal dress, but +her holiday or _fête_ dress, which has perhaps been retrimmed or +additionally embellished for the occasion. This was the case at a +wedding at which we were present in the Unter-Innthal, where the +bridesmaids also wore their picturesque festal attire, with +broad-brimmed velvet hats, elaborately embroidered bolero-shaped +bodices, snowy linen sleeves, short velvet skirts, and handsome +aprons. Their shoes were mostly of black leather, some of those worn +by the well-to-do girls being adorned by huge silver buckles. + +On this occasion the bridegroom was scarcely less gay in attire than +the bride. Clad in short black velvet knee-breeches, and wearing a +green velvet double-fronted waistcoat, a black jacket, thick brown +knitted woollen hose, a crown or head ornament of silver filigree +work, and a massive silver belt with heavy bosses, he was not only a +conspicuous, but also an almost theatrical figure of the procession. A +priest also accompanied him, followed by the village innkeeper, who is +not seldom the richest man of the community, owner of the largest +amount of land, and the holder of a position somewhat analogous to +that of a mayor. It is generally agreed that the Tyrolese village +innkeeper is a man of superior calibre to his English counterpart. +Usually he is a man of upright character, and superior intelligence to +the average villager; and carrying on, as he frequently does, several +other businesses besides that of innkeeper, he is less interested than +in some other countries in the excessive consumption of drink. + +At many weddings singers from neighbouring villages and hamlets will +come into the bride's native place to assist with the singing and +music which form a prominent feature of the ceremony. Lighted tapers +are sometimes carried by the bridal party in church; and candles that +will not burn well are always avoided and thrown aside by the younger +and unmarried members of the company on account of the belief +prevailing that to hold such is a sure sign that the bearers will not +be married within the year. At the conclusion of the ceremony a cup of +spiced wine mixed with water is sometimes handed round by the priest +after he has blessed it, out of which the guests all drink to the +health of the bride and bridegroom to be. In the old name given to +this _Johannis segen_ (literally John's blessing) some authorities are +inclined to trace a symbolism having its origin in the miracle +performed at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. + +After the ceremony has been performed the wedding-party leaves the +church, and, as is the case on similar occasions in Brittany and other +countries, dancing almost immediately commences. It is sometimes, +indeed, started almost at the church door, and thus the wedding-party +proceeds to the village inn accompanied by musicians. In former times +it was the almost universal custom in several valleys of Tyrol to +proceed in turn to every inn within a radius of some miles after +refreshments had been partaken of at the first. A very fatiguing +custom one would imagine. Refreshments, we were told, generally marked +each visit, and yet the real business of the day, the wedding feast, +was still to come! + +In ancient times--the custom has now fallen into disuse so far as we +have been able to discover--it was also the practice to slaughter a +fatted calf, which had been reserved for that particular purpose. +Every possible joint and portion of the animal was served up in turn +even to the head and feet. + +[Sidenote: A TYROLESE WEDDING] + +At the end of a feast which even nowadays lasts hours, and formerly, +so one old writer says, "consumed much time so that the whole day was +frequently given over to feasting till few who sat down to the board +were capable of much exertion," the best man or some prominent +groomsman rises and asks the guests whether they are satisfied with +the fare provided. It is needless to say that such a question is +invariably received with rounds of appreciative applause. Then, in +former times more frequently than nowadays, the speaker proceeded to +preach a little sermonette which generally ran something in the +following style, and was little varied from occasion to occasion, or +even from one generation to another. "The good gifts of which we have +partaken are from the hand of God. Therefore should thanks be given to +Him. And yet more should this be done for His mercy in making us in +His image and reasonable beings, and not as the wild beasts of the +field or crawling things, or unbelievers. We have but to thank Him and +turn ourselves to Him in the spirit of humbleness and gratitude, and +He will abide and go with us as with those at the marriage feast in +Cana of Galilee." + +Other duties in life and aspirations were usually touched upon, and +coming from one of themselves we can well believe the speech was +listened to with additional attention by a race of people +distinguished for simple piety and homely religion. The exhortation +was usually followed by a loud saying of a Paternoster and a "Hail +Mary" by all present. + +Often this address is followed by other refreshments of a lighter kind +than those of the feast proper. Some are of special design, and in +their shapes and decorations have symbolic meaning, as is sometimes +the case of wedding dishes and decorations in other countries. After +this the guests bring forth the gifts they have for the young couple. +Coming from a naturally generous and warm-hearted people these are +often not only useful but valuable, and prove a great help to the +newly established housekeepers. + +Then, when the most exigent appetites have been more than satisfied, +the musicians, who have played at intervals throughout the +proceedings, strike up dance tunes, and the younger--and often older, +too--members of the party indulge in their favourite indoor +pastime--dancing. + +Tyrolese peasant dances are many of them exceedingly picturesque and +quaint, if somewhat boisterous and lively in their performance. Both +the men and the girls in one or two of them beat time not only with +their feet but also by means of resounding thwacks on their thighs and +hips. And whilst the young men, clad in gay waistcoats, black velvet +or leather knee-breeches and high-crowned hats often of a delightful +shade of green felt, are getting more energetic, their partner's +short, full skirts during their top-like revolutions often ascend +waistward until the extent of shapely and sturdy limbs displayed +almost rivals that of a conventional ballet girl. Other dances of the +waltz, _dreher_, and _allemande_ type are more graceful, and less +"romping" in character. Dancing is carried on far into the night, and +it is a notable circumstance that although there is a good deal of +eating there is not often excessive drinking on these occasions, and +cases of actual drunkenness are very few and far between. + +Several of the valleys--the Zillerthal, Iselthal, and Grödenerthal in +particular--have their own peculiar wedding customs. And in several, +as in parts of Germany, the old custom of stealing one of the garters +of the bride whilst she is seated at the wedding feast for the purpose +of cutting it up into mascots or souvenirs still obtains. + +[Sidenote: TYROLESE SPORTS] + +A love of sport of all kinds seems inherent to the Tyrolese nature; +and this in conjunction with the pure air and bracing climate in which +the people live, the strenuous struggle for existence with the forces +of Nature which is always going on amidst the higher valleys, not only +serves to keep the Tyrolese a hardy and vigorous race, but has much to +do with the special qualities of industry, religiousness, morality, +frugality, and straight-forwardness for which they have long been +distinguished. + +Their athletic festivals parallel those of Westmorland, Cumberland, +and the Highland gatherings of our own land and the sports are to a +considerable extent similar in character. The most popular, however, +are undoubtedly shooting at a mark, or _Scheibenschiessen_ as they are +called, and wrestling. + +The Tyrolese gun, usually a short-barrelled rifle, known as _stutz_, +has played an important part not only in the history of the nation, +but also in the domestic life of the people. In many of the more +remote valleys, in the past at least, it has deserved its name of the +bread-winner, for upon the game shot with it many a household has +largely subsisted; whilst from the skins of the deer, chamois and +other animals killed, articles of clothing are made. To the constant +use of the gun in all its evolutionary stages, from the flint-lock +musket down to the more modern rifle of to-day, the Tyrolese owe their +renown as being amongst the finest marksmen in Europe, a +characteristic which has counted so tremendously in their various +struggles with the invaders of their country. + +Wrestling is popular throughout the Tyrolese valleys, but nowhere more +so than in the picturesque and romantic Zillerthal. The champion +wrestler of a village, as used to be the village "bruiser" with us, is +a person of importance who would not barter the distinction for love +nor money. The wrestlers are divided into three kinds, the "Roblar," +"Mairraffer," and "Haggler," who follow the rules of different schools +of wrestling. In former times this love of the sport, or perhaps one +should say supremacy in it, frequently led to scenes of crime and +bloodshed. Often in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries noted +robbers and freebooters were those who had acquired great physical +powers as wrestlers, and in consequence took to brigandage as a means +of livelihood. Indeed, there are stories told of fair maidens in past +ages having been carried off from their betrothed by force, when the +rejected suitor (or perhaps the unknown rival who had set his heart on +a particular girl) had killed his rival in a wrestling bout. To prove +murderous intent under such circumstances was not only extremely +difficult but also somewhat against the "sporting" instinct of the +race, and the primeval idea that the woman should fall to the +strongest. + +Bowling and the game of skittles are also favourite pastimes, and to +the latter especially several romantic stories attach. Indeed, even at +the present day one can find traces of the belief that the game is +also popular with the elves, gnomes, goblins, and "little folk" who +are supposed to dwell in or haunt certain mountains, woods, and +streams, only these supernatural folk mostly play with gold and silver +balls and skulls in the legends and folk tales one hears around the +firesides in Tyrolese chalets. + +[Sidenote: A GHOSTLY LEGEND] + +There is a strange story in connection with this game and the spirit +players attached to the now ruined and once strong and famous castle +of Starkenberg, which was destroyed by Frederick with the Empty Purse +in the fifteenth century. + +Once, so the story goes, a pedlar was overtaken by darkness upon the +mountain side, and losing his way, he came to the ancient _schloss_, +in which he decided to take shelter for the night. He lay down on the +grassy floor of the ruined hall, and placing his pack beneath his head +went off to sleep. He slept for some hours and then was awakened by +the clock of a neighbouring village striking midnight. As the last +stroke reverberated amongst the rocks of the hillside he was +astonished to see twelve spectral figures clad in complete armour file +into the hall, and set to work to play a game of bowls, using skulls +in place of balls. + + [Illustration: THE ORTLER FROM THE MALSER HEIDE] + +Now it happened that the pedlar was not only a fine wrestler and a man +of great physical strength and courage (otherwise he would scarcely +perhaps have chosen a haunted ruin in which to pass the night), but +was the champion bowler of his native village. So he offered to pit +his skill against that of the spectral knights. His challenge was +accepted, and in the end he beat them all, and to his astonishment, +instead of disgust being shown at his victory, his prowess was hailed +with shouts of joy, and one of the spirits speaking to him said that +now they were released from purgatory, and then they all vanished. +Much mystified, the pedlar turned to see where they had disappeared +to, when his eyes were greeted by the sight of ten more men in armour, +who entered the hall by separate doors. After having carefully locked +the latter they all brought the keys to the pedlar, and entreated him +to try and discover the right one for each door. Nothing abashed he +undertook the task which was a difficult one owing to the fact that +each key, door, and ghostly visitant were exactly alike. He managed, +however, to accomplish his task successfully, and was overwhelmed by +the thanks of the spirits, who told him, as had their bowl-playing +counterparts, that he had by this feat released them from torment. + +As was to be quite expected, it was now the devil's turn to appear +upon the scene, which he immediately did, roundly upbraiding the +pedlar for having thus robbed him of some of his victims, and +declaring that he (the devil) would now inevitably manage to gain the +pedlar's soul instead. The latter was not to be so easily disposed of, +however, and he offered to stake his soul upon a game of bowls to be +played between himself and the Evil One. Needless to say that the +latter was beaten, and when dawn came at length he fled away with a +horrible rushing of his bat-like wings, and his hot sulphurous breath +tainting the air, so that the grass was withered in places. + +The pedlar was not likely to keep such an interesting experience to +himself, and so when in due course he came to the village, towards +which he was making his way when overtaken by nightfall, he told the +tale. The villagers amazed went to the ruined castle, and lo and +behold there was the scorched grass as the pedlar had declared. + +It would be easy to quote other equally quaint and romantic stories +which are told in connection with the sports and pastimes of Tyrol, +but that of the pedlar and the ghostly knights or men-at-arms must +suffice. It will, at all events, serve to demonstrate how inextricably +interwoven are the threads of legendary lore and romance, even with +the commonplace daily life and amusements of this interesting people. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] In "Etrusker," Einl. 3, 10 _et seq._ + +[8] "Über die Urbewohner Rätiens und ihren Zusammenhang mit den +Etruskern." + +[9] Or ornament. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + INNSBRUCK, ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE AND TREASURES + + +The approach to Innsbruck, whether one come to it by railway or by +road from the west, north, east or south, is picturesque and even +wonderfully beautiful. Most English and American travellers, however, +we imagine, come to the old-time capital of Tyrol via Zurich and the +Arlberg railway, with its marvellous tunnel all but six and a half +miles in length, above which tower snow-clad peaks and glaciers. This +route provides a wonder-world of delight, a succession of deep gorges +lying at the foot of towering mountains covered on their summits with +a mantle of spotless and eternal snow. At one moment the train +traverses a steep gradient climbing slowly along the hillside as +though the line were laid upon a shelf of rock from which nothing but +a miracle can keep it from tumbling into the foaming torrent below; +the next plunging into the darkness of one of the many tunnels, to +emerge a moment or two later into a blaze of light and vistas of still +greater beauty. The Arlberg railway is not alone an engineering +triumph; it is also an artistic one. Few lines in Europe present +greater charm or variety of scenery in so comparatively short a +distance. To enter Tyrol by it is to see the country as it is, largely +unaltered from the days when Napoleon's armies entered it also from +the Swiss frontier with the same objective, Innsbruck. + +Soon after leaving Feldkirch the valley commences to contract as the +line climbs upwards from Bludenz and passes through the beautiful +Kloster Thal; and at Langen one suddenly comes into the region of +Alpine pastures, and from the valley below one can hear the musical +tinkle of cow-bells, and discover on the hill-slopes picturesque +groups of peasants minding their flocks. Then comes the ascent through +the famous Arlberg tunnel, which is 26 feet in width and 23 feet in +height, with its six and a half miles of gloom succeeded by +magnificent scenery as St. Anton is passed, and the line proceeds +through the narrow Stanzer valley, between towering mountains, many of +whose peaks are snow-covered. Soon it crosses the wonderful Trisanna +Viaduct which, in one arch of nearly 150 yards in length, spans the +gorge of the Patznaum valley, at the bottom of which, nearly 200 feet +below the line, rushes the glacial stream, and thence past the ancient +Castle of Wiesberg onwards to Landeck, which is set in a wide valley +with its commanding castle. + +From Landeck by taking a carriage one can reach Innsbruck in a +leisurely way along the Finstermunz high-road via Sulden and Trafoi, +and thence along the Stilfserjoch, the highest carriage road in +Europe, which climbs to the height of 9055 feet above sea level. This +was constructed between the years 1820-25 by the Austrian Government, +and traverses a wonderful variety of exquisite scenery, from the +region of the eternal snow on the Ortler and Monte Cristallo to the +vine-clad slopes of the Val Tellina. The most impressive scenery is, +however, found on the Tyrol side of the pass. + +From Landeck the line passes many another picturesque village; +castles, whose history would fill volumes, seem to stand stark and +stern almost on every mountain spur, some now mere ruins, others +wonderful survivals of a past age, sometimes environed by pine-clad +slopes, at others half-encircled by rushing torrents washing the bases +of the rocky promontories upon which they stand, whilst above one +towers on either hand the illimitable glaciers and snow slopes of the +Eastern Alps. Thus through ever interesting and beautiful scenery one +at last approaches Innsbruck. + + [Illustration: THE TRISANNA VIADUCT AND CASTLE WIESBERG] + + [Illustration: A PEEP OF THE ZILLERTHAL] + +[Sidenote: INNSBRUCK] + +Innsbruck is not only the capital of Tyrol, a town of upwards of +50,000 inhabitants, renowned historically and climaterically, but it +is also the junction of two important lines of railway by means of +which one can get eastward to Vienna and the East, and southward into +Italy. + +It has been said that of all Tyrolese towns Innsbruck is the least +national. Such a statement, although tinctured with truth, needs some +qualification. In the season it certainly puts on a cosmopolitan air, +and one meets numbers of English, Austrians, Germans, French, +Americans, Italians, and Anglo-Indians in its streets; and games and +entertainments make up a social round of considerable gaiety. But the +town nevertheless retains its native charm, bred of historic memories, +ancient buildings, and the hospitality of its people. + +To the northward, sheltering it from the cold winds from off the +Bavarian plains, stands the bulwark of the eternal heights which +literally wall in Tyrol. There rise the magnificent groups of +limestone mountains towering above the fertile Inn Valley, the +Frauhitt and Martinswand with their romantic traditions and memories, +the Seegrubenspitzen, and Rumerjoch and Brandjoch. In fine weather +they appear but a stone's throw from the bottom of the +Maria-Theresien-Strasse, or from the Ferdinands Allée which runs along +the south bank of the Inn, with its maples and poplars graceful and +shady. + +Situated amid so much beauty of scenery, favoured by an equable +climate and much sunshine, it is little wonder that the town has +become a popular resort, more especially during the winter months. The +valley is at its broadest where the city stands, allowing a wide +prospect and charming views from the slopes of St. Nicolaus and +Mariahilf across the river to the Berg Isel, and the wooded sides of +the Mittelgebirge, with here and there a tiny village with outstanding +spire perched high on the mountain side, or set amid the plain. The +valley lies east and west of Innsbruck with the river flowing eastward +like a silver ribbon, amid cultivated fields of fertile alluvial soil, +threading its way through the gradually narrowing valley to Kufstein +and thence through Bavaria to the Danube. + +This Alpine city, pregnant with so many historical memories, deeds of +blood and chivalry, engirdled by the everlasting hills, is, with the +possible exception of Salzburg, the most picturesque and interesting +of all German Alpine towns. + +The character of Innsbruck of to-day differs very materially in some +respects from what it was two decades ago. The modern element, which +always comes to such places with greater notoriety and prosperity +brought by travellers and tourists, has become developed, but happily +as yet not greatly to the detriment of the old-time air which still +permeates its narrow, ancient streets, and by-ways, courts, and +buildings. In some of the former, the Maria-Theresien-Strasse at the +south end of which stands the Triumphal Arch and Gate, and the +Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse, for example, the old and the new are +strangely mingled. It is not a little owing to this distinguishing +feature as well as to its beautiful environment that Innsbruck owes +its charm. With much of the convenience, it possesses less of the +vexing artificiality of ancient places vulgarized by the exigencies of +modern travel than do many similar towns. In some parts one might +almost imagine one's self in one of the larger mountain villages, in +another at Pontresina, or St. Moritz, minus, however, some of the more +artificial gaiety of these resorts. + +[Sidenote: INNSBRUCK TYPES] + +During the season--more especially the summer--there are numbers of +German tourists as well as Austrian to be seen in the streets, and in +their almost boisterous enjoyment of their sight-seeing and holiday +amusements they form a very marked contrast to the quieter and perhaps +somewhat restrained English and American visitors, who as a general +rule set about exploring the place and its treasures with a much more +preoccupied and business-like air. + +From the higher and more distant valleys, too, many mountaineers and +peasants come down to enjoy a few hours' marketing or the pleasures of +the town. They form not the least interesting feature of the summer +crowd which throngs the new as well as the old streets of Innsbruck. +The women, many of them, wear picturesque costumes, consisting of +velvet bodices, skirts of often beautiful shades of green and brown; +aprons elaborately worked, or of lace; and sailor-shaped hats of black +or green felt, often ornamented by gold embroidery under the brims and +with two long ribbons (frequently also of velvet) hanging down or +fluttering in the wind at the back. These hats are singularly like +those of the Breton peasants, only they are worn more by the women +than the men, whilst in Brittany women seldom wear them. + +The fact that Innsbruck is a garrison town accounts for the presence +of a large number of soldiers about the streets; green plays a +prominent part in many of the uniforms--more especially of Tyrolese +regiments--whilst the officers of several wear a particularly smart +shade of blue-grey, or "pastel" blue cloth with trimmings of cerise, +scarlet, or green, which seldom fail to arouse the admiration of the +ladies. The countryfolk, too, crowd the streets on market days with +feathers in their hats which are often of beautifully "weathered" +golden green or bright green felt. + +The history of Innsbruck from the tenth century onwards is indeed +largely that of Tyrol itself. The name as a town appears first to have +occurred in a document of the year 1027 which was a grant to the +chapel of St. James' in the Field (St. Jacob in der Au), which most +probably occupied the site on which the stately church of the same +name erected in 1717 now stands. Long before this date, however, a +settlement of people--small at first--had taken place at this crossing +or ford of the Inn, brought into existence by the growing and +profitable commerce between Germany and Italy by way of the Brenner. +Both the travelling merchants and the Tyrolese themselves soon found +the place a convenient depôt for the heavier goods and articles of +merchandise, such as skins, wines, cloths, and metal ware; and as the +years went by it gradually grew to be more than a convenient +halting-place for the merchants and their pack trains on their +journeys. Houses fit to accommodate the well-to-do were erected, and +Innsbruck as a flourishing town came into being. Towards the end of +the twelfth century certain rights over the town were acquired by a +von Andechs, Berthold II., from the monks of Wilten to whom it +belonged; and in consequence of these rights, Otto I., his successor, +encircled it with walls, fortifications, and watch-towers, and also +built himself a palace. + +The rise of Innsbruck was from the middle of the thirteenth century a +steady one. At that period it was made the sole depôt for the storage +of goods between the Zillerthal and the Melach; and as the years went +by other privileges were granted to the steadily growing town, which +not only served to maintain but also to increase its importance. + +In 1279, Bruno, Bishop of Brixen, consecrated another church in the +Ottoburg, which was called the Moritzkapelle. The town's lords, +spiritual as well as temporal, appear to have done what they could to +foster and encourage its growth, and there are records of festivities +and princely entertainments on a lavish scale within the precincts of +the Ottoburg in those far-off times. It was not, however, until after +the cession of Tyrol to Austria by the Duchess Margaret, known as +"Pocket-mouthed Meg," that the admirable situation of Innsbruck was +fully realized. Ultimately, the convenience of its water communication +by the Inn and Danube with other distant and flourishing towns of the +Empire seems largely to have brought about its adoption as the seat of +government for Tyrol. + +[Sidenote: INNSBRUCK'S RULERS] + +Innsbruck throughout the centuries, so far as its rulers are +concerned, appears to have been "fortune's child." Many privileges +were granted to it from time to time, and the staunch fidelity of the +citizens to Duke Rudolph IV. of Habsburg at the time of one of the +periodic Bavarian invasions resulted in further concessions being +granted which served to place Innsbruck in the unassailable position +of being both the capital and the most prosperous town in the Tyrol. + +Duke Frederick of the Empty Pocket (_Mit der leeren Tasche_) made +Innsbruck his home and base of operations whilst endeavouring to put +down the Rottenburgers and other of the powerful nobles, who were +attempting to set him at defiance and continue the oppression of the +countryfolk which they had commenced and carried on during the +unstable and weak government of Frederick's immediate predecessors. + +The Innsbruckers gave him loyal and very material support in his +endeavours, and reaped a substantial reward in the favours and +privileges which Frederick afterwards granted to them. + +It was this prince who gained, by contact with his people when a +fugitive amongst the mountains and valleys of Tyrol, a knowledge of +them (and thereby earned their affection) that made it possible for +him ultimately to call the peasantry to arms, and to defy the power of +the Emperor Sigismund, Ernest the Iron Duke of Styria, and his other +enemies. + +The circumstances of Frederick's call of the people to arms was +romantic in the extreme. Indeed, his doings in the early years of his +outlawry by the Church and State read like pages of the most stirring +romance. Perhaps some of the deeds recorded are more or less +legendary, but enough remains to fill to overflowing with stirring +incidents the pages of any historical romance. Briefly the story of +the event is as follows. Assured during his many wanderings of the +people's devotion to him, for when pursued they had sheltered him, and +when discovered they had boldly refused to surrender his person to his +enemies, Frederick devised a plan by which he should appear as the +principal actor in an heroic peasant comedy at the great fair at +Landeck. This play set forth in stirring scenes the fortunes or rather +misfortunes of an exiled prince driven from his throne by his enemies, +compelled to wander destitute, and with a price upon his head amongst +his people, whom he eventually calls to arms and leads to victory and +thus recovers his inheritance. + +He must have played his part remarkably well if one may judge by the +results. The people, who had come to the fair from all parts of the +country roundabout were stirred to the very depths by his acting, and +by his pourtrayal of the imaginary prince's misfortunes. We are told +the audience were many of them moved to tears and that when Frederick +came to sing of the people following their ruler's call to arms the +enthusiasm became uncontrollable. + +Then, so the tale goes, Frederick threw off all disguise, and made a +direct appeal to them. The vast audience vowed to support his cause, +and the enthusiasm which swayed the Landeckers was not long spreading +through the whole country with the result that shortly afterwards the +Emperor Sigismund and Frederick's brother concluded a truce with him +and he was allowed to become ruler. + + [Illustration: THE FAMOUS "GOLDEN ROOF," INNSBRUCK] + +During his reign he did much to show his gratitude to his loyal +friends and people by curbing the oppressive power of the nobles, and +granting many privileges which were on the whole more for the +benefit of the poor than of the rich. + +[Sidenote: THE "GOLDEN ROOF"] + +But to many who come to Innsbruck we fancy Frederick's fame rests not +upon his wisdom as a ruler so much as upon his extravagance in +building the world-famous "Goldne Dachl" to the elegant late-Gothic +balcony of his palace at the foot of the Herzog-Friedrich-strasse. The +nickname of "Empty Purse" or "Pocket" had been bestowed upon him by +his enemies, who sought to belittle him when he attained to power. It +was not certainly his by common consent. The Tyrolese account rather +points to the fact that Frederick at one time had impoverished himself +in his endeavours to relieve his subjects from the burdens of +taxation, and in consequence the nobles who were no believers in his +system of government in this respect bestowed upon him this somewhat +approbrious _sobriquet_. Frederick saw in this a reproach not perhaps +so much directed against himself as against his people in general. It +seemed to him to indicate that his enemies thought those for whom he +had undoubtedly done much kept him poor and would do nothing to keep +up a state in character with his position as ruler. He therefore built +the famous roof.[10] Outside the house which was then the Furstenburg +or princely dwelling, now very ordinary looking and far less imposing +and ornate in character than say the Heblinghaus hard by, he in 1425 +erected over the two-storied balcony the "Goldne Dachl," on which +piece of mediæval display of wealth he is stated to have expended +30,000 ducats or about £14,000. In it there are 3450 gilt upon copper +tiles, which have several times since Frederick's day been regilded. +The last occasion on which this was done is upwards of twenty years +ago. + +It is necessary, however, for us to say that considerable doubt exists +whether Frederick--who is now supposed not even to have built the +house--did construct the roof which has done so much to immortalize +his nickname. Loth though one is to destroy a romantic story, truth +compels us to state that the most reliable evidence points to the +Emperor Maximilian as the originator of the roof and probably the +balcony also in 1500, after his second marriage with Maria Bianca +Sforza of Milan. + +The house has long ago descended from its high position as a royal +palace, even at times of recent years having been let to private +families or in apartments, but the famous "Goldne Dachl" over the +beautiful oriel window, with its Gothic balconies, the balustrades of +which are decorated with carved armorial bearings and shields in +marble, has been preserved as a beloved relic almost in its original +state. Within the house itself is a curious old fresco, the subject of +which has been the cause of much dispute. On the second floor is an +interesting sculptured bas-relief, depicting Maximilian and his two +wives, Mary of Burgundy and Maria Bianca Sforza, with the seven +coats-of-arms belonging to the seven provinces over which the Emperor +held sway. + +Frederick's son Sigismund succeeded him, and for a time kept a +brilliant and gay Court at Innsbruck, but being without direct heirs +he in 1490 gave up Tyrol to his cousin who, three years later, became +the Emperor Maximilian I. Maximilian in turn did much for the town +which he adopted as his Tyrol home, and by his residence in Innsbruck, +after he had become the Emperor of a wide dominion, he did much to +increase its importance and prosperity. He it was who built a new +palace in the Rennplatz, called the Burg, which scarcely forty years +later was burned down. The Great Hall, called the Goldene Saal, and +the state bedroom, the decorations and furniture of which were so +beautiful and magnificent that it was known as _das Paradies_, were +eventually totally destroyed, many of the occupants of the palace, +including the children of the Emperor Ferdinand of that time, escaping +with their lives with difficulty. + +Maximilian, who became familiar to his Innsbruckers as the "Kaiser +Max," especially endeared himself to them by reason of his frank +manners and love of the chase and mountaineering. + +[Sidenote: ANCIENT INNS] + +Amongst the many interesting mediæval buildings which have happily +survived in Innsbruck there are several in the immediate neighbourhood +of the famous "Goldne Dachl." One of the oldest, if not the oldest, is +the Ottoburg of Otto I. standing at the end of the +Herzog-Friedrich-strasse close to the River Inn; and, indeed, only +separated from it by the Herzog-Otto-strasse. This, the residence of +the Andechs, was built in 1234, and was the reputed birthplace of Otto +III. A quaint motto concerning it remains, which, roughly translated, +runs-- + + "Here the Ottoburg firmly stands, + A house upheld by God's own hands." + +In this ancient building many dramatic scenes of Tyrolese history took +place. + +Close by is the oldest Inn, the famous and deeply interesting Goldener +Adler (Golden Eagle) to which, in former times, before modern hotels +and conveniences were esteemed indispensable, every visitor of +distinction to Innsbruck came. The "visitors' list" of the Goldener +Adler is one long entry of nobles and celebrities. + +Indeed, during the time it was the acknowledged resort of the nobility +and even monarchs who came to Innsbruck, it sheltered amongst its many +distinguished guests and travellers the Emperor Joseph II.; Ludwig I., +King of Bavaria; Gustave III. of Sweden; Heinrich Heine, the gifted +though melancholy poet; and Goethe, who came to Innsbruck with the +Dowager Duchess Amalie of Saxe-Weimar in 1790. In commemoration of +this visit a bust of the poet adorns the room which he occupied. And +last, but by no means least, the Goldener Adler housed the patriot +Andreas Hofer. It was regarding the portraits of the latter, of his +enemy Napoleon Bonaparte, and of Ludwig of Bavaria that Heine remarked +on seeing them hanging side by side in the dining-room of the Inn that +it was strange to see such enemies grouped together even though merely +portraits. Tradition has it that it was from the middle window of the +famous Goldener Adler that Hofer made his speech to the surging crowd +in the narrow street below on August 15, 1809, when he entered the +town in triumph after the third battle on Berg Isel. A copy of the +speech, which was a modest though stirring oration, has been preserved +at the Inn. + +One of the most delightful vistas of the old town is to be obtained +from the corner where stand the three well-known Inns, the Goldener +Hirsch, Rother Adler, and Goldener Löwe; whilst from the balcony of +the old Stadtthurm or belfry a fine view over the town and of the +environing mountain summits rewards the adventurous climber. + +The old-fashioned "lauben" or arcades of the Herzog-Friedrich-strasse +in particular, under which are set out tiny stalls often kept by +picturesquely attired girls and women, seldom fail to attract the +attention of visitors. + +On either side of the street these "lauben" stretch under the low +arcaded roofs, providing not only a cool promenade in the heat of +summer, but a shelter which on wet days can be fully appreciated, for, +to speak frankly, Innsbruck in wet weather strikes one if one wanders +in the byways as a somewhat muddy though intensely interesting town. +In these "lauben" one frequently sees types of the older Tyrolese in +the national costume, which in the towns of Tyrol (as in those of +other countries) show signs of dying out. Old women in the short +skirts, and picturesque aprons, quaint hats and bodices, of the +mountain districts and villages, and the old men, wrapped (if the +weather be cold) in long, flowing, cloaks of green or russet cloth, +smoking their long pipes with painted porcelain bowls, on which are +often as not stirring scenes in miniature from the life of Hofer. + +[Sidenote: MARKET TYPES] + +By way of these covered promenades one gradually reaches the busier +centre of the town where the old-world aspect of +Herzog-Friedrich-strasse gives place to the more modern Maria +Theresien-strasse, and the Burggraben joins the Marktgraben. There are +few more deeply interesting and picturesque places of its kind than +Innsbruck Marktgraben on a festival or market day. Here, indeed, is a +spot not alone for the artist and amateur photographer, but for the +student also, who may see many quaint local customs and costumes, and +occasionally even the boyishly attired girl cowherds of the upper +pastures in their cloth or velvet knee breeches, short jackets, +"sailor"-shaped hats decorated with feathers, edelweiss or gentians, +and worsted stockings. Here, too, perhaps, one can better realize from +the cosmopolitan throng of market people, than from anything else, the +fact that for many generations Innsbruck has been the business highway +for Italians, Slavonians, Hungarians, Austrians, and Germans. One can +often, indeed, see representatives of Northern, Southern, and Eastern +nations gathered together at one and the same time in the Marktgraben, +with a sprinkling of tourists to represent the more Western peoples. + +If we were asked to pick out the two streets which in different ways +would probably most deeply impress the newcomer to Innsbruck, we +should without hesitation chose the old-world +Herzog-Friedrich-strasse, on either side of whose narrow roadway are +so many interesting ancient houses, low-ceiled rooms, and picturesque +courtyards, as one; and the Maria Theresien-strasse with its more +modern air, exquisite view of the snow-capped Bavarian Alps as the +other. But this latter fine commercial street with its up-to-date +shops, upon the windows of many of which frequently appears that +comfort-bringing (but alas! sometimes delusive) legend, "English +Spoken," is not without its old and historical buildings. In the +Spitalkirche or Church of the Holy Ghost one has an early eighteenth +century Rococo building of considerable interest. And almost opposite +stands the house in which Hermann von Gilm, the well-known Tyrolese +poet, died in 1864. A little further along is the Rathaus or Town Hall +of Innsbruck, which was formerly the Oesterreichischer Hof, a large +hotel. In the courtyard is a noticeably fine marble staircase, and +there are some interesting and effective frescoes on the walls from +the brush of Ferdinand Wagner. + +Few visitors but are attracted by the column of red native marble +which occupies a prominent position in the middle of and almost +exactly midway down Maria Theresien-strasse. Surmounted by a statuette +of the Virgin Mary, and with those of St. Anna, St. George, St. +Vigilius, and St. Cassian grouped round the base, it was erected as a +memorial of the retreat of the Bavarian troops on St. Anna's Day (July +26), 1703. + +At the corner of Maria Theresien-strasse and Landhaus-strasse is the +Landhaus of Anton Gump completed in 1728, and in the Rococo style of +architecture then prevalent. Here are held the sittings of the +Tyrolean Landtag which was formerly held at Meran, and on its +transference to Innsbruck was one of the main causes of the town +becoming the capital of Tyrol. + +Close by is the church of the Sevites, with its famous dome decorated +by the paintings of the well-known Tyrolean artist, Joseph Schöpf, +depicting the death of St. Joseph and his entry into paradise. + +The University, which stands in the street of that name, has undergone +some considerable vicissitudes. Founded by the Emperor Leopold I. in +1677, it was, by the Emperor Joseph II., reduced to the standing of a +Lycée, but was once more accorded the dignity of a University in 1826. +In the valuable library of upwards of 75,000 volumes there are many +illuminated MSS. of great beauty and value, as well as a number of +early fifteenth-century books. The adjoining Botanical Garden, which +contains an unrivalled collection of Alpine flora, and was constructed +by Professor von Kerner, belongs to the University, and here during +the summer months those who wish to study Alpine flowers will find +grouped and gathered together specimens which it would take many +months and perhaps even years to study and discover on one's own +initiative in their native habitats. The University is, however, about +to be transferred to a more convenient home on the Fürstenweg near the +Inn, and the old building will, alas! probably be pulled down and the +site used for modern houses. + +[Sidenote: MAXIMILIAN'S CELL] + +Quite close to the latter stands the Jesuit Church attached to it, +which is chiefly interesting because of its being the burial place of +the Tyrolese Prince Regents, and on account of the paintings by +Albrecht Durer which adorn the sacristy. The Capuchin Church and +Convent dating from the latter end of the sixteenth century are worth +a visit, for in the latter one sees an interesting and historical +survival in the retreat of the Archduke Maximilian, known as the +"Deutsch-Meister," who here devoted a week in every year to prayer, +fasting, and penance. + +In his simple cell, which is panelled in plain wood, and has for +furniture but a bedstead and chair of the most ordinary make, one can +realize exactly the kind of "retreat" which was so often in those +far-off days used by the highest nobles and rulers to free them for a +time from the cares and vanities of State. The inkstand and other +small articles of necessity, which still remain memorials of +Maximilian's occupation, are supposed to have been his own handiwork. +How complete this ruler's retirement from the world and whilst he was +in retreat can be judged by the fact that he not only followed with +exactitude the rules of the brotherhood, rising early and also +attending the night offices, but in addition he engaged in the manual +labour of the garden, and field, and workshop like as one of them. The +cell has a little window high up and opening on the chancel of the +chapel to enable the noble recluse to take part in the services. + +This cell has been in a sense a pilgrim place ever since, and has been +visited at various times by many distinguished people. In 1765 the +Empress Maria Theresa came to the Convent, and upon entering +Maximilian's retreat sat herself in the wooden chair. + +She was little used to so hard a resting-place, and after a minute or +two she expressed her astonishment, exclaiming, "Heavens! What men of +iron our forefathers were!" + +There are (so far as we know) no relics of the Empress Maria Theresa's +visit, not even an autograph; but another illustrious visitor, St. +Lorenzo of Brindisi, who came to Innsbruck on his way to found a +religious house in Austria, somewhat strangely one is forced to think, +left behind him his staff, breviary, and copy of the Hebrew Bible, +which are treasured as carefully as the relics of the Archduke +Maximilian himself. During the reign of the latter the religious +houses and Churches of Innsbruck all benefited by his generosity and +prospered from his devotion to the Church. The effect of his example +upon the townsfolk themselves was so marked that after the terrible +plague of the year 1611 the burghers founded and built the +Dreiheiligen Kirche (Holy Trinity) for the Jesuits as a thank-offering +that the ravages of the plague were stayed. It was probably owing to +the fact that, during this particular outbreak of the scourge of the +Middle Ages, when the old hospital or Siechenhaus was all too small to +hold all the victims, two Jesuits, Kaspar von Kostlan of Brixen, and +the Professor of Theology at the University, assisted by a lay +brother, tended the sick with indefatigable self-sacrifice, that the +Jesuits were destined to chiefly benefit by the Innsbruckers' desire +to commemorate their gratitude to God, that the pestilence at last had +been overcome. They readily subscribed the necessary funds (we are +told), and the then Burgomaster took a vow to see that the building +was erected. From the time of which vow, tradition tells us, "the +pestilence at once began to abate." + +An altar-piece, the artist of which was Stötzl, was given by +Maximilian himself. It represented the three patron saints against +sickness: St. Sebastian, who stayed a plague in Rome by his +intercession; St. Martha, who according to tradition founded a +hospital and spent the rest of her life attending to the sick; and St. +Rocchus, who devoted his life and strength to the care of those +suffering from the pestilence. + +[Sidenote: THE NEWER TOWN] + +Some of the most beautiful roads and modern houses of the newer +Innsbruck, which is increasing in area year by year, lie close at hand +to this votive church, and to the northward, in the part of the town +which is best reached by the Universitats-strasse and Saggengasse, +alongside of which is the vast Exercier Platz, and at the back of that +and nearer the river the beautiful Hofgarten. These never fail to +charm the rambler on the outskirts of the town. + +[Sidenote: MUSEUM TREASURES] + +But there yet remain many other interesting objects, which the lover +of Innsbruck and the visitor who stays for any considerable period of +time are sure to gradually discover and enjoy. One of these is the +National Museum, known as the Ferdinandeum, in which are gathered +together objects, pictures, and relics forming, so it is claimed for +them, an almost complete historical record of Tyrol, its people and +its products. + +The Museum, which is the resort of students from all parts of Europe, +and is for even the casual visitor an object of the greatest interest, +bears the name of its founder and patron Ferdinand I. Originally +intended to illustrate in a vivid and practical way the history and +national customs of the country in the various domains of art, +science, and industry, the collections have gradually been enlarged +and expanded so as to contain examples of art by members of well known +foreign schools. The present museum is a comparatively modern +building, with a façade in the Italian Renaissance style. The ground +floor was commenced in 1842, and the upper story added in 1886. + +On the ground floor are some most interesting archæological remains, +including several ancient Roman milestones from the Brenner road and +elsewhere; burial urns from Matrei; bronze statuettes of Roman days +from Brixen and Innicherberg; many ornaments of the Roman period from +Meran, Moritzing, Zedlach and other places. From Salurn, in the valley +of the Eisack, there are some Roman tombs, with the ornaments of the +dead, and household and toilet utensils and articles of great value +and interest. One of the most important objects in the archæological +section of the Museum is the sarcophagus, arms and ornaments of a +Lombardian prince disinterred at Civezzano, near Trent. The coffin was +richly ornamented by gold bands, and in it was found a gold cross. + +Zoology, Geognosy, Palæology, and Mineralogy are represented with +remarkable fulness, and in the last-named section of the Museum is to +be found almost every Tyrolese mineral discovered up to the present +time. Some of the specimens are of great beauty and value. + +In the Armoury, which so far as the general visitor is concerned, +appears to be one of the most popular sections, there are many fine +examples of the weapons of bygone days, including poignards, inlaid +pistols, guns, powder-horns and flasks, helmets, breastplates, etc. + + [Illustration: A TYPICAL INNSBRUCKER] + +In the Topographical section few fail to notice with interest the many +early maps of Tyrol, bearing on their faces the history of the country +as is shown by the partitions of it which from time to time took +place; and the homemade globes of the self-educated shepherd boy, +Peter Anich, who became a famous geographer. In the same room are +some fine specimens of peasant costumes, musical instruments +(including some Strads, Amatis, and Stainers of great value), the +jewel case of the famous Philippine Welser (wife of Ferdinand II.) who +lived with her royal and devoted husband at Castle Ambras for many +years. + +There are also in the Museum some deeply interesting relics, +portraits, busts, autographs, etc., of Tyrolese patriots and +distinguished citizens of Innsbruck. Those relating to Andreas Hofer, +and his two loyal comrades, Joachim Haspinger and Joseph Speckbacher, +include many of their personal belongings, and are regarded by the +Tyrolese visitors with almost religious veneration--a feeling which +the life--history of these men quite justifies. + +Amongst the sculpture are some fine specimens of old carved woodwork +and interesting German carvings of an early period brought from +Tyrolean churches, which were either despoiled during the Napoleonic +Wars, or have since for one reason or another been pulled down and +their treasures and fittings dispersed. + +On the second floor of this convenient and commodious building is +chiefly gathered together the Art collection, which so far as native +work is concerned is, we believe, unrivalled. There is presented for +the information of the student as well as the ordinary visitor an +astonishingly complete survey of Tyrolese painting from the earliest +times, including the work of the schools of Brixen-Neustift, and the +Pusterthal, with representative work by such masters as Andrä Haller +and Michael Pacher; and also examples of the old Flemish and German +masters, including Lucas Cranach, St. Jerome, Altdorfer, Pateiner, +etc., Innsbruck painters being represented by Sebastian Schel. + +Well worth the attention of all interested in painting and its +development as an Art are the works of the Tyrolese masters covering +the period from the seventeenth century to the present day, which are +well represented by pictures of the Unterberger family, Joseph Schöph, +John Baptist Lampi, Angelica Kaufmann, Gebhard Flatz (Fra Angelico), +Joseph A. Koch, Mathias Schmidt, E. von Wörndle, Karl Blaas and +others. Amongst the more notable pictures of the modern school are the +"Chancellor Wilhelm Biener at the Innsbruck Landtag," of Karl +Anrathers, and the historical masterpieces of Franz Defregger. + +It is impossible for one to study the latter nine in number, which +depict patriotic events connected with the campaign of 1809, without +appreciating the vigour of their execution and the charm of their +colour, at the same time realizing something of the stirring nature +and significance of the events to which they refer. Three are +originals, and the remaining six are copies made by pupils of +Defregger under his own personal supervision, and supposed to have in +some cases been finished or touched up by him. The following are the +subjects of the originals:-- + +(1) The Three Patriots--Andreas Hofer, Joseph Speckbacher, and Joachim +Haspinger; (2) Speckbacher and his son Anderl at the Bear Inn, St. +Johann; (3) The Innkeeper's Son. The last named is the son of the +Tharer Wirth at Olang in the Pusterthal. The copies are of the +following subjects: (1) Speckbacher's Call to Arms; (2) The Last +Summons, the original of which is in the Imperial Art-History Museum +in Vienna; (3) The Mountain Forge, the original of which is in the +Dresden Gallery; (4) The Return of the Victors, the original of which +is in Berlin; and (5) Andreas Hofer in the Castle at Innsbruck, the +original of which belongs to the Emperor Francis Joseph; (6) Andreas +Hofer being led to Execution, the original of which is in Konigsberg. +These are all distinguished by beauty of colouring, strength of +drawing, and dramatic appeal. + +There are many other treasures in this Museum, which is national in +the true sense of the word. And amongst them is the fine and almost +priceless collection of pictures by Dutch masters which has been +principally acquired through bequests of wealthy Tyrolese. In it are +examples of the work of Van Dyck, P. Paul Reubens, Paul Potter, R. +Ruysch, Adrian von Ostade, A. Cuyp, Rembrandt and others. There is +also a most comprehensive and valuable Library of works relating to +Tyrol, and also the archives of both the Austrian and German Alpine +Clubs. + +Each year sees important additions made to the various departments of +the Ferdinandeum, and so the returning visitors to Innsbruck find an +ever new interest in the country and its National Museum awaiting +them. + +[Sidenote: THE HOFBURG] + +The remaining objects of supreme interest at Innsbruck are the Hofburg +or Palace; and the Hofkirche or Church of the Franciscans. They are +easily reached from the Ferdinandeum along Museum-strasse and the +Burggraben, which may be said to form the boundary line dividing the +old town from the new. The archway, through which one reaches both the +Palace and the Church, formed, in mediæval times, one of the city +gates; and in those far-off times was crowned by a watch-tower upon +which the many escutcheons of the Habsburgs were emblazoned. It was +taken down in the time of Maria Theresa, as its condition had become +too dangerous to permit it to remain standing. + +The Hofburg stands at a right angle with the Hofkirche to the +north-west. Of the original building erected by the Emperor Maximilian +not very much now remains; for after being seriously damaged it was +ultimately reconstructed by Maria Theresa. On the exterior are traces +of the original baroque style favoured at the time it was built; still +also to be found in several of the larger, older, and more important +houses in the town. The state apartments are chiefly distinguished for +the decorative paintings of the well-known artist A. F. Maulbertsch, +principally in the large salon known as the Riesensaal. It was in the +chapel, which connects the Palace with the Damenstift or Ladies' Home, +that the Emperor Francis I. of Germany, husband of Maria Theresa, died +so tragically on August 18, 1765, while the wedding festivities in +connection with the marriage of Prince Leopold (afterwards the Emperor +Leopold II.) with the Infanta Maria Ludovica were in progress. + +It is not the Hofburg, however, but the famous Hofkirche--which has by +several writers and antiquarians been called "The Tyrolean Westminster +Abbey,"--that attracts most visitors, and has the greatest charm for +all who are either interested in Tyrolese history or antiquities. This +church was built during the decade from 1553-63 by the Emperor +Ferdinand I., then King of Rome, as a memorial to his grandfather the +Emperor Maximilian I., who was buried underneath the high altar in the +Castle Chapel of Wiener-Neustadt. Tradition states that the building +had been contemplated by Maximilian, and was ultimately brought into +being in accordance with his will. The architect of the church, which +is in the Italian Renaissance style, was Thuring of Innsbruck,[11] and +the ground plan follows the lines of a columnar basilica. Lübke, +however, states that it was the tomb and not the building which +Maximilian himself planned in collaboration with Gilg Sesselschreiber, +a Munich artist, who occupied the position of painter to the Court. + +The first impression made upon the mind by the famous Hofkirche is one +of lightness and elegance, wedded to a somewhat flamboyant decorative +scheme, rather than impressiveness or age. The lofty and +slender-looking columns which support the roof on either side of the +nave are of red marble, and the ceiling itself is elaborately +decorated in rococo. The vista on entering is extremely fine, +including as it does the wonderful tomb of Maximilian, the organ loft, +and the huge crucifix in the centre, and the handsome pulpit on the +left of the tomb. The impression of magnificence and beauty grows upon +one, thus carrying out what was doubtless the design of the architect +and the Emperor who was instrumental in its erection. + +[Sidenote: MAXIMILIAN'S TOMB] + +The tomb in the centre, with its imposing bronze figure of Maximilian +kneeling with clasped hands on the top of the huge marble sarcophagus, +at the four corners of which are smaller figures, at once arrests +attention. The Emperor is in Imperial dress, with crown, armour, and a +robe, and is surrounded by the twenty-eight huge figures which have +become world-famous, and all save two of which were once +torch-bearers, and are now seen with their right hands extended as +though holding torches. The two exceptions are King Arthur of England, +and the Emperor Theodoric the Goth. All of the statues surrounding the +tomb are thought to have had some real or legendary connection with +the House of Habsburg, and it is believed that Maximilian himself +chose the characters who were to be represented. They may be grouped +into two series. One consisting of his five favourite heroes of +antiquity; the other of twenty-three ancestors, contemporary relatives +or members of his house, both men and women. + +The figures differ very greatly both in style and merit. It was +perhaps only natural that this result should have been arrived at when +one remembers that several generations were occupied upon the +construction of this marvellous example of German Renaissance +monumental work erected during the sixteenth century, and that it was +necessarily the work of several designers as well as many different +hands. The tomb is a wonderful, perhaps even unequalled, example of +the German art of a period which marked the blending of the mediæval +and the modern. To the Imperial designer of the tomb the chivalric +figures he chose to surround it were no mere abstractions but living, +breathing entities; just as the old feudal Empires of south-eastern +Europe were real. He was unable to realize that even then the old +order was about to pass away, to be replaced by a new which was so +divergent from that he had known, and of which he himself had been so +prominent a figure. + +The bronze figures, which twenty years or so ago attracted the notice +of but few foreign visitors, but are now objects of keenest interest +to all comers to the capital of Tyrol, are by several hands. The two +of surpassing beauty of design and execution are those of King Arthur +of England, and King Theodoric. They are nowadays pretty generally +supposed to have been the work of Peter Vischer of Nüremberg. + +These two statues have a particularly interesting history which has +been brought to light of recent years. Though cast at Nüremberg in +1513, and costing no less than one thousand florins, it was not until +nearly twenty years had elapsed that they reached Innsbruck. In the +meantime, owing to Maximilian's need of ready money, they had been in +the possession of Bishop Christopher of Augsburg, to whom they had +been pawned by the Emperor. The Bishop placed them in the chapel at +St. Lorenz, where they remained until the year 1532. Ferdinand I. then +sent to redeem them, and they were delivered up on payment to the +steward of the then Bishop of the amount which originally had been +advanced upon them. + + [Illustration: MOONRISE IN TYROL] + +[Sidenote: KING ARTHUR AND THEODORIC] + +The statue of King Arthur is especially impressive and fine. Standing +erect, the tall, chivalrous-looking figure has an alertness of pose +which is astonishingly lifelike and commanding. It is impossible not +to recognize the representation of a true ideal of knighthood "sans +peur et sans raproche," and that without any suggestion of aggressive +valour. The helmet worn is of the close-fitting type with the visor, +which is enriched with ornamentation, raised so that the face of a +somewhat Teutonic mould is plainly seen. The breastplate, worn over a +coat of mail, is magnificently worked; but the rest of the suit is +plain. Arthur supports by his right hand a shield bearing the arms of +England, and at his left side is a long sword. + +The statue of King Theodoric, although fine in execution, does not +possess the same impressiveness and commanding merit as that of King +Arthur to which we have just referred. It appears probable that the +same model may have been used for both. But, whereas King Arthur is a +commanding figure, the pose of King Theodoric is rather a dejected and +wearied one. His breastplate is not nearly so richly ornamented, and +his helm is also plainer, with the visor of a quite different shape. +As is the case with King Arthur, the breastplate is worn over a coat +of chain mail, and the greaves worn are plain. + +The remaining twenty-six figures according to some authorities were +designed by Gilg Sesselschreiber; although opinion is still somewhat +divided regarding this point. It may, however, we think be accepted +that Sesselschreiber was, at least in part, responsible for the +greater number. + +The relationship which existed between the Emperor Maximilian and the +Munich artist Sesselschreiber, who had been engaged as Court painter +in 1502, was not untinctured by an element of romance, which is doubly +interesting as showing the relative positions of artist and patron in +those stirring and disturbed times. + +Happily for lovers of art and antiquities the original designs for the +statues surrounding the tomb of Maximilian which Sesselschreiber made +have been preserved, and can be seen in the Imperial Library, Vienna. +Exquisite pen-and-ink drawings delicately tinted, upon some of which +the Emperor himself made corrections and suggestions in his own hand. +These are distinctly traceable on some from the unskilled nature of +the pen-and-ink alterations. + +[Sidenote: THE FAMOUS STATUES] + +A curious fact is also brought to light by these sketches. It would +seem from them beyond question that Maximilian fully intended being +modelled for the figure of himself, which was to grace the memorial, +in the suit of exquisite silver armour which he had worn on the +occasion of his marriage at Ghent with Mary of Burgundy.[12] Several +sketches were made, one, apparently from the notes and alterations +upon it, displeased the Emperor from a technical point; in another the +face was not as he wished with the result that Sesselschreiber +altogether made four or more drawings. + +The care which had been taken over this most important figure was, +however, never destined to be utilized to the full, for the statue was +not even modelled at the time of Maximilian's death in 1519, and the +figure clad in coronation robes (instead, as was evidently intended, +entirely in armour) which kneels on the top of the cenotaph was the +work of Abraham Colin, who had never seen the Emperor in life, the +cast not having been made until more than sixty years after +Maximilian's death. + +How slowly the great work of this magnificent tomb proceeded can be +gathered from the dates we have quoted. The delay arose from several +causes; amongst others, from the Emperor's shortness of money, owing +to the vast schemes of conquest, science, and other matters in which +he was engaged; and from the circumstance that Gilg Sesselschreiber +appears to have become lazy, intemperate, and dissolute. In the end he +took flight to Augsburg in fear of Maximilian's anger. The Emperor, +however, was not prepared to yield up possession of his Court painter +without a struggle, so the latter was captured and thrown into prison, +from which he appears to have been released in 1516 on promise of +reform. So that he might be freed from the temptations which Innsbruck +afforded in the way of wine, women, and boon companions he was +compelled by the Emperor to take up his residence at Natters on the +western side of the Sill Gorge above Innsbruck. + +The casting of the statues was largely done by the famous Gregor +Löffler, who established a bronze foundry near Innsbruck, and also +built the Castle of Büchsenhausen, although some of the statues were +undoubtedly cast by Stephen and Melchior Godl and Hans Lendenstreich +who worked at the Mühlau foundry on the outskirts of Innsbruck. +Although the designing and casting of the statues is now generally +accepted as being the work of the men we have named, it is more than +possible that the idea of the whole complete piece of mediæval and +historical symbolism was that of some comparatively unknown brother of +the Franciscan order. Originally the scheme was designed to include, +in addition to the figures we have mentioned, twenty-three others of +saints which were to be placed on raised pedestals or in niches, and +were for this reason of much smaller size. They are now to be seen in +the Silver Chapel. The following is a list of the large statues +grouped around the tomb. + + (1) Clovis, the first Christian King of France. + + (2) Philip the Handsome, of the Netherlands, Maximilian's + son. (1495.) + + (3) The Emperor, Rudolf of Habsburg. + + (4) Albert II. the Wise, Maximilian's great-grandfather. + + (5) Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths. (455-526.) + + (6) Ernest der Eiserne, Duke of Austria and Styria. + (1377-1424.) + + (7) Theodebert, Duke of Burgundy. (640.) + + (8) King Arthur of England. + + (9) Sigismund der Munzreiche, Count of Tyrol. (1427-96.) + + (10) Maria Bianca Sforza, Maximilian's second wife. Died + 1510. + + (11) The Archduchess Margaret, Maximilian's daughter. + + (12) Cymburgis of Massovica, wife of Ernest der Eiserne. + Died 1433. + + (13) Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, father of Mary of + Burgundy, Maximilian's first wife. + + (14) Philip the Good, father of Charles the Bold. Founder of + the Order of the Golden Fleece. (1419.) Married Margaret of + York, sister of Edward IV., in 1468. (1467-77.) + + (15) Albert II., Duke of Austria, and Emperor of Germany. + (1397-1439.) + + (16) Emperor Frederick III., Maximilian's father. + (1457-93.) + + (17) Leopold III., Margrave of Austria; since 1506 the + patron saint of Austria. (1096-1136.) + + (18) Rudolf, Count of Habsburg. (1273.) + + (19) Leopold III. the Pious, Duke of Austria, Maximilian's + great-grandfather; slain at Sempach. July 9, 1386. + + (20) Frederick IV. of Austria, Count of Tyrol, surnamed "mit + der leeren Tasche." + + (21) Albert I., Duke and Emperor of Austria. Born 1248, + assassinated by his nephew John of Swabia, 1308. + + (22) Godfrey de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem in 1099, wearing + a crown of thorns. + + (23) Elizabeth of Hungary, wife of the Emperor Albert II. + Born 1396. + + (24) Mary of Burgundy, Maximilian's first wife. (1457-82.) + + (25) Eleonora of Portugal, wife of the Emperor Frederick + III., Maximilian's mother. + + (26) Cunigunda, Maximilian's sister, wife of Duke Albert IV. + of Bavaria. + + (27) Ferdinand II., of Aragon, surnamed "the Catholic." + (1479.) + + (27) Johanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and wife + of Maximilian's son, Philip I., of Spain. + +[Sidenote: HISTORY IN MARBLE] + +The cenotaph itself, placed upon three steps of red marble, is about +fourteen feet long and six feet high, and is constructed of different +coloured marbles. The figure of the Emperor on top with its face +directed towards the altar, is a fine bronze casting by a Sicilian +named Luigi del Duca made in 1584.[13] Slender columns divide the ends +and sides of the cenotaph into twenty-four panels or compartments of +white marble in which are scenes in relief (depicting the chief events +and achievements of Maximilian's life). These are really marvellous +works of art, not alone for their execution but from the care with +which accuracy has been attained in the costumes, the architectural +and other details introduced, and from the extraordinary finish which +marks the whole of the work. Many of the faces are undoubted portraits +of the greatest historical and antiquarian value, those of the Emperor +at various periods of his life being remarkable for their differing +likeness. The variations of the national types depicted are rendered +with the most painstaking care. The first four of the panels are +filled by the work of Albert and Bernard Abel of Cologne, who began +their task in 1561, after a visit to Genoa to choose the marble. They, +however, both died two years later, leaving their work to be taken up +by Alexander Colin, of Malines, in Flanders, who lived at Innsbruck +for forty years, and died in 1612. Aided by a large number of other +artists he completed the work of the Abels in a period of about three +and a half years. Even the least learned of visitors will recognize +the beauty of craftsmanship which so great a master as Thorwaldsen +pronounced "the most admirable and perfect of its kind." + +The delicacy of execution is, indeed, rather that of ivory than of +marble, and it is not without good cause that these exquisite reliefs +are nowadays protected by glass and surrounded by a railing in iron +work of very beautiful design. + +[Sidenote: SOME HISTORIC EVENTS] + +The subjects, a brief description of which may be of interest, are as +follows:--(1) The marriage of Maximilian (then aged eighteen) with +Mary of Burgundy at Ghent, August 19, 1477. She was killed whilst +hunting by the stumbling of her horse, and was buried at Bruges, 1482. +(2) Maximilian's victory over the French at Guinegate, in 1479. (3) +The taking of Arras, 1482; the fighting men and the fortifications in +this are worthy of special note, not alone for historical accuracy of +detail but also for the marvellously fine execution; one woman in +particular should be noticed, who is bringing provisions to the camp. +This figure is a masterpiece in itself. (4) Maximilian is crowned King +of the Romans at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1486. The scene is the interior of +the Cathedral, Maximilian is seated on the stone chair of Charlemagne +(a sort of throne) before the altar surrounded by his courtiers, whose +dresses and those of the ladies high above in their gallery are a +perfect record of the fashions of the period, so minute is their +accuracy of detail. (5) The Battle of Castel della Pietra, or Stein am +Calliano, situated between Trent and Rovereto in 1487. The landscape +background of this panel is excellent, and the Tyrolese are seen +driving the Venetians with great fury before them across the Adige. +(6) Maximilian's entry into Vienna, 1490, after it had been evacuated +by the Hungarians, an incident in the course of the fight for the +crown of Hungary after the death of Matthias Coryinus who had held +Vienna for several years. The figure of Maximilian on his horse is +very beautifully carved. (7) The siege of Stuhlweissenburg, the city +in which the Kings of Hungary were crowned; Maximilian captured it in +1490. The horses in this tablet are worthy of particular notice. (8) +The return of Margaret, daughter of Maximilian. This episode, which it +must have required some courage to record among the acts of so +glorious a reign, shows Maximilian meeting his daughter Margaret on +her return in 1493, after Charles VIII. had rejected her hand for that +of Anne of Brittany, whom Maximilian himself had intended to marry as +his second wife. The French envoys hand to the Emperor two keys, +symbols of the suzerainty of Burgundy and Artois, the price to be paid +for the double affront of sending back his daughter and depriving him +of his bride, Anne. (9) Maximilian's campaign against the Turks in +Croatia. (10) The Alliance between Maximilian and Pope Alexander VI., +the Doge of Venice, and the Duke of Milan, against Charles VIII. of +France; the four allies are shown standing in the hall of a palace in +the act of joining hands, whilst the French are seen in full flight in +the background. (11) The Investiture at Worms of Ludovico Sforza with +the Duchy of Milan. The portraits of Maximilian are well preserved and +finely executed on each occasion that he is introduced, but in none +better than on this one. The Empress Maria Bianca is seated on the +left of the Emperor, Ludovico Sforza kneels before the throne; on the +waving standard, the symbol or investiture, the ducal arms are +plainly discernible. (12) The marriage at Brussels, in 1496, of Philip +der Schöne, Maximilian's eldest son, with Johanna, daughter of +Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, by the Archbishop of Cambrai. + +The remaining panels show (13) The campaign in Bohemia, and victory of +Maximilian at Regensburg in 1504. (14) The siege of Kufstein, 1504. +(15) The capture of Guelders and submission of Charles d'Egmont to +Maximilian, 1505. The Duke is standing with uncovered head, and the +battered walls of the city are seen in the background. (16) The League +of Cambrai, 1508. The scene is a handsome tent in the camp near +Cambrai; Maximilian, Julius II., Charles VIII., and Ferdinand V. are +meeting to enter into an alliance against Venice. (17) The siege of +Padua, 1509, the first result of this league. (18) The expulsion of +the French from Milan in 1512. (19) The second battle of Guinegate; +known also as the Battle of Spurs, so called from the fact that the +French were said to have used their spurs rather than their swords on +that occasion, with Henry VIII. of England in command of the allied +infantry, August 16, 1513. (20) The meeting of Maximilian and Henry +VIII. before Tournai, 1513. Maximilian and Henry are seen both on +foot. (21) The battle of Vicenza, 1513. (22) The siege of Murano, on +the Venetian coast, 1514. (23) Maximilian treating with Vladislaw, +King of Hungary, for the double marriage of Anna and Ludwig, children +of Vladislaw, with Ferdinand and Maria, grandchildren of Maximilian, +which event had as one of its consequences the subsequent joining of +Hungary with the Empire. (24) The defence of Verona, made by +Maximilian's forces, against the French and Venetians, 1516. + +Maximilian's splendid memorial is well-placed so that its beauty and +impressiveness is given full effect, and the spectator is able to +consider it not only in detail but as a whole. As an example of +sepulchral art of its kind it is unrivalled. + +Of a very different character to this magnificent cenotaph is the tomb +of Andreas Hofer at the entrance to the left aisle, wrought in +Tyrolese marble by Schaller, of Vienna, and with a bas-relief by +Joseph Klieber, of Innsbruck, depicting six Tyrolese taking the oath +of allegiance to the National flag and cause. On either side of the +great patriot lie his comrades, Joseph Speckbacher and Joachim +Haspinger. Near them is a tablet inscribed, "From a grateful +Fatherland to the sons who perished in the Patriotic Wars," with the +date (1838) of erection, and the motto, "Death is swallowed up in +Victory." + +[Sidenote: STATUETTES IN SILVER CHAPEL] + +In the opposite aisle and reached by a flight of steps is the Silberne +Kapelle (Silver Chapel), so known because of the silver statuette of +the Virgin, presented by the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, who was +Regent of Tyrol from 1563-1595, and the embossed representations of +the Lauretanian Litany, also in silver, which adorn the altar. +Underneath the marble steps by which the chapel is reached is a +notable tomb, the work of Alexander Colin, with a reclining figure of +Katharina von Loxen, aunt of Philippine Welser. In the chapel itself +are the beautiful tombs of the Archduke Ferdinand, and his first wife +Philippine Welser in marble, with effigies which are ascribed to +Alexander Colin. The first named tomb is adorned with four scenes of +events in the Archduke's life in relief; and the latter with two +reliefs. There is also a notable life-size bronze figure of the +Archduke kneeling, clad in full armour, with his face turned towards +the altar, and his hands folded in prayer. These monuments in +themselves are sufficient to ensure a degree of fame for the Silberne +Kapelle with all who are either interested in art or historical +memorials. + +The twenty-three statuettes, originally intended as part of the scheme +of Maximilian's cenotaph, to which reference has already been made, +have been placed in the chapel without following any particular design +or order of arrangement. They have a considerable interest from the +fact that they represent saints of royal or noble birth whose +destinies, legendary or real, have been bound up with those of the +House of Habsburg. They are frequently overlooked by visitors to +Innsbruck and by even those who enter the Hofkirche; but, irrespective +of their individual merits, they should be studied on account of +having originally formed part of the scheme for the magnificent +memorial to Maximilian. + +(1) St. Adelgunda, daughter of Walbert, Count of Hainault. (2) St. +Adelbert, Count of Brabant. (3) St. Doda, wife of St. Arnulf, Duke of +the Moselle. (4) St. Hermelinda, daughter of Witger, Count of Brabant. +(5) St. Guy, Duke of Lotharingia. (6) St. Simpert, Bishop of Augsburg, +son of Charlemagne's sister Symporiana, who rebuilt the monastery of +St. Magnus at Füssen. (7) St. Jodok, son of a king of Great Britain, +wearing a Palmer's dress. (8) St. Landerich, Bishop of Metz, son of +St. Vincent, Count of Hainault, and St. Waltruda. (9) St. Clovis. (10) +St. Oda, wife of Duke Conrad. (11) St. Pharaild, daughter of Witger, +Count of Brabant. (12) St. Reinbert, her brother. (13) St. Ronald, +brother of St. Simpert, Bishop of Augsburg. (14) St. Stephen, King of +Hungary. (15) St. Venantius, martyr, son of Theodoric, Duke of +Lotharingia. (16) St. Waltruda, mother of St. Landerich. (17) St. +Arnulf, husband of St. Doda, afterwards Bishop of Metz. (18) St. +Chlodulf, son of St. Waltruda. (19) St. Gudula, sister of St. Albert, +Count of Brabant. (20) St. Pepin Teuto, Duke of Brabant. (21) St. +Trudo, priest, son of St. Adela. (22) St. Vincent, monk. (23) Richard +Coeur-de-Lion. All of whom were more or less closely related or +associated with the royal house of Habsburg. + +The monuments which we have referred to, gathered within the walls of +the Hofkirche, serve to conjure up for those versed in Tyrolese +history many stirring, romantic, and tragic episodes. To this historic +building was the beautiful Philippine Welser borne from Castle Ambras +to her last resting-place. And here knelt the Archduke Leopold V. at +his marriage with the lovely Claudia Felicitas de Medici, whilst all +the while there rolled the thunder and tumult of the Thirty Years' War +beyond the frontier of Tyrol. And a few years later came Queen +Christian of Sweden to make her abjuration of the Protestant faith on +October 28, 1655. We read in one account of this imposing and +impressive ceremony that the Queen was attired in a plain black silk +gown, and wore no other jewels than a cross on her breast in which +flashed five great diamonds of wonderful beauty symbolical of the five +wounds of Christ. Her repetition of the Latin profession of faith +after the Papal nuncio, we are told, was so clear and emphasized as to +attract general comment. Not only was the Ambrosian hymn sung after +the ceremony, but "the Innsbruckers celebrated the event of her +conversion to the true faith by the firing of cannon and the ringing +of the church bells." An ever popular ceremony which marked her stay +in the town was the procession of the favourite picture of Tyrol, +Cranach's Madonna brought to the country by Leopold V. Mystery plays, +which are still popular in Tyrol, were also performed, and the event +was made the excuse or occasion for much general rejoicing. + +The historic Hofkirche has seen more joyful scenes and sadder than the +renunciation of Queen Christian, for in it was held a solemn +thanksgiving service on behalf of yet another Claudia de Medici, the +Tyrolese princess who was chosen for his bride by the Emperor Leopold +I. And here in more modern times knelt Andreas Hofer to receive the +gifts of his Emperor, the medal and chain which were hung around his +neck when he was made Regent or Governor of Tyrol. + +Into this Hofkirche, which was destined to provide him ultimately with +a fit resting-place, he also came to return thanks after his greatest +triumph over the invaders of his country, on Berg Isel, whilst outside +the church the brave citizens of Innsbruck were acclaiming him +Dictator, and cheering in a delirium of joy. + +[Sidenote: ABBEY OF WILTEN] + +No description of Innsbruck, however brief, could be deemed complete +without at least a passing reference to the famous Abbey of Wilten +which stands on the outskirts of the south-western portion of the +town. The present Abbey belonging to the Praemonstratensian Order was +founded in the eleventh century upon the site where stood the Roman +settlement of Veldidena. The Abbey and Church of that day, however, +have been so frequently damaged by fire that during the centuries it +has been practically reconstructed. The story of its foundation forms +one of the most remarkable of Tyrolese legends, and exhibits in its +incidents with extraordinary clearness the conflict taking place in +those times between the doctrines of Christianity and Heathendom. + +[Sidenote: HAIMON AND THE DRAGON] + +Certain authorities state that the Romans, when they entered the +country, found a town already existing, which they adopted as one of +their most important stations, and re-named Veldidena. This +settlement, however, was, according to tradition, destroyed by Attila +on his way back through the country after the desperate Battle of +Chalons; but it nevertheless continued to be a largely frequented +station in the stretch of country lying between the Po and the Rhine +owing to the convenience of its situation and the existence of the +famous Brenner Road. Afterwards came the expedition of Theodoric of +Verona against Chriemhild's Garden of Roses at Worms; and we are told +amongst those who enlisted in Theodoric's service and distinguished +themselves at the taking of the famous Rose Garden was one Haimo or +Haimon (now believed to be the Heime of "the Heldenbuch") who, after +the expedition, came through Tyrol in his master's victorious train. +This Haimon was a giant, taller and more powerful even than Goliath +himself; and as he approached Veldidena he found barring his progress +another giant named Thyrsus (now identified as Schrudan) living near +Zirl. This latter giant having heard of Haimon's prowess, and as his +own supremacy had hitherto remained unchallenged, determined to force +Haimon to fight him. + +Theodoric's giant proved willing enough for the encounter, and +scarcely, indeed, waited to be challenged. Thyrsus, although the +bigger and more terrible of aspect, with a skin bronzed by the +open-air life he had led, and his muscles developed and kept in +condition by constant exercise, was not so skilful and wily as his +opponent, whose every movement showed him to be a master in both the +arts of attack and defence. + +We are told that Thyrsus grasped in his hand a pine tree which he had +torn up by the roots to serve as a weapon, and that at every movement +of his the ground shook under his tread, which made a noise like +thunder. Rushing impetuously to attack Haimon he found the latter cool +and collected, watchful of his antagonist's every movement, and +waiting patiently for the opportunity of striking a decisive blow. As +the Titanic struggle went on, Haimon merely acting on the defensive, +Thyrsus became weary, and then Haimon gathering all his force together +fell upon him and slew him. + +The story goes on to tell how a Benedictine monk of Tegernsee, passing +whilst Haimon was still flushed with victory, stopped to reason with +him on the worthlessness of mere brutal strength and all that he had +hitherto deemed of value, and succeeded so well in painting the +attractions of a better life that the giant was converted on the spot, +and thenceforth abandoned his life of battle and bloodshed, and +devoted his time and strength to the service of God. One of his first +acts was to start building with his own hands a church and monastery +on the site of ruined Veldidena on the banks of the Sill. + +The legend tells us that he quarried the stone necessary for this +undertaking with his own hands, and at last the day came when he had +sufficient to lay the foundations of the church. He found, however, +that the work he did in the day was always undone at night, so that he +made no progress. This, though he did not know it, was the work of the +devil; who, in the form of a huge dragon, had hidden himself in a cave +with the express purpose of thwarting Haimon's pious intentions. + +At last the latter realized that he must watch and discover what +happened. This he did, and after a little time one evening the dragon +emerged from his cave, lashing the ground with his tail in his fury, +and filling the air with the sulphurous smoke and flame which he +breathed out. Great as was his strength, Haimon at once realized that +he could not overcome so terrible an enemy easily; so commending his +soul to God he waited with a brave heart. Soon dawn began to break +over the mountains, and at the first glimpse of light the dragon +turned and fled back to his lair. Haimon, taking courage at the sight, +set off in pursuit, and by-and-by they both arrived at the cave in +which the dragon was accustomed to hide during the day. The entrance +was so narrow that when the monster had got partly in it was +impossible for him to turn, and so Haimon, seeing his opportunity, +raised his sword, and calling on God to strengthen him, cut off the +dragon's head with a single blow. Then he cut out the tongue or sting +of the monster as a trophy, and eventually hung it up in the sanctuary +of the church. Nowadays one is shown at Wilten a representation of +this dragon's tongue, which we are told was above two feet in length. + +The dragon once dead the building progressed rapidly, and when it was +finished Haimon, no doubt in an ebullition of joy, seized a huge rock, +which he had quarried, but did not need to use for the foundations, +and threw it with all his might into the valley. It was a good throw, +for the rock, after nearly two miles of flight, struck against the +hill of Ambras and fell into the valley, where it may yet be seen! +Haimon endowed the Abbey with all the land which stretched between +its site and the stone at the foot of the hill of Ambras. + +Now it only remained to colonize the monastery, and ultimately the +Benedictines came to inhabit it, and here the giant lived amongst them +a life of penance and good works, dying in the year 878. His body, so +tradition states, was buried on the right-hand side of the high altar +in the church. But although many searches have been made for his +remains during the period which elapsed between his death and the +middle of the seventeenth century, they have never been discovered. +But the last search in 1644 was disastrous as well as unsuccessful, +because it undermined a great part of the wall of the church, which +collapsed. The popular belief in the two giants is kept alive by the +huge wooden statues representing them, which are placed at the +entrance of the church. The interior of the building is in the form of +a basilica, and contains not only frescoes by Caspar Waldmann, but +also some good pictures by Grasmayr, Busjäger, Andersag, Egid Schor, +and other artists. + +The Abbey of Wilten in those days was one of the three most important +in Tyrol, and was not only the centre of religious, but also of the +artistic life of the country, and it nowadays possesses some very +interesting and valuable pictures. + +One of the most famous of the old-time inmates of the Abbey was +Petermann, once a lover of the licentious Margaret of Tyrol, yclept +"Pocket-Mouthed Meg." After her abdication in 1367, Petermann entered +the monastery to expiate the sins and follies of his youth. He endowed +the Abbey with an estate, but he showed his business capacity by +having an agreement drawn up with the Abbot setting forth the terms +upon which he joined the brotherhood. Amongst other things he was, +firstly, to derive benefit from all the masses said by the monks, and +the good works performed by them; secondly, was to have two servants +to wait upon him, who were to share the meals of the brethren; +thirdly, he, himself, was to have food similar to that served to the +Abbot and wines from the monastic cellar. Apparently the arrangement +did not, after all, fit in with the views of Petermann, for we find he +afterwards insisted upon an increase in his food allowance to the +extent of a capon, four fowls, forty eggs, and four pounds of butter, +with sufficient hay for the feeding of his three horses. + + [Illustration: A PINE WOOD NEAR INNSBRUCK] + +[Sidenote: A LEGEND OF WILTEN] + +The other church at Wilten (the Parish Church), which stands on the +opposite side of Leopold-Strasse, dates only from the latter part of +the eighteenth century, and was built as a secular church in +conformity with the decree of the Emperor Joseph II., by Franz Penz of +Telfs, in the Rococo style of architecture. On the high altar of the +church is a very ancient and quaint Madonna known as "Mutter Gottes +unter den vier Saülen" carved in sandstone, the legend relating to +which is as follows: The "Thundering Legion" of Marcus Aurelius, when +stationed at Veldidena about the year 137, brought this image with +them, which they are stated to have worshipped, and on one occasion, +when departing for an expedition to a distant part of the country, +they buried it under four trees, and as they did not return had no +opportunity of resurrecting it. There it lay for many years, until +one, Rathold Von Aiblingen, after making a pilgrimage to Rome, where +he heard the story of its burying and the place of its concealment, +dug it up and set it upon the altar in a _baldachino_, which was +supported by four pillars, where it has always been an object of much +veneration. Amongst its many famous devotees was Frederick of the +Empty Purse, who, during his wanderings through Tyrol with his trusty +Hans Von Müllinen, when under the ban of the church, came and knelt +before the shrine and prayed for a blessing. Afterwards, when he had +regained his possessions, he attributed his success to the +intervention of the Madonna at Wilten and caused a picture to be +painted of himself and his esquire, in which they are shown kneeling +at the shrine under the protective mantle of the Virgin. This quaint +picture is now hung in the church amongst many other curious and often +pathetic votive offerings. + +In the mortuary chapel is a rudely carved and painted wooden statue of +Haimon holding the dragon's tongue in his hand. There are also some of +Grasmayr's paintings to be seen in the church, and in the adjoining +churchyard, from which one can obtain a most beautiful view of the +valley and surrounding mountains, is the modern Calvary by the +Tyrolean sculptor, Professor Fuss. In this quiet spot, crowded with +memories of the dead past, one is able in a measure to conjure up +pictures of the times when the Etruscan, Roman, and Gothic invaders +poured into the valley by the Brenner Pass and overran Tyrol, and left +upon the country and the people enduring traces of their occupation. + +The Wilten Churches are both of simple architectural style, but +nevertheless are effective and even impressive when seen amidst the +environment of a beautiful landscape, with their picturesque, +red-capped towers lit by the Alpine sunlight, and with their +buff-coloured walls beautified by the stains of weather and of time. + +[Sidenote: WINTER SPORTS] + +Numerous as are the undoubted attractions of Innsbruck in early +spring, summer, and autumn, when the encircling fields and mountain +slopes are gay with Alpine flowers, and beautiful with the varied +tints of the foliage of trees and shrubs, the town is yearly becoming +more widely known and more largely frequented as a winter holiday +resort, where what are generally known as "winter sports" can be +indulged in to one's heart's content. Indeed, Innsbruck, which +possesses one of the largest and most beautiful ice rinks in Europe, +takes a very leading part in the Tyrolean winter sports. One of the +town's most remarkable features is its climate, which, notwithstanding +the proximity of huge masses of ice and snow, not only upon the +summits of the towering mountains of the Karwendel, but also on the +lower slopes, and in the valley of the Inn itself, is a mild one, and +the sunny days are many. + +One of the most delightful Alpine experiences possible, for those who +do not take part in the more active sports of ski running, skating, or +tobogganing, is a sleigh ride on the Brenner Road to Matrei or even +further, returning on the other side of the gorge of the Sill by way +of Igls and Patsch. Expert ski runners find many opportunities for +exercising their skill, the more adventurous and hardy making +excursions far afield in the valley of the Inn. A very favourite +ground for this pastime of ski-ing is on the farther side of the Sill +near Natters and Mutters, where are to be found those immense plateaux +of smooth-surfaced snow beloved of good runners, and a beautiful +landscape forming a charming background. Expert runners, however, +frequently extend their field of operations into the Karwendel +mountains, or as far as the Kalkkogel in the beautiful Stubai valley. + +Tobogganing has become not only a fashionable pastime amongst +visitors, but also with the better class inhabitants of Innsbruck. And +thus every evening when the snow is sufficient and in good condition, +hundreds of tobogganers make their way of the heights of Igls and +Mutters, where the best tracks are prepared. + +Sunday is, however, the great day; and then the long runs near Hall +and Oberperfutz are crowded with hundreds of bob-sleighs and +tobogganers. The Hall run is famous throughout Tyrol. A road extends +from Salzberg far into the Karwendel mountains, passing through +beautiful Alpine scenery to Hall itself, forming a natural run or +track some five kilometres (just over three miles) in length, with a +drop of nearly 3000 feet in that distance. The Innsbruck Club, by +means of a snow plough, keeps a run about fifteen feet wide clear. +This track is to be soon further lengthened to the extent of two +kilometres by carrying it as far as Lafatscherjoch, where several +important races are arranged and held every year. + +Winter sports are indulged in on all sides. Along the valley of the +swiftly flowing Inn from Schwaz, past Jenbach and Brixlegg on to +Kufstein, one finds facilities for those most invigorating of pastimes +tobogganing, ski-ing, and skating. Even the children have their little +home-made and often ornamented toboggans, and on the mountain roads +and by-paths one meets with scores of youngsters emulating their +elders and foreign visitors; whilst the frozen tributary streams which +fall into the Inn provide fine skating grounds and curling links +without stint set amid the delightful scenery, which had so much to do +with the popularity of the valley of the Inn and Innsbruck as winter +holiday resorts. + +It is not without reason that many who come to the capital of Tyrol +return again and again, finding in its life and movement, its historic +buildings, associations, and art treasures material for study; in its +climate renewed health and vigour. + +The circle of snow-capped environing hills, upon which effects of +cloud and sunlight ceaselessly pass, never palls; and in the ancient +byways and secluded courtyards ears and minds attuned to the historic +past seem to catch the echoes and see visions of stirring scenes, and +the pageantry of long ago when knights and ladies and serving-men, and +burghers in quaint old-time costumes trod the rough-paved streets. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] See Zoller's "Geschichte der Stadt Innsbruck." + +[11] By some authorities the work is stated to have been carried out +by Andrea Crivelli of Trent. + +[12] See Klöppel's "Maximilian." + +[13] This is as stated in Baedeker, and is the view of several +authorities, though by no means certain.-C. H. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + THE ENVIRONS OF INNSBRUCK--CASTLE AMBRAS AND ITS + TREASURES--IGLS: A QUAINT LEGEND CONCERNING ITS CHURCH--THE + STUBAI VALLEY, AND SOME VILLAGES--HALL AND ITS SALT + MINES--SPECKBACHER'S OLD HOME--ST. MICHAEL + + +Distant from Innsbruck about three miles by a shady road running +eastward from Berg Isel, which forms a charming walk of a summer +afternoon, stands the famous Castle Ambras on a well-wooded spur of +the Mittelgebirge overlooking the wide Inn Valley, and with a fine +view of the slopes and peaked summits of the limestone mountains which +shut in the valley. It is a conspicuous and commanding feature of the +landscape when seen from the latter, its yellow-grey walls pierced +with many windows showing up against a background of dark-green +forest. But on a fine summer day Castle Ambras is too bare-looking and +insistent in colour to be entirely picturesque. + +Long back, when the Romans held sway in Tyrol, on the site where the +castle now stands was placed a fort--one of those outposts of +civilization which that world-conquering power dotted so plentifully +amid the hills and valleys of Tyrol. Ancient as this fortress was, it +is considered by many authorities that even it replaced, or was +erected upon the foundations of, a far earlier building dating from +Etruscan times. The first castle, as is generally understood by the +term, was that built by the Andechs, who towards the end of the tenth +century were one of the three chief ruling families in Tyrol. Indeed, +until the Terriolis became Counts of Tyrol they were the most powerful +of the three great temporal territorial lords, and previous to their +extinction in the male line in the middle half of the thirteenth +century had acquired vast possessions. They were a typical mediæval +and feudal family, distinguished alike in the council and upon the +stricken field. In turn it provided officers of the Roman Empire, +pilgrims to sacred shrines, and to Rome itself, crusaders and +religious enthusiasts who founded important and wealthy monastical +institutions. + +The history of the builders of the Castle of Ambras would fill many +volumes with incidents of brave and noble (and sometimes cruel and +ignoble) deeds; romantic episodes, which supplied the travelling +minnesingers with themes for their songs; and records of stirring +events, in which national as well as family history became entwined. +Of them one historian has written, "they were esteemed upon earth, +more particularly by the wandering minstrels who were always and at +all times welcome to their hospitable roof and table, and beloved in +Heaven to which they contributed several saintly souls." + +On the death of the last of the male line of the Andechs, Duke Otto +II., in 1248, the castle and the family estates passed into the +possession of the Counts of Tyrol. Ultimately the former was purchased +from the then owners by the Emperor Ferdinand I., and was given to his +son, afterwards Ferdinand II., when the latter was appointed Regent of +Tyrol. It always remained his favourite home, even when he became +Emperor, and it was to this castle that he brought his beautiful bride +Philippine Welser in 1567. + +[Sidenote: AN ARCHDUCAL ROMANCE] + +The true story of the love of the Archduke Ferdinand, son of the +German Emperor Ferdinand I., will probably never be accurately known. +But the event is indissolubly bound up with Tyrolese history. Not +unnaturally the idyllic and romantic circumstances surrounding the +marriage have been much overlaid by tradition and the possible desire +of historians to make this Royal mésalliance yet more astonishing. +Therefore it is impossible to vouch for the entire accuracy of the +story that has come down to us, which we give as it may be gathered +from contemporary and more modern writers. + +[Sidenote: STORY OF PHILIPPINE WELSER] + +The meeting of the Archduke Ferdinand and his future wife--who was the +daughter of one Franz Welser, a wealthy merchant prince of Augsburg in +the middle of the sixteenth century--took place when the Archduke +accompanied his father on the occasion of the latter's state entry +into the city. It was whilst passing along the principal street that +the former noticed at a window of one of the larger and more important +houses the face of a most beautiful young girl, who, after having +thrown flowers down in the street, on seeing that she had attracted +his attention, blushingly disappeared within the house. It was +apparently, so far as Ferdinand was concerned, a case of love at first +sight; for, charmed by her beautiful face, he lost no time in +discovering who she was, and, according to some authorities, saw her +on several occasions whilst in the city. Afterwards he paid court to +her whilst she was at Bresnic, in Bohemia, on a visit to an aunt. + +Philippine was already betrothed by her father to the heir of the +great and wealthy Fugger family; but fortunately for her and the young +prince, Philippine's mother was a woman of much influence with her +husband as well as the confidante and friend of her daughter. However, +it was not an easy task to win his consent to the betrothal to Prince +Ferdinand or for the proposed alliance with the Fuggers to be broken +off. + +Both the fathers were anxious for it, and Welser had never been known +to go back upon his word or a bargain. But whilst the older men were +engaged in counting their wealth, and congratulating themselves upon +the marriage which had been arranged with little or no thought of +affection between those most concerned, Ferdinand had evolved a plan +by which, with the assistance and connivance of Frau Welser, he was +able to accomplish his design of carrying off her daughter. + +On a day arranged, and at the hour agreed upon, the young prince, who +was two years Philippine's junior, appeared beneath the turret from +which he had first seen her leaning. A little distance down the street +his horse was waiting. Philippine, after receiving her mother's +blessing, and comforted by her approval, joined her lover, and fled +with him to the chapel where the latter's own confessor, one Joann +Cavallerus, was waiting to solemnize the marriage, with an old and +trusted servant as witness. Another account states that the ceremony +was performed at Bresnic by the same priest. + +Ultimately, Franz Welser, to whom doubtless a properly carried out +marriage with a prince had some attractions, gave his consent and +benediction. It is difficult, perhaps, in these more materialistic +days, to quite sympathize with the attitude which this wealthy and +worthy burgher of Augsburg at first assumed towards his daughter's +marriage. Then, with reputable merchants, not only was their word +their bond, but in them was a strong element of pride which would not +readily brook that they should be looked down upon even by princes. +And doubtless it was this pride which was principally at the back of +old Welser's opposition to Prince Ferdinand's suit. But the +magnificent dowry that Philippine's father was rich enough to give her +was one of which no prince need have been ashamed. + +At the time of his marriage the Archduke was twenty-eight and +Philippine two years older. The Emperor, of course, refused to +acknowledge the marriage when he ultimately, some years after its +celebration, became aware of it. And although we are bound to admit +the story of Philippine's personal appeal to him to forgive his son +and her rests on a very shadowy basis, and is, indeed, rather +traditional than historical, we give it for what it is worth. + +The story goes that Philippine, distressed not only for her own +position but for the trouble she had brought upon her husband by +estranging him from his father the Emperor, journeyed to Vienna with +her little children to gain an audience with her royal father-in-law +in person. To do this was a matter of great difficulty, and though she +ultimately succeeded, it was only by reason of her great beauty and +her gentleness, and the fact that she had assumed another name. Then, +after entering the audience chamber, she fell upon her knees and told +the Emperor her own story in the guise of an allegory, saying that she +was the happy and beloved wife of a gallant nobleman of great position +whose father would not recognize her because she was herself not nobly +born; adding that, hearing how just and good the Emperor was, she had +come to him to implore him to intercede for her and her sons with her +obdurate father-in-law. Having listened to her tale the Emperor, +delighted with the grace, eloquence, and beauty of Philippine and with +her two sons, told her that he would grant her request and would +appeal to her father-in-law to not only forgive his son, but to +recognize the marriage, adding that it passed his comprehension how +any one could refuse to receive so charming and beautiful a woman into +his family. Then, as was to be expected, he asked the name of her +husband's father. And she, throwing herself once more upon her knees, +told the Emperor that it was he himself to whom she had referred, and +that she was the wife of his son Ferdinand. + +The Emperor could scarcely go back upon his word nor could he stultify +himself by denying the charm and beauty of Philippine now that he +discovered who she really was; and won over by the courage and +persistency which had inspired her journey to Vienna to seek to +approach him in person, he not only forgave his son but also +recognized her as a daughter-in-law. Some accounts, although this is +probably not so, state that he wished the marriage still to remain a +secret, and appointed Ferdinand Regent of Tyrol, sending him and his +wife to reside at Innsbruck.[14] + +The Emperor's wishes were carried out, and it is said that it was not +until her death generally known that Philippine was actually married +to the Archduke. After her decease, however, the circumstance was made +public and the Archduke was always accustomed to refer to Philippine +as his wife. Of course the marriage was a morganatic one, and +therefore neither of her two surviving children, Andreas and Charles, +inherited the Archducal titles. + +Four years previous to the Archduke Ferdinand's coming to take up his +residence at Innsbruck as Regent of Tyrol he had acquired the +picturesque and finely situated Castle of Ambras, and by many +alterations and additions to the then existing building soon made it +one of the most noted as well as one of the most beautiful residences +in the whole country. He furnished it with great magnificence, and +when all was completed presented it to his wife Philippine. Here they +usually spent the summer months in a happiness which was not only +proverbial but undoubted. + +As have been several other rulers of Tyrol, the Archduke Ferdinand was +not only greatly interested himself in art, science, and literature, +but he sought as the patron of these to gather around his person and +to attach to his Court learned professors, artists, and scientists +from all parts of Europe. As a result the court of Ferdinand and +Philippine grew from an artistic, musical, and intellectual standpoint +to be a particularly brilliant one. + +[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF PHILIPPINE] + +The character of Philippine seems to have been as pleasing as was her +physical appearance. She is said to have had a fine, clear, though +somewhat pale, complexion, blue eyes, and golden hair, although it +must be added that existing portraits of her do not do her justice in +the latter regard, unless her beauty was greatly exaggerated. In most +of them she appears with a slightly oval, and more Italian than +Teutonic type of face, with well-marked and well-bowed eyebrows, soft, +but intelligent eyes, a straight nose, and a very sweet, and even in +some portraits "roguish," mouth; but as a whole her face is not one of +striking beauty, judging it by the standards of more modern times. + +Philippine, when settled at Ambras, greatly interested herself in good +works of all kinds, but more especially in the visiting and care of +the sick, and the memory of her good deeds in this respect is still +cherished in Tyrol. Her chief physician has set down the large number +of sick who were at various times under her immediate care, and in the +record one finds mention of ailing folk of many nationalities, showing +her Catholic spirit in the relief of suffering. She even had her own +dispensary at Ambras in the charge of one Guranta, who was a +celebrated chemist of that time. Concerning her one of her biographers +says, "She, herself delicate in health from early life, had a strong +and ever ready sympathy for sufferers, especially those who were +distressed in mind or circumstance as well as in body." + +During the years she lived at Ambras she gained such a knowledge of +disease and the remedies usually employed in those days that she wrote +a book of prescriptions herself, which is now to be seen in the Court +Library, Vienna. It is a most interesting volume, as it contains a +considerable record of the effects of the remedies used; sometimes +written by Philippine's own hand with remarks added as comments upon +the success or failure of the treatment. + +Philippine was in other ways also of a philanthropic and kindly +disposition, and on many occasions girls in her service, or who were +known to her, received the pleasant surprise on their marriage of a +wedding dress from her; and there is still to be seen at Innsbruck a +dressmaker's bill, the total amount of which is largely comprised of +wedding dresses given in the way we have mentioned. + +Although the burgomaster's daughter, according to her own confession, +would rather have led a less exalted and more retiring life than that +incumbent upon her by reason of her marriage with the Archduke +Ferdinand, all writers are agreed that she ably and well adorned the +position to which she had been called. Of her husband's great +affection for her there can be little doubt. Indeed, it was so +notorious that the Venetian Ambassador Michiele, when on a visit to +the Archduke, reported to his Government that Ferdinand was never so +happy as when with his wife, and in fact was never an hour away from +her. + +Philippine, in spite of her many social duties and exalted position, +was an excellent and even an ideal German _haus-frau_. She was a +clever needlewoman, skilled especially in embroidery; and quite an +expert and practical cook. She might, indeed, be said to have rivalled +the famous Mrs. Glass, as she wrote an exhaustive cookery book which +displays a great and practical knowledge of the culinary art, and is, +happily for the curious, preserved with her book of prescriptions in +the Court Library at Vienna. + +Nothing was too good for Philippine in the estimation of the Archduke. +Not only did he give her the magnificent Schloss Ambras, Stubai +Valley, and all it contained, several villages, and vast sums of +money, but also the estates of Königsberg, Salurn, and Hörtenberg. + +[Sidenote: COURT AT CASTLE AMBRAS] + +The Court at Innsbruck and at Castle Ambras was a gay one, and +numerous brilliant entertainments were given during the married life +of Ferdinand and Philippine. Amongst the many _fêtes_ which took place +at various times one finds a record of one in the diary of James von +Payersberg bearing the date of July 13, 1570, in which there is a +record of Philippine having won the first prize, which was a silver +gilt cup of great value, for shooting with a crossbow; whilst her +aunt, Madame De Loxan, who on Philippine's marriage had been appointed +as her Mistress of the Robes, won the second. An interesting +circumstance in connection with this _fête_ is that the gentlemen and +ladies competed together in the shooting match, with the result that +the former were defeated in the manner we have stated. + +At Castle Ambras not only were there collected together scientists, +artists, musicians, and many learned men, but also, as was the custom +of those days, jesters, and "freaks" of various types, whose curious +divergences from the normal have many of them been preserved in +portraits hung in the Castle. Of ordinary servants, retainers, pages, +etc., there was always a huge retinue entailing an enormous +expenditure and a commissariat department of considerable magnitude. +Philippine, although her natural tastes were so divergent from those +of her husband who loved gaiety, sport, and the pomp of circumstance, +by her gentleness, affectionate study of his wishes and great +tactfulness, succeeded in not only gaining but keeping his affection +throughout their married life. It is said that Philippine, whether the +story of her captivation of her royal father-in-law's heart be true or +not, was gladly and very generally received by the Tyrol nobles, who +were distinguished not only by their chivalrous but also by their +generally haughty disposition. Very friendly relations also appear to +have existed with neighbouring courts, whilst Pope Gregory XIII. had +so high an opinion of Philippine's religious sincerity and virtues +that he sent her by special ambassador a beautiful and very valuable +rosary. + +Philippine died in 1580, surrounded by members of her family, and in +the presence of the Archduke Ferdinand and the Dukes Ferdinand of +Bavaria and Henry of Brunswick, after a married life lasting +twenty-three years, and an illness of only a few days' duration. So +beloved was she throughout Tyrol that general mourning was observed +for some months, and masses were said in all the churches of the land +for the repose of her soul. How great the affection borne her by the +people amongst whom she came to live really was, is well shown by the +fact that in many a cottage home in Tyrol portraits of her even +nowadays are found. + +In death as in life she was mindful of her people and of the poor; and +when she had been laid to rest in the Silver Chapel of the Franciscan +Church at Innsbruck, where her beautiful though unostentatious tomb, +with its recumbent figure lying within a semi-circular arch and with a +crucifix hanging from her crossed hands, is placed, it was found that +in her will few of her household had been forgotten, whether their +positions were high or menial. + +The death of Philippine was a heavy blow to the Archduke, and for some +months after the event he lived in complete retirement, seeing no one +but his two sons, his Father Confessor, and his most intimate personal +friends. + +However, after his grief had somewhat spent itself, he set out on a +tour, accompanied by his two surviving children; one of whom, Karl, +became Bishop of Brixen and a Cardinal (died 1600); the other, +Andreas, Markgrave of Burgau (died 1618), and the owner of Castle +Ambras by the will of his father. This bequest was made on condition +that Andreas maintained and kept the building in repair, and preserved +the magnificent collection of rare MSS., books, pictures, coins, +armour, and other _objets d'art_, and curiosities which Ferdinand and +Philippine had delighted to gather, and in the possession of which +they had taken such pride. + +Eventually, in 1606, so that this wish of his father might be +adequately carried out, Andreas disposed of the Castle and grounds to +the Emperor Rudolf II., and by this means Ambras and its unrivalled +collection came into the possession of the Imperial Austrian family. + +[Sidenote: TREASURES OF CASTLE AMBRAS] + +Just two centuries later, owing to fear lest the priceless treasures +should fall into the hands of the French and Bavarian invaders, the +greater portion of the Ambras collection was removed to Vienna, and at +first lodged in the Belvidere Palace from whence it has of recent +years been transferred to the Imperial Art History Museum of which it +forms a most interesting and valuable part. Thus was Tyrol robbed of +one of its chief glories, and although at various times promises of +restitution have been made they have never been fulfilled. + +There are still, however, some interesting things left at Castle +Ambras, including the valuable collection of Weapons lodged in the +Unterschloss, dating from the fifteenth century to the present day +(formerly, in the sixteenth century, it is said that the Armoury +contained no less than five hundred complete suits of mail); the eight +Roman milestones in the outer court, found along the road from Wilten +to Schonberg, and dating from the time of Septimus Severus about 193 +to 211 A.D.; and the collection of furniture, ivories, glass, and +portraits, which latter include several of the Archduke Ferdinand and +Philippine Welser, etc. + +On the ground floor of the Hoch Schloss or "upper castle" is an +interesting and well-restored fifteenth-century Gothic chapel, with +some frescoes by Wörndle; and a bathroom, said to be that of +Philippine, is on the same floor. It was around this little room that +tradition wove the tragic story (since disproved and altogether +discredited) of Philippine having committed suicide by opening one of +her veins in order that her husband might re-marry with some one whose +rank was more in conformity with his own. For many years, for several +generations, in fact, this tale was given credence, and was accepted +by at least the common folk as exemplifying the domestic virtues for +which Philippine was justly famed. But although Ferdinand's mother +appears never to have accepted the position or to have become +reconciled to Philippine, the rest of the members of his family appear +to have treated her well, and, so far as history can show, there never +was any reason for the sacrifice of her life she was for so long +supposed to have made, in the interests of her husband's happiness and +position. + +The fame of Philippine Welser has outlived the centuries which have +elapsed since she died; and the burgher of Augsburg's daughter was +destined to become one of the most popular of Tyrolese heroines; and +there is in consequence many a peasant home in Tyrol to-day where her +portrait in some form of reproduction or other has a place with that +of some favourite saint or even the Virgin herself. + +There are several other traditions connected with this beautifully +situated Castle of Ambras. One is that Wallenstein, whilst a lad and a +page in Ferdinand's service, fell out of the window in the corridor +which leads to the dining-hall and received no hurt, owing to the fact +that during the terrible moment when he lost his balance he vowed to +the Virgin Mary if spared he would lead a more serious and better +life. + +The castle, as did so many historic fortress-dwellings in Tyrol, +gradually fell into decay; but when the Archduke Karl Ludwig, who was +Governor of Tyrol during a short period in the middle of the last +century, decided to take up his residence here it was thoroughly +repaired and restored. The Art treasures, which remained after the +removal of the main collections to Vienna, have been supplemented from +time to time by contributions from the Imperial collections in Vienna, +and in 1882 the Emperor threw open the castle to the public as a +Museum. + +Of the many interesting rooms at Ambras two never fail to arouse the +admiration and curiosity of visitors. The first is the Waffensaal, in +which there is a collection of armour and arms, which has a +sixteenth-century ceiling painted by G. B. Fontana, of Meran, with +astronomical and mythological designs; the second, the famous and +magnificently proportioned Spanish salon, with its exquisitely +panelled wood ceiling and walls adorned with frescoes of the rulers of +Tyrol, from 1221-1600. + +The view from the terrace, with its trellis of passion flowers and +vines, across the Inn valley on a clear summer's day is one of great +charm and beauty, and as one gazes across the fertile valley to the +wonderful range of mountains that towers above it, the colours of +which seem to change with every passing cloud, one can realize +something of the affection Ferdinand, art lover and artist as he +undoubtedly was, always had for Castle Ambras. + +[Sidenote: THE TOURNEY GROUND] + +None who come to the castle should fail to visit the picturesque and +secluded Tummel-platz or Tourney ground, which overhangs as it were +the village of Ambras, with its ancient church and quaint frescoes of +the Last Judgment. On this spot during Ferdinand and Philippine's +occupation of the Castle many jousts and knightly encounters are said +to have taken place. From the gay and chivalrous use of those and +previous times the Tummel-platz has passed to a melancholy one as the +burial-ground of patriots and heroes. It was first put to this purpose +when the Castle was turned into a military hospital--which for a short +time it remained--and afterwards as the burial-place of some seven or +eight thousand of Hofer's soldiers who fell in the wars with France +and Bavaria, from 1809 to 1810. Indeed, it actually formed part of the +battle-ground of 1809. + +As is perfectly natural, and in accord with the patriotic and +religious spirit of the people, they have adorned the quiet and +beautiful burial-ground with chapels, shrines, votive pictures, and +memorials which confer upon it a distinctive and impressive interest, +and sentiment which few such places can show. As a poet sings-- + + "Near Ambras, on the upland, + In fair Tyrolean land, + Within a cool green forest + Full thick the crosses stand. + + "There gallant knights in armour + Once met with spear and shield, + And from those olden combats + 'Tis called the 'Tourney Field.' + + "Long rusted are the lances, + But, as the breezes blow, + Old, half-forgotten stories + Like spirits come and go." + +From Castle Ambras it is but a short journey by tramway to Igls, which +is situated nearly a thousand feet above Innsbruck, but cannot be seen +from the town. There are also two roads by which one may reach this +little mountain village; one leading past Ambras, which is favoured by +the less energetic of walkers, and the other, by which we ascended, +much steeper, more picturesque and shorter. From Wilten it passes over +the Sill Bridge and then ascends the Paschberg and winds along the +edge of the fine Sill Gorge. When the little village of Vill is +reached one seems suddenly to step into a fresh region of experience; +one singularly different from that of Innsbruck, which, after all, +lies but a mile or two away in the valley down below. Here as one +comes in sight of the elegantly tapering red spire of the church one +obtains an insight into the life of the upper valleys, and soon +notices the Tyrolese custom of adorning the outside walls of the house +with paintings, which, generally religious in subject, are many of +them of a striking and even meritorious character as regards +execution. In Vill none should fail to notice the painting of the +Angel of Peace, which is over the doorway of a house in the main +street. + +[Sidenote: BEAUTIFUL IGLS] + +One of the most beautiful walks hereabouts is that by the path which +leads down through the woods to Gärberbach inn on the great Brenner +High Road, from which point Berg Isel can be reached on foot in less +than half an hour. + +Still climbing upwards from Vill and leaving the sights and sounds of +the valley behind us we gradually approach Igls. Innsbruck and every +trace of the wide valley and environing hills across it have suddenly +vanished, and one finds one's self in the midst of wide extending and +restfully green upland pastures, with a vista of the charmingly +situated little villages of Natters and Mutters, across the Sill Gorge +(which here is almost imperceptible) with their church steeples, green +tinged and red turreted, shining in the clear Alpine air, and giving +to the scene just that touch of colour which an artist loves. + +It is possible in Alpine valleys such as that in which Igls nestles to +more truly estimate the factors which make the Tyrolese such a +home-loving and patriotic people; and to realize how the chief human +as well as religious associations even nowadays--as they did in the +past--cluster round the village churches which rear their slender +spires Heavenwards almost wherever half a dozen houses are grouped +together. + +There are many splendid peaks towering above the picturesque valley in +which Igls lies; amongst them the Habicht, more than 10,700 feet, +Saile-Spitze, and the rugged Waldraster-Spitze, 8920 feet; and the +lower slopes are well-wooded and beautiful at all seasons in their +varied tints of green. + +Igls has altered considerably since we first visited it, and it now +has the aspect of a mountain health "resort" of a modest and +unassuming type, with some good hotels, a post office, telephone and +telegraph. It is little wonder, then, that this favoured spot should +have lately attracted to it many visitors in search of quietude and +fresh air. The clean air and pure breezes off the glaciers and +snow-fields above, which, filtering down across the pine woods of the +lower slopes, come to one in the open valley not less fresh and +invigorating but somewhat softened and perfumed, give it one of its +chief charms. + +The little church is of considerable interest, not only from its +picturesque situation, but also by reason of the pastoral scenes which +are painted upon its organ loft, and the many quaint relics and votive +offerings to be seen in it, which are a feature of so many Tyrolese +village churches. The mural paintings on the houses in the village are +numerous and curious, some of the most interesting relating to the +legendary story of the Heilig Wasser. In connection with this there is +a pilgrimage chapel picturesquely situated, in almost absolute +solitude save for the Inn, on the mountain side more than two thousand +feet above the valley. + +[Sidenote: A MIRACULOUS TALE] + +The church is built upon the site of the alleged miracle, the story +concerning which is as follows:--Three centuries ago two cowherds were +tending their flocks upon the upper pasture above Igls, when they were +unfortunate enough to lose two young calves; and although they sought +for them far and wide along the paths and amid the woods they failed +to find them. At length, quite wearied out, and frightened lest they +should be severely punished for their carelessness by their father, +they fell on their knees and supplicated the Virgin and Saints to help +them. Almost as soon as they commenced to pray a bright light fell +upon them and round about, and the Virgin appearing beside them bade +them be of good cheer, and told them to trouble no more as the lost +cattle had gone home to their byre. Then she bade them drink, for +their throats were parched with their wanderings. But the two lads, +knowing there was no water near, exclaimed, "You tell us to drink, but +where shall we find water? There is none here." + + [Illustration: MOUNTAIN POOL ON THE RITTEN] + +The Virgin made no reply but vanished; and as she disappeared from +their vision there welled up, where she had stood, a spring of clear +water from out the rocks, which has never ceased to flow since. + +On their return home the boys refrained from saying anything about the +vision or the miraculous spring, perhaps lest, notwithstanding the +calves had been found in the cowshed as the Virgin had promised, they +should be blamed for careless herding. But they never failed, when +passing by the spring, to offer up a prayer of gratitude. + +Many years passed and the two cowherds not only grew to man's estate +but became old and infirm, needing the assistance of others to look +after their flocks. One of the two was aided by the deaf and dumb son +of a neighbour, and one day, as the old man and boy were passing the +spring, the former knelt down and prayed and drank of the water. The +boy seeing him do this did likewise, and lo and behold he found his +tongue miraculously loosened, and afterwards spoke as clearly as any +other. + +The fame of the miracle spread abroad, and was readily believed by the +people of the valley. Then the two old men told their own experience, +and soon a chapel was built on the spot to which through the centuries +many devout pilgrims as well as many curious visitors have journeyed. + +Amid the woods by which Igls is surrounded, and along the fertile +valley in which the village stands, are many charming walks, and +yearly the place is becoming more resorted to by those who appreciate +the lovely and bracing mountain air, and a very pleasant form of what +has become known as the "simple life." + +To the south-west of Igls and south of Innsbruck across the Sill is +the lovely Stubai Valley, the beauty of which almost challenges that +of the Oetzthal. Like the latter this valley is also verily the gate +to the land of snow-fields and glaciers, of which there are upwards of +eighty within its confines and hard by. The Stubai Thal is a +combination of scenery of widely different character. Within a radius +of a few miles, towering above its green and peaceful pastures, at +least two score of magnificent peaks rear their heads skyward, none of +which fall far short of (whilst many exceed) 10,000 feet in altitude. +The lower portion of the valley is reminiscent of the far-famed, +music-loving Zillerthal, with its dark-green pine forests, fertile +meadows, and villages perched here and there on the slopes of the +mountains, or nestling in the valley itself around the white-walled +churches. This kind of scenery extends some little way beyond the +village of Neustift, which is the last in the valley having a church, +and then one seems to at once pass into a mysterious, wonderful, and +fascinating region, where the legendary gnomes and ice-maidens of +Tyrolean folk-tales and lore must surely dwell in caverns and +habitations of perpetual ice and snow. + +Though there is a good mountain road winding up the hillside above +Wilten, which in former times served the picturesque villages Natters, +Mutters, Kreith, and Telfes, most travellers nowadays use the electric +railway (the first made in Tyrol) for the journey to Fulpmes, which +lies about half-way to Neustift and is rapidly becoming a favourite +excursion resort for Innsbruck people. + +The railway (although it has been called a "toy" one) presents +considerable features of interest to the engineer, and elements of +apparent--but not actual--danger to the timorous. At least, one lady +we know who had made the upward journey, had been across the slender +viaduct supported on tapering piers, and had been whirled round curves +of astonishing "sharpness," refused--until the distance by road had +been pointed out to her--to return the same way. But there is in +reality no risk on the Stubai Bahn, only an element of pleasant +excitement, and the charm of wonderful scenery; and the latter is so +beautiful and the little saloon cars so well adapted for viewing that +few will, after all, we think, regret travelling to Fulpmes by +train instead of a-foot or by carriage. The place was formerly +celebrated for its iron and steel works; the articles made finding +their way not only to Austria, but also to Germany and Italy; and +although of late years the trade appears to have somewhat declined, it +is still considerable and of interest to the curious who can watch the +skilful artisans at work. The village is most picturesquely situated, +and in the church there are some paintings by a local peasant girl +quite worth seeing. Fulpmes forms an excellent centre from which to +make excursions in the upper portions of the lovely valley, and amid +the wooded slopes of the environing mountains. In summer there is the +additional charm of the wealth of beautiful wild flowers which gem the +fields, and spread like a many-coloured carpet of glowing tints +beneath the shadow-casting and sombre pines. + + [Illustration: VIADUCT ON STUBAI RAILWAY] + + [Illustration: VIEW OF THE GROSSGLOCKNER] + +[Sidenote: FULPMES AND SCHONBERG] + +At Schonberg, south of Igls, and on the opposite bank of the Sill, +standing nearly 3500 feet above sea level, one obtains a most +widely-extended and panoramic view of the Stubai Valley and its +villages. And as one stands in the Alpine observatory near the +"Jagerhof," one is able to realize the full beauty of the valley, and +the wonder of the mountain summits, including the Serles Spitz (also +known in Innsbruck as the Waldraster Spitz), whose rugged peaks remind +one of those giants in the Dolomites. + +But perhaps one of the most strange and interesting natural phenomena +in all Tyrol is to be seen from Schonberg when the snow-fields, which +in winter completely cover the mountain tops on every hand, begin to +melt. Then gradually there appear in different parts of the upper +slopes of the mountain ranges dark spots which, framed in unmelted +snow, at last assume the appearance of silhouettes of gigantic size. +On the peaks away above Innsbruck are slowly formed the figures of two +women who appear to be fighting, and whose noses as the snow melts +become more hooked and longer each day; on the Solstein a priest is +seen carrying an _aspergillus_ in his hand, whilst on the +Arzletscharte appears the most complete "picture" of them all, known +as the "Falconer." This, a silhouette of remarkable vividness, depicts +a youth dressed in a page's costume, adorned with a hat and plumes, +and carrying on his left arm a falcon unhooded for flight. As the snow +melts the figure loses its pristine slimness and assumes the form of a +corpulent man, until at last it entirely disappears. On the side of +the Patscherkofel is seen the figure of an old hunter with his dog; +which, however, owing to the rapid melting of the snow when once a +thaw commences, is only visible for a short time. Indeed, a few hours +after we first saw it, for the reason we have given, the change was so +great that the outline was almost destroyed. + +Hall, from time immemorial famous for its salt mines, is well worth a +visit. Lying on the north or opposite side of the Inn to Igls, and to +the east of Innsbruck, it can be reached either by the prosaic +post-road which traverses the Valley, or from Igls by the beautiful +Ellbögen road--a branch of the Brenner road dating from Roman +times--passing over the Mittelgebirge and through Igls, Lans, Aldrans, +Ampass, across the bridge over the Inn to Hall, which is somewhat +longer. Equally picturesque, perhaps one might say even more so, is +yet another road (the one we preferred) which skirts the lower slopes +of the towering peaks of the Bavarian Alps, and passes through the +villages of Arzl, Rum, and Thaur. There are also the alternatives of +the Brenner railway, and the tramway for those who are poor walkers or +are pressed for time. + +[Sidenote: SOME PRETTY VILLAGES] + +From Mühlau onwards one has most exquisite views of the broad and +fertile valley, and the magnificent mountains which tower above the +wooded slopes, swelling gently upward from the Inn, in wild and craggy +peaks of rugged beauty. This walk is rendered additionally attractive +and picturesque for all who are interested in folk-lore, or who are +able to enter into the legend and religion of the people, by the +pilgrimage chapels which are found along the route. One of the most +charming of these in all Tyrol is that of Arzl, which, standing on a +wooded knoll, is brilliant with colour, a gem of its kind in a +charming setting of dark green. The little church of Maria Loreto +built by the religiously inclined Anna Katharina Gonzaga, second wife +of Ferdinand II., was once a famous pilgrimage place, but of late +years has been much less resorted to than formerly. The interior is, +however, well worth inspection. The wood carvings and iron work are +both interesting, as are also the old engravings which hang upon the +walls, and the curious black Virgin and Child upon the Altar. + +Arzl, Rum, and Thaur are all picturesquely situated, nestling as they +do on the lower slopes of the great limestone peaks, the first named +standing at the foot of the Burgstall which rises majestically to a +height of nearly three thousand five hundred feet. Many of the houses +in these three villages are most elaborately decorated with mural +paintings; in some instances the whole of the fronts are so adorned, +and often masses of corn hang on trellis work on the walls. The effect +of the brilliant tints of the paintings and the coloured window frames +gives an additionally picturesque air to the little villages. Seen in +summer the gay effect is perhaps a little neutralized, but in winter, +when the landscape is more cheerless and there is a background of snow +and grey-green rocks, the picture formed is a unique and wonderfully +cheering one. + +Concerning Thaur, where so many houses have either a painting or an +image of a man with a bear upon their fronts, there is a legend of St. +Romedius, who centuries ago came riding into the village blessed with +a keen appetite gained by exercise in the invigorating mountain air. +Whilst the saint was engaged in satisfying his hunger, a wandering +bear, so the legend goes, was so impressed with the holy man's +accomplishment in this respect that he promptly (for want of other +food) emulated it by eating Romedius' horse. On coming out to renew +his journey the Saint was astounded at the disappearance of his steed. +He, however, seems to have guessed what had happened, and forthwith +preached the bear such a sermon upon his iniquitous conduct that he +was not only moved to penitence, but also sought to make amends by +offering himself as a substitute for the Saint's former steed. + +Although the proposal might appear to us as accompanied with some +considerable risk when the bear once more became hungry, the Saint +accepted it, and ultimately set forth on his strange steed to a cave +in the mountains north of Thaur, where they lived for some +considerable time without mishap. One day, however, as the holy man +slept, a troublesome fly came buzzing round his head, and the sleeper +failed to drive it away, with the result that the bear (who we are +told had all this time watched over his master with great solicitude) +came to the rescue and sought to get rid of it; however, without +success. The fly returned again and again to the charge, and the bear +in desperation aiming a blow at the fly, alas! struck and killed the +Saint. This time the grief of the bear was, of course, of no avail, so +he would eat nothing and gradually pined away, ultimately dying of +hunger. + +This story, though it has its comical side, is not, however, held to +be disrespectful to the life and character of Romedius, who is one of +the best esteemed Tyrolese saints. It appears more than probable, +however, that Romedius (whether killed by his companion the bear or +not) actually died in the Nonsthal, South Tyrol, where there are, +strange to say, villages of somewhat similar names to those we have +mentioned, namely, Torro, Rumo, and Arz. + + [Illustration: THE MARKET PLACE, HALL] + +[Sidenote: HALL AND ITS MÜNSTERTURM] + +Hall, which is one of the most picturesque, busy, and interesting +little towns in the neighbourhood of Innsbruck, with some 6000 +inhabitants, dates from the time of the Roman occupation of Tyrol. By +the well-known historian, Beda Weber, the name is stated to have been +derived from the Greek word [Greek: halos], salt; the reason for such +derivation from an unlikely language he does not, however, in any way +seek to explain. As one enters the town one is at once struck by the +strange and quaint mingling of the picturesque with the utilitarian, +the rural with the mediæval. Long before one reaches the town one sees +in the distance the greenish copper cupolas of the Pfaarkirche or +Parish Church which has so fine a Gothic portal and interesting +relics, around whose walls shops are grouped; and rising above the +other less lofty and less time-mellowed buildings, the massive Gothic +tower known as the Münsterturm with its red "pepper-box" roof of Roman +origin, although the present tower was built by Duke Sigismund, the +famous son of Frederick of the Empty Purse. A steeply ascending street +leads to the market square, in which the Pfaarkirche and Rathaus stand +opposite each other. And in this and contiguous streets there are many +quaint balconies, gabled roofs, and old-time architectural features to +interest and charm the artist and antiquarian visitor. + +Although Hall has somewhat declined as a commercial centre with the +rise of its big neighbour, Innsbruck, it is still a place of +considerable activity on account, chiefly, of the famous salt mines. +In former times these and its position on the banks of the Inn (then +much more navigable) gave the place importance under the rule of the +Counts of Tyrol, and the earlier of the Austrian princes; many barges +and boats from the Danube itself in former times making their way into +the Inn and thence to the flourishing town of Hall. The salt works +still remain its principal industry. Hall is, as things go in Tyrol, a +distinctly smoky town; but it is seldom that the smoke hangs in the +clear and fresh Alpine air which sweeps along the Inn valley down +from the environing hills. + +The Münsterturm, mint tower, which, as we have said, is so prominent +an object on approaching the town, is of historical interest from the +fact that it was built to enable Duke Sigismund, known as the Rich, to +turn into coin his great store of silver taken from the Tyrol +mountains. It was from this tower, too, that Andreas Hofer issued his +Kreuzer and twenty Kreuzer pieces during the period of his brief +dictatorship. + +As was the case with many another Tyrolean town, Hall suffered in the +past from the calamities which afflicted so many similar places in the +Middle Ages. It was swept in turn by fire, sword, and pestilence, and +shaken to its foundations by the earthquake which occurred in 1670. So +severe was the shock, we are told, that the watchman on the parapet of +the church tower was thrown off and killed by falling to the ground, +and the people fled out of their houses to the open fields where their +priests exhorted them to prepare for the Day of Judgment. That the +alarm created was very great is borne out by the fact that, although +the loss of life would appear from contemporary sources of information +to have been slight, for some time afterwards the services of the +church were all performed in the open air. Hall, however, chiefly on +account of its salt mine resources, recovered, and these and the many +privileges the burghers enjoyed enabled them in time to regain their +former prosperity. + +The town played an important part in the various wars which had Tyrol +for their battleground during the Middle Ages; and during the +Patriotic War the people of Hall were not less brave and +self-sacrificing than those of other places. One gallant deed in +especial of that long struggle for freedom is directly connected with +the town. In May, 1809, Joseph Speckbacher (who was born on a +Gnadenwald farm near Hall in 1767) and his troops attacked the +Bavarians at Volders, near Hall, and after blowing up the bridge +behind him he marched to the relief of the latter town, which was held +by the Bavarian troops. These had artillery, and were also numerically +stronger and better armed, so that the task set before the patriot +force was no slight one. Happily, Speckbacher became aware that the +Bavarians were short of ammunition, and therefore when a truce was +proposed he refused to agree to it. The Bavarians after, as they +thought, completely destroying the Hall bridge, which they held as +well as the town, retreated. Calling upon his men to follow him, +Speckbacher led them boldly on to the then dangerous and tottering +structure, entered the town and pursued the Bavarians. + +[Sidenote: AN INTERESTING CHURCH] + +In the churchyard is an interesting wooden crucifix carved by Joseph +Stocker in 1691, as well as some monuments of the principal Hall +families of former times. The church itself should be visited, if only +for the "Salvator Mundi" by Albrecht Durer painted on a panel, and the +high altar-piece by a pupil of the master Reubens, named Erasmus +Quillinus. One of the chapels, the Waldaufische, was built in 1493 by +Florian von Waldauf, who, originally a peasant boy, entered the +Imperial Army and ultimately became one of the confidential advisers +of the Emperor Frederick and his son, afterwards Maximilian I. He was +also ennobled and given considerable estates. He met with many +adventures on his journeys into foreign lands, and on one of his +expeditions was in so terrible a storm as to be threatened with +shipwreck, and he vowed if his life was spared that he would found a +chapel in his native land. As events turned out, he lived to reach +Tyrol once more, and in accordance with his vow founded the chapel in +the church at Hall, which was also the parish church of Rettenburg +Castle and estates which Maximilian had granted to him. Upon this +chapel he bestowed numerous relics which he had acquired during his +various travels, and nearly 50,000 pilgrims came from all parts of +Tyrol to the consecration service. + +More than one of the chapels and churches of Hall owe their origin to +special circumstances of a more or less romantic character. That of +St. Saviour, for example, which stands on the site of some tumbledown +hovels which existed in the first years of the fifteenth century. The +story goes that it was to a dying man in one of these that one of the +priests attached to the village church was summoned to convey the +Viaticum, and administer extreme unction and the last rites of the +Church. He came in due course to the hovel, and placing the sacred +vessels on a rickety table the latter collapsed and the Host was +thrown on to the floor. This was, of course, a terrible disaster in +the eyes of the priest and peasants; and a rich burgher, Johann von +Kripp by name, hearing of the circumstance, purchased the cottages, +and as a reparation for the sacrilege which had occurred, founded a +church on the spot, dedicated to the Redeemer. + +The Hall records are of great interest, and show that the town was a +place of much importance in the fifteenth century, when a considerable +part of the trade between Venice and Germany passed through it. In +those days, too, the town was somewhat celebrated for its junketings, +more especially the feasts which were held in connection with the +opening of the sessions at the Courts of Justice. + +The neighbourhood, on account of the good sport provided, was a +favourite hunting-ground with the Emperor Maximilian, who on several +occasions was entertained in the town. + +Hall declined slowly in importance during the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries by reason of the change in the trade routes; but +in quite modern times has regained some at least of its former +prosperity by adopting up-to-date methods. + +There are numerous excellent and interesting excursions to be made +from Hall, but nearly every one pays a visit to the famous salt +mines, which are to the north amid most romantic and beautiful +scenery. Even by carriage the journey of about eight miles takes the +greater part of two hours; on foot even good walkers can scarcely hope +to do it in less than three. The scenery is in places very fine, and +one enjoys most beautiful views, and nearer glimpses of the +Bettelwulf, Speckkar and Nisslspitz Alps. + +[Sidenote: ABSAM AND JAKOB STAINER] + +On the way one passes the quaint village of Absam, at which Jakob +Stainer, known as the "German father of the violin," was born in 1621. +As a maker of these instruments he stands high, though it is unknown +where or how he acquired his knowledge of the craft. It seems +possible, however, as Absam is but a short distance from Innsbruck, +where at the period at which Stainer lived musicians--Italians and +others--were warmly welcomed to the Court of the Archduke Ferdinand +Karl, he may have made the acquaintance of some of these, or even of a +maker of distinction. Be it as it may, ere Stainer reached his +majority he had embarked upon the trade of a violin maker, and was +often to be seen in the streets of Hall and in the market-place +selling his productions at a price which we are told did not often +exceed six florins. + +His original model was probably an Amati, but he departed considerably +from it as he himself acquired skill and knowledge. Stories are still +told of the great care he took in selecting the wood from which his +instruments were to be fashioned, and how he would sometimes spend +days wandering in the backwoods around Hall and Absam in search of a +good tree, which he would tap with a hammer and note its "tone" ere +felling. Unfortunately, as has been the case with many another genius, +he seems to have died in poverty in or about 1683. At one time he was +violin maker to the Imperial Court, but this appointment, which +ultimately he lost through inability to pay his way, and owing to +consequent financial embarrassment, was not sufficiently lucrative to +ensure him comfort in his declining years, let alone prosperity. + +His instruments, of which there are still a number in existence, are +generally distinguished by having their tops more highly curved than +those of the chief Italian makers, whilst they possess a more +flute-like note, which is often more "singing" and sympathetic than +that of the latter. But none of his make probably equalled, or at all +events excelled, the works of the Italian masters for brilliance and +sustained tone, although by some connoisseurs this opinion has been +disputed. It is said that one of Mozart's favourite instruments was +the work of Jakob Stainer. + +At the present time the chief industry of the Mittenwald, which is +just over the Bavarian border, is the production of violins and +guitars, which are exported in considerable numbers to both England +and the United States as well as to other European countries. This +flourishing industry owes its origin to a pupil of Stainer's, named +Klotz, who after his master's death enjoyed a considerable reputation +as a maker of violins of good quality. + +Many of the houses of Absam are gaily painted, and in the numerous +niches, which are often vine-wreathed, one finds the images of saints, +and on the bargeboards roughly carved dragons. The villagers tell a +curious story to account for the presence of these dragons. It tells +how centuries ago there was in the village a marvellous hen that never +laid an egg until seven years old, and when this was hatched instead +of the anticipated chicken there crawled out a dragon, which +remarkable event the villagers have commemorated ever since by carving +dragons on the eaves of their houses. But it has been pointed out by +several writers upon legends and folk-lore that the dragon was an +animal sacred to the god Wodin, representations of which were +frequently placed on houses, over the town gates, and on belfries as a +kind of talisman against evil influences and spirits; and similar +statements are to be found in several well-known works dealing with +mythology. + +[Sidenote: A WONDERFUL WINDOW] + +In connection with this little Tyrol village are several other stories +and legendary tales of a highly romantic and interesting character. +Space, however, can only be found for one other. The story of the +event or circumstance which caused Absam to become a popular +pilgrimage place at the end of the eighteenth century runs as follows. +About the middle of January, in the year 1797, the daughter of one of +the villagers was one evening looking out of a window in her father's +house to watch for his return from work across the fields, when +suddenly the light from the fire which played upon the window-pane +disclosed a figure of the Virgin Mary quite distinctly. The girl was +so astonished that she fell upon her knees before the miraculous +picture. The story was not long in spreading throughout the village, +and the neighbours all came running to see the "miracle." Then the +news of the marvellous image spread through the district round about, +and at last created so great a stir that the Dean of Innsbruck himself +heard of it, and resolved to investigate the story. After he had +visited the place a committee of inquiry was formed, amongst the +members of which were two learned professors of chemistry and the +well-known artist, Joseph Schöpf. + +After considerable investigation and the examination of witnesses the +committee declared that the glass had originally formed part of a +"picture" window, and that the image had been undoubtedly painted upon +it. The colours had, however, faded as the years went by (as +sometimes, indeed, happens), and it was the peculiar character of the +atmosphere of Absam which had restored them to the extent that the +image of the Holy Virgin had become once more visible. + +It is not to be much wondered at, however, that the simple-minded +villagers failed to appreciate the arguments of the commissioners and +refused to accept the explanation. To them it remained a miraculous +image still, and pilgrims came in crowds to see it. As history tells +us, it was a period of "Sturm und Drang" in Tyrol. A plague raged +which afflicted both men and cattle; and the French invaders had +penetrated right into the heart of the country, had occupied +Innsbruck, and had brought fire and sword to the hearths of the +people. The superstitious peasantry, with their natural leaning +towards belief in the miraculous, and faith in the benefits to be +derived from the supernatural, accepted the image which had so +strangely appeared on the window-pane as a token of Divine favour, and +insisted on its removal and installation upon one of the altars in the +church. This was promptly done, and the "Gnadenmutter von Absam," or +"Miraculous Madonna of Absam," became an object of veneration by all +who were distressed. This feeling was doubtless immensely increased by +the circumstance that soon after the discovery of the picture and its +removal to the church the pestilence died down, and the French were +compelled to withdraw their forces. Both of which events were +attributed to the virtue of the painting of the Virgin on the +window-pane which had been discovered in so strange a manner. + +The salt mines a little distance beyond Absam, with their crystalline +grottoes and the subterranean salt lake, provide an interesting and +unique experience for the enterprising traveller who comes to the +Salzberg. There is not much difficulty in obtaining admission to the +mines, a small fee being charged each visitor for guides, torches, and +the rowers of the boat on the lake. The circumstance that the mines +were known and worked in the eighth century is not the least +interesting fact connected with them; but it appears probable that the +early workers confined their attention chiefly if not entirely to the +extracting of the salt from a spring that issued from the mountain, by +means of evaporating pans. + + [Illustration: THE HALL VALLEY, WINTER] + +[Sidenote: DISCOVERY OF SALT MINES] + +One Nikolas von Rohrbach, who is known by the sobriquet of "the +pious knight," appears to have been the first discoverer of the salt +mines. He noticed on his frequent hunting expeditions that the cattle +and horses were very fond of licking certain rocks in the valley, and +applied tests which showed that the rocks were strongly saline in +character. Following up this clue, he discovered the Salzberg itself +with its practically inexhaustible supply. Ever since Rohrbach's time +the mountain has been worked for its salt, and until recent years, +when blasting came into common use, much in the same way as in +mediæval times, viz. by hewing huge caverns in the rock, which are +then filled with water and sealed up. After a considerable period has +elapsed this water is run off into conduits leading down to Hall, +where it is evaporated in pans. How heavily charged with salt the +brine is may be judged from the fact that as a general rule it yields +no less than one-third of its weight in solid salt. + +The caverns one is able to enter, when lighted up by the flickering +torches, present a truly wonderful and beautiful sight. + +Those who visit Hall are indeed unfortunate whose time does not permit +them to put up for a day or two at either of the chief Inns (the "Bar" +or "Stern"), so that the beautiful Gnadenwald, which lies to the +north-east of the town on the Bettelwulf, may be visited. That lovely +Alpine lake, the Achen See, in which the towering snow-capped +mountains glass themselves, can be easily reached by the little +railway which runs up to it through the steeply climbing Zillerthal. +The highest and largest of Tyrolese lakes, the Achen See, lies at an +altitude of 3000 feet, with its deep-blue, crystal-clear waters +stretching northwards for a distance of nearly six miles towards +Bavaria. It is surrounded by the most exquisite mountain scenery, +craggy precipices and dark-green forests, and has many features of +interest in addition to providing excellent fishing, boating, and +numerous pleasant walks and excursions. + +In the Gnadenwald, which was a grant of forest land made by Tyrolese +rulers to their household servants in olden times, there are several +villages of great picturesqueness. The road from Hall is a truly +delightful one through pine forests, sweet with aromatic perfume in +the warm air of summer, and upland fields, which seem to almost hang +on the sides of the grey, craggy peaks of the Bavarian Alps. And if +one but turns and gazes back occasionally there are charming vistas to +be had of the Inn Valley far below, and the great chain of the +southern mountain range on the further side. + +The two picturesquely situated villages of St. Michael and St. Martin +are to be ranked amongst the chief places of interest in the +Gnadenwald. As one approaches the former its white church and tower +with a red-roofed cupola with gilded finial standing out clearly +defined against a background of dark green at once arrests attention. +Over the door is a fresco depicting the incident in the life of Saint +Martin where he bestowed his coat upon a beggar. The visitor whose +time permits or inclination leads him to enter the church will be +amply repaid by the beauty of the frescoes, more especially those +adorning the pulpit, which were painted by one of the priests attached +to the Augustinian monastery formerly connected with the church, but +afterwards suppressed by Joseph II. towards the end of the eighteenth +century. + +At a little distance from the church stands the old home of Joseph +Speckbacher, where once, when pursued by his enemies, he took refuge +in a pit only deep enough for him to sit upright, whilst the Bavarian +soldiers in search of him were actually quartered in the house. He was +only able to leave his place of concealment under the floor when the +soldiers were absent drilling in the market-place. After a time he was +able to come out and hide in a more commodious cow-shed, and finally +to flee (after many narrow escapes) over the border into Austria, +where he was well received and safe from capture. + +The village of St. Michael is also picturesque and well worth seeing. +Just beyond it is the famous Gungl Inn, a favourite resort with +excursionists from Innsbruck, Kufstein, Hall and other places, as well +as with the peasants of the Gnadenwald. Here, on Sundays especially, +one meets with some of the most interesting and picturesque types, gay +costumes and rustic scenes of gaiety and amusements which give one a +far better idea of the Tyrolese peasants as they are than days spent +in towns, and weeks spent reading books. + +[Sidenote: A PILGRIMAGE CHURCH] + +But a short distance further on, by a charming road, one reaches the +famous pilgrimage chapel of Maria Larch, built in honour of a +mysterious image of the Madonna which was discovered under a larch +tree. The church, perhaps on account of its poetic legend and secluded +and beautiful situation, has long been a favourite pilgrimage resort +with the impressionable and religious peasantry of the upper valleys. + +There are many other picturesque places in the neighbourhood of Hall, +enticing the wanderer from valley to valley and height to height; but +a small volume would be required in which to adequately describe them +alone; and almost a lifetime to become thoroughly acquainted with +their romantic legends, story and beauty. Some weeks of exploration +leaves one with a keen desire for closer acquaintance with not merely +the lovely scenery but with the simple-hearted, hospitable people who +dwell in the more secluded valleys, with whom the great outer world +with its storm and stress has indeed little to do and for whom even +has little interest. + +"You should return to Innsbruck from Hall in the late afternoon, +starting just before sunset," was the advice of an artist friend. "You +will then see what you will not easily forget." + +The present writer passes on the advice. + +No one who has waited till day's decline to make the return journey at +any period of the year will have reason to regret it, though in the +winter months the effects of light and shadow are, of course, far more +transient--far too much so--than during the spring, summer, and even +early autumn. Then the snow on the towering peaks of the environing +mountains glows with at first a golden light, which passes through +pearly tones to bright rose pink as the sun sinks behind the soaring +crags. The last gleams of the sun linger upon the highest peak as +though loth to fade through rose to pale purple, and in turn to change +to steely blue, and finally to that blue-black which challenges the +deeper indigo of the Alpine sky. Through the pine woods as one passes +along the mountain road the golden light filters and slowly dies, +throwing long shadows, and at last making the tree trunks loom +enormous and fantastical in the fading light. And then from the tiny +churches of the mountain side and valley one hears the Angelus ringing +forth with a peaceful sound; or if one be approaching Innsbruck +itself, then the mellow tones of the greater bell of Wilten float +upward from the valley and come to one borne on the still evening air. +Under such circumstances of beauty and in the impressive solitude of +the forest ways one must be, indeed, unimpressionable if one fails to +feel something of the spirit and love of Tyrol, and of restful peace +which has enslaved so many hearts throughout the country's history. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[14] By some authorities it is stated that the Emperor was never made +aware of Ferdinand's marriage.--C. H. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + SALZBURG, ITS HISTORY AND ROMANCE + + +[Sidenote: BEAUTIFUL OLD SALZBURG] + +Salzburg, though lying some little distance beyond the north-eastern +borders of Tyrol, is so historic and delightful a city that many who +visit the "Land of the Mountains" make a point of visiting it. They +are wise to do so; for of all ancient towns in the Austrian empire few +are more picturesque or pleasantly situated, and scarcely any more +historically interesting. We have never known any one disappointed in +Salzburg who was capable of appreciating beauty and romantic +associations. + +Many who have roved the world over have yielded to the charm of this +old-time city, which even with its touch of modernity seems to +preserve the quaint and the beautiful of long ago, and the atmosphere +of the days when knights and armed men were the chief passers through +its streets, and history was in the making. + +It lies at the foot of the northern Alps, in an open and fertile +valley somewhat reminding one of Innsbruck, save for its wonderful +rock fortress Hohen-Salzburg situated nearly eighteen hundred feet +above sea-level and completely dominating the town. There is the +Kapuzingerberg in place of the Innsbruck Weiherberg, and its Rainberg +in place of Berg Isel. It is by many considered the most interesting +of all the ancient towns amid the German Alps. + +Its beauty has been compared in turn by several well-known travellers +with that of Venice, Naples, and even Constantinople. But to our +thinking the parallel is not as exact as it should be to make it of +value. There is no sea at Salzburg, and from that fact alone its +approach is of necessity less picturesque. Indeed, the immediate +approach from Tyrol by way of Innsbruck is somewhat unimpressive and +gives little or no indication of the beauty and charm of the old town, +though the line on its way passes some pretty scenery and affords some +fine peeps of the Bavarian Alps. + +Yet Salzburg, through the centre of which flows the silver-hued +Salzach, is in a way as beautifully situated and as charming as any of +the towns to which it has from time to time been likened. It lies in a +delightfully well-watered and fertile plain dotted over with villages, +ancient castles, and country seats of the Salzburg nobility, and +encircled by wooded hills, which as they open out in a wider sweep to +the south become higher and higher until deserving the description of +mountains. Here they become a magnificent range of towering limestone +peaks, through which are cleft fertile and delightful valleys leading +into the neighbouring kingdom of Bavaria. In the valley of the Salzach +there is no lack of variety as regards scenery. One has widespread +meadows, almost throughout the year starred and gemmed with many +coloured and sweet scented flowers, melting away into the woods which +clothe the lower slopes of the environing hills, where the sombre hued +pines give a darker note of green to the landscape; whilst yet above +these in the distance are crags of grey and slate-coloured limestone, +and crowning the whole vast snow-fields glistering white at noonday +and taking on a tint of delicate rose colour at sundown. + +In the town itself rise two considerable hills which serve to confer +upon it a distinction of its own. One, the Kapuzingerberg, on the +eastern side of the river, rises to the height of 800 feet, and the +second, on the western side, to a height of nearly 450 feet above the +city. It is between these two that the greater part of the old town +lies. The steep sides of the Mönchsberg and the Gibraltar-like rock on +which the old, grey fortress of Hohen-Salzburg stands are ivy-clad, +and in the crevices and fissures wall-flowers, valerian, stone-crop, +houseleek, and other flowering and lichen-like plants have taken root, +whilst from the greater crevices and ledges wave feathery birches, and +the lower slopes are made beautiful and shady by spreading beeches and +odorous limes. + +After several visits to this delightful city, which has an atmosphere +entirely its own, and a charm difficult to describe, one is at a loss +to set down in what it exactly differs from other similar towns. Part +of the attraction it possesses is doubtless owing to its situation +amid a stretch of lovely valley, and its romantic and historic past. +But there yet remains that elusive quality which may be described as +"the personality of the town," in addition to its geographical and +historical claims upon one's interest and imagination. + +Salzburg is not, however, merely the name of a town, but also of a +province or "department" of Austria, to which empire it is the last +added territory.[15] Lying between Tyrol (of which by many it is +erroneously supposed to form a part) and the Salzkammergut or the lake +region of Upper Austria, which commences in the near neighbourhood of +the city, it was an independent episcopal principality until after the +fall of Napoleon, not having been incorporated with the +Austro-Hungarian Empire until the year 1816. + +[Sidenote: THE SALZACH VALLEY] + +The province consists chiefly of the mountainous district of the +Salzach and its numerous tributaries, which wend their way from their +sources amid the glaciers and snow-fields of the great peaks of the +Hohen Tauern and lesser ranges to the plain where the Salzach itself +ultimately flows into the Inn. + +It is the great Hohen Tauern range with its gigantic snow-crowned +peaks of the Gross Glockner, 12,460 feet; Wiesbachhorn, 11,710 feet; +and Gross Venediger, 12,010 feet; Hohe Furlegg, 10,750 feet; +Habachkopf, 9945 feet; and many other almost equally stupendous +heights, which forms the southern boundary of the ancient +Principality. The whole range is one of impressive grandeur, and +possesses a picturesque beauty upon its lower slopes unrivalled by any +other Alpine district. The foot of the Hohen Tauern is almost +invariably clad with pine forests, which melt away into the higher +slopes where blooms the bright pink "alpen rosen," whilst yet higher, +and just below the line of perpetual snow, on rocky ledges and on +slopes of coarse grass appear the silver-white, star-like flowers of +the edelweiss. Above this zone of fresh green patches amid the grey +and weather-stained rocks one passes into that exhilarating region of +eternal snow and ice where dwells also eternal silence unbroken by the +sound of birds, the hum of insects, or murmur of other living things. + +Not only is the Hohen Tauern the region of Alpine giants, vast +glaciers, and untrodden snow-fields, but as a natural consequence of +these things it is that of many rushing torrents, stupendous +waterfalls, and tinkling streamlets, all of which contribute to make +the province it borders one of the best-watered in the +Austro-Hungarian Empire. Upwards of half a score of large streams flow +into the Salzach; whilst of fertile valleys there are so many that to +number them is difficult. Most are beautiful in the extreme; many are +almost unknown to the ordinary tourist, who usually sticks to the +well-worn paths and more frequented highways. In the famous Krimml +Falls the Province of Salzburg possesses by common consent the finest +waterfalls in the German Alps. They issue from the vast Krimml Glacier +and descend over the edge of a pine-clad precipice in a cloud of +drifting spray into the valley beneath, a distance of nearly 1500 +feet, in three stupendous leaps, the highest fall in two leaps from a +height of more than 450 feet. + +Although, as we have before said, almost every valley of the Hohen +Tauern range is notably beautiful, none excel in interest either +pictorially or geologically the longest and widest, the Gastein +Valley, with the fine falls some 500 feet in height near Bockstein, +where the Gasteiner Ache, after passing through narrow gorges, plunges +down into the valley, and thence flows through the broad, flat plain +of Hof-Gastein to join the Salzach, passing on its way delightful +Bad-Gastein, with its old town of interesting and picturesque wooden +houses nestling on the eastern slopes of the valley, and the newer, +with its hotels, churches, villas and other handsome buildings, +peeping out from amid the pine-clad slopes or lying in the valley +itself. It is a delightful though nowadays fashionable health resort, +at which many tastes, both gay and quiet, are consulted. + +From Lend at the foot of the Gastein Thal to pretty little St. Johann, +where the Salzach flows northward, the river has passed without +opposition quietly onward. But at St. Johann are some towering and +remarkable limestone peaks, including those of the Tennen and Hagen +Ranges, some of them attaining an altitude of 8000 feet; with the +desolate-looking Steinerne Meer, 8800 feet on the western flank, and +the Dachstein more than a thousand feet higher on the eastern. The +river flows onward to a point where the two ranges we have mentioned +coalesce. Here the great ravine known as the Lueg Pass, six miles in +length and possessing fine scenery, forms a very fitting entrance to +the beautiful valley of Golling, which gradually opens out from +Hallein onwards till Salzburg itself is reached. + +The valley of the Salzach on its eastern side is bordered by a range +of pleasant green-clad heights and gentle slopes, with the Gaisberg, +4290 feet, a short distance to the north-east of Salzburg itself, +dominating them, from which point the mountains gradually decrease in +height. From Golling onwards, however, the western side of the valley +is shut in by great peaks, some of which spread out their lower and +rounded emerald green slopes towards the river. Of these impressive +and beautiful mountains the Hohe Göll, 8275 feet, the majestic +Watzmann, 9050 feet, the chief of the Berchtesgaden group, are the +most noticeable. The cave-pierced and lofty, dome-shaped Untersberg, +the highest point of which is the Berchtesgadener Hochtron of 6480 +feet, standing isolated like a sentinel in the plain near the city. + +[Sidenote: SALZBURG IN ROMAN TIMES] + +Salzburg, beautiful and on occasion even radiant city of the plain as +it is, ancient though many of its buildings are, is yet of greater +antiquity than any of them. The town stands upon truly classic ground, +and is associated with many events which have taken their places in +European and even world-wide history. Here the Romans came in their +all-conquering march of empire, and recognizing its fine position and +the strategic importance of the hills which command the river along +most of its course, they in due time built upon the plain Juvavum, on +the road which linked up the Augusta Vindelicorum, modern Augsburg +with Aquileia near Trieste. + +There is little doubt nowadays, from the remains which have been +discovered from time to time in the shape of implements of stone and +bronze, weapons, household utensils, and ornaments, that the mines +near Salzburg, which have since very early days down till +comparatively recent times been of great commercial importance, were +not only worked in the days of the Roman occupation, but also even in +pre-historic times. There is little reason for doubt, indeed, that the +Celts knew of, and used, the famous salt mines of the Dürnberg and the +copper mines of the Mitterberg; whilst there is abundant evidence of +various kinds of the working of the gold and silver mines of the +Tauern district by the Romans during their occupation of the country. + + [Illustration: MOZART'S HOUSE IN THE MAKART PLATZ] + +The exact date when Salzburg as a town or settlement first came +into existence has not been determined; but it would seem probable +that there was a settlement existing by the banks of the Salzach +during, or just prior to, the first century of the Christian Era. The +Celtic inhabitants of this settlement were not, however, able +successfully to resist the north-eastern advance which had been made +across Tyrol by the Roman legions, and thus it was that the Roman +military station Juvavum was founded on a site which was of great +convenience owing to its being at the entrance to the mountain passes +and placed at the junction of the roads which led by various routes to +all parts of Noricum. Here it was the Roman invader, having driven the +Celtic owners of the soil after a brave but ineffectual resistance +into mountain fastnesses of the surrounding country, established a +military post with a fort which soon became a colony, and grew +ultimately into the important town of Juvavum. + +Of this occupation by the Romans, and of the establishment of the town +by the banks of the Salzach, there are considerable relics surviving +in the shape of excavated buildings and foundations, coins, ornaments, +pottery, tesselated pavements, and portions of the roads which the +Romans made. + +The introduction of Christianity took place at a very early date, +which would in part account for the ecclesiastical prominence which +the province had in the Middle Ages, and even in later times. We are +told that even as early as the year A.D. 472 St. Severinus, whilst +journeying through Noricum, with which country Salzburg had been +incorporated by the Romans, found numerous Christian churches and +minsters established. A relic of these times still exists set in the +perpendicular walls of the Mönchsberg, where high up, with some of its +windows overshadowed by creepers and trees, is a very small church +built into the mountain itself; reached by a dark, steep flight of +steps cut in the rock, worn by the feet of countless generations, and +leading to a cavern where stands an altar and a small cross. +According, at least, to tradition this was the hiding-place to which +the early Christians amongst the Roman inhabitants retired for +security when celebrating the offices of the new faith. And it is here +that St. Maximus is said to have suffered martyrdom. + +From the effects of the troublous days which at last came to most +outposts of Roman civilization Salzburg did not escape. Soon the +hordes of Huns and Goths and others belonging to various Germanic +tribes swept across and over the province as they did the land of +Tyrol, and the town was sacked and burned, and the inhabitants put to +the sword or led away into captivity. Thus in 477 the flourishing +Roman settlement was literally wiped out by the Keruli under their +leader, Odoaker, and of it few traces remained save some tesselated +pavements, household utensils, and ornaments which ages afterwards +from time to time have been uncovered. + +[Sidenote: THE RISE OF SALZBURG] + +The history of the town is obscure for many centuries after its +destruction by the Teutonic barbarians; and for more than a hundred +years the place remained waste and deserted, with the ruined buildings +gradually becoming overgrown by trees and shrubs. Then, at the +beginning of the sixth century, Theodo I., Duke of the Bojovarii, the +founder of the Kingdom afterwards known as Bavaria, took possession of +Salzburg and joined it to his own possessions. One account tells us +that it was this Duke Theodo of Bavaria who, having become a +Christian, summoned St. Rupert, after the latter had been driven from +Worms, to Ratisbon with a view to his introducing Christianity into +the Duchy. Tradition states that St. Rupert came to Juvavum about the +year 582, or at the beginning of the seventh century, with the +determination to make the spot his headquarters for the spread of the +Christian faith. Duke Theodo appears to have made him a present of the +ruined and deserted town and the country round about to the extent of +an area of two miles square. Other estates and property were given +him, including among many others those of Itzling, Oping (Upper +Innsbruck), and a third part of the famous Hall Salt Spring. The +Bishop set to work, and on the ruins of the old Roman settlement he +soon established a town, building a convent and a church under the +steep rocks of the Mönchsberg, where now the large Benedictine Convent +and St. Peter's Church stand, in the latter of which the bones of the +saint are said to lie buried. + +The Convent of Nonnberg had many estates granted to it, and became +rich. Bishop Rupert appears to have also begun to build new dwellings +and to have cultivated the land; not neglecting in the meantime the +object for which he had come, viz. the spread of Christianity. He +built many churches, and was the means of forming a large number of +Christian communities throughout the Duchy. He also extended the +influence of the town of Salzburg over the surrounding district, and +when he died in 623 he left behind him, where he had found ruins, a +flourishing town with religious institutions of considerable +importance. It was from this settlement that the most powerful and +wealthiest ecclesiastical principality in Southern Germany was +destined to spring, which, though possessed in turn by various +nations, lasted as a spiritual Principality until 1802, when it was +secularized and re-established as a temporal electorate. + +After the coming of St. Rupert Salzburg gradually grew to be the chief +centre of religious life and culture in the eastern region of the +Alps. By the foundation of the Archbishopric of Bavaria by Charles the +Great in 788, after the latter territory had been annexed and +incorporated with his possessions, the city's importance steadily +increased. But with an increase of status there came a corresponding +extension and consolidation of the ecclesiastical dominion by which +the political influence of the Archbishops of Salzburg grew until it +finally justified them in assuming the title of Primates of Germany. +Almost without exception during the Middle Ages the archbishops were +militant priests. "They knew," we are told, "as well how to handle a +sword as to say a Mass," and they often fought with distinction +against the many enemies that the German Empire had in those troublous +times when the various kingdoms of Eastern Europe were being evolved +out of chaos, and were ever at war one with another. These prelates +were also distinguished as skilled and astute diplomatists, capable of +holding their own and adding to the power and privileges of their +Church whenever an opportunity for so doing presented itself. + +Under Bishop Virgil (747 to 784) the power of Salzburg was +considerably extended eastward. The new Cathedral was built, and +several other districts were brought under the subjection of the +bishopric. It was Bishop Virgil's successor, Arno (785 to 821), a +personal friend of Charlemagne, who, in the last year of the eighth +century, was invested by Pope Leo III. with the Pallium and installed +first Archbishop of Salzburg. + +To Arno's labours the town and the country owe much, for under his +skilful and wise guidance not only did the former flourish and grow, +with the other settlements which had come into existence, but by his +great power of initiative the life of the principality itself was +directed into prosperous and progressive channels. His immediate +successors greatly increased the power and influence of the Church; +whilst at the same time they did not omit to extend their +non-spiritual power by the acquisition of other territory, and by +means of the mining industries they became very rich and powerful. + +[Sidenote: EARLY RULERS] + +The Archbishops of Salzburg soon by this means gained a great and +distinguished place amongst the German princes, which they retained +until the power of the Emperors began to wane in consequence of +differences with the Popes, to the latter of whom the Archbishops, as +a rule, gave their support in the disputes that arose. Into these +matters it is not necessary to enter deeply, but it was in consequence +of them that Conrad I., Count of Abinberg, took the part of the Pope +and caused the country to be greatly disturbed. During his reign the +Abbey of St. Peter was granted as a residence to the Archbishop of +Salzburg, and a new building was soon afterwards erected close by for +the purpose. It was in the reign of this same Conrad I. that the +Cathedral of Salzburg was destroyed by fire on May 4, 828, as was also +a very large portion of the city. Both the Cathedral and the portion +of the town which had been burnt down were rebuilt with even greater +magnificence than before. But they were destined to once more be +destroyed. Three centuries later, in the year 1167, a quarrel arose +between Conrad II. and Frederick Barbarossa, because the latter +refused to invest the former with the temporal power, and pronounced +against him the ban of the Empire. Barbarossa ordered Salzburg and the +country round about to be over-run and laid waste by the Counts +Plain-Mittersill. For some time the city and its strong fortress +resisted successfully; but on April 5, 1167, it was captured and once +more burnt to the ground. + +The successor of Conrad, Albert III., a son of King Ladislav of +Bohemia, also came into conflict with the Emperor, and shared a +similar fate to his predecessors; but during the reigns of the +immediately succeeding archbishops peace and prosperity were +established, and under Eberhard II., who was distinguished as a most +able and brilliant administrator as well as a great churchman, peace +and tranquillity once more reigned. + +During the next century Salzburg was involved in political disputes +and took part in the Battle of Muhldorf, on September 28, 1322, +fighting on the side of Frederick the Schöne, Duke of Austria, who was +taken prisoner. In consequence of which the principality not only +lost large numbers of its chief nobles and knights, but also was +involved in heavy monetary loss in the payment of its share of a war +indemnity. + +Immediately following this period of unrest came another distinguished +by the erection of new and handsome buildings and the enlargement of +the bounds of the city, and also strengthening of the Castle on the +Mönchsberg. To Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach (1495 to 1519) must +be given the credit of attaining absolute supremacy, and with his +occupation of the See may be said to have commenced the most +distinguished period in the history of the city. Leonhard did not +attain to this position, however, entirely without guile, for to tell +the truth the Salzburg citizens, who seemed even in those mediæval +times to have possessed a love of freedom and spirit of independence +which did them credit, having become restive under the ecclesiastical +domination and tyranny wished to make the town a free imperial city. +Leonhard, however, had determined otherwise, and so under pretence of +inviting the burgomaster and twenty town councillors to his palace to +give them a state banquet, he promptly arrested them on their arrival +and threw them into the castle dungeons. He then succeeded in taking +away the ancient rights of the town, upon the annulment of which he +had set his mind. But although Archbishop Leonhard ruled his secular +as well as his ecclesiastical subjects with a rod of iron, he did much +to improve and beautify the city, adding greatly to the strength and +size of Hohen-Salzburg, and also improving the method of working the +mines, particularly those in Gastein and Rauris. This was, of course, +more directly to his benefit than that of the miners, yet in the end +was pleasing to the country in general in that the Archbishop drew +from the mines a revenue sufficient to permit him to erect many +handsome buildings, to improve the roads, and to encourage art and +agriculture. + +[Sidenote: THE REFORMATION] + +During the Archiepiscopate of his successor Mathäus Lang von +Wellenburg, from 1519 to 1540, many stirring events took place, not +only in the city of Salzburg but throughout the length and breadth of +the principality as well. The faith of Luther had been introduced into +Salzburg and had met with great success among all classes of the +population, especially that of the miners. Even some of the priests +and officials of the Cathedral itself were suspected of being +favourable to, and even of extending, the new doctrines. At first the +Archbishop tried to combat the heretical tendencies of his subjects by +kindness and indulgence; but finding these methods fruitless, he +called in the aid of foreign mercenaries, chiefly from Tyrol, +garrisoned Hohen-Salzburg strongly with them and with followers upon +whose loyalty he could depend, and taking the town unawares, forced +the inhabitants to submit and to surrender their privileges. + +This event was followed by various acts of violence directed against +the adherents of the reformed faith, which so exasperated the +population that in May, 1525, a rebellion broke out in all parts of +the principality. The Archbishop seeing that the situation was taking +a serious turn, addressed an urgent appeal for help to Duke William at +Munich, which, however, was not answered. Shortly after, thousands of +miners and peasants, having won several skirmishes in the country +districts, advanced to Salzburg, where they were joined by many of the +inhabitants, and promptly set to work to besiege the Archbishop in the +fortress, which they continued to do (failing to gain an entrance) +until August 15th, when Ludwig of Bavaria arrived with a strong force, +and a truce favourable to the peasants was agreed upon. This +arrangement, however, was not held to, and in consequence a fierce +rebellion broke out again in the following year, but was successfully +and cruelly suppressed by forces under the command of the Archduke +Ferdinand, supplemented by those of the Suabian League. + +Although the doctrines of Luther continued to make headway, and +religious disturbances still occurred, the latter were not of a +serious character; but some half a century later the famous Archbishop +Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, also known for brevity as Wolf Dietrich, +on returning from Rome, where he had been to receive the pallium, or +ornamental band of white wool worn around the shoulders, which all +archbishops at that time had to receive on their appointment before +they were empowered to carry out the duties of their office, issued +his famous edict on July 9, 1588, for the extermination of the +heretics. In consequence of which there was a severe persecution of +those who had adopted the Lutheran faith, with great confiscations of +their lands and other property. Other acts of this famous Archbishop, +including an imposition on salt, the obtaining and making of which +formed a very important and remunerative industry, brought about +serious friction between him and some of his subjects, and ultimately +led on two occasions to his military occupation of the salt district +by means of mercenaries. On the first these forces were defeated and +driven out by those of Duke William of Bavaria; and on the second the +Archbishop's action led to the conquest and occupation of Salzburg by +the Duke Maximilian himself, and the ultimate imprisonment and +dethroning of Wolf Dietrich on March 7, 1612. He was never released, +although efforts were made to obtain freedom and pardon for him, and +died in his cell in Hohen-Salzburg five years later. + +[Sidenote: CATHOLIC PERSECUTIONS] + +After the Peace of Westphalia, October 24th, Salzburg was made an +independent and sovereign principality, and the archbishops, the +Chapter, and various other authorities, set to work to bring about +improvements in the Civil and Ecclesiastical offices and organizations +of the country, and to improve the condition of the inhabitants by +better regulations of taxes, the criminal law, etc., and to complete +the building of the city and improvement of the existing portions of +it by the repaving of the streets and instituting better sanitary +arrangements. But notwithstanding the undoubted benefits conferred in +the way we have mentioned upon the inhabitants, the clerical party +maintained a rigorous persecution of the Protestants, and in +consequence the years 1684-85 witnessed large emigrations of +Lutherans, including great numbers of the Hallein miners. + +These persecutions were followed half a century later by those of the +Archbishop Leopold Anton Freiherr von Fermian, who summoned the +Jesuits into the country to aid in extirpating the Protestants. These +priests succeeded in stirring up further dissensions between the +Catholics and the Lutherans, and cruel persecutions, accompanied by +torture and imprisonment, followed. The Archbishop, finding the +Jesuits had not succeeded in reducing the country to uniformity of +religion or a more peaceful state, issued on the last day of October, +1731, the famous emigration edict by which the Protestants were to be +deprived of all their property and their rights as citizens, and to be +driven from the principality. The result was the forming of the +celebrated Salzbund, by which the followers of the reformed faith +banded themselves together and swore to defend it, and as a token they +licked a block of salt placed for the purpose on a table, which is +still preserved at Schwarzach, where the League was formed. + +In the end, in consequence of Archbishop Fermian's edict, upwards of +30,000 people emigrated, and as was the case with the Huguenots of +France they formed by far the most able, industrious, and intelligent +portion of the community, and the consequences of their emigration are +even felt at the present time. By the expulsion of the Protestants, +many of whom were miners, we are told "the mining industry of Salzburg +received its death blow, the prosperity of the country was greatly +diminished, and the free national and civic life was destroyed." The +greater number of these emigrants eventually settled in Prussian +Lithuania, where they were warmly and hospitably received. Others went +to Bavaria, and Suabia, and a few even to England, some of the latter +of whom ultimately crossed the Atlantic and settled in Georgia, where +in the town of Ebenezer there still exists a colony of their +descendants. + +The immediate effect of the emigration of these skilled artisans and +workers was felt both in the city of Salzburg and the principality. +Workshops, which had hitherto been busy hives of industry, deserted by +their former occupants, failed to find new tenants, and fell into +gradual decay, or were turned to other less remunerative uses. As had +been the case with the Huguenots so was it with the _émigrés_ of +Salzburg; their places could not be filled nor their loss replaced. + +Salzburg during the wars of Frederick the Great against Bavaria and +France was frequently occupied by one or other of the contending +nations, and was reduced to a state of poverty and distress from which +it was a long time recovering. To such a wretched condition were the +inhabitants of the city and principality reduced that there was +serious danger at one time of the latter being secularized. But under +the firmer and more beneficent rule of Hieronymus, Count of +Coloredo-Wallsee, the last reigning Archbishop (1772 to 1803), several +beneficial reforms were brought about in the administration of the +country relating to its finances, police, agriculture, and other +departments. But, notwithstanding these changes, ecclesiastical +domination in Salzburg was destined to come to an end speedily, and at +the Peace of Campo Formio, October 17, 1797, France by a secret treaty +agreed to have the Archbishopric of Salzburg transferred to the +Emperor Francis II. + +[Sidenote: NAPOLEONIC WARS] + +In the years 1800 to 1802 the principality was once more the scene of +French invasions, and suffered severely not only from the ravages +consequent upon the battles fought between the French and the +Imperialists, but also from the heavy contributions of money and +stores levied upon the people. The whole country soon became in a +chaotic condition, and the Archbishop at last fled with his portable +property and the most valuable treasures, leaving his See to its fate. +The Imperial forces entered Salzburg under the command of Count +Meerveldt on August 19, 1802, the General proclaiming that he took +possession of the country in the name of the Archduke Ferdinand of +Tuscany. + +Thus Salzburg ceased to be an independent spiritual principality and +became the secular electorate, which it has remained ever since. + +On March 11th of the following year the fugitive archbishop resigned +the secular power. Although there is no doubt that this change was +welcomed by the people at large, who looked forward to reforms and +greater stability of government, it was not found possible to effect +the former at once. The still unsettled and warlike period in which +Ferdinand I. came to rule over Salzburg was very detrimental to any +radical reform or change of administration. By the Peace of Pressberg, +December 26, 1805, Salzburg was transferred to Austria, and four years +later passed into the possession of Bavaria by the Treaty of Vienna, +and so remained until 1816. + +It was during the Napoleonic Wars that the Salzburgers, like the +Tyrolese under Andreas Hofer, rose and fought for their country and +for the Emperor of Austria. Quite a number of serious engagements took +place, in the Lueg Pass, and the Mendling, and near Unken and Melleck, +leading naturally enough to great poverty and devastation. Ultimately +by the Treaty of April 14, 1816, Salzburg passed into the possession +of Austria, and on May 1, 1816, the Imperial Commissioners entered +into possession amidst the enthusiastic rejoicing of the whole +population. + +This state of affairs lasted till 1850, when once more Salzburg became +an independent Austrian Crown land, and eleven years later it was +granted a separate government and a Diet. Since then the city as well +as the province has prospered under the wise and enterprising rule of +its present administration, and has become thoroughly incorporated in +spirit as well as upon paper with the great Empire of which it forms +an independent part. + +To its Archbishops of the sixteenth century Salzburg owed and still +owes much. They were nearly all of them great and interesting +personalities who not only influenced the civil as well as the +religious life and evolution of the town, but had, in addition, not a +little to do with the appearance it gradually assumed during the +period we have mentioned. Under their rule Salzburg was to a large +extent modernized. Many thirteenth- and fourteenth-century buildings +were pulled down, to be replaced by much more magnificent if not more +picturesque and interesting structures. It was then that the spirit of +the Renaissance swept over the Alps from Italy, and in its train came +the desire for magnificence in architecture, in entertainments, and in +the dress and life of the Salzburg nobility. + +The Archbishops and ecclesiastical inhabitants also fell willing +victims to the desire for extravagance and ostentatious display. +Indeed, the former were, as one authority says, "the true Renaissance +Sovereigns of the Italian school, who were selfish as regards their +politics, and not at all particular regarding the means by which they +attained their ends." It must, however, be allowed that though by no +means unwilling for worldly enjoyments and pageantry, notwithstanding +the fact that they professed in their religion the severer doctrines +of Ignatius Loyola, they were worthy patrons and encouragers of art, +science, and literature, and were animated by the desire to leave a +lasting memorial of themselves and their beliefs in splendid +ecclesiastical buildings. In Salzburg one finds their records on all +hands, in coats-of-arms and tablets on which are recorded their +names and deeds, for the benefit and instruction of those who +succeeded them. + + [Illustration: ONE OF THE FINEST DOORS OF THE STATE APARTMENTS IN THE + FORTRESS, SALZBURG] + +[Sidenote: REBUILDING THE CITY] + +During the period of which we speak the character and appearance of +the city was almost entirely changed. The ancient mediæval buildings +were pulled down, and replaced by magnificent palaces in which the +nobility and ecclesiastical dignitaries dwelt in splendour and ease. +Churches were erected in such numbers as to be almost unequalled in +any other city of similar size. Most of these still remain, making +Salzburg a place of spires and domes and handsome churches strangely +picturesque and deeply interesting. + +Seen either from the ridge of the Mönchsberg, the Kapuzingerberg, or +from the castle walls, especially at sundown on a summer's evening, +Salzburg presents a picture of great beauty and colour, and one which +is not easily forgotten. + +As was not unnatural with the secularization of the power ruling the +Province the capital suffered heavily. For a time both its prosperity +and its intellectual life underwent eclipse. For almost half a century +its energies seemed to lie dormant, and it was only when the line +connecting Munich with Vienna by way of Salzburg was constructed in +1860 that it woke once more to take an important place amongst the +towns of north-western Austria. From that period till to-day the place +has made steady progress. + +Till the middle of the last century the city occupied a comparatively +restricted area within the old walls. And as a direct consequence of +the numerous churches, convents, and other ecclesiastical buildings +occupying a great deal of the space available the townsfolk were +compelled to crowd their dwellings together, and to build the many +storied houses which one finds in the older portion of the town in the +neighbourhood of the Herrngasse, Sigmund-Haffnergasse, and +Getreidegasse. It is in these narrow and gloomy--though undoubtedly +picturesque--streets, in the architecture of which one can in many +instances trace Italian influence, that the great part of the +population dwelt, and much of the trade of the town was done. + +With more modern ideas the distaste for such confinement among the +more ambitious and well-to-do of the commercial and artisan classes +became manifest, and when at length the old walls were in places +pulled down a new suburb arose on the other side of the river--as it +did at Innsbruck--in the neighbourhood of the railway station, +possessing wide modern streets, finer shops, and palatial villa +residences, and also smaller houses for the occupation of the +working-class community. + +In this portion of the town one finds not only some of the best +hotels, but the Kurhaus with its pleasant gardens (closely adjoining +the Mirabell Garden), the fine Theatre, and the imposing church of St. +Andreas in the Gothic style. Opposite the railway station, set in a +recess of foliage in the garden adjoining the Hôtel de l'Europe, is +the famous statue of the Kaiserin Elizabeth, a pilgrimage shrine for +most visitors to the town. The statue itself has been described as +"simple but beautiful." To us it has always seemed by no means an +adequate or even very skilful representation of a beautiful and +queenly personality. The pose is not particularly happy, and the whole +has to our mind a "doll-like" effect. + + [Illustration: A QUIET PASTURE] + +As time went by Salzburg reclaimed much ground from the rocky bed of +the swiftly flowing river by confining the stream within more +restricted limits. In former times, when the town was enclosed with +walls, there was no such necessity, and the Salzach took its own +course, encroaching much upon the lower-lying land along its banks. +But nowadays on this reclaimed ground shady avenues of trees have been +planted, which give a charming and distinctive character to this part +of the city. Here, too, are some fine villas, where not so very many +years ago was waste or wooded land, set amid trees and made +pleasant by beautiful gardens, in which there seems to bloom a +profusion of flowers all the year round. + +The position and future prosperity of the town as a tourist resort was +assured when Salzburg became the starting-point of a second main line +of railway leading to Innsbruck via Kitzbühel, and the picturesque +Unter-Inn Thal, and the centre of a number of branch lines. + +It is through these modern developments that the life of Salzburg has +so materially changed even within the memory of those who first +visited it but, comparatively speaking, a few years ago. From a town +of ecclesiastical and almost mediæval aloofness from the outside +world, and from one which had for a considerable period seen its +growth arrested and its life stagnant, it has sprung into being as a +favourite summer and winter resort not merely for tourists, but also +for those to whom the older portion of the town, its many historic +buildings, castle, and fine churches, proves attractive. + +[Sidenote: SALZBURG'S ANCIENT FORTRESS] + +The most prominent of all buildings in Salzburg, and the one which has +for most visitors the greatest attraction, is the fine old fortress of +Hohen-Salzburg set high above the older town upon a tree-enshrouded +and rocky spur of the Mönchsberg. + +The ancient fortress, which has witnessed so many stirring events +within its walls, and from which past generations of inhabitants have +looked down upon almost equally dramatic and stirring doings in the +town below, that throughout the ages defied capture, and at last came +to be looked upon as impregnable, was founded nearly eight and a half +centuries ago by Archbishop Gebhard. + +As the centuries went by many additions were made to the original +buildings, and the present castle dates in its chief portions from the +last few years of the fifteenth and the first few years of the +sixteenth centuries. These additions were principally the work of +Leonard von Keutschach, Archbishop of Salzburg at the close of the +Middle Ages. He was one of the great "building" archbishops to whose +energies and enterprise the town at various periods owed so much. Of +peasant origin he was not ashamed of his humble birth, and, being +gifted with a sense of humour, chose a turnip as his armorial +bearings. So frequently, indeed, are representations of this vegetable +met with on escutcheons in various parts of the town, that the remark +of one traveller who observed that "the Salzburgers appear to have +sprung out of the earth" may be held excused. + +Severe looking as is the fine old fortress (now given over to the uses +of barracks), in whose courtyards princes, archbishops, nobles, and +many famous men of the past centuries have walked, it was, however, +not merely a strong bulwark of defence, truly "ein feste burg" +dominating the town and plain, but also a palace. Although the castle +has been stripped of much of its magnificence there happily still +remain traces of it in the so-called Fürstenzimmer (state apartments), +which formerly occupied by the rulers of the Province were furnished +and decorated with all the splendour which marked the most lavish +period of Renaissance influence. Chief amongst the relics of the +latter are the beautiful and delicately carved panelling, the gilt +work, and the richly carved and moulded ceilings of the principal +apartments. In wandering through these now almost deserted rooms one +is tempted to conjure up the scenes of magnificence they must have +witnessed. Tragedy, comedy, chivalry, hate, joy, sorrow, success, and +failure, all, the often lurid though magnificent gamut of life in the +Middle Ages, must have been welded into the very fabric and atmosphere +of this impressive and deeply interesting building. Among the chief +relics of bygone splendour and pomp of circumstance there remains the +beautiful and it is said unique Majolica stove, a truly wonderful +example of Gothic ceramic art. + +There are many interesting and quaint corners within the triple line +of walls, which shut off access to the castle and proved so useful on +many an occasion in former times, united with the fortifications of +the Mönchsberg known as the _Burgerwehr_; but few excel in +picturesqueness the old courtyard with its shady and famous Linden +tree, ancient well, and time-worn walls. Here, as one lingers, towards +sundown one sometimes hears the sweet-toned though halting notes of +the organ within the tower playing some familiar hymn tune. The +trembling notes, like those of an old singer whose voice has become +feeble but has retained much of its sweetness, float out upon the +still evening air with a mystic appeal which few that have heard them +can, we think, have failed to have felt. For ourselves it is one of +the lasting and unforgettable memories of Salzburg as well as of its +castle. + +Nowadays the cable railway takes one to the summit in a few minutes, +and one is spared the fatigue of the long climb up by the Nonnberg. +The old Reckturm, in the dungeons of which unlucky prisoners were +confined, and in the tower itself the terrible instruments of torture +were kept and the torture chamber was situated, nowadays has a much +more pleasant office to fulfil as an excellent "look out" place from +which to view the widely extended prospect of the town and Salzach +valley towards the north. + +[Sidenote: HOHEN-SALZBURG'S SIEGES] + +Many an assault was made during the Middle Ages and succeeding eras +upon the old grey fortress, seldom resulting in anything save disaster +or disappointment for the attacking force. Even the peasants, who, +during the terrible rebellion of 1525, made repeated attacks upon the +castle with the utmost fury and determination, failed to accomplish +their object of capturing the stronghold, Matthew Land, the then +Archbishop, and the high ecclesiastics who had taken refuge within its +unscalable walls, to whom short shrift would have been given by the +peasant leaders. For ages the Church had trodden the peasantry under +foot, and in the Peasants' Rebellion there were terrible reprisals. +But although the insurgents came near capturing Hohen-Salzburg they +did not succeed. Their appliances were too primitive for successful +assault, and their shots did little or no damage to the strong thick +walls or buildings. On a marble column in the castle are to be seen +the marks left by a cannon ball, which was one of the few that +succeeded in entering the castle, and in this case it was through a +window! A century later, during the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648 +which devastated the whole of the then German Empire, waged between +the Evangelic Union under the Elector Palatine and the Catholics led +by Maximilian the Great Duke of Bavaria, Salzburg, doubtless on +account of the fact that its fortress was esteemed impregnable, was +one of the few places left at peace and unmolested. We have already +mentioned the fact that the Archbishops were not only exceedingly +powerful ecclesiastics but also great diplomatists, and there is +little doubt but that to their clever policy must also be attributed +the town's immunity from attack during that troublous and universally +disturbed period. + +Of the many distinguished ecclesiastics who have occupied the See of +Salzburg as its Archbishops, the most interesting and perhaps the most +important were two, separated one from the other by but a few years. +One was Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1587-1611?) and the other Paris +von Lodron. + +[Sidenote: BUILDERS OF RENOWN] + +Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, from having received his +education in Rome, then the centre of Art and culture, came to +Salzburg steeped not alone in the traditions of Italian Art but +anxious to impress upon the town his knowledge and taste. He found an +old Roman and neither handsome nor picturesque Cathedral, dating from +the eighth century, in place of churches such as he had been +accustomed to in Italy, ornate and beautiful. He is reputed to have +been at no pains to conceal his distaste for the building, and when a +few years before his death it was destroyed during one of the +destructive fires, there were those who even accused the Archbishop of +having himself set the church on fire, or at least of having +instigated others to do so. But there is little truth in this story, +though the Archbishop's satisfaction at the destruction of the +ancient, inconvenient, and unornamental structure seems beyond +question. That he fully intended to erect upon the site one of the +finest churches north of the Italian frontier there is little doubt, +but, alas! for human aims, he was not destined even to see the +foundations laid. + +To him, notwithstanding his despotic character, his restless +disposition, his shameful intrigue with the beautiful Salome Alt, the +city of Salzburg owes a great deal, for he did much to transform an +unpicturesque and dirty town with narrow mediæval streets into one of +the finest cities of Germany. Many of the beautiful buildings, +including the Gabriel Chapel, the Chapter House, the Neubau, and the +arcades of the Sebastian Cemetery, owed their existence to his +artistic taste and desire for improvement. + +It was to Paris von Lodron, the founder of the University which was +dissolved in 1810 during the Bavarian occupation, his second +successor, fell the task as well as the honour of giving to Salzburg a +Cathedral worthy of it and of its long line of famous Archbishops and +many historical memories. The original plan, which historians tell us +would have resulted in a church of such magnificence that it would +have been almost unrivalled by that of any in Europe, had to be +considerably modified for several reasons, chief amongst which were +considerations of cost and space. The former was rendered obligatory +from the heavy expense entailed in keeping up the fortifications of +the city during the time (the Thirty Years' War) the Cathedral was in +course of construction. However, notwithstanding these circumstances, +Paris von Lodron's work, which occupies a splendid position in the +midst of three large squares, was designed chiefly by an Italian +architect named Santino Solari (possibly from plans by Scamozzi of +Florence), assisted by others in the late Renaissance style, is one of +the most magnificent churches in Austria, although the stucco +ornamentation is of a rather florid character. From the exterior, +which is rather plain and severe, although it possesses a fine façade +built of Unterberg marble, it is impossible to gain any conception of +the charm and even splendour of the building. But immediately upon +entering it, one is impressed with its beautiful proportions, and the +resemblance to a marked degree in the general plan to that of St. +Peter's, Rome. Indeed, there is little doubt as to the source from +which Solari drew much of his inspiration, although due credit must be +given to him for original details, the proportions, and general beauty +of effect. + +The treasury of the church is worth seeing, as it is rich in relics of +bygone ages, including an exquisite seventeenth-century monstrance +encrusted with 1800 precious stones, rich vestments, and a fine +crozier set with gems; and none should miss the interesting +fourteenth-century bronze Romanesque font which stands in one of the +side chapels to the left of the entrance. + +In its Cathedral Salzburg possesses a gem of architectural beauty +which has been the admiration of generations of architects and +students, and (as one authority says) "has probably provided more +inspiration for the artist and the student of architecture than any +other church north of the Italian Alps." + +On the Residenz-Platz, the centre of which is adorned by a beautiful +fountain nearly fifty feet in height dating from the latter part of +the seventeenth century, consisting of a colossal figure of Atlas +surrounded by equally colossal hippopotami, the work of Anton Dario, +is situated the ancient palace of the Archbishops, formerly known as +the Residenz, now the Imperial Residence. This fine palace which was +erected at various dates from the end of the sixteenth down to the +first two decades of the eighteenth century contains many traces of +the splendour which characterized the larger buildings which were +erected by ecclesiastics at the time the influence of the Renaissance +was at its height. The ceilings and wall of the principal salons and +halls are especially notable, and in some cases are most elaborately +decorated. The Government Offices which are opposite the Residenz +although known as the Neugebäude (possibly because they included the +Post and Telegraph office), in reality date, at any rate in part, from +the reign of Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, although they have +been modernized, altered, and added to from time to time. In the +octagonal tower was placed, in the beginning of the eighteenth +century, a beautiful _carillon_, the work of a watchmaker named Sauter +at the commencement of the seventeenth century, known as the +Glockenspiel, which chimes thrice daily at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 6 p.m. + +The Archbishops of Salzburg were not only in past ages ecclesiastics +and diplomatists but also sportsmen. Most, indeed, seem to have been +great lovers of horses. Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Salzburg, built +some magnificent stables adorned with marble on the slopes of the +Mönchsberg; attached to them were a covered riding school for use in +winter, and another open-air one for summer use. Though the stables +themselves are now barracks, the open-air school is still one of the +sights of the town. In the side of the Mönchsberg were hewn in 1693 +three great galleries for the accommodation of spectators of the +sports in the summer riding school; they have long ago been overgrown +with ivy and creepers which add greatly to their picturesqueness, but +are still occasionally used for the purpose for which they were +originally constructed. + +In the winter riding school there is an interesting ceiling fresco +depicting a joust or tournament dating from the last decade of the +seventeenth century. + +Several of the Archbishops of Salzburg appear to have had a liking +for rock excavations, and the Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach +was one of the number. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, +in 1767 to be precise, he constructed the Neuthor, a tunnel through +the solid rock some four hundred and fifty feet in length, which it +took two years to make. It pierced through the Mönchsberg and thus +united the suburb of Riedenberg with the rest of the town. At the +Riedenberg end is a statue to St. Sigismund in commemoration of the +Archbishop, who placed his own medallion at the town end of the tunnel +with the Latin inscription "Te saxa loquntur" (The very stones praise +thee) above it. + +[Sidenote: THE SCHLOSS MIRABELL] + +To the Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, or rather to his passion +for the beautiful daughter of a Salzburg merchant whose name was +perhaps not inappropriately Salome, the charming Schloss Mirabell +chiefly owes its existence. Here (so the story goes) the beautiful +Salome Alt was installed as mistress, amid splendour and lavish +expenditure befitting a King's favourite. For her were constructed and +laid out delightful gardens, with fine terraces, shady walks, wide +lawns of exquisitely "velvety" turf, the like of which we have seldom +seen even in the "grass" counties of England; quaintly shaped +flower-beds, fountains and ponds, mazes and avenues of fine trees. For +her, too, were numerous groups of statuary, and single figures of a +mythological and artistic character installed. Some of these are of +considerable merit; and few are without distinctive decorative value +in the surroundings amid which they have been placed. + +In the gardens themselves there is a constant succession of delightful +flowers all the year round. On the occasion of our last visit the +sweetly scented linden avenue was in full bloom, whilst roses were in +profusion--we were told they bloom almost all the year round in this +favoured and beautiful spot--and the jasmine, orange trees, and many +other beautiful and homely flowers perfumed the summer air, and spread +out in a riot of colour on every hand. Aloes, palms, Portugal +laurels, daphne, and other shrubs afford relief to the eye, and in the +background, towering high above the quietude of this old-fashioned +garden, looms the vast and commanding Hohen-Salzburg, with its roofs +and pinnacles shimmering and glancing in the sunshine of the upper +air. + +In the gardens are also the interesting aviary of the Salzburg Society +for the Protection of Birds, and the former Summer Theatre near the +French Garden with the grassy stage and wings formed of "trimly" +clipped hedges. + +The mansion itself suffered severely from a fire in 1818, but the +Marble Hall and staircase which escaped are well worth seeing, as are +also the decorations of several of the older rooms. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[15] Bosnia and Herzegovina have been recently annexed. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + THE ENVIRONS OF SALZBURG--HELLBRUNN, ITS UNIQUE FOUNTAINS + AND GARDENS--THE CASTLE OF ANIF--THE GAISBERG--THE + KAPUZINGERBERG--THE MOZART-HÄUSCHEN--THE + MÖNCHSBERG--SALZBURG CHURCHES + + +In the neighbourhood of Salzburg there are several beautiful castles +erected by various holders of the See. Amongst them the charmingly +situated Leopoldskron, lying to the south of the Mönchsberg, +overlooking a lake covered in early summer with a profusion of water +lilies and other water plants, and embracing a magnificent prospect of +the environing mountains. The drive to Leopoldskron is one not to be +missed. As one passes along the magnificent avenue, or _allée_, of +trees, through flower-bedecked fields, and with the fresh air from off +the river and mountains perfumed by the carpet of blossoms which lies +stretched on either side of the road, one is able to realize to the +full the rural charm which surrounds the historic and busy town just +left behind. + +[Sidenote: HELLBRUNN AND ITS FOUNTAINS] + +But a little distance further, on the other side of the Salzach, is +Hellbrunn, once an Archiepiscopal and now an Imperial possession. It +is surrounded by a large deer park, and owes its origin to the +Archbishop Marcus Sittich in 1613. It is pleasantly situated, and was, +according to tradition, the retreat and pleasure palace of its +founder, who was of a far more social and lively disposition than +Archbishops, even in that somewhat lax age, were supposed to be, and +here he installed his favourites. In the chateau itself there are some +fine state apartments, in one of which are some interesting frescoes +by Mascagni, Franz von Sienna, and Solari the younger. + +But the gardens and unique fountains and "waterworks," which are laid +out and planned in the style so popular during the seventeenth and +eighteenth centuries, are the great attractions of Hellbrunn, not only +to the foreign visitors, but on Sundays especially to the Salzburg +folk, and those of the neighbouring villages who flock in thousands to +the chateau. In the gardens of Hellbrunn one finds the same velvety +turf that so generally distinguishes those of other castles in this +fertile valley of the Salzach; whilst in the ponds, lakes, fountains, +and "trick" waterworks--invented by the Archbishop, so it is said, to +amuse his favourites during his enforced absences upon his +ecclesiastical duties and affairs of State--one has something quite +out of the ordinary. + +Indeed, probably in no other garden in the world do unsuspecting +visitors run such risks of a soaking or impromptu shower baths as at +Hellbrunn. Jets start suddenly (at the turn of secret taps by the +custodian, who seems to take a cynical delight, bred of many +experiences, in the visitor's discomfiture) from rockeries, from the +corners of plaster columns, from the mouths, finger-tips and eyes of +statues, from the foliage of trees, from roofs of grottoes, from the +edges of the very paths along which one is unsuspectingly walking, +from, it appears, the very ground beneath one's feet. One is lured +into a grotto to admire a statue or to "see something" which may or +may not actually exist, only a moment later to find one's exit blocked +by a curtain of water, which pours down from the outside rocks above +the entrance. This lifts and one makes a dash for liberty, only to be +assailed by jets of water converging or spurting across the path one +has to follow. Visitors seat themselves upon a marble bench a few +moments later, and a whole battery of jets plays upon the unfortunate +sitters, or are so arranged that, whilst not actually playing upon +them, to escape without "running the gauntlet," for the amusement of +the more discreet or knowing onlookers, is impossible. On fine Sundays +when there is usually a great crowd of visitors at this favourite +out-of-town resort, which boasts of an excellent restaurant, there is, +of course, plenty of fun when the jets begin to play for the lucky +folk who have "been there before." + +Along one path leading from the chateau to the lawns and fish-ponds, +the latter of which are crowded with huge carp and other fish, some of +which are reputed to be as old as Hellbrunn itself, there are set in +niches a number of figures, blacksmiths, armourers, millers, and the +like with their anvils, forges, and mills worked by a tiny runlet of +water. And not far from these is the famous mechanical Theatre, also +worked by water power, with its organ, and some hundred and fifty +figures in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century costumes, which give +quaint performances, depicting a busy town, dancers (these latter very +amusing with their pirouettes and posturings), soldiers, fighting, +jousts, etc. Of the water grottoes that known as the Neptune--with, it +is said, five thousand jets--is the largest, and there are also the +Rainbow, Fairy, and Orpheus grottoes, each one bringing into play some +fresh piece of mechanical or other ingenuity. + +In the deer park is situated the famous Monatsschlösschen upon a +wooded knoll, from which a fine view is obtainable. This building was +erected (some say for a bet) within a month's time by Archbishop +Marcus Sittich. There was at the time a popular belief that he was +assisted in the accomplishment of what was, at all events in those +days, a wonderful feat by Satan himself. + + [Illustration: MOUNTAIN PASTURES] + +The Stone Theatre near by is also worth seeing. It has a naturally +formed stage and auditorium, upon the former of which in ancient times +pastoral and other plays were performed for the amusement of the +Archbishops and their friends. + +[Sidenote: ANIF AND THE GAISBERG] + +The Castle of Anif, which is reached by a pleasant road from Hellbrunn +in about twenty minutes, is well worth a visit. It is a most charming +chateau dating originally from the second decade of the thirteenth +century, of late years restored in Gothic style by the owner, one of +the Counts Arco-Steppberg. It is built in the centre of a lake, and is +surrounded by a well-wooded and beautiful park, and is of great +interest as a well-preserved survival of the fortified domestic +architecture of other days. It is beautifully furnished, and contains +many finely decorated rooms, and a valuable art collection. + +The return to Salzburg through the fields at sunset is a delightful +experience. To the back and to the left of one are the towering +mountain summits tinged with the Alpine glow which turns their rocky +peaks almost blood red, and their snow-fields a deep rose pink. And +right ahead stands up, mystic-looking as some fairy fortress in the +waning light, Hohen-Salzburg, its roofs and walls reddened and given +the tints of nacre, and its windows shining like the open doors of +furnaces. A never-to-be-forgotten picture. + +Both the Gaisberg, up which there is now a funicular railway, and at +whose foot Aigen, with its interesting Church and Castle acquired by +the family of Prince Schwarzenberg in 1804, lies, and the +Kapuzingerberg should be visited by all who have the time, and for +whom a wide and pleasant prospect of mountain ranges, valleys, and the +Salzach, threading its silvery way dividing the city and flowing +northward and southward through the valley, has attractions. + +The Gaisberg is ascended from the little village of Parsch, reached by +tram from the city. The railway takes one through beautiful scenery in +about an hour to the summit of the mountain, which is so favourite an +excursion with the well-to-do Salzburgers, and from which such a +beautiful prospect is spread out at one's feet. To the north one can +catch glimpses of the undulating foreground of the Alps and shining +lakes; whilst Salzburg now more than 4000 feet below looks almost +insignificant, and like a toy town set in the midst of a green plain +through which winds a thin, silver line, the Salzach. In the far +distance is the magnificent range of the Alps, in which stand the +Watzmann, 9050 feet; the Dachstein, 9990 feet, with its rocky +pinnacles catching the sunshine, and its glaciers and snow-fields +gleaming white, whilst in the further distance through the deep-cut +gap formed by the Lueg Pass one sees the fields of eternal snow on the +Hohen Tauern glinting at one, and on a quite clear day one can catch +glimpses of the white peaks of the Grossglockner, 12,660 feet and the +Wiesbachhorn, 11,900 feet, across the desolate-looking Steinerne Meer. +The prospect has been compared, but somewhat loosely we think, to that +from the Rigi. But, whether we think it finer or less fine, we can +agree that in one respect the view and interest of the scene is not +exceeded by its Swiss rival--the wonderful changes of light and shade +which come and go over the landscape between the hours of sunrise and +sunset, during which Nature seems to work with a brush full of the +most delicate colours and uses them as no human artist could hope to +do. + +From the Kapuzingerberg, which is only half the height of the +Gaisberg, the view is not so extensive, but it is well worth climbing +to see. On the way up one obtains most beautiful peeps of the city +from two distinct points; whilst from the summit one gets a panorama +which will satisfy all save those who have made the Gaisberg ascent +first. The way up is, after a long flight of steps about two hundred +in number, through a most delightful beech wood, where one is tempted +often to stop to rest or to admire some vista of the valley or town +seen through a framework of feathery, green branches. There are, too, +on the Kapuzingerberg several interesting buildings. The first to be +reached is the Church of the Capuchin Monastery built in the last year +of the sixteenth century by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich. A beautiful old +garden is attached to the Monastery, from which one has a fine +prospect of the town and surroundings. Alas! it is only open to men, +and thus by monkish custom women are shut out of one more "earthly +paradise." + +[Sidenote: THE MOZART MEMORIAL] + +But to music lovers and many others who ascend the Kapuzingerberg the +Mozart-Häuschen, situated in a charming little garden near the +Monastery, will be the chief object of interest. This memorial to the +master was presented to the city by Prince Camillo zu Starhemberg, and +was completed in June, 1877, being thrown open to the public six weeks +later, on July 18th, on the occasion of the first musical festival. +This cottage, which formerly stood in the courtyard of the so-called +old "Freihaus" in Vienna, has an added interest from the fact that in +it was composed the opera "Die Zauberflöte." + +The furniture, it should be noted, is not the original but a clever +and exact copy of the articles comprising it. The former is in the +collection of Prince Starhemberg. The top step of the cottage is, +however, said to be "veritable." In the cottage are kept a great +number of wreaths with ribbon streamers, embroideries, etc., which +have been sent by admirers of Mozart's genius. Also some beautiful +tablets of embossed metal commemorating the first musical festival +held in 1877. There is also hung in the cottage the picture "Mozart at +the Spinet" by the Italian artist Romaco, a photograph of the only +portrait of the composer painted from life which is known to exist, +which was the work of Doris Stock of Dresden in 1787; and the pictures +of the various performers in the operas given at Cassel. The bust, +which stands outside the cottage, is the work of the well-known +sculptor Edmund Hellmer, of Vienna, and was the gift of Baron Schwarz. + +As one stands in the garden, with its pleasant prospect, quietude, and +beautiful flowers, one cannot but feel that few more suitable spots +could have been selected for a memorial to a musical genius of +Mozart's nature. Far better is it, indeed, than some more pretentious +place nearer the haunts of men. + +[Sidenote: ON THE MÖNCHSBERG] + +The Mönchsberg and a walk along its ridge should not be missed by any +one who has a little time to spare whilst at Salzburg. The explorer +will be well rewarded for his toil. One is apt to estimate the +Mönchsberg by its Hohen-Salzburg end, which so dominates the city. It +is difficult, indeed, from down below in the narrow streets to believe +that some 300 feet above one lie not only woods and tree-shaded walks, +but even green, flower-bedecked fields. The most direct and +interesting way up the Mönchsberg is by the Sigmund Haffnergasse and +Hofstallgasse bearing to the left of the Fischbrunnen, and thence over +the Mönchsbergstiege. On reaching the top of the flight of steps the +way lies in the direction of Hohen-Salzburg as far as the passage +leading into the Nonnthal and to Leopoldskron, then one climbs to the +left, and after a little distance reaches the beautiful view point +known as Konig Ludwig-Fernsicht, or King Ludvig's Lookout. + +The prospect from here is wonderfully wide and beautiful, embracing as +it does the villas on the other side of the town, and the villages and +farms of the valley with their picturesque background of mountain +ranges, including nearer in the Göll and Untersberg. + + [Illustration: HOHEN-SALZBURG AND THE NONNBERG] + +To the left and on the way along the ridge to the fortress is situated +the beautiful villa of the famous singer Bianca Bianchi, and from the +projecting bastion in the same direction one obtains a fine view of +the town below, and valley of the Salzach. Both in the direction of +Mülln to the right, and of Hohen-Salzburg to the left, there are +many fine views as one takes one's way either by shaded paths or +through the fields which lead to the Bürgerwehrsöller, where there is +an ancient watch-tower on the slope of the hill from whence one has a +wonderful panoramic view of the city and its environs. From the +opposite end of the rampart one obtains a widely extended prospect +towards Reichenhall, Marzoll, Maxglan, and the Bavarian plain, which +is not easily surpassed from the neighbourhood of any other town of +the size in western Austria. + +One can then either descend to the Marketenderschlössl through the +beautiful woods by one of the well-kept paths, and thence reach Mülln, +or retrace one's steps, and walk right along to the Hohen-Salzburg end +of the Mönchsberg, from whence by entering the fortress and descending +by way of the Nonnberg one obtains a fine view of the other portion of +the Salzach valley in the direction of the Gaisberg, Hellbrunn, and +Anif. + +On the Nonnberg, so called from the Benedictine Convent built upon it, +stands the fine Gothic Chapel founded in the first year of the +eleventh century and beautifully restored in the fifteenth. In it is +much fine stained glass, a winged altar piece of great interest; and +there are also some interesting frescoes in the old tower. +Unfortunately the cloisters are seldom if ever shown to visitors; they +are the oldest now existent in the principality, and it is said even +in the Austrian empire, dating as they do from the commencement of the +eleventh century. They are charming and picturesque, and well worth +the trouble which it is generally necessary to take in order to obtain +permission to see them. + +In Salzburg there is such a wealth of interesting buildings and places +that to describe all one has seen or can see there is no space. +Perhaps of those remaining to which reference has not yet been made, +most people visit the house in which Mozart was born, situated in the +narrow, picturesque old Getreidegasse; the Franciscan, formerly the +Parish Church; the Church of St. Peter, with its ancient and +picturesque burial-ground beneath the shadow of the towering fern- and +flower-clothed Mönchsberg, and the Caroline Augustus Museum. There +are, of course, also the Dreifaltigkeits Kirche, with fine frescoes +and carvings, and the University Church, both worth a visit. + +To Mozart's birthplace, along the quaint and narrow Getreidegasse with +its beautiful old signs of wrought-iron work projecting from the shop +fronts on either hand, come hundreds of English and American visitors +annually. Now the house is also a Mozart Museum, with much of interest +for admirers of the composer, antiquarians and students. In the +birth-chamber itself one finds a most valuable series of family +portraits, including some of Mozart's wife, Constance Weber; also +those of his landlord and his wife, Lorenz Johann and Maria Theresa +Hagenauer. There are also the "scores" of many of his operas, and +other compositions, records of the Mozart family; and perhaps most +interesting of all the small clavichord or spinet, and the grand piano +or reiseclavier, which was a present from his brother Karl, on which +he used to play. + +In the family sitting-room there are many interesting relics of the +composer's father, mother, and other relatives, including Mozart's own +pocket-book-diary, a large number of fragments of compositions, which +from one cause or another were destined never to be completed, many +letters of the family, copies of Mozart's three first published pieces +printed in Paris, and several pictures of the house in the +Rauhensteingasse, Vienna, where the composer for some years lived and +ultimately, on January 5, 1791, died. Salzburg has well-honoured her +famous son's memory by the several memorials of him within her gates, +including the fine though simply conceived bronze statue in the +Mozart-Platz which cost nearly £2000, and was erected by voluntary +subscriptions in 1842. By the foundation of the Mozarteum or "Society +for the Cultivation of Mozart," not only is the memory of the great +composer kept green, but the support of the School of Music of the +same name is ensured. Thus the city of his birth, which did him (as is +so frequently the case) but little honour during his lifetime, has +nowadays become the centre of enthusiasm for his works. Festivals of +his music take place during the summer months, at which not only the +famous and beautiful Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra takes part, but +also the most celebrated conductors and artistes. + +Although Salzburg had been the residence of other famous musicians and +composers, it is Mozart and his genius which dominates the ancient +city's musical life, and proves so attractive an element to musicians +and music lovers who visit it. + +[Sidenote: SALZBURG MUSICIANS] + +Michael Haydn, too, composer of much fine church music, was a resident +in Salzburg and has a rather commonplace monument erected to his +memory in St. Peter's Church. The latter is in the Romanesque style, +founded in the middle of the twelfth century, and badly restored in +the middle of the eighteenth, and is of great interest to the +antiquarian and student of architecture. The portal consists of seven +arches which gradually diminish in size, and are inlaid with strips of +white and red marble. The very remarkable archings which strike one +directly one has entered the building are portions of the original +church. On a small altar near the vestry is a well-carved statue of +the Virgin, said to be the work of one of the Archbishops, of about +the end of the twelfth century, although there appears little real +evidence in support of the suggestion. + +The frescoes in the nave, representing scenes from the Crucifixion, +painted in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, are worth study. +In Salzburg considerable store is set upon the monuments in the +church, but few rank high as works of art, although marking the graves +or being memorials of distinguished and historic persons connected +with the city's life in the past. + +The beautiful though ruinous cemetery of St. Peter, which, with its +crumbling tombs of the great dead, interesting and quaint mural +tablets, and arcaded vaults belonging to some of the most important +and famous Salzburg families, lies at the foot of the Mönchsberg, is, +as well as the most picturesque, the oldest cemetery in Salzburg. It +is difficult to exaggerate the interest and charm of the spot; always +still, although set in the midst of a city, and within a few hundred +yards of the principal and busiest thoroughfares. That it possesses a +wonderful and mysterious attraction for tourists we can testify; and, +indeed, we would almost go as far as to say that one meets more +English and American visitors in this peaceful corner of the city than +in any other spot on the southern side of the Salzach. + +The celebrated Monastery of St. Peter, founded by St. Rupertus in +(about) 582, was, until the first decade of the twelfth century, the +residence of the bishops and archbishops of the diocese. The present +building was erected during the reign of Archbishop Max Gandolph +during the period covered by the years 1661-1674. It can be visited, +and the library is full of the most interesting and valuable MSS., +early copper plate engravings, and consists of about 45,000 volumes +and some 250 illuminated and other MSS., chiefly upon parchment. +Several of the latter and some of the early printed books are +practically priceless. The Librarian is always delighted to exhibit +the treasures under his charge, and in him we found (as doubtless will +all intelligent bibliophiles) a kindred spirit, and a most interesting +cicerone. + +[Sidenote: THE MUSEUM] + +It is almost impossible in Salzburg, especially if one would really +know something of the past life of the principality, and the city, to +follow that excellent rule of avoiding museums. In the Salzburg +Carolino-Augusteum Museum one finds so much that brings vividly before +one other times and other customs. Although started but three-quarters +of a century ago the Museum has already become a repository of the +deepest interest, much frequented by students of all types, the +antiquarian and the man of science. It was due to the initiative of +Vicenza Maria Süss, one of the leading town officials at the period of +its foundation in 1834. The work which he began was well continued and +supplemented by that of Jost Schiffmann, the well-known Swiss painter, +and an enthusiastic committee, largely to whose credit must be placed +the excellent arrangement of the art and other sections of the +collection. + +One of the most interesting and unique features of the Museum is the +suite of rooms furnished accurately and entirely in the style of the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; of these one of the most charming +is the "Hunting Room" with its fine oak presses, pretty recessed +window, and trophies of the chase. In the Hall of Antiquities are many +interesting relics of the Roman occupation of the country, and also in +the Lapidarium. A most excellent idea took shape in the Hall of +Industry, where are collected together many excellent specimens of +various "masterworks" of iron, woodcarving, etc. + +The Music Room contains some of the most valuable musical instruments +of the last three centuries, including spinets, violins, and others, +some of these priceless. In the Armoury are relics of deep interest of +the terrible Peasants' War, including wooden cannon, crude swords +beaten from scythes, executioners' swords, curious and cumbersome +firearms, and some of the lances used by the Landsknechte. + +The Costume Room has many attractions for lady visitors, who linger +not only to admire the fashions of the past, but to inspect the +embroideries which came from the industrious and skilful fingers of +past generations of women, "old" with the dignity, grace, and charm +which the "new" woman so sadly lacks. + +On the same floor are the interesting Mediæval Kitchen, with its +ancient and carefully kept copper and other utensils glinting at one +from their hooks in the half-gloom of the recesses; the Ladies' +Chamber, with its charming oriel, stained-glass window, colour of life +of the period, and air of repose; the study, to show one the +environment old-time students loved; a fine state-room; and a +beautiful Renaissance Hall. + +After these vivid reconstructions of the past one passes somewhat +regretfully to the higher floor and prehistoric things. The priceless +Celtic helmet, found in the Pass of Lueg, interesting though it is, +seems "lifeless" in comparison with what one has just seen; as do +somehow Roman statues and arms, and similar objects. And one needs the +beautiful and richly ornamented panelling, oriels, and similar objects +of the final room to bring back colour into things. + +To visit and study this deeply interesting collection leaves one with +a very good idea of the evolution of culture, science, and art during +the last five centuries of the principality's history, one's knowledge +of native art being easily further extended by a visit to the +Kunstlerhaus near the Karolinenbrucke. Salzburg has produced at least +one great artist in Hans Makart, who by common consent is esteemed one +of the most vivid and brilliant colourists of his day. + +In some of the villages near Salzburg, as also during "fair" times and +festival times in the city itself, one is able to witness some of the +quaint, picturesque, and dramatic peasant dances for which the valley +of the Salzach has some reputation. + +[Sidenote: A PEASANTS' BALL] + +We were especially fortunate whilst recently there in witnessing not +only peasant dances such as we have referred to, but also a peasant +ball. + +Amongst the dances specially notable was a variety of "Gaillarde," and +"Allemande," a type of the dance known as "Siebensprung," where the +male performers make a series of seven different movements with +hands, elbows, knees, feet; and then almost touch the floor with +their foreheads whilst their female companions pirouette around them. +The "Allemande," with its graceful twirling and twisting, and +interlacing of the arms, and graceful bending of the bodies of the +dancers, showing off the lines of the women's figures, is especially +picturesque. + +Then came types of other and more local dances, in one of which the +women pirouetted round and round the room until scarcely able to +stand, their short skirts gradually seeming to become inflated like +balloons, and ascending inch by inch until knee high, when suddenly +the dancers paused, their skirts fell, and with a sharp twirl and +swish the latter were wound around their lower limbs in plastic folds. + +Then there was a pretty dance commencing with a figure of the +"Allemande," and proceeding to a courtship in pantomime, in which the +women peered shyly at their partners between the circle formed by the +interlaced arms, and ending by the men stooping, and whilst continuing +a waltz step, suddenly seizing their companions round the knees and +lifting them breast high, all the while continuing to circle the room +in a "springy" rather than a gliding waltz. + +Then followed a still more dramatic dance-play, in which the whole +story of a peasant courtship from early days until the wedding was +depicted in pantomime, with half a dozen characters beside the happy +pair. Most of the performers were not only graceful and finished +dancers, but were possessed of distinct dramatic gifts. The folk +songs, accompanied upon rather weird instruments consisting of +shepherds' pipes, guitars, fiddles, horns, and what, until it was put +together, appeared to be a collection of short pieces of gas pipe of +various lengths or strips of metal, were intensely interesting and +musical. + +What struck us perhaps more than anything else, save the actual +dancing and singing, was the charming manners of the women, and the +perfect manners of the men. Peasants though they were, there was a +complete absence of coarseness or roughness in general behaviour, in +place of which one had perhaps a rather grave courtesy. And when at +last it occurred to some of the men that perhaps the "foreigners" +might like to dance, they approached the ladies of the party with a +striking grace and courtesy of manner. The Salzburg girls, too, in +their pretty costumes were just as gracious and charming as English +girls of the upper middle class, when asked to favour some of the +English men of the party with a dance. The scene was made even more +kaleidoscopic in effect when at last the sombre evening dress of the +latter mingled with and formed a foil to gay kerchiefs, snowy white +bodices worn under a type of bolero jacket of the women, and the green +and bright brown waistcoats and short knee breeches of the men. Across +some of the waistcoats, which were many of them fastened with silver +buttons, jangled quite a collection of coins, exhibiting (so we were +told) the financial position of the wearer, so that any girl might +know what a suitor or possible suitor was worth! We hope that no young +man ever puts upon his waistcoat a single silver krone piece more than +he is entitled to. But if very much in love to what deception of this +kind might he not stoop? And mercenary indeed must be the maiden who +would not in the end pardon his offence, which was so warm a tribute +to the power of her charms. + + [Illustration: SALZBURG MARKETWOMEN] + +[Sidenote: IN THE MARKET] + +Even nowadays a good deal of "costume" can at times be found in the +Market, which, surrounded by old-time building and dominated by +Hohen-Salzburg, is very picturesque with its tiny stalls--some shaded +by huge umbrellas--and buxom market women in short skirts, gay +kerchiefs, and sometimes in types of the peasant costumes prevailing +in the immediate district. As a general rule the market folk are good +models both for artists and amateur photographers, though some of +the younger women coquettishly pretend that they object to be +photographed, whilst all the while they are desperately anxious to +come into the picture. + +To leave this fascinating old-world town, where so much of the most +beautiful in modern ideas stands side by side with ancient things, +without a visit to some of the charming and interesting places in the +immediate district--lovely lakes rivalling the deep-blue sky above +them in the tint of their waters; peaceful valleys, where pure air +invigorates scented by passage through pinewoods and across +flower-decked Alpine pastures; wonderful peaks covered with that +eternal weight of glorious snow, and bound about in some cases by the +immemorial fastnesses of environing glaciers--should be impossible. +Our only regret is that neither space nor the scope of the present +volume permits of some description of the beauties which we have +visited and which lie so close at hand; indeed, almost within call of +the beautiful city set in a valley, and surrounded with majestic and +lofty mountains, the lower slopes of whose wilder peaks are softened +by pine forests, and fertile upper pastures. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + SOME TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF SOUTH TYROL--MERAN, BOZEN, + KLAUSEN, BRIXEN, SPINGES, STERZING, MATREI + + +[Sidenote: MERAN] + +So many pens have described and praised Meran, the ancient capital of +Tyrol, that there must be few adjectives of appreciation left +unapplied to it. Many poets have also sung of this beautifully +situated little town of some 8000 inhabitants which once played so +important a part in Tyrolese history, and nowadays has developed into +a fashionable health resort. + +It has by turns been called "the Jewel of South Tyrol," "Tyrol's sweet +Paradise," and in one of the visitor's books "A Paradise of God's +making and man's improving"! Artists love it, and therefore it goes +without saying that Meran is both beautiful and picturesque. From +whatever side one approaches the town, whether by the more usual route +from the West via Innsbruck, and then by the little branch line of the +Brenner railway from Bozen; from the south through Verona; from the +north by way of Munich and Innsbruck,--one is at once struck by its +wonderfully favoured situation amid vineyards, orchards and rich +pasture land, set in a wide valley surrounded by beautiful mountain +ranges, and watered by the Passer River. + +It is, indeed, a charming spot in which to either rest--as so many +do--or from which to make excursions so varied in character, that they +may suit all tastes. + + [Illustration: WINTER NEAR MERAN] + +The first view of the town, with its spires, huge hotels, +white-walled houses and villas, and the ruins of Castle Tyrol set high +on the north-western and vine-clad slope of the Kuchelberg, is one of +great beauty. On the lower hillsides are chestnut groves and pine +woods; and many of the villas and houses of the town itself appear +amid them as though embowered in green. + +The railway from Bozen traverses the picturesque Etsch Valley, which +is dotted with orchards, and follows the course of the Etsch to where +it joins the Passer about three-quarters of a mile from Meran. + +The architecture of the town, as is the case with most places of any +size in South Tyrol, is distinctly Italian in general characteristics. +In fact, one of the things which makes Tyrol, as a whole, of unusual +interest to students and artists is the variety of the domestic +architecture found within its borders. Although there are many quaint +corners and delightful byways in Meran, there is really only one +important business thoroughfare, running almost due east and west and +of considerable length, with arcaded shops known as "Unter den Lauben" +(in the shade). It is probably because it has this aspect that one of +the sunniest streets we have ever been in has been so amply provided +with shady arcades; and in summer the latter can be appreciated to the +full. In the season the long street is at times crowded with +foreigners from England, Germany, Italy, and America, and has a busy +and cosmopolitan air somewhat out of character with its general +old-world look. + +Just off this interesting thoroughfare stands the Burg, or, to give it +its fuller and ancient name, the Landesfürstliche Burg, in ancient +times the town residence of the Counts of Tyrol. Retired as it is in +the courtyard of the Magistrats Gebäude it is often overlooked by the +passing tourist, although of great antiquarian and historical +interest. Dating from the fifteenth century, the building has been +admirably and sympathetically restored, and is a treasure-house of +fine old furniture and _bric-a-brac_. There are also some interesting +frescoes and coats-of-arms of former owners and inhabitants. It is, +perhaps, difficult to realize that amongst the latter in the middle of +the fifteenth century was a Scottish princess. But it was to the Burg +that Sigismund, son of Duke Frederick of the Empty Purse, brought his +bride Eleonora, daughter of James I. of Scotland, over the Brenner and +via Bozen, to the house and home he had prepared for her reception. + +From Bozen onwards, we are told, the young couple's progress was +marked by rejoicings and enthusiasm as they passed from castle to +castle, until at last they came, in due time, to the then capital of +Tyrol. Eleonora's ultimate popularity with the Tyrolese was, perhaps, +even more owing to her skill in the chase than to her intellectual +gifts, although the latter were very remarkable for a woman of that +period. The translator of "The Book of Celebrated Women," by +Boccaccio, waxes very enthusiastic over her, and he is by no means the +only writer of the period who has left on record a tribute to the +Archduchess' high mental and physical qualities. That Eleonora was of +a scholarly disposition and gifted with "tongues" is proved by her +translation of a French Romance of the period, "Pontus and Sidoni," +into German. It is now a rare book, although copies are occasionally +found, and it would appear to have had a considerable vogue at the +time it was published. It was printed at Augsburg. In the preface one +gathers that the translation was done by the noble authoress to +"please his Serene Highness and Lord Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, +her lawful husband." + +In this charming old palace, set back from the hum and bustle of the +street, Sigismund and Eleonora dwelt for some years, happy in the +pursuit of learning, the enjoyment of sport, and in the affection of +the townsfolk. + +In the Burg it is possible to obtain a very good conception of what a +mediæval nobleman's house really was like, for not only have many +interesting specimens of furniture, presses, chairs and other fittings +been preserved, but also household utensils, and other articles of +common use. + +There are, in the byways and courtyards of the main street, several +other most interesting houses dating from the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, which will repay the attention of students of +architecture. And may we add the ubiquitous "Kodaker"? + +One of the most enduring impressions Meran leaves upon the mind is +that of being in the true sense "a garden city." No other place of the +size in Tyrol possesses so many beautiful and tree-shaded promenades, +walks and gardens. But the notice "smoking strictly prohibited" which +stares one in the face in the charming Gisela Promenade with its old +and feathery poplar trees fringing the bank of the Passer, and in +other similar resorts, is probably a regulation distasteful to many. + +Of "gartens" and cafés there is no lack. On the left bank of the river +is the pleasant Maria-Valerie Garten, where--as is the case with other +similar places--an excellent band frequently plays. Of the cafés at +least the Café Gilf should be visited, on account of its beautiful +vegetation and fine view of the Passer gorge and surrounding mountain +slopes which one obtains from the "look out." + +[Sidenote: MERAN HERO PLAYS] + +To many visitors the Hero Plays, which, for the last fifteen years, +have been performed annually, in the spring and generally in the +autumn, with scenes from the lives of the famous son of the Passer +Valley, Andreas Hofer, and his companions for the chief incidents, +will prove of great interest. The plays, which include"Tiroler-helden" +and one produced for the first time in August, 1901, entitled +"Frederick of the Empty Purse," are acted entirely by peasants. + +Many are acquainted with the fine dramatic gifts of the Bavarian +peasantry which have found expression in the plays at Ober-Ammergau; +but those of the Tyrolese are less well-known and less widely +recognized. Any one, however, who has seen one of the Meran "Hofer" +dramas will probably agree with us that it was well worth seeing, and +that the dramatic art displayed was not less praiseworthy than that of +the more famous performances at Ober-Ammergau. + +The plays are given outdoors in a large meadow on a huge stage, and +with natural scenery formed by a large chalet (with a bell turret +above the central gable) and other smaller buildings on either side, +with the hill slopes in the background, the stage being the street in +front of the chalet, and the "wings" the side streets. The field is +generally--especially for the autumn performances--boarded, and there +are a limited number of covered-in boxes facing the stage for the use +of those who prefer to be sheltered from the sun, which on fine days +is somewhat trying in its intensity, as, of course, no sunshades or +umbrellas are permitted. The natural beauties of the valley behind +form an appropriate and altogether charming "back-cloth" for the +scenery, which represents a portion of a Tyrol village with real +buildings. The most popular of the plays with the inhabitants of Meran +and the Tyrolese generally are undoubtedly those dealing with the +period of national history when their country was engaged in its +desperate struggle to free itself from the French and Bavarian +invaders. + +The acting is always excellent, and distinguished by that spontaneity +which seems so frequently to characterize outdoor representations. The +naturalness which also distinguishes the performances is probably +largely attributable to the fact that the actors have most of them +been not only well acquainted with the incidents they pourtray since +childhood, but are also in the main representing scenes and using +language of everyday life; and are not engaged in attempting to +interpret scenes and incidents in which they have no personal +interest, or of which they have only gained a knowledge by close and +tiresome study. + +[Sidenote: OLD-TIME COSTUMES] + +To the artist the stage management, which is remarkably good, and the +delightful blending of the ancient costumes in charming tableaux and +schemes of colour will make a special appeal. + +The plays not only add an undoubted and additional attraction to the +quaint and charming town, but also are deserving of the highest praise +from an artistic and dramatic point of view. + +Naturally Meran is over-full at the times of representation, so the +wise traveller books his rooms in advance, unless he wishes (as many +have done before now) to "sleep at the hotel of the beautiful star," +which in plain English means in the open air, and on the ground. + +We have just mentioned the costumes which appear in the plays. At +Meran the old costumes (though alas! they are being slowly but surely +superseded) have been preserved to a larger extent than in almost any +other place we know in Tyrol. The women's dress is undeniably +picturesque, just as it is markedly German in general character. Hats +are seldom worn, the hair is plainly and extremely neatly dressed, +brushed back off the brow, and secured in a simple knot behind by +means of a silver or silver-headed pin. The bodices are of velvet or +cloth, of the "corselet" type seen in Switzerland and many parts of +Germany as well as in Tyrol; and they are worn over a white chemisette +with puffed sleeves, which end just above the elbow and are generally +there confined by "ties" of coloured ribbon. + +The men's costume is scarcely less picturesque, consisting as it does +of a high-crowned hat of felt or cloth, bound round with numerous +bands of thin red or green cord, the first colour denoting a man is +married (a useful danger signal for unwary spinsters!), and the second +denoting a bachelor, eligible or otherwise. The jacket is usually of +brown or blackish brown cloth; cloth knee breeches (we have seen +buckskin on some of the "granfers") with wide red or green braces, and +sometimes an embroidered waistcoat, completes the costume. One other +feature is almost sure to strike the observer, the white aprons which +so many of the men wear when engaged in work. On festive occasions +silver belts are worn by some of the men in the surrounding valleys, +though we fancy these are considerably less common now than they were +even ten years ago. + +The variations of dress in the different valleys of Tyrol have been +ascribed by a well-known writer upon the subject as rising from the +circumstance that peasant costumes are very largely belated fashions +of the town; which, obtained perhaps three or even four generations or +longer ago, have in time come, by all save students of the subject, to +be looked upon erroneously as a mode of dress evolved by the peasant +wearers themselves. What in all probability really happened in many +cases was, some visitors to the towns when in need of fresh clothes +bought town-made and then fashionable garments which were copied by +neighbours (as do villagers in England at the present time), and thus +perpetuated from generation to generation, and not discarded until +some fresh sartorial idea percolated its way slowly and in much the +same manner to the often remote regions of these Tyrolese valleys and +upper pastures. + +On the occasion of the "Hofer" celebrations or "Hero" plays one even +nowadays sees a most interesting variety of costumes in Meran, +although the differences are not so marked as in former times, and +appear rather in small details than in immediately apparent +variations. + + [Illustration: MERAN] + +[Sidenote: IN THE VINEYARDS] + +Amongst the many "Cures" of the Continental Spas and invalid resorts +Meran possesses a unique one in the "Grape Cure." Nowhere in Tyrol can +the interesting harvesting of the grapes be better seen than at Meran. +The vineyards, for one thing, are more picturesque than in many +places, by reason of the practice of largely training the vines over +trellis work or rustic pergolas. In some vineyards these form perfect +covered walks or arcades of delightful green, through which the sun +filters to glint upon the purple and green-gold bunches of grapes +hanging in profusion on either hand and above one's head. But, as may +be imagined, the casual visitor does not have the freedom of the +vineyards on the hillsides when once the grapes are ripening off. Then +the gates, some of them adorned with rows of formidable-looking spikes +and hooks with a great and persistent affinity for clothing, are +closely shut against all intruders, and, in addition, that curious +individual the Saltner, whose name is probably derived from the Latin +word meaning forester, and hence guardian of lands of all kinds, is +placed on guard. His costume is such as to bring alarm not only to the +birds but even to human beings. Tyrolese children we believe have been +brought up to regard the Saltner as a type of "Bogey Man" of a very +efficient character. Usually he wears buckskin breeches or leggings, a +broad belt in which there shines a whole armoury of weapons of a +miscellaneous character comprising old pattern pistols, knives, and +sometimes a "horse" pistol of dimensions almost entitling it to be +spoken of as a gun. In his cap, which is of an uncommon shape, are +such a collection of feathers, martens' tails, plumes, and odds and +ends of ribbon as to cause it to resemble nothing so much as the +head-dress of a Sioux Indian. + +Notwithstanding this "terrific" personage, it is not very difficult +with the expenditure of a few kreutzers to obtain permission to enter +a vineyard in process of harvesting. The labour employed is chiefly +that of women and girls, who, armed with sharp sickles or large knives +with heavy and curved blades, stand beneath the trellises and hold a +wooden tray in one hand beneath the bunch to be severed. One skilled +sweep of the sickle and the latter falls into the tray with a minimum +of damage to the luscious fruit. + +Here and there along the paths are wooden tubs into which the trays +are emptied from time to time. And these tubs again are borne away by +men to the huge vats or tubs bound with iron, which are slung to a +framework or trolley on wheels to which oxen are harnessed, and by +them brought to the nearest convenient point in the vineyard. Then +when the vats are full almost to the brim, two men take up their +positions beside them, and proceed to crush and pound the grapes, +stems and all, into a dark-red, uninviting-looking mess with +long-handled, heavy wooden hammers. In many Italian vineyards it is +still the custom to "tread" the juice out, a practice which is far +less cleanly and hygienic (though it is said more thorough and +economical) than the Meran method. After the juice is all expressed it +is set aside to ferment, and the other processes of wine making are +afterwards gone through. + +The famous grape cure consists apparently of eating as much of the +fruit as one possibly can. Many doctors affirm that no particular +benefit is derived or can be hoped for unless upwards of two pounds of +fruit is consumed daily, the maximum quantity desirable being nine +pounds! Immense as this may seem, we have been assured that some +"patients" have considerably exceeded this amount. + +Perhaps the grape cure is so popular because, for one thing, to eat a +reasonable quantity of fully ripe and freshly gathered fruit is by no +means a disagreeable task for most people, and because it can be taken +anywhere. + +In the cafés one sees crowds undergoing the cure; on the numerous and +shady seats of the Gisela Promenade one sees folks eating grapes. And +practically in every street and alley, and along the mountain paths in +the vicinity of Meran one meets people with brown-paper bags, or if +taking the cure very seriously with little baskets, all eating grapes +as though their future well-being depended upon the quantity they +could consume in a given time. The "old stagers" generally divide +their daily quantity into two or three portions; taking one early in +the morning before "Halbmittag," the second about mid-day, and the +third at sundown. + +To its many other attractions Meran has added for the holiday maker +that of a good band, which performs during the season really most +excellent music in front of the Kurhaus, or in one or other of the +public gardens at Obermais. The Kurhaus, with its sheltered +Wandelhalle or promenade, naturally forms the pivot upon which the +more social side of the daily life of Meran turns. Here one meets not +only the invalid, but the traveller from all parts of the Continent; +and in the Kurhaus gardens one finds also those "birds of passage," +who alight for a time on their way further north or south. + +[Sidenote: SPORTS AND PASTIMES] + +The Sports Platz is one of the best in Tyrol. On it are held tennis +tournaments, cycle races (less than formerly), trotting events, and +horse races; whilst in the winter months the centre is converted into +an excellent skating lake. The races are largely attended by Italians +as well as natives, and at the larger meetings there is generally some +event of interest and importance from a sportsman's point of view. + +A big race day at Meran has many of the social and picturesque +elements of the smaller events at Chantilly. The ladies don their best +toilettes, and the beautiful surroundings and brilliant sunshine all +go to make a picture of great charm and animation. + +On the outskirts and in the immediate neighbourhood of Meran are so +many ancient castles that the town might well be called the "city of +castles." Just outside the Papist Gate is the half-ruined Schloss +Zenoburg, standing on a precipitous rock; whilst prettily situated at +Obermais stands Schloss Rubein with a famous avenue of cypresses. +Along the picturesque Bozen road is Schloss Katzenstein; which, seen +across the fields from the hillside, looks like a grim outpost +guarding the valley. + +Then there are also the Schloss Gojen, with its environment of shady +and odorous pine forests, and background of snow-capped mountains; +Schloss Vorst, but half an hour's drive from Meran, and finely +situated upon a rocky eminence overlooking the valley, and several +others of which could be told stories of romantic and historic +interest. + +And last, but greatest of them all, there is Schloss Tyrol which was +destined to give its name to the whole of the country. As it is one of +the most famous it is probably also the best known of all castles to +the average tourist and traveller in Tyrol. So ancient is it that +historians have been able to discover a mention of it at so early a +period as the last decade of the fourth century A.D. But, +notwithstanding this fact, the records relating to its earlier days +are neither full nor reliable. Of the life that went on within it and +the fate that possibly overtook it during the period covered by the +years (about) A.D. 400 to A.D. 1000 little, indeed, is discoverable. +Its present ruinous condition arose partly from neglect during the +troublous period of the wars at the end of the eighteenth and +commencement of the nineteenth century, and partly from the fact that +during the Bavarian occupation of the country in 1808-9, the then +Government sold the castle for the ridiculous sum of a couple of +hundred pounds for the purpose of destruction so that the stones could +be used as building material![16] + + [Illustration: SCHLOSS TYROL, NEAR MERAN] + +[Sidenote: ANCIENT CASTLES] + +Castle Tyrol stands a relic of past glories, feats of arms, strenuous +living, and chivalry on a rocky ridge or spur of the mountains above +the vineyards, which climb upwards towards the white and imposing +castle walls. Behind and above rise the pine forests running upwards +to meet the rocky slopes of the Kückelberg and Vintschgau range. +The most ancient portions of the present building are some of the +walls, a porch, and two marble doorways dating from about the twelfth +century, and the chapel. In the latter there is a fine representation +of the Fall of Man, and interesting carvings. From its commanding +position it is only to be expected that a magnificent prospect is to +be had of the Adige Valley, the chain of the Ulten-Thal and Mendel +mountains, and the vineyards upon the slopes which swell upwards from +the valley. Seen either soon after sunrise (which few people, we +imagine, do) or just at sunset, the views from the castle, more +especially that from the Kaisersaal, are of wonderful pictorial beauty +and charm. + +Though we have too little space to devote to the many delightful +places in the Meran valley which invite exploration, or to mention the +numerous walks which tempt the pedestrian, we must give a passing word +or two to the Château or Castle of Schönna, which lies nearly two +thousand feet above sea-level like a hoary and time-worn sentinel at +the entrance to the Passeier Valley. It is easily reached from +Obermais by an excellent road suitable even for cyclists, and is well +worth a visit owing to the representative collection of old weapons +gathered within it, and its picturesque situation. Dating from the +early years of the twelfth century, it is an excellent example of the +ancient feudal fortress-residence of those far-off times. A mention of +the Château Lebenberg, distant about an hour and a half's walk from +Meran, is justified--although it is now a pension--by reason of its +excellent state of preservation, and the historical paintings in +several of the most interesting rooms. The walk, too, along the side +of the mountains by way of Marling and picturesque St. Anton is one to +be enjoyed and remembered. + +Some ten miles northward in the Passeier Valley, just a little +distance beyond the village of St. Martin, where one sees many +examples of the wall paintings which are more especially numerous in +the towns and villages of Southern Tyrol, stands the most famous +national pilgrimage place and historic shrine, Hofer's Inn, called +_Wirth am Sand_ or the "Sandy Inn," literally the "Inn by the Sand." +It is quite an unpretentious building standing by the roadside, and +would scarcely attract the notice of passing travellers. It is entered +by a gallery reached up a short flight of steps. The interior is +scrupulously clean, and although it is plainly furnished one is rather +the more impressed by this circumstance which leaves the famous Inn, +where Hofer was born on November 22, 1767, much as we are told it was +in his time. From the pleasant dining-room on the first floor, with +curtains of spotless muslin to keep out the almost blinding sunshine +of the valley, there are fine views towards Meran, and of the towering +mountains across the stony bed of the Passer. + +At the Inn there are some interesting relics of the patriot, and +pictures of him. One shows him as a big, strongly built man of not +much above average height, with a short nose, a fine and lofty +forehead, dark eyes, and a rather ruddy face, well-marked eyebrows, +and the famous long beard. + +At one time Hofer wore no beard, and the story goes that his growing +one--which ultimately was declared to be the longest in the +valley--arose from the chaff of his companions, who asserted that his +wife forbade him to wear one. Whether the tale be true or not it has +very general acceptance, and we all know that Hofer's beard was +ultimately one of his distinguishing features during the campaigns in +which he was engaged. There is a very pleasant balcony on the outside +of the house which, tradition asserts, was often used by Hofer and his +companions when holding their meetings or councils of war to devise +some scheme by which their beloved country could be freed from a +foreign yoke. + +[Sidenote: HOFER RELICS] + +Hofer's last letter, which is one of the most treasured of the +relics, even exceeding in interest the clothes which he wore when shot +at Mantua, is a splendid testimony to the dignity and greatness of the +man, which surmounted all troubles and disasters and was not lessened +or alloyed by triumphs. In it he speaks of his old home, of the +rushing Passer, of the beautiful mountains he would see never again, +and then goes on to say, "It is the great God's good will that I die +at Mantua," and then, "Farewell, beautiful world," adding, "but at the +thought of quitting it my eyes scarcely even moisten." Then follow the +words, "I am writing this at five in the morning; at nine I shall pass +into the presence of God," with the date "20th February, 1810." + +Far up the mountain side above his old home is the spot where Hofer +hid with his wife from November, 1809, till five o'clock on the +morning of January 18, 1810, when he was captured and taken under +strong escort first to Meran, and ultimately to Mantua. He had refused +to fly to Vienna or take refuge on Austrian territory. He wished to +remain amongst his people, perhaps with a vain hope of once more +attempting to accomplish Tyrol's freedom. + +It is with regret that most travellers leave Hofer's old dwelling. The +whole Passeier Valley is, of course, teeming with historic memories, +of the gallant doings of the patriot and his companions. Near Schloss +Tyrol itself was fought one of the most notable engagements, and a +victory won when the French, driven from their position on the +Küchelberg, were surrounded by the peasant forces; whilst just outside +Meran another skirmish took place, as a result of which the French +troops were forced to evacuate the town. + +[Sidenote: SUNNY BOZEN] + +From Meran to Bozen by rail is rather less than twenty miles, and +about the same distance by the road, which runs through the valley of +the Etsch, or Adige, and in places along the lower slopes of the +hills. It is a picturesque journey by either, and for cycling quite +delightful. One crosses the Talfer just before reaching Bozen, which +lies in a wide basin at the junction of the valley of the Etsch, with +the smaller but picturesque Sarnthal, surrounded by great reddish +brown crags and precipices of the porphyry mountains on which the +semi-tropical cactus grows, and one gets sombre groups of cypresses, +and here and there vineyards, and pine-clad crags. The town is a +strange mixture of the German elements of Tyrol and the Italian. Its +architecture, too, is "an admixture of that of north Italy and South +Germany, here and there transfused so that it preserves +characteristics of both." It is perhaps for this very reason a town of +great charm, and one of considerable beauty. Its surroundings, which +include the famous Rosengarten, and many beautiful little valleys and +gorges present attractions for a longer stay than one at first +contemplates. + +It is, moreover, one of the busiest (Bozen people claim that it is +_the_ busiest) towns in Tyrol, with a population going on towards +20,000, including its outskirts, yet it possesses some most delightful +gardens. + +Seen from almost any point of the lower slopes of the surrounding +hills, cactus, and vine-clad, and resembling in general luxuriance of +vegetation Italy rather than the Tyrol of but a little further north, +Bozen is charming. Below one is spread out a garden-like city, which +with all its bustling life yet looks more like a holiday resort than a +commercial town, with numbers of white-walled villas dotted amidst +green fields, vineyards and gardens, in the latter of which blossom +all the flowers one knows and loves, and many less common in England. + + [Illustration: A STREET IN BOZEN] + +One of the oldest towns in Tyrol, it stands practically on the site of +the Pons Drusi of Roman times. It has for "time out of mind" stood at +the cross roads where the Brenner and the Vintsgau routes divide. In +the past, Roman armies have passed through it, have crossed the +Talfer, or have lain encamped in the fields of its basin-like site. +And after them came the Merchants of the Middle Ages, trading +between civilized Italy and barbarian northern lands. Still later came +Emperors and pilgrims travelling to the "Eternal City," Crusaders +outward and homeward bound, roving singers, and hordes of free lances +and mercenaries. In a word, Bozen's past must have been a stirring +one, and the lives led by her citizens full of the colour of life and +gallant deeds. + +Anciently, too, the town was fought for and tossed hither and thither +by those powerful civil lords the Terriolis, Counts of Tyrol, and the +militant spiritual lords the Prince Bishops of Trent. For this reason, +and on account of many fires and "grievous o'erflowings of the Talfer +in past times," of the most ancient of all Bozens there are +comparatively few traces, though within the old town there are yet +traceable some interesting relics of the Middle Ages. + +In those long back times Bozen was a place of even greater commercial +importance than now. To its four annual markets or fairs people from +many lands came, and it became the depôt and centre of the great +transport trade by the two chief passes leading from Italy into Tyrol +and thence to Germany and Austria. As was not unnatural Bozen +merchants had a standing of their own, and were, according to one +authority, "not a little purse proud and exclusive in their dealings, +save when the latter meant that financial advantage would thereby +accrue to them." + +Although Bozen does not commend itself to most tourists from higher +latitudes for a lengthy stay, at least not in summer, as the basin in +which it lies, though making it delightfully sheltered in winter, +causes the town in the months of July and August to be decidedly hot +and rather enervating, there are several places in the immediate +neighbourhood to which one can flee for fresher air and cooler days. +The town has somewhat declined commercially from the high position it +once held, when the trade which flowed into Tyrol through it and +northwards out of it was chiefly along the high-roads and over the +passes; and thus through Bozen a very appreciable percentage of the +whole southern and Italian trade passed. But nevertheless it is still +a most flourishing and interesting town. + +A native writer says, on this subject, "Bozen ... has during the last +decade largely recovered the ground it had temporarily lost through +the making of railways, and the decline of transport along the +high-roads of the passes owing chiefly to the increased facilities +that have arisen for conveyance of merchandize by sea." Certainly one +is soon able, when in the town, to realize that in two branches of +trade at least Bozen occupies an undoubtedly high position in the +commercial world, those of wine, and fruit growing and exporting. The +hillsides are literally studded with vineyards and orchards, and Bozen +fruit has gained for itself an almost world-wide reputation. + +From the artistic side, too, Bozen claims the attention of all who are +interested in legendary lore, architecture, and antiquarian matters. +As one passes along its chief streets, or explores its byways in the +older part of it, one is delighted on almost every hand by vistas of +fine houses, shady and charming courtyards, buildings with strangely +constructed roofs, and fantastic gable ends, quaintly shaped bay +windows, vaulted colonnades, and here and there, stowed away where +least one would expect to find them, smaller courtyards with trellises +covered with vines, and perhaps an ancient well of rust-red marble to +give a finishing touch to the charming picture. + + [Illustration: A SOUTH TYROL FARMSTEAD] + +Numbers of artists pause at Bozen yearly on their way south into Italy +via Verona to study the rich treasures in the galleries of the cities +of Northern Italy, or to rest awhile on their return journey +northwards. In Bozen is plenty to paint and plenty to admire, and the +townsfolk are noted for the hospitality which still (notwithstanding +the great influx of tourists of late years) distinguishes the frank +and warm-hearted people of Tyrol in general. + +[Sidenote: BOZEN PARISH CHURCH] + +Chief amongst the buildings which will attract one's attention stands +the Pfarrkirche or Parish Church, which with its elegant tower and +open spire, over two hundred feet in height, forms a monument to the +artistic and constructive skill of its Swabian builder Johann Lutz in +the first years of the sixteenth century. The church is splendidly +situated at one corner of the fine open Waltherplatz, which is planted +with shady horse-chestnut trees, and, its roof of copper-green tiles +set in a pattern, contrasts admirably with its walls and spire of red +sandstone. In ancient times the building possessed two spires, both of +which were destroyed or so injured as to necessitate their pulling +down long before Lutz built his elegant structure. The church itself, +which contains a fine altar-piece by a pupil of Titian, and a +remarkable stone pulpit dating about the first decade of the sixteenth +century, is, in the main, fourteenth-century work, although it was not +actually finished until the third decade of the fifteenth, so some +authorities state. + +In the centre of the Johann Platz stands a fine though simply +conceived statue to Walther von der Vogelweide who was born about 1160 +at Lajen, near Waidbruck, in which the poet is shown standing clad in +a loose robe, with a biretta-like cap on his head and his hands +crossed whilst holding a lute. The statue is the work of the late +Heinrich Natter, one of the most famous of native sculptors, who was +also the artist of the famous Berg Isel Hofer Monument, of the very +finely conceived and well-executed statue of Ulrich Zwingli at Zurich, +and many other works. + +One of the most charming of Bozen streets is undoubtedly the +Laubengasse, which greatly resembles the main street of Meran, with +its shady arcades on either side under which the shops are situated, +and where one can promenade and do one's shopping protected from the +sun in summer and the rain in winter. The Karnergasse and Silbergasse +are interesting streets, as is also the Goethestrasse leading to the +fruit market, where one finds during market hours many interesting +types of peasants from the neighbouring villages as well as of the +townsfolk themselves. We saw some of the most gorgeous of kerchiefs +worn over the shoulders and crossed over the breasts of Bozen or Gries +fruit-sellers, which gave an air of quite southern colour and +brightness to the little Platz, in which oranges, almonds, melons, +figs, and even prickly pears were displayed for sale with all the +other fruits one might expect to find, including magnificent cherries +in the earlier part of the fruit season. + +The costumes of the Sarnthal with the big, broad-brimmed felt hats +worn by both men and women, and the gay "Kummerbunds" of the men worn +under short "Eton"-shaped jackets, are also seen in Bozen on festive +occasions. + +The Museum, in which there are many interesting exhibits, including +some old peasant costumes well worth the attention of artists, is an +imposing building or "block" in the Königin Elizabethstrasse, with +corner turrets and an imposing central tower. + +Of the more picturesque and older buildings none excels in charm the +Franciscan Monastery and Church in the Franziskanergasse. The +courtyard, shaded by trees which throw a diaper of shadow and sunlight +on the paving stones, with the delicately pretty porch leading into +the church, is a spot of sheer delight for the artist and the dreamer +of dreams; who there, amid the quietude of ancient things, can the +better conjure up visions of other days when Bozen streets rang to the +passing of armies, and men at arms, and in them were heard the cries +of mediæval merchants selling their wares drawn from north and south. +In the Franciscan Church there is a fine altar, and belonging to the +Monastery there are some beautiful cloisters. The library, too, should +not be overlooked by those interested in early books and similar +treasures. + +On the outskirts of pleasant Bozen, a fine view of which is obtained +from the Calvarienberg, there are many charming excursions. Towards +the west lies the finely situated Castle of Sigmundskron on a hill +between mountains overlooking the river in which there is good +fishing: the Mendel Pass, 4500 feet, ascended either on foot, by +carriage or by the mountain railway; Tisenser Mittelgebirge, studded +with most interesting ruins, and from whence one obtains extensive and +beautiful views of the surrounding mountain chains and of Meran. + +[Sidenote: CASTLE OF RUNKELSTEIN] + +Towards the north lies the deeply interesting Imperial Castle of +Runkelstein, which, dating from the middle half of the thirteenth +century, was extensively restored in 1884-88, and finally presented by +the Emperor of Austria to the town of Bozen. Situated upon and almost +entirely covering a huge mass of rock, it overlooks a bend of the +swiftly flowing Talfer, and occupies one of those commanding and +almost inaccessible positions beloved of builders in the Middle Ages. +The Castle, irrespective of its interests as an architectural survival +of a long past age, is much visited on account of the famous frescoes +which are contained in a building now known as the Summer House. As +one climbs up the steep and narrow path to the castle drawbridge one +can the better realize how safe the ancient owners (who were not above +raiding the neighbourhood, and of engaging in predatory warfare with +their neighbours) must have felt when they had once heard their +iron-studded door clang behind them, and seen the ancient drawbridge +swung up by its chains. + +Till the introduction of artillery, indeed, such a fastness would have +been practically impregnable. + +The frescoes to which we have referred are especially interesting from +the fact that they undoubtedly exhibit a very primitive art. At the +time they are supposed to have been painted, that is to say towards +the end of the fourteenth century, art even in its home, Italy, was +in a comparatively elementary and even grotesque stage of evolution. +The figures, which are black with a pea-green background, are, as an +American girl said, "Noah's arkical and too funny for words," though +we are bound to confess that the irreverence of the remark deeply +offended a worshipper of mediæval art who was of the party. The +paintings in the first room depict a German version of the story of +Tristan and Isolde, which would appear to diverge materially from the +one of Sir Thomas Malory, as set out in the "Morte d'Arthur." The main +story can, however, be easily followed. + +In the second chamber the frescoes, which were a very common form of +decoration at the period at which they were done and should not be +considered in the light of being of especial significance, depict a +complete version of the legendary story of Garel, following the +version of a Styrian[17] thirteenth century poet named Pleier. It is +generally considered that this Garel was founded upon or was identical +with the character of the Gareth or Beaumains of the "Morte d'Arthur," +although the evidence is not absolutely conclusive. To English people +the fine fresco of the famous Knights of the Round Table sitting in +company with King Arthur and Queen Guinevere will naturally be of the +greatest interest, although each of the quaint drawings to illustrate +the mediæval legend has an abiding fascination for all to whom the +past is of moment. + +Nor are the outside walls of this quaint pavilion left unadorned. On +them are single figures and others in groups of two and three +depicting well-known mediæval personages of historical and legendary +note: Tristan and Isolde; William of Orleans and Amelie; William, Duke +of Austria, and Aglei; pairs of lovers whose fame has outlived the +centuries; the three hero kings of ancient Christendom, Arthur of +England, the Emperor Charlemagne, and Godfrey de Bouillon. Amongst the +large number of figures here depicted may also be seen other groups +of three comprising celebrated knights, dwarfs, giants, and other +real, mythical, or legendary characters; a gallery of portraits which +has probably no equal in any other castle in the world. The story of +the deeds of the characters thus immortalized would fill many volumes, +and provide some of the most romantic and interesting reading +imaginable. + + [Illustration: ST. CYPRIAN AND THE PEAKS OF THE ROSENGARTEN] + +One quits the historic spot with a sense of the greatness of the past +as well as with a lingering regret that nothing after all can +adequately conjure up for one the stirring scenes, strenuous and +vividly "coloured" life, romance and chivalry, that the walls and +rooms of Runkelstein must have witnessed. + +In an easterly direction from Bozen lies the Eggenthal and its famous +waterfall. The road through the former is one of great picturesqueness +and grandeur--along the hillsides, across high bridges, and through +gorge-like rock cuttings, which to be fully appreciated cannot be +travelled better than a-foot. In the same direction, too, lies the +beautiful Karrersee, surrounded by its belt of sombre pines above +whose feathery tops shine the rocky peaks and snow-clad summits of the +Dolomite giants. + +[Sidenote: THE ROSENGARTEN] + +From Bozen, too, the famous Rosengarten, which lies to the east of the +town, should be visited. But it is not a garden of roses after all, +but a collection of stupendous and rocky peaks which blush red at +sunset. Those who expect flowers other than alpen rosen, gentian, and +the like, will be disappointed, as was the young lady who undertook +the excursion in the hope of seeing roses galore such as one may find +in the "attar" districts of the Balkan Provinces and especially in +Bulgaria. + +But if from Bozen one looks merely for the rosy hue to tint the +skyward-piercing pinnacles of rock, which have been poetically called +the "Rosengarten," or rambles in the picturesque and beautiful valleys +and tiny defiles at their feet, one will not be disappointed. And the +"roses," like other similar phenomena, are in a sense a weather glass; +the deeper the red they glow the finer the ensuing day. At first a +plum-hued twilight, such as one gets in the Maloja valley, seems to +fall down out of the sky, and then the mountain peaks commence to +receive their baptism of crimson. Then at last, as the sun sinks +behind the interposing Guntschna Berg, only the highest peaks continue +for a short time longer to glow with increasing, and then fading, +depth of colour, till at length the plum-bloom shadows conquer the +"roses" and the cool twilight comes. + +The origin of the descriptive phrase "the Rosengarten" is (so far as +we have been able to discover) lost in the mists of antiquity. But +there is a rather pretty legend concerning the Garden itself. Long ago +(the story tells us), when men were perhaps happier and certainly less +sophisticated and cynical than they are now, and believed in fairies, +gnomes, and magic, there lived a dwarf named Laurin or Laurenz +reigning over the other dwarfs, who inhabited a country in the centre +of the Schlern. By some means or other this dwarf managed to see and +fall in love with the beautiful, golden-haired sister of a retainer of +Dietrich of Bern, in Switzerland. After having seized her he bore her +to his palace of crystal in the interior of the mountains, and there +kept her prisoner. Soon, however, the brave and gallant knight +Dietrich, and his squire, who was named Dietlieb, determined to rescue +the abducted maiden, and for this purpose they came up from Italy +where they were at the time, and finding an opening entered the +Schlern, and after a fierce fight succeeded in conquering the dwarf, +notwithstanding the fact that of course the latter was assisted by a +magician. Laurin was not, however, killed, but spared by Dietrich at +the request of Dietlieb. It was unfortunate clemency, however, as +Laurin, professing himself grateful and offering them refreshment +after their labours and fight, gave them drugged wine, so that when +they awoke they discovered that they had been bound and cast into a +dungeon of the dwarf's castle. From this predicament they were happily +freed by Dietlieb's sister, Simild, and after another fierce encounter +with the dwarfs they defeated them, and trod the famous Rosengarten +roses underfoot, their places being taken by those that bloom at +sunset upon the peaks above the site of Laurin's mythical palace. + +That, at all events, is the story we have been told, and though the +Rosengarten and its miniature valleys are beautiful enough for real +roses to have their home there, none grow there now save figurative +ones caused by the sunset light. + +The Rosengarten is a fine centre for mountain ascents, and the famous +Vajolett towers and other rocky pinnacles present unfailing +attractions to the adventurous rock climber, even though nowadays +there can be very few "virgin" peaks or pinnacles to scale. + +From the Rosengarten itself as well as from Bozen one can witness the +blooming of the roses, and the really wonderful and entrancing play of +colour, light and shadow over the stupendous peaks which forms an +unforgettable experience when seen during the late afternoon of a +summer day and onwards till twilight comes to gradually throw its blue +and mystic mantle over the valleys and the mountain summits. + +[Sidenote: KLAUSEN] + +North of Bozen, prettily situated by the banks of the Adige, and some +one thousand seven hundred feet above sea-level, stands the little, +though somewhat important, town of Klausen, with its long, narrow +street following the configuration of the gorge in which most of the +houses lie, dominated by the great Benedictine monastery of Säben +perched upon a steep vine-clad promontory overlooking the town and +river, and six hundred feet above it. A castle till the end of the +seventeenth century, the convent was attacked by the French in 1809, +and from all accounts the nuns were not respected, for upon the walls +of one of the towers on the hill is a painted crucifix, which the +people of Klausen say was placed there in memory of one of the nuns +who, pursued by the soldiery, jumped to her death over the +battlements. The first impression of Klausen is that of cleanliness, +for the tall houses strike one in the brilliant sunshine of a summer +day as very white, though most of them are relieved by patches of +vivid green, where window shutters hang upon the walls or keep the +sunshine from the windows. Klausen folk are fond of flowers, too, for +many hang trailing from balconies; pink and red geraniums, a variety +of clematis, and bunches of ruby-coloured valerian, and tufts of +yellow and orange nasturtiums. There are generally many monks about +the streets, too; sombre-looking figures in rough frieze habits, who +look at the stranger with mild curiosity, and then pass on their +silent way up the hillside, or through the one long, narrow street +which runs between the mountain side and the rushing river. Klausen +women bore a brave part in Hofer's struggle against the French and +Bavarians, and dressed in their husbands' and brothers' clothes gave +material aid in driving back the French through the pass in 1797. + +There is not much to see in Klausen itself, but as a typical southern +Tyrolese village it is interesting. Picturesque it certainly also is, +set amid crags and rocks of purple porphyry, whose bases and lower +slopes are beautified by the greenery of many vineyards, and half +encircled by the rushing Eisack. Near by is the famous Castle +Trostburg, romantically beautiful with grey walls and red-tiled roof +perched high above the pine forest which clothes the steep sides of +the rocky spur upon which it stands, and with a patch of vineyard +clinging to the wall of its upper square and solid-looking keep. The +climb up to it is a steep one, but the view one obtains into the +Grödener Thal and of the surrounding heights well repays one. + +[Sidenote: OSWALD v. WOLKENSTEIN] + +The castle is one of the comparatively few still remaining in the +possession of the family with whose history it has for many centuries +been identified. The Counts of Wolkenstein date their occupation from +the twelfth century, and one of the most famous of the line was that +Oswald born at Castle Trostburg in 1367, or about, whose romantic +adventures might form the basis or plot of half a dozen historical +novels. As a Minnesinger he set out early in life upon his travels in +a gallant and adventurous age; devoted, one must imagine, to the +service and adoration of the fair sex, as were supposed to be +Minnesingers in general. Like many another adventure-loving lad, he +ran away from his ancestral home, light of heart and equally light of +purse, to wander through the world singing his way to fame and +fortune, or to failure and poverty, as the case might happen. + +He appears in the first instance to have attached himself to the suite +of one of a party of Tyrolese nobles under Duke Albrecht III., of +Austria, who were bent upon a filibustering expedition into Lithuania, +a district then lying between Poland and Courland. Afterwards he +wandered far and wide over the world, visiting in turn Russia, +England, Spain, France, and then sailing for the East, and travelling +through Asia Minor and Persia. He seems, from contemporary and other +accounts, to have been "everything by turns, and nothing long," except +that he probably always kept up his "minnesinging." He certainly was +page, soldier, sailor, and sea-cook; and for all one can tell these +were but the chief occupation of many he followed during his wandering +and adventurous life. At all events he appears to have acted at times +as tutor, turning the half score of languages he had picked up to good +and practical account. Amongst his more knightly adventures were +campaigns against the English in the service of the Earl of +Douglas--he was probably present on August 10, 1388, at the famous +battle of Otterburn (Chevy Chase)--previously against the Swedes in +Denmark in the service of Queen Margaret, who in 1397 united the +kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden together. + +Among his more peaceful victories and doings was the favour which he +found in the eyes of the Queen of Aragon, who appears to have not only +admired his poetic gifts, but to have loaded him with personal +favours, caresses, and presents of jewelry. + +For several years after his visit to Spain he wandered about, and then +at last (like the prodigal son) set his face towards Tyrol. No one +recognized him, and he appears to have fallen under the spell of the +daughter of a neighbouring knight, who, however, would not consent to +marry him unless he would first obtain his knighthood by becoming a +Crusader. + +Deeply in love with the fair Sabina and not doubting her sincerity, +Von Wolkenstein took ship for Palestine, and in due course attained +the coveted distinction by gallant conduct in battle, in consequence +of which he attracted the attention and gained the personal friendship +of Sigismund of Hungary. + +Alas! for his hopes. On returning to Tyrol covered with glory, and a +"true knight," he did so only to find the fickle and deceitful Sabina +married to another. In addition to this he was only just in time to +see his father die. As a younger son he inherited the castles of +Castelruth and Hauenstein, Trostburg and its lands descending to his +elder brother. + +[Sidenote: A KNIGHT'S ADVENTURES] + +His roving disposition was not likely to be stayed now that he had +lost both his intended wife and his father, so he once more set out on +his travels, this time in the retinue of his friend Sigismund, in +whose company he visited several countries. For several years he +wandered through western Europe and as far south-east as Egypt, where +he appears to have been received with much honour. Once more back in +Tyrol in 1405, he became involved in the political upheavals which +were caused by the drastic measures of reform instituted by Duke +Frederick of the Empty Purse, against which the Tyrolese nobles +fiercely rebelled. The ex-Minnesinger took the part of the latter, +and in consequence drew down upon himself Frederick's vengeance. The +latter burned his two castles, and compelled Von Wolkenstein to flee +for his life to the protection of a relative who was the owner of the +castle of Greifenstein, which is situated on an inaccessible pinnacle +of rock between Bozen and Meran. Duke Frederick and his forces hotly +besieged the castle, but failed to reduce it; and although Oswald was +severely wounded and lost the sight of one eye he escaped, and a +little later joined an expedition against the Moors in the train of +John I., King of Portugal. During the severe fighting which took +place, and at the capture of Ceuta in 1415, he appears to have so +greatly distinguished himself that, we are told, "his fame was such +that the troubadours enshrined his deeds in their songs." + +Ultimately, he came to his own in Tyrol owing to an act of the Council +of Constance in Baden, which not only condemned John Huss--amongst +many ecclesiastical enactments--to be burned, but also ordered that +Duke Frederick, now an outlaw, who had burned Oswald von Wolkenstein's +castles, should rebuild them, and restore to the knight all the +property that he and his followers had seized. It is not easy, +however, to comprehend how an outlaw who was fleeing from one place to +another in fear of his life was to accomplish these things, nor how +property taken by the soldiery years before, and probably long ago +converted into cash or other uses, could be given up and restored. + +We are told, however, that after visiting France in Sigismund's train +Oswald returned to his favourite castle of Hauenstein, the ruins of +which nowadays are so lost in the vast pine forest which surrounds +them as to be almost undiscoverable. + +Then Sabina, his old love, once more comes upon the scene, this time +as the claimant of the castle on account, so she alleged, of an +unrepaid loan made by her grandfather to the Wolkensteins. She +invited her old suitor Oswald to join her in a pilgrimage to some +shrine for old acquaintance sake; and when he came to her, +unsuspecting and unarmed, she promptly had him seized, thrown into a +dungeon, and there kept him a prisoner in chains. He lay in +treacherous Sabina's castle until by chance Sigismund, hearing of his +parlous state, intervened on his friend's behalf, and Oswald von +Wolkenstein was set free. He was, however, so maimed by rheumatism and +the fetters which had galled him that he ever afterwards went lame. + +Once more he was cast into prison, this time by Duke Frederick's +machinations, and lay in a horrible underground and tunnel-like cell +in Vellenberg not far from Innsbruck. He had married in 1417 Margaret, +a daughter of the house of Schwangau, after a long period of +betrothal, and to her he was deeply attached. On his second release, +after three years' incarceration, he returned to Hauenstein to find +his wife dead, and his home fallen into disrepair from neglect. + +A few years later we find him, unconquered in spirit though broken in +body, at Rome to attend the coronation of his friend Sigismund, who +but a year or two later was driven from the throne. In 1435 Oswald +once more, as a man of fifty-eight, returned to forest-enshrouded +Hauenstein, where he died nine years afterwards, never having again +left it. + +Of course, the castle is haunted by the spirit of this unhappy and +adventurous knight and Minnesinger, and there is still this belief +amongst the peasantry of Seis and the neighbourhood round about. And +the few who have ever ventured near the ruined pile after sundown aver +that those who do are sure to hear the ancient Minnesinger chanting a +dirge-like lay, accompanying himself upon his lute. But if this be so +Oswald's spirit has wandered far from his body, for his remains repose +at Neustift near Brixen. + +He was not only one of the most picturesque and romantic figures of +the band of Minnesingers who were so numerous during the Middle Ages, +but also in a measure an historical figure. By some authorities he is +considered to be the last of these strange wandering minstrel +adventurers. Probably it would be more correct to speak of him as the +last really great Tyrolese "Minnesinger;" but, whichever estimate be +right, his place on the roll of fame relating to the deeds and songs +of these is assured by reason of his gallantries, misfortunes, and +adventurous and knightly doings. + +[Sidenote: ST. ULRICH] + +On the way to Klausen one is wise to make a diversion down the narrow +but picturesque Grödener Thal to St. Ulrich, which charming village, +situated in a basin and almost surrounded by thickly wooded slopes, +and beyond them stupendous and rocky peaks with the serrated pinnacles +of the Langkofel in the background, is the centre of the Toy industry +of Tyrol and an increasingly popular tourist resort. The road is a +steeply ascending one, and one comes upon the first glimpse of the +village, which stands midway down the valley between Waidbruck and +Wolkenstein, quite suddenly. One's first impression is of a typical +Tyrolese village of considerable size, its white--very white--houses +standing out clear cut and prominently against the background of +dark-green pines, and the lighter green of the valley fields in which +they are, many of them, set. Of late years the clean-looking cottages +of the villagers, the balconies of which are as often as not hung with +delightful flowers, have been supplemented by good and large hotels, +villas, and other modern up-to-date tourist accommodation. But, +nevertheless, St. Ulrich is not yet spoiled, and there are still many +of the almost mahogany-coloured barns and storehouses left, with their +picturesque balconies running right round them, on which the grain and +herbs are placed to dry, wood to season, and other stores are kept, +forming so sharp a contrast to the hotels and white houses. + +Although we imagine St. Ulrich's chief attraction is its quaint and +interesting toy-making industry, there are many others including most +beautiful scenery, and the numberless excursions which can be made +from it. In winter time, to quote the quaint phraseology and spelling +of a local guide-book, it has "a very strange charme for the friends +of Tobogganing and Ski-sport has the valley in the always mild and +snowy winter-time." And regarding the accommodation offered, the same +luminous authority goes on to say there are "very comfortable stabled +hotels and land-houses extraordinary fit as a summerset for residence, +likewise for a start place for numerous high-parties to the +Dolomites." + +But let us give a brief description of the Toy Industry, which chiefly +serves to differentiate the village from all others in Southern Tyrol. + +St. Ulrich's wares are ultimately sent all over the world, and whether +in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or Rome one is almost sure +to find amongst the toys, carved figures of saints, crucifixes, +artists' "lay figures," chalets, and other articles some examples of +work from this famous valley of wood carvers. The fact that nearly +3000, or about three out of every five, of the inhabitants are engaged +more or less directly in the work will give some idea of its +magnitude. + +The carving industry at St. Ulrich is supposed to date from about the +commencement of the seventeenth century, and there are some figures of +the Virgin and Saints still extant in churches of the district bearing +dates of that period, and other images of apparently much earlier +date, which show that even in those remote times the carvers of St. +Ulrich and the Grödener Thal possessed considerable skill and +reputation. It was, however, one Johann von Metz who at the +commencement of the eighteenth century appears to not only have raised +the standard of the work of carving to greater perfection, but also to +have organized and extended the sphere of the trade itself. + +In the years which immediately followed, the peasants were in the +habit of themselves setting out into other lands with stocks of their +work for sale; and some at least, according to tradition, found their +way to England, and even across the Atlantic, where they abandoned the +active work of carving for that of establishing trading depôts in +connection with St. Ulrich, and thus they distributed the work done in +the far-off and almost then unknown Grödener Thal throughout the +commercial world. + +Nowadays to sally forth with their stock-in-trade on their backs or in +a cart is no longer the practice of the workers. The greater number +are employed by firms which act as wholesale distributing agencies for +them, to whom they take their weekly output of work. Most of the +villages of the valley are employed in the carving industry; St. +Christina, for example, making a speciality of "lay figures" and hobby +horses. + +Not only are most of the men of the villages in the Grödener Thal thus +employed, but also many of the women and children. And it is no +uncommon sight to see quite mites cutting away at blocks of the softer +kinds of wood by the roadside or on the doorsteps of the cottages; and +sometimes one meets the women on their way down from the woods or +upper pastures with their barrel-like receptacles upon their backs, +roughly shaping some article which will be finished off when they get +home. + +[Sidenote: "TOY LAND"] + +Some of the carving done is really good, but it cannot be said to be +cheap. One cannot find bargains in St. Ulrich, or, for the matter of +that, in any of the villages of "Toy Land." The demand is too great, +and the means of distribution too well organized for the peasants to +care in the least whether one purchases a "bit" or not. There are +practically no shops where carving is sold by the workers themselves, +as nearly all are employed under contract or otherwise by wholesale +dealers. But the tourist can generally visit one or other of the large +_ateliers_, where, in particular, the carving of images and more +elaborate articles is done under the superintendence of artists. It +is an experience and a sight well worth spending an hour or two over. +In that time, by watching several figures at various stages +approaching completion, one can obtain a very good and clear idea of +the different transformations which the rough-hewn block undergoes ere +it assumes its final shape of a Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Antony, or St. +Christopher. Many of these statues and smaller figures are sent to a +different workshop for painting and gilding; and it is chiefly in the +white chalets on the mountain side that the toys and smaller articles +are made. + +The goods are stored principally in the larger houses of the villages. +One of the chief depôts bears the name of the man who developed the +industry, whilst other well-known merchants are Insam, Purger, and +Prinoth. In these warehouses one sees shelf upon shelf laden with +toys, figures, dolls, and other carved work; miniature waggons, +monkeys on sticks, hobby horses painted in gay and let us add entirely +"unnatural" colours, with flaming red, jet black, or piebald manes. +The toys are of all prices, just as they are of many sizes and +qualities as regards "finish;" hobby horses costing from half-a-krone +to several florins each; dolls ranging in price from a halfpenny and +even less to five or six kronen. Figures intended to form the contents +of Noah's arks are there by the bushel, the cheaper kind bearing, it +must be admitted, but faint and partial resemblance to the animals +they are intended to represent; the better kinds being excellent +miniatures of lions, elephants, tigers, giraffes, bears (especially +good these), and the hundred and one smaller animals and insects of +the patriarch's great family party; and accompanying all the +delightful smell of freshly cut pine and other woods in the warehouses +given over to unpainted things, and the somewhat overpowering smell of +new paint in the others. + +Some of the dolls, more especially those which have Tyrolese costumes +represented in wood, need great care in carving; and others are +swiftly done, some by elementary machinery. The best wood used is the +_pinus cembra_, or Swiss pine, which originally grew thickly on the +sides of the mountains, but has now largely to be imported owing to +the fact that whilst the trees have been cut down by the thousand, +scant provision appears to have been made for the future by planting +others. There is, however, plenty of the wood still left in the +immediate neighbourhood. + +Nowadays at St. Ulrich there is an excellent Imperial School of +Drawing, and modelling, and there would appear to be a distinct +advance of recent years in the carving (of animals and figures +especially) in consequence of the teaching given, though in their main +characteristics the animals and small figures produced have not much +varied from the ancient types. + +The church of St. Ulrich, although comparatively modern, dating only +from quite the end of the eighteenth century, has a beautifully +adorned interior; rather ornate and highly coloured perhaps, but +interesting and typical. There is also in it a Mater Dolorosa by +Maroder, and in the sacristy a fine marble Madonna by a pupil of +Canova, Andrea Colli. The restored chapel of St. Anthony is also worth +seeing, as it possesses a remarkably fine altar-piece, the work of +Deschwanden. + +[Sidenote: CONCERNING DIALECT] + +There is a distinct dialect in the villages of the Grödener Thal, +locally known as Ladin, which is said by philologists to be directly +derived from the Latin tongue, and to date from the days of the Roman +occupation. It is certainly so different from the dialects of modern +Italy that it is almost impossible for the stranger, even though +well-versed in those, to understand it. In some points it may be said +to resemble the Grisons Romanche, and Romanese of the Engadine; but +the parallel is not at all a close one, and needs several distinct +qualifications. Although a deeply interesting one to philologists, it +is impossible to deal with the question at all fully here. Certainly +one would be inclined to think that this peculiar dialect has an +Etruscan origin, for it is well-known that considerable remains of +that people have from time to time been unearthed in the Grödener +Thal, and, indeed, in the immediate neighbourhood of St. Ulrich +itself. + +St. Ulrich is charming in winter, when the village is half-buried in +snow, and the lower slopes of the environing mountains provide +excellent toboggan "runs," and ski-ing grounds. How different the +little place appears under these conditions from the sunny spot set +amid green fields and pleasant pastures that it is in summer, only +those who have seen it under both conditions can easily realize. And +truly (as the local guide we have before quoted says) "in winter there +are many grateful excursions for the high-flying parties, and swift +ski-ing." By "high-flying parties" one should doubtless understand +those who wish to ascend the higher slopes. + +Costume still survives at St. Ulrich and in the Grödener Thal, where +(although less worn than even a decade ago) one still meets with women +wearing the old style dress, with huge broad-brimmed felt hats trimmed +with wide ribbons, and having short "streamers" down behind, or the +still quainter high "sugar-loaf" hats, shaped almost like those of +dancing dervishes, fitting down over the ears and allowing only the +least suspicion of the forehead to remain visible. Wide linen collars, +almost large enough to be called capes, with either plain edges or +scalloped, and handsome aprons of silk, brocade, or other materials; +wide skirts and a profusion of ribbons go to make up a costume which +is always picturesque and often actually handsome. + +From Klausen, to which one returns on one's way northward, one +proceeds to Brixen, charmingly situated in the valley of the Eisack, +amid green fields, and pastures, and afforested slopes. The twin +towers of the Cathedral in the centre of the picture at once catches +the eye from whatever point one approaches the town. + + [Illustration: SUMMER TIME NEAR ST. ULRICH, GRÖDENER THAL] + +Brixen, though little more in size and population than a large +village, is yet one of the most interesting places in Southern Tyrol. +It is not only historically and architecturally important, but is a +pleasant place from which to explore the beauties of the neighbouring +Puster Thal, Valser Thal, and Lusen Thal if only one's time permits. +Anciently it was one of the most notable towns in Southern Tyrol, for +it was during nearly a thousand years, and, in fact, until 1703, the +capital of an ecclesiastical principality, with a long line of +distinguished bishops, some of them almost as much noted for their +militant as their spiritual qualities. It is still the seat of a +bishopric, and in the town are many evidences of its past +ecclesiastical importance and splendour. + +Artists find much in Brixen to attract them, as do also students of +architecture, and although the valley is wider than in some similar +resorts, making mountain ascents longer before one can reach the +higher peaks, there are many excursions to be made, and interesting +villages to be visited. That it is an attractive town its many +visitors make evident, and in the pleasant gardens, which seem always +cool even on the hottest summer day, situated between the Eisack and +the smaller Rienz, one meets not only with interesting Brixen types +(sometimes peasants in costume), but also most of the foreign visitors +who may be staying in the place. + +[Sidenote: BRIXEN CATHEDRAL] + +The Cathedral, dating from the fifteenth century, is a handsome and +even striking building, with its lofty twin towers, and their +beautifully "weathered" copper domes. These are the oldest parts, most +of the building itself having been restored and rebuilt as recently as +the middle half of the eighteenth century. There are some extremely +beautiful and interesting cloisters, with numerous frescoes on the +groined roof, and some quaint mural tablets and tombstones. The view +from the cloisters upon a sunny day across the courtyard is one of +great charm in its play of light and shade, tempting one to linger in +their hoary coolness and solitude. There is also an ancient chapel of +St. John, dating from the eleventh century, containing some good +frescoes of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. The tombstone of +the famous Oswald von Wolkenstein is in the inner courtyard, which +lies between the Cathedral and the Church of St. Michel, depicting the +knightly minnesinger in armour with lance, and pennon, and lyre. Near +this is also an interesting copper relief, depicting the scene of the +Resurrection, placed there as a memorial of a noted local coppersmith +named Hans Kessler, who lived in the first half of the seventeenth +century. + +One reaches the Bishop's Palace by several interesting streets, in +which some of the more ancient houses are to be found. There is a +charming courtyard with colonnades, and a delightful garden, peaceful +and full of flowers and the sentiment of other days. And here, +fortunately, the traveller can gain admission for half an hour's +restful contemplation of its beauty, and perhaps the study of some of +the historical events which the town has witnessed. + +From Brixen to Sterzing one traverses the widening, narrowing, and +again widening valley of the Eisack. Past Spinges, with its memories +of the fierce battle in 1797, when General Joubert was marching +through the Puster Thal to make a junction with Napoleon. His advance +was not, however, permitted unchecked. The inhabitants of Spinges +might not be many, but they were Tyrolese. It happened, too, that a +few companies of the Landsturm were in the neighbourhood, and so these +and the men of Spinges marched out to meet Joubert's immensely +superior force. The French troops were armed with bayonets as well as +guns, and the barrier they made was found unpierceable by the brave +but badly armed patriots. But the opportunity or need produced the man +as it had done rather more than four centuries before in Switzerland +when Arnold von Winkelried gathered the Austrian spears into his bosom +at Sempach. In this case it was one Anton Reinisch, of Volders, who +"played the man," and heroically leapt, scythe in hand, amongst the +French bayonets, a score of which pierced his body, and thus, hewing +right and left ere he fell, carved a way for his comrades, and enabled +them to break up the French lines. + +[Sidenote: THE MAID OF SPINGES] + +But Spinges will be celebrated still more in romance, as it has been +in history, by the act of that anonymous maiden "the Maid of Spinges," +who, during the fight around the church of the village, mounted in +company with the men the wall of the churchyard, and, armed with a hay +fork, helped, by her strong arms as well as her example, to +successfully repel three fierce attacks of the French soldiery. +Unknown[18] by name, yet the fame of her courageous act, typical as it +was of those of many others of her sex during the long and fierce +struggle waged by the Tyrolese against the invaders of their beloved +land, has descended through generations. + +On the other side of the valley to Spinges is Franzenfeste at the +mouth of the defile known as the Brixener Klause. Few people stop at +Franzenfeste, we imagine. To ramble on the hillsides would be an act +of foolhardiness, for they are honeycombed with forts. It is a great +strategic position, commanding the Brenner and the entrance to the +Puster Thal; and investigation of the hillsides and neighbourhood, it +is needless to say, is not encouraged by the Austrian Government. It +is possible in the future that the spot which saw much fighting in +1797 and 1809 will again be the scene of military operations, and a +struggle not less fierce, and far more bloody. Who knows? + +[Sidenote: STERZING AND MATREI] + +Sterzing, with its sunny main street of which a most charming vista is +got as one enters the town through the ancient gateway on the Brenner +road, and shady arcades which remind one of the "unter den Lauben" of +Meran, stands on the site of a Roman settlement, Vipitenum. It is +situated at the junction of three beautiful valleys, the Ridnaun Thal, +Pflersch Thal, Pfitscher Thal, in a broad basin-like depression, +encircled by shapely mountain slopes, and on the right bank of the +Eisack. Though nowadays possessing a population of less than 3000, +Sterzing at once strikes one as having an air of importance and +prosperity, hardly in keeping with its small size. Formerly, however, +the town was an important mining centre, and the larger of its quaint +and picturesque balconied and bay-windowed houses owe their origin to +the wealthier inhabitants of the past. Marble quarrying and polishing +is still carried on somewhat extensively, and doubtless helps to +retain an air of commercial life and industry in the quaint old place. + +Sterzing is wonderfully decorative and compact in general effect; and +there are a surprising number of fine and interesting buildings to be +seen in its narrow old-time streets. The Rathaus, with its striking +bow windows, is of late Gothic architecture, and in it is a fine +fifteenth-century altar-piece, and some interesting and well-executed +wood carvings. This building, now used by the town officials and +magistrates, was formerly doubtless a mansion of a wealthy merchant. +In it is one of the best preserved specimens of a Gothic ceiling, +dating from about the middle of the fifteenth century, that we have +seen in Tyrol in any private house of similar size. + +The church has been extensively, but on the whole well restored. It +dates from the sixteenth century, and has a Gothic choir of note, and +nave and aisles restored in the Rococo style, the ceiling paintings of +which are by Adam Mölckh. The general effect of the interior is good, +and the church has some interesting architectural details. + +The decline of Sterzing is attributable to the same cause as that of +many other townlets and villages upon the old post-roads, and the +roads over the passes which have gradually become less and less used +as railroads have multiplied. But, in the case of Sterzing, its +gradual descent from the position of importance it once occupied, +traces of which are found in the numerous fine houses still standing, +was undoubtedly more owing to the exhaustion or abandonment of the +mining industry than to the coming of the railway which so seriously +affected the road traffic of the Brenner Pass. + +Near Sterzing, it should be remembered, Hofer and his peasant forces +fought the first big engagement of the struggle in 1809, which ended +in the defeat of the Bavarians, who were driven back across the +Brenner, Hofer having crossed the Jaufen from his home at St. Martin +in the Passeier Valley. + +Matrei, or, as it is also called, Deutsch-Matrei, is the only place of +any size or importance which we have not already described on the line +between Sterzing and Innsbruck, or along the Brenner road. The little +town is charmingly situated, and like others of similar character and +altitude (it lies nearly 3300 feet above sea-level), is becoming more +and more resorted to by tourists and travellers upon the Brenner +route. The Castle of Trautson, belonging to Prince Auersperg, stands +on the hillside above it. Sterzing forms a fine centre for ascents and +excursions, and there is a most interesting pilgrimage church on the +north-eastern flank of the Waldrast Spitze dedicated to the Virgin, +and known by the name of the mountain; it dates from the middle of the +fifteenth century. Its foundation was in consequence of a peasant's +dream, in which he was directed to go to the woods, lie down and rest, +and there he should be told what to do. When he had done this the +Virgin appeared to him, and bade him build a chapel on the spot over +an image of her which had miraculously appeared no one knew how some +years before. To this chapel was given the name of Maria Waldrast +(Wood's rest), and although the monastery, which was built on the +spot more than a century and a half later, in 1624, is now but a ruin, +the pilgrimage is even nowadays made by the devout to the church which +is so beautifully situated more than 5300 feet above sea-level. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] For further details of the castle's history, see Prokop's +interesting account.--C. H. + +[17] Some authorities state Pleier was from Salzburg or the +Salzkammergut. + +[18] A Some authorities assert that her name was Katherina Lanz, and +that from about 1820 till her death in 1854 she lived as housekeeper +to the priest at St. Virglius near Rost, high up in the Enneberg +Valley.--C. H. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + SOME TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF WALSCH-TYROL: TRENT, ITS HISTORY, + COUNCIL, AND BUILDINGS--ROVEREDO AND DANTE--ARCO--RIVA + + +Trent, which is easily reached from Bozen through the Etschland by the +Bozen-Verona line, which winds through some delightful scenery and +passes many a ruined castle perched high on inaccessible heights, is +not only a large town of upwards of 25,000 inhabitants, but was +anciently one of the wealthiest in Tyrol. It is generally supposed to +have been founded by the Etruscans, and both Pliny and Ptolemy make +mention of it; but whoever designed Trent seized upon a beautiful +situation, and the builders have left behind them in the quaint town, +broad streets, handsome palaces of dead and gone nobles, and a forest +of towers and spires, delightful survivals of mediæval days. +Surrounded by limestone crags, the city itself, notwithstanding its +Italian character and fine atmosphere, gives one at first sight an +impression of lack of colour which is not usually the case with +Italian towns. + +Regarding the foundation of the city and the origin of its name, there +is at least a local tradition that it was founded in the time of +Tarquinius Priscus, about B.C. 616, by a body of Etruscans led by +Rhaetius; and these founders, although so far removed from the sea, +instituted the worship of Neptune, from which circumstance the ancient +name Tridentum was derived. Be this as it may, the circumstance is +interesting, as in these Etruscans under the leadership of Rhaetius +one can perhaps discover the origin of the Rhaeti, who ultimately gave +so much trouble to the Empire of Rome. At any rate, Rhaetius gave his +name to the district in the immediate vicinity of Trent. The +interesting Castle Del Buon Consiglio, which forms so dominating a +feature of the town, and possesses a circular and lofty donjon of the +type of Guy's Tower at Warwick, with its fine Renaissance loggia in +the inner or fountain courtyard and several storied arcades in the +older, was once the residence of the Prince Bishops, but now used as +barracks. In it is preserved an ancient inscription relating to the +government of the town, which proves that the regulations and statutes +were very largely modelled upon those of Rome itself. + +Those who can do so should certainly endeavour to visit Trent during +the latter part of the month of June, not merely from the fact that +this month is charming by reason of the beauties of nature, the wealth +of tender new foliage and delightful climate, but also because on the +26th of the month falls the Festival of Saint Vigilius, the patron +saint of Trent, and the martyr missionary who anciently did much to +Christianize the country. At this _fête_ the ancient city, whose +by-ways and narrower streets are full of interest, picturesqueness, +and charm, is seen at its gayest and best. All the many churches are +crowded with worshippers, thousands of whom have flocked down from the +surrounding mountains and come in from the various villages of the +Etschland, bound first upon religious observances in honour of their +patron saint and afterwards to take part in the characteristic games +and amusements which give the city for the time being such a festive +and Bank Holiday air. In former days the more violent amusements were +often supplemented by the performance of religious dramas, somewhat on +the lines of the better known and more elaborate plays of +Ober-Ammergau and the Brixenthal, and also by the illumination of the +surrounding hills by huge bonfires, which are said to have had their +origin in the religious observances of even more remote times than +that of the Etruscan occupation. + +Saint Vigilius, who was born at Rome, eventually became the Bishop of +Trent, and ultimately suffered martyrdom during one of the many +persecutions which took place, and were similar in character to those +of the fourth century. + +The city during its early wars was several times sacked, and more than +once burnt by the Bavarian hordes which overran the country and even +at last reached the gates of Rome itself. Thus Trent came to be built +at various periods upon former foundations, and researches of recent +times have tended to show that, as was the case with Rome itself, the +comparatively modern Trent is built upon soil several feet above the +level of its first site. One Italian authority, indeed, states that +the streets of the original town lie some fourteen feet below the +level of those of the present. Traces of at least three distinct lines +of walls marking the growth of the city at various times have been +excavated, leading also to the discovery of many interesting relics of +Roman days, including tessellated pavements, portions of an +amphitheatre of considerable size, ornaments, household utensils, etc. + +The bishops still retain their title of Prince, but they lost their +power as territorial rulers at the time of the secularization which +took place throughout Tyrol, and also in the principality of Salzburg. + +[Sidenote: THE COUNCIL OF TRENT] + +Although this ancient city, which is characterized nowadays by a +cleanliness and order so often found wanting in Italian towns, has +undergone many vicissitudes and has been the scene of important +historical events, to the Trent folk of to-day and to many of the +visitors who come to it the chief events in connection with its +history will undoubtedly remain the sittings of the famous Council +which commenced in the year 1545. Many may wonder how it came about +that so comparatively small a town should have been chosen as the +meeting-place of a Conference intended to attempt the co-ordination of +the beliefs and doctrines and the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs +of the whole of the then Christian world. Probably the sole reason for +this selection was the geographical position of the city, which lay +then, as it does to-day, a frontier town, so to speak, between Italian +and German influences, and though situated on Austrian soil, yet +containing an Italian-speaking population. + +The Council opened on December 13, 1545, and continued its sittings +(with interruptions) until December 4, 1563, the last being the +twenty-fifth in number. The meetings of the Council took place at +various times during the reigns of three Popes, Paul III., Julius +III., and Pius IV., and amongst the enactments of the Council the +Canon of Scripture, including the Apocrypha, was confirmed, and the +Church named as its sole interpreter; that traditions were to be +considered as equal with Scripture, and the seven sacraments of +Baptism, Confirmation, the Lord's Supper, Penitence, extra-Unction, +Orders, and Matrimony were also confirmed; transubstantiation, +Purgatory indulgences, celibacy of the clergy, auricular confession, +and other matters were dealt with. + +The first sitting was held under Cardinal Del Monte, the papal legate, +who rose amidst the assembled prelates and representatives and asked +them whether it was their wish, "For the glory of God, the extirpation +of heresy, and the reformation of the clergy and people, and the +downfall of the enemy of the Christian name, to resolve and declare +that the Sacred General Tridentine Council should begin and was +begun?" The whole company, we are told, answered "Placet," a Te Deum +was sung, and it was agreed that the first sitting of the Council +should be held on the 7th of January. The sittings were continued at +various times without any untoward event till the year 1552, when +Maurice of Saxony invaded Tyrol, and although the Council was sitting, +most of its members fled the country after having re-enacted the +various decrees and ordinances which had been previously passed. + +Ten years later, what was to all intents and purposes another Council +met at Trent, and a solemn service was again held, at which Cardinal +Gonzaga was elected president. A quarrel seems to have arisen between +some of the archbishops and bishops and one of the French envoys. The +former did not agree to some of the terms of the proposition made by +the Archbishop of Reggio, whilst the latter raised an objection to the +Council being considered a continuation of the first Council. + +The building in which the Council sat has been stated at various times +to have been the Cathedral, in the Piazza del Duomo, but there seems +very little doubt now that the place of meeting was not there but in +the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, situated on the Piazza of the same +name. In it on the north wall of the Choir hangs a large picture +representing some three hundred of the various chief dignitaries as +they sat in the Council Chamber. The members numbered nearly a +thousand in all, and in addition to the cardinals, archbishops, +bishops, abbots, chiefs of religious orders, and representatives from +the University, there were also present ambassadors from the Emperor +of Germany, and from the Kings of France, Spain, and Portugal, from +the republic of Venice and Genoa, from Switzerland, and from the +German electors. + +There were at first serious disputes regarding the mode of conducting +the business of the Council: what subjects were to be brought up for +discussion, and which of those so brought up should have precedence. +The German prelates and representatives appear to have been favourable +to the discussion of subjects of a more practical nature, realizing as +they did that one of the chief causes of disruption and want of +unanimity in the Church was the presence of practical and easily +located abuses. They therefore strongly urged that the first work of +the Council should be of the nature of reforms affecting these +abuses. On the other hand, the Italian prelates and envoys were most +favourable to the discussion of matters of doctrine and ecclesiastical +observances. These differences of opinion were, however, ultimately +overcome by an agreement that for each session of the Council dealing +with dogma there should be one held to consider the question of +practical reforms. + +The first president, Cardinal Del Monte, frankly acknowledged that +many abuses had crept into the Church, and to prove the sincerity of +his reforming proposals voluntarily yielded up his pluralities of +office; and this example was followed by the Prince Bishop of Trent, +who offered to resign the See of Brixen. + +In 1547, owing to an epidemic then raging in Trent, the first session +was closed, and the next sitting took place at Bologna. Charles V., +who had been a very active promoter of the Council, objected to the +change of venue and insisted upon it being adjourned. It again sat in +1551 at Trent, and an interesting feature of the sitting was the +presence of Protestant delegates and envoys from Maurice, elector of +Saxony, and from the elector of Brandenburg. Queen Elizabeth declined +to send any representative, preferring to accept the decisions of an +English convocation. After transacting a considerable amount of +business the Council was adjourned, and did not again meet for a +period of eleven years. On that occasion many points came up for +discussion, and a considerable number of measures of practical reform +were agreed upon. One of the most important was the suppression of the +alms gatherers, men who were sent for the purpose from Rome to +different countries with power to sell indulgences. It was by this +means that a large amount of the money with which St. Peter's, Rome, +was built was obtained. + +[Sidenote: DECREES OF THE COUNCIL] + +Amongst other important matters decreed by the Council was that +prohibiting the sale, printing, or keeping of any books whatever on +sacred matters under pain of anathema and fine imposed by a canon of +the last Council of Lateran, unless first approved of by the +ordinary. It also provided that offenders should have their books +burnt; should pay a fine amounting to a hundred ducats; should be +suspended a year from the exercises of their trades; and goes on to +add that they should be visited with a sentence of excommunication; +and, finally, should their contumacy become worse, be so chastised by +their bishop by every means granted by the law that others might take +warning from them and not be tempted to follow their example. It was +also decreed that even those who lent forbidden books, which included +the writings of arch-heretics, such as Luther, Calvin, and others, +even though in MS., should be liable to the same penalties; and all +those who should have any such books in their possession, unless +confessing the author's name, should themselves be regarded as the +author. + +Cardinal Lorraine, who attended with fourteen bishops, three abbots, +and eighty learned doctors of divinity on behalf of King Charles IX. +of France, was charged with instructions from that monarch to entreat +the Council to concede the following reforms and benefits: that in +France the sacraments might be administered, the psalms sung, prayers +offered up, and the catechism taught in the language of the people; +and that the sacrament should be fully administered to the laity. Also +that some strenuous means should be taken to check the licentious +lives of the clergy; and that the Council should make any concessions +tending towards peace and the abatement of schism which did not +controvert or interfere with God's word. The French ambassadors also +asked for clear instructions concerning the doctrines governing the +uses of images, relics, and indulgences; and also they were instructed +to urge argument against exacting fees for the sacrament, benefices +without duties, and many other things which the more liberal minded +and progressive of the prelates regarded as grave abuses in the +Church. One astonishing objection which Renaud Ferrier, the then +President of the Parliament in Paris, in company with Lansac, raised +before the Council was to the dogma that the Pope's authority was +supreme, their contention being that the Council was above the Pope! + +As we have said, this important Council on religion came to an end in +December, 1563, when the President moved its dissolution. Before the +closing scene, the acts of the Council were finally agreed to and +signed, "the ambassadors also adding their names." Then the President +dismissed the members in the following words: "After having given this +to God, most reverend fathers, go ye in peace." To which all present +replied, "Amen." Then Cardinal Lorraine rose and called down the +blessing of the assembly upon the then reigning Pope, Pius IV., and +also upon his predecessors, Paul III. and Julius III. "By whose +authority," said the Cardinal, "this sacred Council was begun; to them +peace from the Lord and eternal glory and happiness in the light of +the Holy Saints." To which those present answered, "By their memory +ever held in sacred benediction." + +Then there were prayers for the reigning monarchs whose ambassadors +were present, for the holy oecumenical synod of Trent, whose faith +and decrees all present declared they would keep for ever. Then came +the final scene, when the Cardinal, standing in the midst of the vast +assembly, declared in a loud voice, "Anathema! anathema! to all +heretics!" To which there came the reply, "Anathema!" And thus ended +not only the Council of Trent, but also the last great general Council +of the Roman Catholic Church. + +[Sidenote: THE CHURCHES OF TRENT] + +The church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in which the Council held its +sittings--a rather plain red marble building, which, however, has a +fine Lombardian campanile--will always be one of the most interesting +churches amongst the many of Trent. Severe outside, the interior is +exceptionally ornate. The organ-loft, completed in 1534, twenty years +after the commencement of the church, is one of great beauty. +Designed by Vincenzo Vicentin, it has a white marble balustrading, the +supports of which are thickly encrusted with decorative work and +statuettes of delicately fine workmanship. In the church are also +several interesting and good pictures, amongst the number one +ascribed, though possibly incorrectly, to Tintoretto. + +There are one or two interesting traditional stories connected with +this church. The first relates to the beautiful organ, and runs as +follows: "So fine a tone and so esteemed was the work of the now--so +far as we have been able to ascertain--unknown organ builder, that the +Town Council are said to have determined to blind or maim him so that +it should be impossible for him to construct another instrument like +it for any other city. The unfortunate man, unable to get the +Councillors to give up their diabolical intention, asked as a last +favour to be allowed to play on the instrument he had made ere the +barbarous sentence was carried out. But as soon as he was in the +organ-loft he set to work and irreparably injured the vox humana stop +which he had invented, and which had been the greatest attraction of +the beautiful instrument; and thus he punished the Council who had +determined to reward his genius in such a terrible manner." + +The other legend is of the crucifix, still to be seen in one of the +side chapels of the Cathedral, which on the occasion of the final Te +Deum, when the Council was disbanded on December 4, 1563, was seen to +bow down in token of approval of the constitutions and enactments +which had just been signed. + +Of the fifteen or sixteen churches of Trent, the Cathedral, which was +commenced in the eleventh century and finished in the fifteenth, in +the form of a Romanesque basilica with a lantern above the joining of +the cross, is the most important. It is built of the same reddish +brown marble as the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which stone +abounds in the immediate neighbourhood. There are some remnants of +seventh or eighth century carvings, notably the Lombard ornaments of +the three porches, which are of great interest. The interior of the +church, which is dedicated to Saint Vigilius, contains many frescoes +and some good pictures and other objects, including a Madonna by +Perugino, a copy of the Madonna Di San Luca in the Pantheon, which was +presented to a Bishop of Trent whilst on a visit to Rome in the middle +of the fifteenth century, and has ever since been an object of great +veneration to the townsfolk and peasantry of the district round about. + +The Museum in the Palazzo Municipale, which, at any rate, a year or +two ago was unfortunately closed during the months of July and August, +when many tourists are in Trent, contains some very interesting Roman +antiquities, including inscriptions, household utensils, ornaments, +coins, pottery, and similar objects, and is well worth an hour or two +for inspection. + +[Sidenote: DANTE AND THE VAL SARCA] + +Dante's connection with Trent does not appear to be, even at the +present time, very clearly proved, although there would seem to be no +doubt whatever that the poet spent some few months, at least, in the +Trentino. This theory gains some considerable support from references +which occur in the "Divina Commedia" to the Trentino, which (various +authorities state) are so detailed as to be only possible from +personal knowledge. It may, however, be pointed out that, as in the +case of Shakespeare, who described many places quite accurately to +which he could never have been, it is possible Dante's knowledge of +the Trentino was not gained from personal experience, and the theory +advanced of his sojourn in the neighbourhood, based upon references to +the district in his works, is not unassailable. A considerable number +of books, pamphlets, and articles have been written, however, by +Italian, German, and English scholars and students of Dante in support +of different theories regarding his visit to these parts. One of the +most learned and thorough writers upon this subject--Zaniboni--appears +to have no doubt that Dante was in the Trentino, but that the +"Inferno" was not written during his supposed visit to the Castle of +Lizzana, but soon after his return to Italy. Other authorities have +inclined to the view that the Val Sarca, near the tiny village of +Pietra Murata, is the real scene of Dante's "Inferno"; and those who +know this desolate and even terrible spot, where the very ground seems +blighted, the heat intense between the towering and craggy cliffs, and +the whole of the valley the scene of a horrible desolation, with huge +boulders tossed hither and thither, and not a blade of grass and +scarcely a patch of lichen to be seen, will be inclined also to +support this view. But whatever the truth may be, Trent has put in a +claim to Dante in the shape of the magnificent monument to him, from a +design by Zocchi, erected in 1896 in the centre of the Piazza Dante, +near the station. The figures around the base of the column upon which +the statue of the poet stands, with his right arm upraised and +outstretched, and his left pressing a roll of MS. to his breast, are +remarkably well executed, and the whole effect of the memorial, with +its background of craggy mountains and its environment of flower-beds, +is impressive. + +There are, of course, numberless interesting buildings, and also +several other churches worthy of study and attention; but, perhaps, +amongst all the domestic buildings and palaces of Trent, including the +Palazzi Wolkenstein and Sizzo, and the Tabarelli, in which are +magnificent private collections of pictures and other _objets d'art_, +none exceeds in romantic and legendary interest the Teufelspalast, +which has been known by several other names at various times, and +latterly as the Palazzo Zambelli. This beautiful home (now a bank) was +built by George Fugger, a relative of the wealthy banker, Anthony +Fugger, of Augsburg. The legendary story is as follows:-- + +George Fugger having become acquainted with one Claudia Porticelli, a +beautiful young woman of Trent, fell desperately in love with her, and +although the fair Claudia does not appear to have discouraged his +suit, she was too proud to yield too readily to his proposals, and in +addition was very patriotic, and inclined to the view that a Tyrolese +maid should marry a Tyrolese man. It was in pursuance of this idea, +when at last her lover pressed her strongly for an answer, that she +told him she would never marry a man who lived so far away from her +beloved home, and that she wondered how any one who did not possess a +tiny _pied à terre_ in Trent, should for a moment think that he could +have any claim upon her affections. This reply to his suit might, one +would think, have discouraged most people, but George Fugger, who +possessed vast wealth, had no intention of yielding up his claim, or +his supposed claim, to the beautiful Claudia without a struggle; and, +moreover, Claudia Porticelli, although discouraging him so distinctly, +had (like a woman) put off the evil day of giving a final answer for a +period of a little more than twenty-four hours. In this delay, George +Fugger saw the solution which great wealth and determination of +character placed within his reach. He determined, therefore, within +the short space remaining before Claudia gave him his final answer, to +build a house "worthy of the human gem whose casket it was to be." + +[Sidenote: A SATANIC COMPACT] + +Twenty-four hours or so in which to build a palace was, however, such +an impossibly short time that no man could hope to accomplish the task +by human aid alone. Therefore (so the legend goes) he sought the help +from a source to which no good Christian would think of turning, +namely, that of the Devil. In legendary lore there are many stories of +the Devil assisting men and women to an accomplishment of their +desires, but almost invariably at the price of their souls. + +George Fugger, however anxious for the Devil's assistance, was too +keen a man of business to wish to endanger his soul; so the object he +set himself to accomplish was to obtain the Evil One's aid without +paying the Evil One's price. The Devil was summoned, and he willingly +enough undertook the task upon the usual condition, of the surrender +at the end of life of the soul of the person he was helping. George +Fugger, without hesitation, signed the bond with his blood, only +stipulating for the insertion of a small clause, which provided that +his Satanic majesty should on his part do Fugger one small service ere +claiming the price of his assistance. The Devil must have been in a +good humour, for he agreed to this quite willingly and unsuspiciously, +and the two parties went their way, each well satisfied with his part +of the bargain. + +Teufelspalast was, naturally enough, of magnificent design, and at the +time it was built was furnished with the most luxurious fittings and +decorations that the mind of man or devil could imagine. Marbles of +different kinds entered largely into its construction, and the +gilding, decorations, and carvings were such as to become famous +throughout even a country noted for great and beautiful palaces. When +the building was completed, the Devil summoned the owner, and asked +him to name the little service that he was to do him. George Fugger +had thought out his little scheme of outwitting the Devil, and he took +a bushel of corn and strewed it over the different floors of his vast +mansion. Then he said to the Devil, "See! If you can gather together +all the corn strewn about the palace grain by grain, and deliver it +back to me without the loss of a single grain before morning, then my +soul shall be yours. On the other hand, should you fail to do this, my +soul remains my own as well as the palace you have built." + +The Devil, we are told, was not in the least disconcerted by the task +which had been set him, and without doubting for a moment that he +would successfully accomplish it, he set to work to gather up the +grain. In the end, just before sunrise he had completed his task, all +but the finding of five grains of the corn. He searched high and low +for the missing grains, but to no purpose, and ere he could find them +daylight, which was to mark the end of the time allotted for his task, +began to appear; but the Devil, notwithstanding the absence of the +five grains, consoled himself with the thought that Fugger would +never discover the loss of five grains amidst the many hundreds of +thousands of others which he had heaped up in the measure. When Fugger +came to see whether the Devil had performed his task or not, he +counted out the number of grains of corn, and, of course, discovered +the absence of the five, so he asked the Devil where they were. + +"Oh," said the Devil, "they are there, the measure is piled quite full +up, and you cannot be so particular as all that." + +Fugger replied, "That is all very well, but five grains are missing, +and I must have them, or you have not performed your task, and lose +all claim to my soul in return for the palace you have so marvellously +built me." + +The Evil One replied, "You have miscounted the number. I have built +your house and picked up all the grains of corn, and I am not going to +be done out of my part of the bargain; besides, you cannot prove that +there are five grains short." + +"Oh yes, I can," replied Fugger; "stretch out your right hand." And +the Devil, not seeing that it could be any harm to comply with the +request, forthwith stretched out his great hand. Fugger seized it, and +said, "There lie the five grains under your own claws. The corn I set +you to pick up had been sanctified by being offered before the Holy +Rood, and for this reason you were prevented from fulfilling your +purpose. You have not collected the grains into your measure by dawn, +as agreed, and therefore our bargain is annulled." + +The Devil was in a terrible way. He did not see how to escape +conviction of failure, and so he sought to terrify Fugger by an +exhibition of his Satanic wrath. He set to work and began to attempt +to tear down the building which he had so recently completed. But he +no longer had any power over the palace, and only succeeded in +breaking a sufficiently large hole in the wall to enable him to fly +through it and depart. + +For many years this hole, which had been bricked up, was shown to +visitors, and was esteemed by many of the Trent people of the lower +class as proof positive of the superhuman origin of the palace and the +truth of the legend. + +The end of the story is just what might be expected. The fair Claudia, +who probably never meant to refuse the rich banker, consented to marry +him, now that he had a home in Trent. And there they lived, so it is +said, happily ever afterwards, and in due time died. + +[Sidenote: THE MADONNA ALLE LASTE] + +In the immediate neighbourhood of Trent are several other buildings +and places of very considerable interest and of great picturesqueness. +One favourite excursion is to the chapel of Madonna Alle Laste, which +lies on the hillside to the east of the city, about half an hour's +stiff walking from the Port Aquila, a little way off the road to +Bassano. From this spot one not only obtains good views of the town, +but can visit on a spur of the mountain the celebrated marble Maria +Bild, to which there is an interesting legend attached. This "picture" +has been an object of veneration with the people of Trent and the +district round about for centuries. + +Some time about the middle of the seventeenth century this fine tablet +was sacrilegiously injured and disfigured by a travelling Jew, much to +the rage and indignation of the people of Trent. And although a German +artist, Detscher by name, did his best to restore the carving, it was +impossible for him to entirely obliterate all trace of the injury it +had received. But, so the legendary story goes, by some miraculous +power it was altogether restored in one night, and this miracle so +increased the veneration in which the Maria Bild was held that people +thought there was no kind of disease too desperate that it could not +be cured by prayers at such a holy shrine. Several miracles are +ascribed to this wonderful carving, which became so venerated that +ultimately a chapel was built for it and placed in charge of a hermit; +and later on a community of Carmelites was established on the spot by +reason of the generosity of Field-Marshal Gallas, and this remained +until the secularization, now many years ago. + +The convent buildings, however, still stand, and from them there is a +fine view of the distant range of mountains, and the foreground slopes +covered with peach and other fruit trees. + +With the many other interesting walks and legends attached to the +scattered villages which lie in the immediate neighbourhood of quaint +and historic Trent there is no space to deal. Most travellers must +leave Trent reluctantly, for it is beautiful in situation and deeply +interesting from all points of view. + +To the south and south-west of it lie two interesting towns. The first +is Roveredo, the second Arco; the former, though a less frequented and +less historic town than Trent, is yet one of some importance and +remarkably well situated. It dates from Roman times, and received its +name Roboretum in consequence of the enormous oak forests by which it +was surrounded. The high road which leads to it, owing to the fact +that it was one of the ancient ways into Tyrol, is crowded with ruins +of ancient fortresses and of castles in a state of more or less decay. +Most of these, including Predajo, Castlebarco, Beseno, Lizzana (at the +last named of which Dante lived during the first few years of the +fourteenth century, after his banishment from Florence), and others +took part in the various struggles for the possession of Tyrol which +were waged at different times between the Emperor of Germany, the +Republic of Venice, the Prince Bishops of Trent, and other powerful +families of the district who carried on private and other feuds +throughout the Middle Ages. + +[Sidenote: A BURIED CITY] + +At the time of Dante's banishment from Florence Castle Lizzana was the +home of the Scaligers, who gave shelter to the poet during his exile. +Not far from the Castle is that famous Sclavini (or land slip) di San +Marco, which is in reality a vast "_steinmeer_," and is probably +rather of the nature of a great and possibly pre-historic moraine, +than a land slide. But be this as it may the locality of this immense +accumulation of huge rocks thrown hither and thither no doubt provided +the poet with at least the inspiration of the descent into the +Inferno,[19] which runs as follows:-- + + "The place, where to descend the precipice + We came, was rough as Alp; and on its verge + Such object lay, as every eye would shun. + + As is that ruin, which Adice's stream + On this side Trento struck, shouldering the wave, + Or loosed by earthquake or for lack of prop; + For from the mountain's summit, whence it moved + To the low level, so the headlong rock + Is shivered, that some passage it might give + To him who from above would pass; e'en such + Into the chasm was the descent: and there + At point of the disparted ridge...." + CARY'S Translation. + +There is a legend that a beautiful city, once known as San Marco, +which was destroyed by a landslip that took place at the beginning of +the ninth century, lies buried under the gigantic rocks. At any rate, +in the Middle Ages this belief prevailed, with the result that the +peasants of the district were for ever digging amidst the _débris_ in +the hope of finding some of the vast treasure which tradition said had +been buried with the city. The story, which possesses an almost +Boccaccian touch of humour, goes on to say that on one occasion a +peasant, whilst thus excavating, came across a vast boulder, on which +was written in letters of fire in Italian, "Fortunate will they be who +turn me over." Naturally enough, the peasant was in a state of great +delight; surely this was an indication that the riches for which he +sought would be found hidden underneath the stone. Calling his +neighbours together, and, doubtless, promising them a share of the +spoil, after almost superhuman exertions, the great rock was rolled +over; but instead of finding in the cavity disclosed the treasure +which they expected, they found but another inscription on the under +side of the rock of a jocular and taunting nature, also in Italian, +which, literally translated, ran as follows: "Thanks for turning me +over; I had a pain in my ribs." As the Italian peasant, of all others, +cares little for unremunerative toil, and is easily depressed by such +sarcasm, we are told, "From that time forth the supposed ruined city +of San Marco and its buried treasures were left in peace." + +Not far from this spot, too, on the other bank of the river, is the +home of another legend of a deep cavern, concerning which there is a +tradition that years and years ago it was the retreat of a cruel, +white-bearded hobgoblin who lived on human flesh--children by +preference--and that whoever should have the courage to explore the +cavern to its depths would find at the end of it the remains of the +hobgoblin, and that his spirit would reward the adventurer by telling +him where a vast treasure lies hidden. + +Possibly the legend had some origin in the fact that the district +close here was once infested by a fierce band of robbers, who +plundered and robbed, not only travellers, but the people of the +country round about. Towards the end of the twelfth century the band +became so formidable that the then Bishop of Trent despatched a force +against them and destroyed the robbers' lair, building on the spot +where it was, and from whence they were accustomed to attack +travellers, a hospice for the protection of wayfarers, the chapel of +which was dedicated to St. Margaret. + +[Sidenote: ROVEREDO] + +Some dozen miles southward from Trent, down the pleasant valley +through which the Adige wends its tortuous way, lies Roveredo or +Rovereto, a busy and prosperous town famous for its silk culture, +situated on both sides of the river Leno, and dominated by the ancient +castle, which, built by the Venetians, has withstood many a fierce +siege. The silk trade, that gives Roveredo its chief importance, was +introduced into the town as far back as the middle of the sixteenth +century, and has contributed very greatly to its continuous +prosperity. Strangely enough, the principal family of Roveredo at the +beginning of the eighteenth century established business relations +with England, and a prosperous trade was the result. + +The town is prettily situated, and from the hillside above it presents +the usual characteristics of red roofs and white walls which +distinguish most Italian towns. It has many charming by-ways, flights +of cobble-paved steps leading up through quaint arches into zig-zag, +narrow streets of great picturesqueness, in exploring which one is +tempted to spend much time, particularly if possessing a camera. Its +chief streets, however, are wide and handsome, notably the Corso +Nuovo, planted with shady trees, leading from the railway station to +the town. + +Although there are seven or eight churches in Roveredo, none of them +are of any great moment, but there is a good altar-piece, supposed to +be the work of Giovanni da Udine, in the church of St. Rocchus, a +building erected in the middle of the seventeenth century owing to a +vow made by the inhabitants to do this during a visitation of the +Plague if the scourge was stayed. Although not a place to stay in for +any considerable length of time, Roveredo is undoubtedly worth a visit +from those who like picturesque architecture, and also on account of +its pleasant situation. + +Arco, which is on the way to Riva, lies almost due west of Roveredo, +but is reached by rail circuitously, via Mori, Nago, and Vignole, and +is picturesquely situated in the midst of laurels, palms, and olives, +dominated by the large and ancient castle situated on a pine-clad rock +high above the town. This castle was bombarded by the French, and +destroyed during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1703. The +church, a prominent object of the pretty town, is of considerable +interest, and amongst other places worthy of note is the château of +the late Archduke Albert, which has a remarkably fine winter garden. +Arco has of recent years gained some note as a health resort for +invalids with a consumptive tendency and, in consequence, possesses +quite a number of excellent hotels. + +From Arco to Riva is but a few miles, and, if possible, these should +be travelled by carriage in preference to the train, as the road lies +through the most delightful meadowland, fertile, and stretching upward +on either hand to the towering heights which shut in the valley. Riva, +which is the Tyrolese port of charming Lake Garda, is one of the most +delightful spots in all Tyrol. As one stands on the promenade, far +towards the south stretches the beautiful lake, whose deep-blue waters +and exquisite environment of mountains have been sung by poets and +described by travellers in every language of Europe. At the head of +the lake there is a very busy scene of coming and going +tourist-steamers, sailing craft piled with merchandise, hay, and other +produce, giving the little harbour quite a business-like air, which, +combined with unusual picturesqueness, cannot fail to charm every one +who comes to it. + +The town itself is situated chiefly at the foot of the precipitous +Rocchetta, on the sides of which olive trees, figs, palms, aloes, and +other vegetation grow; whilst above one hangs a deep-blue Italian sky, +luminous in summer with the brilliant sunshine of northern Italy. A +wanderer in the quaint streets and by-ways, some of the former of +which are arcaded, will come across many a picture and many a piece of +charming architectural detail for canvas and camera, whilst close to +Riva, on the shore of the lake, is the little village of Torbole, the +resort of artists, who find in its primitive character of a +fisherman's hamlet a veritable mine of delightful subjects for +pictures. + +The Parish Church of Riva deserves attention; it is really a handsome +building, and has much of interest in its interior. On the outskirts +of the town is the church of the Immaculate Conception, which was +built by Cardinal von Madruzz for the purpose of enshrining a +wonder-working picture of the Blessed Virgin. Two churches which have +their origin in times of plague, those of San Roch and San Sebastian, +erected in 1522 and 1633, are found in the town. The district round +about has the distinction of supplying the whole of Tyrol with the +branches of olive which are used on Palm Sunday; and Riva was long +considered the most northerly limit at which olive trees would +flourish. This idea, however, has of recent years proved to be +erroneous, as they are now cultivated as far north as Bozen. + +[Sidenote: A WONDERFUL VIEW] + +The ascent of the Altissimo di Nago, although a tough climb for all +save practised walkers, is well worth the trouble, as the panorama of +the lake obtained from the summit is one of astonishing beauty. Many +visitors to Riva also go to San Giacomo for the purpose of seeing the +sun rise, just as the ascent of the Rigi is made. Behind one extend +mountain range upon mountain range, and lofty peak upon peak of rocky +and snow-clad Alps; whilst to the south lies the beautiful Lake Garda, +of royal blue in the growing light, and the widespread plains of +Lombardy on either hand studded with fair cities, of which number +Milan, if the atmosphere be clear, will seem--though actually far +distant--to be so close that a good before-lunch stroll should enable +one to reach it. + +This favoured town not only takes one to the southern limit of Tyrol, +but provides a charming rest-place, from which many interesting +excursions may be made before setting one's face, reluctantly it will +surely be, northward once more, through perhaps the grander but less +soft and rest-provoking scenery of wilder Tyrol. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[19] Dante's "Inferno," Canto XII., lines 1-12. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + AMONG THE DOLOMITES, WITH NOTES UPON SOME TOURS AND ASCENTS + + +To many who visit Tyrol the most interesting district of this +delectable land is the Dolomite region, which forms by far the greater +part of the South Tyrol Highlands and offers not only unique +opportunities for climbers, but also much impressive and beautiful +scenery. + +It is only in comparatively recent years that the Dolomite of +south-eastern Tyrol has become a popular holiday-ground of tourists +and travellers. But a few decades ago it was--except to geologists, a +few artists, mining experts, and the more enterprising climbers--a +_terra incognita_, a region scarcely more known to the general +travelling public than the centre of Africa. Even nowadays it is far +less frequented by western European holiday-makers than it deserves to +be. + +Formerly there was some excuse for an ignorance and neglect which a +lack of easy transit, good roads, and railways to near-by points might +be held to condone. But at the present time so much has been done to +throw open this fascinating mountain district to the traveller, +rest-seeker, and artist that the excuse can no longer be urged. + +Concerning the climate, scenery, people, and accommodation now offered +to travellers, much can be said in praise. Indeed, regarding all of +these, it would be difficult to say everything one might without +running the risk of being accused of partiality or exaggeration. + +In this portion of Tyrol (as, indeed, may be said also of others) one +still meets with hospitality and courtesy at inns and rest-houses +which are not chiefly based upon the expectation of personal +aggrandisement or monetary reward, just as one still finds quietude +wedded to splendid scenery and beautiful prospects not yet exploited. + +In the Dolomite region, though its popularity is yearly increasing, +one can yet happily meet with comfortable hotels, which are not +overrun by the type of tourist for whom a good dinner is more than +fresh air and scenery, and dress clothes and gorgeous costumes of an +evening a _sine quâ non_. In a word, we have found that the Dolomite +region is free from many of the disadvantages of Switzerland--that +most exploited of European countries, and the one in which nowadays +perhaps the least quietude and rest is to be found--and provides a +playground for the mere pedestrian as well as a most attractive region +for the exercise of the climbing instinct. + +It must be admitted, however, that in the less frequented passes and +valleys one has occasionally to "rough" it in a mild kind of way, and +that one needs to be a good and enduring walker to "do" the region on +foot. But although some of the inns in the lesser known valleys are +yet somewhat primitive, the cooking is usually good, and the beds, +though the linen may be coarse, will be found almost without exception +spotlessly clean. + +It may be added that French is of little use in the Dolomites, except +in the hotels at the most frequented tourist resorts, such as Toblach, +Cortina, Karer See, Bozen, etc., Italian and German being generally +spoken--the former almost everywhere in the region; the latter chiefly +in the Gader Thal, Grödener Thal, and the district north of the +Ampezzo Thal; although in scattered hamlets south of the latter, here +and there one finds peasants speaking both. + +The Dolomite region is most accessible from the Venetian frontier, +Bozen, or Bruneck; and the true Dolomite district, which contains all +that is most magnificent as regards scenery and attractiveness to the +mountaineer and geological student, lies midway between the points we +have mentioned, and covers the comparatively small area of some fifty +miles by forty miles. + +Even nowadays there remain many peaks in the Dolomites yet untrodden +by the foot of, at least, modern man, as well as numberless delightful +paths amid exquisite scenery, where flowers carpet the earth and tiny +streams make their water-music. Along which by-ways, from sunrise to +sunset, one can travel amid the great silence of the hills without +meeting a single fellow-wayfarer. Many of the summits are upwards of +10,000 feet in height, and they who first climb their rocky walls, +deeply fissured sides, and ice- and snow-clad peaks, will have +accomplished tasks not inferior to those performed by the intrepid +mountaineers of the past who have scaled the great heights of the Alps +or the Himalayas. + +[Sidenote: THEORIES OF ORIGIN] + +Ever since geologists have speculated and argued concerning the origin +and nature of natural phenomena, there has been a conflict of opinion +amongst Tyrolese, German, and French geologists in particular +concerning the Dolomites. But although speculations have been many, +and various plausible theories have from time to time been advanced, +it may, we think, safely be said that none have been absolutely proved +or universally accepted. Baron Richthofen is perhaps the ablest +exponent of what is commonly known as the Coral Reef theory of origin, +and this has of late years been largely accepted by leading geologists +of different nationalities. + + [Illustration: ALPENWIESE, ON THE SEISER ALP] + +Baron Richthofen bases his theory chiefly upon the following points: +"(A) The isolated nature of the mountains themselves, and the fact +that their sides are frequently so steep and clear-cut as to preclude +any suggestion that they have been so made by the ordinary processes +of attrition, and that in general form they resemble atolls. (B) That +in their substance there are often found fossils and deposits of a +strictly marine character very closely resembling those found in coral +reefs; in addition to which the configuration shown by many of the +peaks is almost exactly similar to that found in the coral reefs of +to-day, with precipitous and almost perfectly vertical sides, where +they would have been (if the coral-reef theory is the correct one) +constantly scoured by the tide, and with much less precipitous sides +on the inner or lee side. (C) The fact that there is no trace +discernible of any volcanic origin. (D) They also, in their general +shape and lines, enclose spaces in a similar way to that which coral +reefs invariably enclose." There are many other points of resemblance +advanced in Mr. G. C. Churchill's exhaustive "Physical Description of +the Dolomite District," into which it is, however, unnecessary here to +enter more deeply. + +Of the Schlern, the magnificent peak which rises from so wild and +picturesque a wooded ravine to a height of 8402 feet, Baron Richthofen +makes the positive assertion that it is a coral reef, and that its +entire formation is owing, like that of the "Atolls" of the Pacific +and Indian Oceans, to animal activity and deposit. + +The Dolomites, which may be said to stretch between the Eisack, Etsch, +and Puster-Thal towards the south-east, and extend over the Tyrol +border into the Venetian district, derive their name from the +well-known geologist, Dolomieu, who lived in the eighteenth century, +and during the latter part of it travelled extensively in Tyrol, and +was the first to call the attention of scientists and others to the +peculiar structural formation of the southern mountain ranges. It may +be briefly here said that their material is largely limestone, but is +distinguished from the other chalky Alps by a special admixture of +magnesia. The fact that long ages ago the sea must have covered this +region, and did so for a period of long continuance, is proved by the +circumstance that, when climbing, one often finds on the very summits +of the highest peaks fossilized sea-shells. Many authorities are +inclined to the belief that some at least of the Dolomites have been +assisted in their growth, if not actually formed, by volcanic +agencies, and this theory is borne out by the fact that craters are +traceable in some of them even to-day. But whatever may be the true +origin of these magnificent peaks, there can be no doubt regarding +their unique formation. + +It may be urged by some that the Dolomites do not possess the severe +and apparently unapproachable majesty of the snow-clad Middle Alps, +with their mighty glaciers and fields of perpetual snow; but as +regards their beauty of colour, the wildness of their romantic +scenery, closely connected with the most lovely and panoramic of +landscapes, they are unequalled, just as the climate of the district +in which they stand is delightful and invigorating. + +In this comparatively small area one has a variety of scenery +unsurpassed by any, so far as we know, on the Continent of Europe. +Within the confines of the Dolomite region one has the wide range of +lofty mountains and terrific cliffs, in places reminding the traveller +of the cañons of the Rocky Mountains, with pinnacles, battlements, and +towers, rearing themselves on every hand like ruined and Titanic +fortresses, yet with their wildness softened in a measure by their +beauty of colour when gilded by the sunrise or bathed in roseate hue +of sunset light. Between the lofty peaks which rise skyward into the +very vault of heaven, as it seems to the wayfarer at their feet, +stretch lovely, winding Alpine valleys, often well-wooded and with +turf of a most delightful greenness strewn with myriads of Alpine +blossoms. Through valleys sweet with the odours of pinewoods and +flowers run rushing torrents or more quietly flowing streams, which +often have their origin in tiny, dark-blue Alpine lakes set amid +environing pine forests, in whose tranquil waters are reflected the +towering rocks and secluded woods which surround them. + +To these beautifully situated spots, which are peopled by happy and +friendly disposed peasants, come year by year an increasing number of +travellers from other countries of Europe and from America, flocking +into all the more frequented parts intent upon enjoying the beautiful +scenery over which hangs, during the summer months, a vault of +deep-blue sky, looking all the bluer by contrast with the snow-clad +Dolomite peaks, whose grandeur and fascinating beauty are not easily +forgotten by those who have once gazed upon them. + +[Sidenote: TOURING FACILITIES] + +One of the great advantages of touring in the Dolomites to +pedestrians, and cyclists more especially--although cycling provides +plenty of "collar-work"--is the wonderful network of roads which cross +the country in all directions. The surface of these roads is generally +excellent, although several of them reach altitudes of between five +and six thousand feet above the sea. The gradients have been well seen +to, the road ascending by winding curves up the hillsides mostly by +such easy stages as enable them to be traversed either on foot, in a +carriage, motor-car, or even on a bicycle without much difficulty or +fatigue. In this manner one reaches the open, sunny plateaux and +ridges which serve to divide the separate groups of mountains one from +the other, where the traveller can almost always find accommodation in +good modern hotels or in well-arranged and modernized inns. + +It is in the possession of these numerous well-managed and excellently +appointed hotels and inns that the Dolomite region excels; and they +are of such variety as regards size and the kind and cost of +accommodation which can be obtained at them, that almost all tastes +and purses can be suited. This has been more especially the case +during the last decade, in which new routes have been opened up, and +further and adequate hotel accommodation provided. Huge buildings, +affording every possible comfort and modern convenience, patronized by +the wealthy visitor, hotels on a less grand scale, suited to the +requirements of the well-to-do middle classes, and yet more modest, +though not less well-managed and comfortable, establishments, where +for an almost incredibly small sum pedestrians and tourists of more +restricted means can obtain excellent food, are all to be found in the +Dolomite region. In the larger hotels at the more noted resorts, of +course, one finds much the same "life" as that prevailing at such +places as Ischl, Semmering, Pontresina, St. Moritz, and Lucerne, where +bands play during dinner, ladies wear elaborate Parisian toilettes, +men dress for dinner, and climbing is, for most of the visitors, quite +a secondary consideration to that of enjoying "smart" society. In the +smaller places one finds greater simplicity and, to our thinking, +greater charm, with more of the life of the people in evidence and +less of the exotic. + +But the Dolomites themselves present many attractions to the climber, +and yet provide numerous ascents which can be undertaken by the +comparatively untrained and inexperienced. This is largely owing to +the fact that they consist chiefly of isolated groups of mountains of +great height, but which, owing to their isolation, are not approached +by long and toilsome journeys ere the actual climbing itself +commences, such as is often the case with the greater peaks of the +Central Alps. Numbers of the higher ones, reaching to upwards of 9000 +feet in height, may be ascended without any great fatigue by well-made +paths, thus providing for the tourists who are not expert climbers +plenty of exercise with just those elements of adventure and +inspiration which prove the greatest charms to all climbers, and the +reward at the end which comes to those who penetrate the higher +regions of a purer atmosphere, and a larger outlook upon the glorious +beauties of mountainous districts. + +There are, of course, many other Dolomite summits which can only be +ascended, and should only be attempted, by practised and hardy +climbers, for whom great heights and the risks attending their ascent +possess no terrors. It is generally conceded that the district +provides both for the inexperienced and most experienced climbers some +of the most interesting mountain ascents in Europe. In the Dolomite +region, especially of recent times, climbing has made extraordinary +progress. Summits, the ascent of which a few years ago was looked upon +as a great achievement by even good climbers, are now scaled by +numbers of people every year; and each year brings additions to the +conquered peaks, some of which were a decade ago looked upon as +absolutely unclimbable, and likely to remain so. + +The Dolomites are, indeed, gradually becoming as well known to +climbers and would-be climbers of even the countries of Western Europe +as are the Swiss Alps, and annually a larger number of lovers of +Alpine scenery take their holidays in this region; and of late years +the district has been visited by many even in winter time. In summer, +although much accommodation has already been provided for tourists, it +is, up to the present, decidedly insufficient for all the visitors who +flock to this region during the months of July, August, and September. +It is, therefore, advisable for any one who wishes for a comfortable +time during those months to secure rooms in advance at all places +which are to be visited, more especially at those centres of +attraction to which the greater number of tourists are in the habit of +gravitating. + +[Sidenote: DOLOMITE GROUPS] + +The Dolomites may be divided into the following groups, running from +east to west.[20] (1) The Sextner Dolomites, the most important +summits amongst which are the Drei Schuster Spitz, 10,375 feet, which +is ascended generally from the Fischelein Boden; the Elferkofel, +10,220 feet; the Zwölferkofel, 10,150 feet; Oberbacher Spitz, 8700 +feet, and the Drei Zinnen, 7897 feet, two absolutely bare peaks of +sulphurous limestone, streaked with pale orange, rising grandly and +boldly from behind the Monte Piana plateau like two huge scored and +fissured fingers of a Titanic hand. (2) The Ampezzaner Dolomites, +with Monte Cristallo, 10,495 feet, with its many peaks veiled by +snows, glassing itself in the agate green waters of the lovely +pine-environed Dürren See. Monte Antelao, 10,710 feet; the three +Tofanas, ranging in height from 8565 feet to 10,635 feet; and the +Sorapis, 10,520 feet. (3) The Agordinischen Dolomites, with the +Nuvolau, 8685 feet; Monte Pelmo, 10,395 feet; and Monte Civetta, +10,565 feet, whose western face from Caprile was unascended till as +recently as 1895, when Messrs. Raynor and Phillimore, with two Ampezzo +guides, made the ascent. (4) The Grödener Dolomites, which embrace the +beautiful Rosengarten, the Schlern, 8415 feet; the Sella-group, +including the Sellajoch, 7275 feet; Rodella, 8155 feet, and other +lesser peaks; and the Geislerspitzen, with its highest peak, Sas +Rigais, 9930 feet. (5) The Fassaner Dolomites, consisting of the +groups of the Latemar, 9166 feet; the Marmolada, the highest of all +the Dolomites, a huge group with several peaks, including the Puntadi +Penia, 11,020 feet; the Marmolada di Rocco, 10,820 feet, and other +magnificent and lofty summits; and the Pala Group, including the +Cimone Della Pala, 10,450 feet, the Pala Di San Martino, 9830 feet, +and the Pala Della Madonna, 8336 feet. + +There are numberless interesting and picturesque excursions to be made +in this charming region of the Dolomites, but the space at our +disposal will only permit of the mention of a few of the most +accessible, interesting, or picturesque. + + + [Illustration: MISURINA LAKE] + +INNICHEN THROUGH THE SEXTEN THAL TO LAKE MISURINA. + +Innichen, reached from Toblach through a beautiful pine (larch) +forest, is a prettily situated townlet on the Puster Thal road, with +good accommodation for visitors. It possesses a fine monastery church, +dating from the thirteenth century, which is one of the most +interesting and unique buildings in Tyrol. It contains some very +extraordinary and grotesque figures and faded frescoes, and a small +chapel built in imitation of the Holy Sepulchre by one of the +villagers, who once made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The road leads +a little below past the village into the Sexten Valley, the principal +hamlet of which is Sexten, or St. Veit, which is nowadays a charming +and much-frequented summer resort, where one may wander amidst almost +illimitable pine forests, and enjoy fresh mountain air and quietude +surrounded by exquisite scenery. From Sexten one reaches in about an +hour Fischlein Boden, by way of Moos, along a beautiful path through +the pine woods, from whence one obtains an admirable view of the head +of the valley, with the Drei Schuster Spitze, the Oberbacher Spitze, +Drei Zinnen, Elferkofel, Zwölferkofel, and Rothwand, and an almost +unrivalled vista of snow peaks. From this point, passing the Zsigmondy +Hut, 7320 feet, one comes to the Bacherjoch. From the Zsigmondy Hut, +the Elferkofel and the Zwölferkofel may be ascended, both of which +are, however, very difficult. Over the Bacherjoch a footpath leads to +the Drei Zinnen Hut on the Toblinger Riedel, 7895 feet, on past the +celebrated Drei Zinnen to the pretty Misurina Lake, tree-bordered and +mountain environed, one of the most charming and picturesque spots in +the Dolomites. + + +TOBLACH THROUGH THE AMPEZZO THAL TO SCHLUDERBACH AND CORTINA. + +From Toblach there is an excellent excursion through the Ampezzo +Valley to Schluderbach and Cortina. The starting-point is situated on +the watershed of the high Puster Thal, and is a great place for +consumptives and different forms of fresh-air cures. It is visited by +people from almost all parts of the world, and in consequence the +hotel accommodation is excellent and even luxurious. The village of +Toblach itself is at the head of the Ampezzo road, which here leaves +the Puster Thal at an altitude of nearly 4000 feet, and leads due +south, passing between the Sarlkofel, 7740 feet, on the right, and the +Neunerkofel, 8418 feet, on the left. The Puster Thal railway, which +comes within about a mile of the village, makes Toblach easily +accessible, and it is in the neighbourhood of the station that the +huge modern hotels are built, acting, as it were, as gateways to the +beautiful Ampezzo Valley. The road through the latter is a magnificent +one, well suited for motoring if care be taken in descending some of +the sharp curves which lead down into Cortina; and especially +beautiful upon such an evening in June as we traversed it, just as the +sunset hues were illuminating the higher peaks with that roseate glow +which is destined too soon to fade to purples and through them to the +slatey blues of twilight. + +From Toblach the ascent is very gradual to the pretty and romantically +situated Toblach Lake; and thence one passes on to Landro at the head +of the valley of the Schwarze Rienz, where rise the lofty and +snow-clad Drei Zinnen with the waters of the Dürren See, jade green +and beautiful in colour, with Monte Cristallo with its cap of eternal +snow and its glacier, the Piz Popena and Monte Cristallino, rising in +the background. From the Dürren See to Schluderbach, 4730 feet, is a +distance of less than two miles; and here, too, one finds a +beautifully situated village surrounded by fine scenery, and provided +with excellent accommodation for tourists whether they be but passing +along into Italy or inclined to make a lengthy stay. + + + [Illustration: A ROAD THROUGH THE DOLOMITES] + +SCHLUDERBACH--CORTINA. + +From Schluderbach the road passes over the boundary between Tyrol and +Italy, through a beautiful forest, past a deep ravine, down to +Ospitale, 4835 feet, situated at the base of the Crepa di Zuoghi, 6745 +feet, and afterwards skirting the Peutelstein or Podestagno, 4945 +feet, by a wide though sharply curving road skirting precipitous +slopes and crossing the deep gorge of the Felizon by the Ponte Alto, +down to Cortina d'Ampezzo, 4025 feet above the sea, reached by +carriage from Toblach in about seven hours, and distant from it just +over twenty miles. + +[Sidenote: CORTINA] + +Cortina is beautifully situated on the left bank of the River Botta, +with the fine Tre Croci Pass (which takes its name from the three +large wooden crucifixes) opening away behind the town eastward, and +the Tre Sassi Pass widening out before it westward. The town is the +principal one in the commune of Ampezzo, and is surrounded by +stupendous heights and grand snow-clad mountains, amongst which are +some of the most splendid of the Dolomites. For years past Cortina has +been so considerable a resort of tourists and rest-seekers that +splendid accommodation is nowadays obtainable; and one of the first +impressions made by the place upon the traveller who comes to it after +that of its picturesqueness is its prosperity. It is far cleaner, too, +than most Italian or semi-Italian towns of its type. Though the +climate is so favourable--even in the coldest of winters the +thermometer seldom falls far below freezing-point--the soil of the +district is very poor, and the appearance of most of the +mountain-sides and valleys is bleak. There is in consequence little +agriculture and no cultivation of the vine in the immediate +neighbourhood of Cortina. Indeed, throughout the Ampezzo Thal +pasturage and timber-felling, and not agriculture, are the chief +industries, although wood-carving and the manufacture of gold and +silver filigree work is carried on to a very considerable extent. + +The festivals and fairs of the district are amongst the most important +of south-eastern Tyrol, and at them one still sees many of the +charming peasant costumes which have had here, as elsewhere, a +tendency to die out. The huge silver-headed hairpins of the girls +form a particularly noticeable feature of their elaborately and neatly +plaited coiffures. + +The main street of Cortina is a sunny and picturesque one, many of the +houses possessing quaint, irregular roofs, and the church, little +piazza, and hostelries making up a charming picture, with a beautiful +vista of pastures and mountain summits at the end of the street. + +The church, with its stately detached campanile, from the gallery of +which, nearly 250 feet above the level of the street, there is a fine +and extensive view of the town and valley, is one of the largest for +many miles around, and contains, amongst other things, an unusually +handsome altar, and some beautiful wood-carvings by Brustolone. The +churchyard (unless recently altered) is a desolate though a +picturesque spot, unfortunately a standing memorial of indifference +for the memory of those who have passed away, and irreverent neglect. + +All who reach Cortina, whether they stay long or merely for a few +hours, should go to the Aquila Nera Inn, if only to see the +interesting and varied paintings of two of the sons of a former +proprietor named Ghedina which adorn the walls of the dining-room, +staircase, the outside of the "Dependance," and even the whitewashed +walls of the outhouses and stables. The subjects are of great variety, +displaying in many cases much technical skill and imaginative gifts, +and comprise military and religious figures and designs, grotesques, +and on the walls of the square-built and solid-looking Dependance are +some large groups representing painting, sculpture, architecture, and +other domestic subjects, especially noticeable being the painter-like +and clever manner in which modern objects, such as telegraphic +instruments, cameras, steam-engines, etc., have been handled. + +From the top of the campanile, in which are hung great bells, one has +the village and the valley spread out at one's feet, with the Ampezzo +Thal stretching north and south and the passes of Tre Croci and Tre +Sassi stretching east and west. + +[Sidenote: BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS] + +In the valleys surrounding Cortina there are many beautiful wild +flowers and specimens of Alpine flora, amongst the most noticeable of +which are the wild daphne and the smaller mountain gentian; we fancy, +too, that in another very beautiful though small pink flower with +waxen petals, which grew in large clusters, we found the _Androsace +glacialis_, although two botanically learned friends differed as to +the correct name of this charming specimen. + +On the way to Cortina via Schluderbach one can, by branching off +southward soon after leaving the village, reach, either on foot +through the woods or by a good carriage road through the Val Popena, +the beautiful and nowadays much-frequented Lake Misurina, in which the +peaks of the Drei Zinnen and the tree-clad lower slopes of environing +hills are charmingly reflected. The lake, although of comparatively +small size, is justly considered one of the most beautiful in Alpine +regions, and on its banks several large hotels have already been +erected for the accommodation of the increasing number of visitors who +come to this quiet and lovely spot which lies nearly 6000 feet above +sea-level. + +One of the most picturesque excursions in this extreme southern limit +of Tyrol is by the carriage road, which, after passing through the +village, traverses the forest and by a gradual ascent reaches Tre +Croci, 6000 feet above sea-level. All along this beautiful road, which +traverses the slope of the Crepe di Rudavoi, one obtains the most +beautiful peeps of the huge cliffs of Cristallo to the right, with +fine vistas of the Marmorole and Sorapis on the opposite side. At Tre +Croci the beautiful Ampezzo Valley suddenly bursts upon the view with +the huge mass of the Tofana right across the valley, whilst in the +distance and to the south-west appears the serrated ridge of Croda da +Lago; and yet further distant the snow-clad summits of Marmolada. +From Tre Croci the beautiful road runs direct to Cortina down a rather +steep incline. Although the former means of reaching Cortina from +Schluderbach by the high road and through the Ampezzo Thal is the more +easily accomplished, none who have taken the road by way of Misurina +will regret its greater length because of its greater interest. + + +SCHLUDERBACH--PLÄTZ WIESE--PRAGSER WILDSEE--NIEDERDORF + +From Schluderbach, too, there is another road branching northward from +the Imperial Road to Niederdorf on the Bruneck-Innichen-Toblach line, +leading over the Plätz Wiese, upwards of 6500 feet above sea-level. +There is a fine hotel on the Plätz Wiese, about two hours from +Schluderbach, and it is from thence that one ascends the Dürrenstein, +9320 feet. This easily climbed mountain, although not providing much +excitement for the expert Alpinist, is one of those which amply reward +the climber for the fatigue and trouble of the ascent. As one stands +upon the summit one has spread out around on all hands a most +astonishing and magnificent panorama of the Dolomites, as well as of +the glaciers and Middle Alps which lie to the north. Amongst the great +heights and groups, on a good day plainly visible from the mountain, +are those of the Tauern, Ortler, and Adamello, and the beautiful +Pragser Thal, with amongst the chief heights the Hohe Gaisl, 10,330 +feet; Cadini, 9320 feet; Monte Cristallo, 10,495 feet, with its +glacier, and many other giants of the region. + +[Sidenote: PRAGSER WILDSEE] + +The road from Plätz Wiese continues past the little watering-place +Alt-Prags to Niederdorf, to reach which occupies about three and a +half hours. There is from this road another, branching off and leading +past the watering-place of Neu-Prags, with its prettily situated +houses and hotels, to the lovely Pragser Lake, nearly 5000 feet above +sea-level, and distant from Niederdorf seven and a half miles. Pragser +Lake, or the Pragser Wildsee, is one of the most beautiful, secluded, +and romantic of all the Alpine lakes, surrounded and sheltered as it +is by the mighty walls of the Seekofel, 9220 feet; the Herrstein, 8035 +feet; Col de Ricegon, 8770 feet; Hochalpenkopf, 8420 feet, and many +other wild and impressive heights. In the olive-green waters of the +lake itself the two first-named giants are reflected with wonderful +distinctness and beauty; whilst on the slopes of most of the +surrounding mountains the silvery, star-like flowers of the edelweiss +and the royal blue gentians grow with a luxuriance scarcely equalled +in any other part of the Dolomite region. The climate of this Alpine +lake is indeed bracing and health-giving, for on the hottest summer +day one finds a cool and refreshing air coming down from the mountains +and traversing the surface of the lake, whilst in the evening the +temperature is not materially lowered, as so often occurs at places +having such a considerable altitude and set amid great peaks, so that +one can remain in the open air quite safely, even though lightly clad, +until the beautiful Alpine twilight wraps the lake and its shores in a +mantle of mysterious beauty, and night seems to descend from the +summits of the great peaks around. + +No one, however, should think of visiting Pragser Wildsee in the +summer season without first bespeaking accommodation at the beautiful +hotel situated on the borders of the lake, or they may find themselves +compelled (as have been many others before them) to turn their backs +upon this lovely spot for lack of accommodation, as this is always +crowded with visitors during the months of July, August, and the early +part of September. This charming resort is most easily reached from +Niederdorf, situated on the Puster Thal railway, one station eastward +from Toblach. + + +CORTINA--FALZAREGO--BUCHENSTEIN. + +From Cortina the old Imperial or high road takes one out of the +Dolomites to the south-east into Venetian territory to Belluno, an +interesting and picturesque old town standing on a hill between the +Piave and Ardo, which at this point flow together. The Cathedral, +built chiefly by Tullio Lombardo in the early years of the sixteenth +century, was unfortunately greatly damaged during the earthquake in +1873; but it has been largely restored, and contains, in addition to +many interesting architectural details, some fine altar paintings. +From the summit of the campanile, which is upwards of 200 feet in +height, one obtains a most exquisite view of the old town and +surrounding country. The Prefecture, in the Piazza del Duomo, is a +fine early Renaissance building dating from the end of the fifteenth +century, and was originally the Palazzo dei Rettori. + +Belluno will shortly be connected by rail with Cortina, and possess a +station of its own. The new Dolomite road, however, travels from +Cortina in a south-westerly direction to the rock-strewn Falzarego +Pass, 6945 feet, lying in the shadow of the Hexenfels, 8126 feet, +whilst to the south-west rises the impressive, snow-covered Marmolada, +with the Col di Lana, 8084 feet, in the foreground of the picture. +From this pass one can ascend the Nuvolau, 8460 feet, from the summit +of which there is a panoramic view of the railway and surrounding +peaks. At the other end of the pass the new Dolomite road descends +more than a thousand feet into the valley of Andraz, a little, +picturesquely situated village from which several interesting +excursions can be made, near which lie the ruins of a very ancient +castle bearing the same name. Buchenstein, the chief village of the +Buchenstein Valley, distant from the end of the pass some nine miles, +is reached by the road from Andraz. There are some excellent inns, and +the village is splendidly situated and makes a good centre for +holiday makers. + + + [Illustration: A PEEP OF THE DOLOMITES] + +BUCHENSTEIN--CAPRILE--ALLEGHE SEE--ARÁBA. + +Near it a little road branches off to the south-east, which, leading +through Italian territory and crossing a stream, leads to Caprile, +just over the Italian frontier, descending on the left side of the Val +Cordevole, with fine views of the Val di Livinallongo. The village of +Caprile, at the far end of which is the short Venetian column, +surmounted by a lion of St. Mark, a relic of the days when the +Venetians ruled the district, is a somewhat straggling one, with many +of the houses built upon arches. The church is ordinary, although +there are some quaint decorations to the organ-loft worth seeing. But, +disappointing as is the village itself, its beautiful surroundings, +with the truly magnificent prospect of Monte Civetta, and the +beautiful Alleghe Lake, tempt one to prolong one's stay. + +From Caprile the road leads to the Lake, which lies at the foot of +Monte Civetta. The high road, however, which is fairly level, leads +first of all to the village of Arába at the foot of the Pordoijoch, +7355 feet. + + +BRUNECK--ENNEBERG--ARÁBA. + +On the way to Arába one can also reach, direct from the Puster Thal +station, St. Lorenzen, through the wildly beautiful and romantic +Enneberg Thal, which forms the shortest route to the middle division +of the great Dolomite road. One peculiarity of the Gader or Enneberg +Thal, and other similar valleys of the district, is the fact that the +peasantry speak neither German nor Italian (although in some valleys +the latter language is gradually becoming more used), but the patois +known as Ladin, which somewhat resembles the Romanche of the Grisons +district, although each valley has certain peculiarities of dialect. +No doubt these latter will in time die out, and German will become the +common language of the more German valleys, and Italian of the more +Italian. + +The carriage-road, which is 45 kilometres (28 miles) in length, is not +suitable for motors; it leads past Pedrazes, 4350 feet high, and +Corvara, 5110 feet, to Arába. Near Corvara lies the way over the +Grödener-Joch, 7010 feet, into the beautiful Grödener Thal, often sung +by the poet Walther von der Vogelweide. + + +WAIDBRUCK--GRÖDENER THAL--ARÁBA. + +The usual starting-point, however, for the latter is Waidbruck, to the +south of the Brenner road between Franzenfeste and Bozen. From +Waidbruck, 1545 feet, which lies at the head of the Grödener Thal, +with the Trostburg, 2040 feet, towering above it, the road goes to St. +Ulrich, 4055 feet, distant eight miles, the chief village in the wide +valley, prettily situated and surrounded by tree-clad slopes, beyond +which rise some magnificent rocky Dolomite peaks. The church, dating +from the end of the eighteenth century, has a beautiful interior, +containing some excellent examples of the woodcarving for which the +Grödener Thal has for ages been and still is famous. + + [Illustration: THE LANGKOFEL] + +[Sidenote: SOME DOLOMITE PEAKS] + +From St. Ulrich it climbs upwards through the valley, which at each +step becomes more beautiful and more magnificent, to St. Christina, +4685 feet, with its mountain pastures dominated by the huge +Langkofel-Joch, 8800 feet, and many other impressive heights, such as +Secéda, 8270 feet, Geislerspitzen, 9930 feet, to the north, and the +Plattkofel, 9740 feet, to the south; the Stella Group to the +south-east, with the Col dalla Piëres, 9055 feet; and the Pitzberg, +6020 feet, Puflatsch, 7140 feet, and the more distant Rosengarten and +the Schlern to the south-west. + +From St. Christina the road continues over the hill to St. Maria in +Wolkenstein, to Plan, 5290 feet; from whence mule tracks lead over the +magnificent Grödener-Joch, with its protection hut, or hospice, 7010 +feet, into the Enneberg Valley to Arába; and also over the great +Sella-Joch, 7275 feet, to Canazei, in the Fassa Valley, which lies +southward of Pordoi. There are several excellent and interesting +ascents which can be made from the Grödener Valley. First of all there +is the romantic Geislerspitzen, which, however, should only be +attempted by the skilled climber, as it is both a laborious and +difficult ascent. In the same category, though more difficult, and +suitable only for hardy mountaineers, are the Grosse Furchetta, with +its highest point 9930 feet; Kleine Furchetta, a few feet less; the +Fermeda-Thurm, 9440 feet; and the Gross Nadel, 9250 feet. Starting +from the Sella-Joch, the magnificent Sella, with the Boè Spitz, 10,340 +feet, as well as the wildly rugged Langkofel, can be ascended. From +the Sella-Joch also one can easily ascend the Col Rodella, 8155 feet, +which lies to the south-west of the former, from which summit one +obtains a very fine and extensive panoramic view. + + +ARÁBA--PORDOI--CANAZEI. + +In Arába, the second part of the new Dolomite high road, which comes +over the Pordoi-Joch to Canazei, in the Fassa Thal, the way ascends in +wide zig-zags through a beautiful and broad Alpine valley, in which +those interested in botany will find a wealth of Alpine flora scarcely +excelled by that of any portion of Tyrol, up to the heights of the +Pordoi-Joch, where there is an inn at which meals can be obtained, and +from which a most magnificent circular panoramic view extends. From +this place well-made tourist paths extend in many directions to the +Boè-Spitz as well as to the Fedaja Pass, 6710 feet, and the frontier +between Tyrol and Italy; a most attractive road, with the huge snow +peaks and glaciers of the giant Marmolada close at hand. + +The new Dolomite road goes from the Pordoi-Joch in a south-easterly +direction, traversing a magnificent forest with wonderful and +ever-changing views of the craggy peaks of the Dolomites, and thus on +to Canazei in the curve of the Fassa Thal. + + +CANAZEI--FASSA THAL--NEUMARKT--TRAMIN. + +This little town, 4790 feet, distant from Arába just over twelve +miles, is charmingly situated, and much resorted to by tourists as a +centre from which to make numerous interesting short tours in the +Dolomites. The inns are simple in character though comfortable, and +for that reason many will find that they possess an attractiveness +exceeding that which one finds in hotels of a more pretentious class. +The high road leads near Canazei, past Gries, Campitello, Vigo, and +Möena, to Predazzo, the chief town in the Fassa Thal, 3340 feet, about +nineteen miles from Canazei. + +The place occupies, so we are told by Baron Richthofen and other +authorities, including de Saussure and Churchill, the site of an +ancient volcanic crater, although it is indeed difficult for those +unversed in geology and seismic phenomena to realize the fact. +Predazzo, which stands in a broad valley at the junction of the Val +Travignolo and Fleims Thal, is a prosperous town, mainly owing to the +mineral wealth in the immediate neighbourhood, which of late years has +been developed and worked, and the fertile nature of the valley. The +inhabitants are principally iron workers, farmers, and hay or timber +merchants, and their sphere of trade is a far wider one than the +uninitiated would imagine, extending as it does throughout the +Austrian Empire, to Germany, Switzerland, and other countries. The +town cannot, however, be described as either very picturesque or +pretty; there are too many saw mills and iron furnaces in it, and +these in a measure serve to destroy the beauty of a naturally pretty +valley. But the painter of figure studies and tiny domestic pictures, +and the camera user with an eye for quaint "bits" may find them in the +older portion of the town amongst the wooden buildings; and +picturesque groups of women and girls are sure soon to reward the +patient artist or photographer who takes up a position commanding the +stone fountain in the main street, to which many come daily to draw +water. + +There is a fine new church, which, however, cannot displace in one's +artistic or sentimental affection the old one with its Tyrolese belfry +and weather-worn look. The famous and curious old house known as the +Nave d'Oro, now an hotel, but once the home of Giacomellis for +hundreds of years, is worth inspection, as some of the armorial +bearings of this erstwhile noble family still appear above the old +carved doorways, and serve as decorations of the ceilings and +fireplaces. The visitors' book contains what must be one of the most +valuable (so far as scientists and geologists are concerned) +collections of autographs to be found in any Tyrolean hotel. + +Predazzo is one of the finest geological centres in Eastern Europe, +and in the immediate neighbourhood of the town many beautiful and +varied minerals and crystals are found, amongst them the Tourmaline +granite, Uralite porphyry, and the Syenite porphyry, with its +marvellous crystals, which, so far as we have been able to ascertain, +are unique to this district. + +Although Predazzo is chiefly--and, in fact, almost entirely--given +over to mining, smelting, and timber-cutting, there is yet, amid all +the hum of the timber sawing-mills, and the roar and smoke of the +furnaces, a considerable lace-making school for women, where this most +delicate of industries is taught and practised. Some exquisite +specimens of lace are to be seen, and can be purchased at moderate +cost. + +An interesting fact in connection with the rich pasturage on the +slopes of the Latemar is that it belongs by common right to the +descendants of the original families founding the village, and was +given to the latter by a grant dating from the Middle Ages, but by +whom made it does not appear absolutely certain. + +The road leads on through the Fleimse-Thal, past Cavalese, where there +is an ancient palace of the Bishops of Trent, which has a painted +façade. The building is now used as a jail. There is here a fine +Gothic parish church, standing on a hill, with an old marble entrance +porch, and some interesting pictures by native artists. The road then +leads one on to the railway station at Neumarkt-Tramin, which is +twenty-four miles from Predazzo and ninety-eight miles from Toblach. + + + [Illustration: MOUNT LATEMAR] + +VIGO DI FASSA--KARER SEE. + +At Vigo di Fassa, 4565 feet, the chief village in the Fassa Thal on +the road to Bozen and the Karer Pass, the road branches off, leading +in a westerly direction over the Pass, 5270 feet, and past the Karer +See, 5030 feet, which lies at the base of the Latemar, to Bozen. + +[Sidenote: THE VAJOLET AND SCHLERN] + +Karer See is one of the most beautifully situated places between the +Rosengarten and Latemar, and is also one of the most celebrated and +fashionable resorts in the Dolomite region. From its situation and +numerous delightful walks and excursions which can be taken from it, +it is especially suited for a lengthy stay, and for these reasons +partakes somewhat of the nature of the well-known Swiss resorts such +as St. Moritz, Pontresina, Engleberg, and other places of a similar +character. Many of the hotels are most beautifully situated on the +borders of the lake, with a picturesque background of pine woods, +beyond which tower the serrated and deeply fissured summits of the +Dolomites, with striking views of the great peaks of the Latemar, +Rothwand, Ortler, Oetz Thal, and Stubai Alps. From Karer See the +Latemar and the Rosengarten, whose highest point is 9780 feet, are +easily visited, and among the excursions which those who are not +expert climbers can take is that from Karer See, by the Rosengarten, +past the Ostertag and Ciampedie hut, 6530 feet, to the Vajolet hut; or +past the Kolner hut, 7630 feet, over the Tschager-Joch, to the Vajolet +hut, 7430 feet. Starting from the Vajolet hut, one can ascend the +Vajolet Thürme through a ravine filled with _débris_ and a steep slope +usually covered with snow; the Rosengarten Spitz, 9780 feet, and the +Kesselkogel, 9845 feet; Cima di Laura, 9440 feet, and several others. +All of those mentioned are difficult ascents, and should only be +attempted by expert climbers and with guides. + +From the Vajolet hut a fairly good footpath also leads over the +Grasleiten Pass, 7100 feet, to the hut which occupies a magnificent +position with an extensive view of the giant Dolomites in the +immediate vicinity, and towards the west a fine prospect of the +Presanella and Ortler Group. From this point the path leads through +the Bärenschlucht up the Schlern. + + +WAIDBRUCK--SEIS-SCHLERN. + +The Schlern, which is a huge accretion of Dolomite rock, towering +above the green, undulating plateau which forms its base, the middle +peak known as the Alt-Schlern or Petz, 8402 feet, is the highest of +the series, although several of the peaks approach it in altitude +within a few hundred feet. The Schlern forms one of the most +attractive groups of Dolomite peaks, on account not only of the +magnificent view which rewards the climber, but also because excellent +accommodation for tourists and climbers has been provided on the slope +of the Alt-Schlern just above the plateau, at a height of 8040 feet. +There are situated the Schlern house, belonging to the Bozen Alpine +Club, with upwards of thirty beds, and the Schlern Inn, containing a +little over half that number. + +The starting-place for the ascent of the Schlern is usually Waidbruck, +already referred to, and from thence a carriage-road leads by way of +Kastelruth and the charmingly situated summer resort Seis, 3285 feet, +to Bad Ratzes, 3950 feet, situated in the wild but well-wooded gorge +of the Frötschbach. Between Seis and Bad Ratzes, set in the forest, +are the ruins of the ancient home of the Minnesinger Oswald von +Wolkenstein. From Bad Ratzes the peaks of the Schlern can be easily +reached by a mule track, although serious climbers generally take up +their residence at either the Schlern House or the Schlern Inn whilst +ascending the various peaks which can be most easily reached from that +point. + + +BLUMAU--TIERSER THAL--ROSENGARTEN. + +From the Schlern and Rosengarten district one proceeds from the +railway station to Blumau, 1020 feet, near Bozen, into the renowned +and picturesque Tierser Thal. The carriage-road from Blumau takes one +through pretty scenery in about two and a half hours to the little +village of Tiers, and then on to Weisslahn-Bad, 3818 feet, from whence +tourists' paths have been made leading up the Schlern to the +Grasleiten hut, and over the Niger to the Kölner hut, from which one +can then either ascend the Rosengarten, or proceed through beautiful +flower-bedecked Alpine meadows to the charming Karer See. + + +KARER SEE--BOZEN. + +From Karer See the road, which, though a fair one, is not practicable +for motors, winds, gradually descending, through beautiful woods to +Welschnofen, 3865 feet, a favourite summer resort, situated in a fine +open valley with splendid views of the towering serrated ridge of the +Latemar on the right, and on the left the beautiful Rosengarten. From +Welschnofen there is a good road to Birchabruck, 2895 feet, a pretty +place where the Welschnofen Thal branches to the left, and the wildly +romantic Eggen Thal, leading to Bozen--which is the principal town in +southern Tyrol--to the right. + + +FASSA THAL--PANEVEGGIO--SAN MARTINO--TRENT. + +At Predazzo there branches off from the high road another good road +which leads over the Rolle Pass, 6510 feet, into the Pala Dolomites, +and then over Primero, 2350 feet, on one side towards Venice, and the +other towards Trent. This fine high road threads its way through a +splendid forest to Paneveggio, 5055 feet, a pleasantly situated +village--set amid pine woods--from which one can return over the Lusia +Pass, 6745 feet, to Möena, and ultimately to Karer See, with +magnificent views of the Colbricon, the Cimon della Pala, and the Oetz +Thal Alps in the background. From Paneveggio, too, the road climbs up +the Rolle Pass, which forms the watershed between the Adige and +Brenta, and then descends to San Martino, 4740 feet, which is +charmingly situated in a beautiful wooded dell at the foot of the +Dolomites. The road from the head of the pass to San Martino, once a +monastery, is by stupendous zig-zags cut through a splendid forest. +Yearly the little village is becoming more and more popular, owing to +its beautiful situation, the equableness of its climate, and the many +charming excursions which can be made on every hand suitable either +for the pedestrian or the climber. + +The Imperial road from here descends rapidly to Primiero, and then +traverses a wildly romantic ravine full of boulders, and with +tree-clad mountain slopes to Primolano, on the Italian frontier, and +thence to Tezze, 740 feet, which is the present terminus of the +railway, and is the principal point on the Val Sugana road uniting +Tezze with Trent, 640 feet, the chief town of the Italian Tyrol, with +25,000 inhabitants. + +These, then, are a few briefly sketched tours in the Dolomite region +which will, as we ourselves know, well repay the seeker after +magnificent scenery, pure air, and solitude, or society, as the case +may be. + +Quite recently a most excellent and original type of relief map of the +Dolomites has been published, which on account of its clearness and +comprehensive character makes it a very valuable, if not positively +indispensable, companion for all who wish to travel in this most +interesting, though somewhat complicated district. Fortunately the +map, which is published at a remarkably moderate price, is to be +obtained at all the principal railway stations of the south Austrian +railways, and one cannot do better than obtain a copy ere setting out +for a Dolomite tour, whether it be an extended one or not. + +We would call particular attention to the fact that the Dolomites +being, many of them, on the frontier between Austria and Italy, there +are numerous fortresses dotted about in quite unsuspected corners, the +sketching and photographing of which, or even of their immediate +surroundings, is very strictly prohibited. Warnings on signboards are +erected at all the points of danger, and the instructions placed +thereon should on no account be disregarded. The consequences of so +doing are likely to be extremely unpleasant, and possibly lead to the +at least temporary incarceration of the offender. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[20] The heights given are those appearing in the latest edition of +Baedeker's "Eastern Alps" and the publications of the Vienna and +Austrian Alpine Clubs. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + THROUGH THE UNTER-INNTHAL: KUFSTEIN--KUNDL--RATTENBERG, AND + THE STORY OF WILHELM BIENER--BRIXLEGG, AND ITS PEASANT + DRAMAS--THE FAMOUS CASTLE OF MATZEN--ST. GEORGENBERG, AND + ITS PILGRIMAGE CHURCH--CASTLE TRATZBERG--SCHWAZ + + +The first view one has of Kufstein from the railway, or rather of its +ancient fortress of Geroldseck, which dominates the prettily situated +little town, is almost bound to evoke the remark that it is a Salzburg +in miniature. Indeed, the parallel is not an inapt one, for the +partially tree-clad and rocky eminence on which the last stronghold +held by the Bavarians at the end of the invasion of 1809 stands bears +considerable resemblance to the greater Mönchsberg with the town +spread out at its feet. + +The river Inn has narrowed ere it reaches Kufstein, which may be +called the border town of north-eastern Tyrol, and now flows rapidly +onward to meet the Danube. The place is pleasantly situated; but it is +rather on account of the interest and beauty of its surroundings than +to the town itself that its growing popularity as a holiday resort +must be chiefly ascribed. And yet, with that ancient and grim old +castle above one, with its huge round tower dominating the rock on +which it stands, and the charming valley and pine-clad slopes of the +environing hills spread out on either hand, one is tempted to linger +in the town. + +The Castle, which in all probability occupies the site of Roman +_Albianum_, marks the position of one of the oldest settlements in +Tyrol. Even in the times of Charlemagne there is at least one record +of the place "Caofstein," accompanied by some interesting details. +From its position near the borderland of an antagonistic race +Kufstein's history is romantic, stirring, and chequered. As a +well-known writer upon Tyrol aptly says, "For centuries it was turned +into a political shuttlecock, now taken by force of arms, then by +stealthy surprise, now mortgaged, then redeemed or exchanged for some +other possessions by its whilom owners."[21] And its general fate and +varying fortunes were similar to those of other frontier fortresses, +such as Kitzbühel during the Middle Ages. + +The grim fortress upon the rock, somehow or other, when seen in the +fading light of evening, seems to bear its story of cruelty, rapine +and harshness on its face. Many a gallant heart in the old days, which +people are so prone to label "good," pined or fretted to death within +its walls; and, unless tradition is entirely at fault, many a noble +maiden and dame also were incarcerated and died tragic deaths within +its thick, grim walls, and in its sunless dungeons. + +The history of the fortress, so far as it concerns us, may commence +with its cession to Bavaria in or about 1363 by the Duchess Margaret, +the last of Count Albert's successors as rulers of Tyrol, when she +found herself unable to govern the country. She had acquired the +estates of Kufstein, Rattenberg, and Kitzbühel on her marriage with +Louis of Brandenburg; and when she ceded Tyrol to Austria it was +stipulated that these properties should revert to Bavaria. + +[Sidenote: SIEGE OF KUFSTEIN] + +These possessions remained Bavarian until the reign of the Emperor +Maximilian I., when the two latter gave allegiance to him. Kufstein, +however, refused to yield, and so in 1504 Maximilian appeared before +it, and commenced a siege. This event is particularly interesting, as +some authorities state it constituted the first occasion on which +proof was given that the introduction of artillery meant the +death-knell of mediæval fortresses, however strong and hitherto +regarded as inaccessible they might be. We are told, however, that the +guns brought to bear upon the Castle by the Emperor in the first +instance were quite ineffective, so much so, indeed, that the +Governor, named Pienzenau, whose sympathies were strongly Bavarian, +aroused the Emperor's anger by causing some of the garrison to sweep +up with brooms the dust, which had been the only damage done by the +besiegers' guns to the Castle walls, which were of great thickness, +and also to dust the latter themselves with the same articles in full +sight of the besiegers. The guns were either too small, or had been +placed at too great a distance from the Castle to do more than graze +it with their shot. + +Finding his culverins and "serpents" of no avail, the Emperor +dispatched some one to Innsbruck for two monster guns, known as +_Weckauf_ and _Purlepaus_, which the Governor of that town, Philip von +Recenau, had recently cast at the foundry. These weapons, of which +drawings are extant, although the chroniclers of the time do not +mention their calibre or dimensions, were of considerably larger size +than "Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol" at Dover, and threw balls of +about 300 pounds in weight, it is said, for a distance of nearly two +thousand yards. The arrival of the great guns put a very different +complexion upon the siege; and after they had been brought to bear +upon the castle, and had been fired,[22] it was found that their shot +not only penetrated the fourteen-feet-thick walls with ease, but even +the rock itself was pierced, according to some historians, to a depth +of eighteen inches. Pienzenau now wished to surrender to the Emperor, +provided his life was spared. But Maximilian did not forget the +incident of the brooms, which bears some slight analogy to the +historic "broom" incident connected with the Dutch Admiral Van Tromp, +who hoisted one at his masthead in derision of the English, whom he +claimed to have swept off the seas. "So he is anxious to throw away +his brooms, is he?" the Emperor is said to have remarked. "He should +have taken this course before. He has caused by his obstinacy the +walls of this fine fortress to be so shattered, so he can do no less +than give his own carcase up to a similar fate." + +And although great efforts were made to obtain pardon for Pienzenau +and some of his more important supporters they were unsuccessful, the +Emperor remaining quite obdurate. It is this execution of a brave man +(whose courage and fidelity to his nation should have aroused nothing +but admiration) which is a stain upon the Emperor's record. No less +than five and twenty of the principal defenders were condemned to be +executed. The survivors of the garrison attempted to escape secretly +before the general assault, which had been arranged, took place, but +they were captured. The first to be beheaded was Pienzenau; but when +seventeen (some authorities say eleven) of his companions had shared +the same fate, Eric, Duke of Brunswick, interceded with Maximilian so +earnestly that the lives of the rest were spared. This same Eric had +formerly saved the Emperor's life in battle, and possibly this fact +influenced the latter towards clemency. Over the grave in which the +victims of Maximilian were buried by the people of Kufstein was +erected a little chapel at Ainliff on the opposite bank of the river. + +The booty and valuables taken from the Castle were placed together and +divided (including, for those times, the very large sum of 30,000 +florins in hard cash) according to the rank of the victors. The +Emperor showed himself on this occasion more just to his troops than +he had been clement to the defenders, as he paid his share of the +spoil into the common fund. The small booty he took consisted +chiefly, if not entirely, of skins of the lynx and marten, and other +hunting trophies. + +Kufstein, after its reduction by the Emperor Maximilian, was +garrisoned, and in succeeding ages underwent numerous sieges, +including the memorable one during the campaign of 1809, when +Speckbacher performed deeds of bravery which were almost apocryphal in +character. + +[Sidenote: A KUFSTEIN ROMANCE] + +As is perhaps only natural, there are many legends and romantic +stories connected with the fortress, some of them arising out of the +life-histories and achievements of the many distinguished prisoners +who were from time to time during the Middle and succeeding ages +confined within its walls. Amongst the more romantic captives was the +famous Hungarian brigand, Andrew Roshlar, who was tried and condemned +to death at Szegedin nearly forty years ago, to whose account upwards +of a hundred murders were ascribed. + +Kufstein must have been a difficult place from which to break out, but +there is, at least, the tradition of a prisoner in the fifteenth +century making good his escape. He was a Tyrolese knight captured by +the Bavarians, and confined, apparently with some degree of comfort +and laxity of surveillance, in one of the upper chambers of the great +round tower, from which, through the devotion of the girl (a maiden +much beneath him in rank) to whom he was secretly betrothed, he +succeeded in escaping. The story goes that this girl, who came from +some place west of Innsbruck, having discovered the whereabouts of her +lover after some difficulty, succeeded in obtaining a post as maid in +the household of the then owner. After some weary weeks of waiting, +she obtained access to her lover's cell, having been given the work of +carrying up to him daily his supply of food and water. It was then +arranged between them that she should each day convey to him a small +quantity of hemp, out of which he was to fashion a rope. This she did, +concealing the hemp in the bosom of her dress. In course of time the +imprisoned knight had made a sufficiently long rope to reach from his +window to the ground, the bars across which he had gradually almost +filed through from the outside inwards, so that any one casually +examining them would not be likely to discover the fact. Everything +was ready for the escape, and it was arranged that the same night the +girl was to make her way out of the Castle and join him ere the great +gate was shut. + +On the day fixed she had brought the captive's allowance of food about +noon, as usual, when on leaving the cell and making her way downstairs +she was accosted by one of the steward's sons who had sought her +favour. She was horrified to find that he suspected the plot, and that +the price of his silence was her honour. She hesitated, and pitifully +entreated him to spare her, but to no avail. Then, when he told her +that not only would discovery mean her own death in all probability, +but certainly the death of her lover, she yielded. About sundown she +left the castle, and mad with grief at the shame and insult she had +been compelled to suffer, she wandered about until it was dark. She +had determined to assure herself of her lover's escape, and then to +cast herself from the steepest point of the rock upon which the Castle +stands down into the valley below. In the dusk she at length saw +faintly a black figure descending against the wall, and then she heard +cautious footsteps approaching the thicket in which she stood +concealed. + +With a half-stifled cry which she could not altogether suppress, she +hurried through the undergrowth, and was within a few yards of the +edge of the rock, when she was seized by her lover and saved from +destruction. The story goes on to say that they both escaped, and that +the knight eventually married (and, let us hope, lived happily with) +the brave girl who had compassed his deliverance. + + [Illustration: A PEEP OF KITZBÜHEL] + +The town of Kufstein itself does not call for extended description. +But one feature that immediately prepossesses the visitor in its +favour, if one arrive, as we did when last there, on a hot summer +day, is the number of shady promenades to be found, more especially on +the east side of the town, in the neighbourhood of the delightfully +picturesque Kiengraben. None should fail to visit the Calvarienberg, +from which there are delightful and extensive views of the Castle, +town, and valley. + +[Sidenote: KUFSTEIN TO KITZBÜHEL] + +To reach Kitzbühel from Kufstein it is necessary to change trains at +Wörgl, eight and a half miles down the Unter-Innthal, and proceed up +the Brixen Thal by the Staatsbahn past Hopfgarten to Kitzbühel. The +town is a charming one, surrounded by gardens where once there ran a +moat, and containing some interesting houses along the banks of the +Kitzbühler Ache. Many of them still have Gothic roofs and gables, +which give them a mediæval appearance, and one of great charm. The +town has of late years become a favourite summer resort, and its fine +situation in a wide valley nearly 2500 feet above sea-level has much +to recommend it. But its fame is by no means merely that of a summer +holiday spot. It is almost equally resorted to for winter sports of +tobogganing, ski-ing, and skating, and may be, in fact, called the +Tyrolese Grindelwald or Adelboden. Then the snow-clad valley is indeed +beautiful, more like fairyland than aught else, with only the church +spires of Kitzbühel and the pines on the hillsides to break the wide +white expanse. + +The Kitzbühelhorn is a favourite ascent, from which very fine views +are to be obtained, especially of the giants of the Tauern range, the +Chiemsee, and the rocky and impressive Kaiser Gebirge. The pasturage +and the Alpine flora in the neighbourhood of Kitzbühel are especially +rich, and there are many beautiful excursions to be made in the +district round about. In the Brixen Thal, indeed, the artist and the +student of costumes and ancient customs, which are, alas! so rapidly +dying out, will find much of interest. In many of the villages the +annual contests, consisting of wrestling and other sports--which +anciently were often so strenuous as to lead to serious injury to the +combatants and competitors, and even bloodshed--still take place. At +Kitzbühel there is an athletic gathering in June, which is held on a +plateau near the inn on the Kitzbühelhorn, and partakes of the +character of the Grasmere Sports of our own land, and the Braemar +gathering in Scotland. + +The peasants as a general rule in the Brixen Thal, as in the more +famous Ziller Thal, are musical, and often indeed are quite skilled +musicians; and frequently as one wends one's way through the +flower-spangled pastures or climbs the mountain-side, from some +isolated hut or shady nook beneath a boulder will come the musical +tinkling of a cowherd's zithern or the flutey notes of his pipe. But, +as a rule, we have found the players shy of performing before +strangers, who will therefore be well advised if they listen to the +music unseen and without seeking to discover its source. + +The Brixen Thal, too, is a great dairy district, the chief industries +of which are butter- and cheese-making. + +As regards the scenery of the valley one may say that in few others in +Tyrol does one come across a greater variety of light and shade, or +more delightful cloud effects. Indeed, the clouds, which at one time +seem as though they will sweep down the mountain-sides and obscure +everything, and at others sail majestically, like huge cotton-wool +argosies, across the blue vault of heaven, thousands of feet above the +highest peak of the Tauern Giants and the bare and grey limestone +peaks of the Kaisergebirge, in themselves form pictures and phenomena +of the greatest beauty and of ever changing interest. + +[Sidenote: MONKISH MIRACLES] + +Kundl is a small village some four miles south-west from Wörgl, and it +would attract little attention from travellers were it not for the +curious church of St. Leonard auf der Wiese (St. Leonard in the +Meadow) and the quaint legend attached to it. The story goes that +early in the eleventh century a stone statue of St. Leonard came +floating down the Inn to this spot; and the people, recognizing that +for a stone statue to float was nothing less than miraculous, after +securing it, set it up by the roadside, so that all who passed by +should see and reverence it. Probably modern scepticism will lead us +to suppose that the figure was in reality of wood and not stone; and +then the miracle explains itself! The region is subject to floods, and +doubtless the figure of St. Leonard came from some church higher up +the valley which had been destroyed by avalanche or inundation. + +However, the story goes on to tell us that the statue had not long +been placed in position alongside the high-road ere Henry II., Duke of +Bavaria, himself passed that way, and seeing it paused to ask an +explanation of its being there. When the story had been told him, he +seized the opportunity (as did many other rulers in those days) to +strike a bargain with Heaven which, whilst benefiting Mother Church, +would also be not without profit to himself. He therefore vowed that +if the expedition into Italy, which had brought him along that road, +should prosper and his forces be victorious, he would on his return +build a handsome votive church over the spot where the figure of the +saint stood. + +Alas! for human vows, even those of one destined to become an Emperor. +Although his arms prospered, and he was crowned at Pavia, and made +King of Germany, he forgot all about St. Leonard. Some years later (in +1012) fortunes and the cares of his kingdom once more brought him into +Tyrol on his way northward and to the spot where the figure of the +saint still stood by the roadside. Then another miracle happened, for +his horse, "although urged forward with whip and spur and words," +refused to pass the spot where his master had formerly made so solemn +a vow, and stood foaming and champing his bit much to his rider's +embarrassment. As was but natural, the Emperor at once remembered his +vow and set about fulfilling it. + +The church, which was forthwith commenced, was finished in a couple +of years, but a catastrophe marked its completion. Just as a young man +was about to place the vane in position he was seized with sudden +giddiness, and falling to the ground was dashed to pieces. "His body," +so a somewhat quaint local version of the story has it, "was gathered +together by the horrified onlookers," and his skull--which can still +be seen--was placed at the foot of the crucifix on the high altar as +an offering. There is a record in the church of the fact that the +Emperor erected the building, and that Pope Benedict VIII., who was a +nominee of his, made the very considerable journey from Rome to +consecrate it. There would, however, notwithstanding this, appear +considerable reason for doubt whether he did. + +The image now to be seen only dates from 1491, and there is no record +regarding the disappearance of the original "miraculous" one which it +must have replaced. The interior of this church has suffered both from +neglect and whitewashing at various times. But there are some quaint +and excellent carvings, including a few pew ends, and also some fine +iron work, and the figures adorning the ten columns which surround the +high altar are interesting. It is as one comes into the village that +the prettiest view of the church is obtained. + +Rattenberg, which is some five miles distant from Kundl on the main +line and road, is not much visited by tourists, and is chiefly of note +on account of the copper mines, which are still worked. The town is, +however, decidedly picturesque and repays a visit. Scarcely anywhere +in Tyrol in a place of similarly small size does one get such +contrasts in architecture. And, doubtless, for this reason one seldom +fails, during the summer months, to find several artists at work in +the narrow streets. One side of the river is occupied by houses and +buildings of the most solid, gloomy, and altogether unprepossessing +character, whilst on the opposite bank one finds the very antithesis +in the pretty, light-looking dwellings, quaintly painted in delicate +shades of buff, pink, and sky-blue. Beside them and between them are +quaint courtyards and narrow alleys of often an extremely picturesque +character. + +[Sidenote: WILHELM BIENER] + +Many people seem to confuse the Castle of Rattenberg, which dominates +the little town and river, with that of Rottenberg, the crumbling +ruins of which lie on an eminence overlooking the roads which lead out +of the Inn Thal into the Achen Thal and Ziller Thal, once the seat of +one of the most powerful feudal families of Tyrol. Rattenberg Castle +is said by some authorities to date back to the days of the Roman +occupation, and even to Etruscan times, and its history has been not +less stirring and chequered than that of most other similarly placed +fortresses of the Inn Thal. The chief event in connection with it was +the imprisonment of Wilhelm Biener, the brilliant Chancellor of +Claudia Felicitas de Medici, wife of the Archduke Leopold V. Biener, +unfortunately, afterwards fell into disfavour with the pro-Italians at +the Court of Claudia's son and successor, the Archduke Ferdinand Karl, +Regent of Tyrol, and was executed at Rattenberg in 1649 and buried +near the wall of the churchyard. Those who wish to know more of the +romantic and stirring period of Tyrolese history in which Biener lived +and died cannot do better than read that fine historical novel, "Der +Kanzler von Tyrol" (The Chancellor of Tyrol), by Herman Schmid. + +The story of Biener's fall may be briefly told. Claudia de Medici, on +the death of her husband, with her Chancellor's advice and assistance, +succeeded, not only in governing Tyrol wisely and well during the +minority of her two sons, but, by the exercise of great wisdom, +contrived to escape embroilment in the terrible and disastrous Thirty +Years' War in which the whole of the rest of the German Empire was +involved. Her rule, however, was not altogether without some +harshness, which was chiefly shown in the collection of taxes, and in +this matter the Chancellor Biener was naturally concerned, with a +result that his zeal for his beautiful mistress's interests caused him +to incur the hatred of a certain section of the Court and community at +large. On one occasion he found himself in serious opposition to the +then Bishop of Brixen concerning the payment of certain dues, the +legality of which the bishop questioned. Biener appears for once to +have failed in his usual skilful and diplomatic treatment of affairs. +He wrote a very intemperate letter to the bishop, which the latter +never forgot nor forgave. Years after the death of Claudia, the +resentment against Biener took more definite shape, and he was accused +of having misappropriated some of the money belonging to the State +which had passed through his hands. Tried by two Italian judges, he +was found guilty (though, apparently, upon very flimsy evidence), and +condemned to death. + +The fallen Chancellor made a last appeal to the Archduke Ferdinand +Karl, son of his late mistress, and the Archduke, thoroughly believing +in Biener's good faith and innocence, and, doubtless, remembering his +many distinguished services to his family, reprieved him. Unhappily +for the condemned man, his greatest enemy, the President of the +Council, named Schmaus, was able to so delay the messenger that he +arrived too late to save the Chancellor. + +Biener was led out for execution, and on stepping on to the scaffold, +he cried out, "As truly as I am innocent of this thing, I summon my +accuser (Schmaus) before the Judgment Seat above before another year +shall pass away." + +When the executioner had done his work, and stooped to pick up the +head to exhibit it to the multitude, he found that he had also +unknowingly smitten off three fingers of the victims right hand, +strangely (so the story goes) bringing to mind the remark of the +Bishop of Brixen on reading Biener's letter years before--"The man who +could write a letter like this to me deserves that his fingers which +held the pen should be cut off." + +By an equally remarkable occurrence, we are told, the President of the +Council, who had been not only Biener's most relentless enemy but his +chief accuser, died within the specified time of a terrible disease. + +The wife of the Chancellor is supposed to haunt the mountain paths in +the neighbourhood, and at night may be sometimes met with proclaiming +her husband's innocence in a moaning voice. The story, doubtless, has +its basis in the circumstance that the unfortunate woman lost her +reason and ran away no one knew whither, but was ultimately found +wandering aimlessly, and quite bereft of her senses, on the +mountain-side between Brixlegg and Rattenberg. There was for many +years (and may be still for aught we know) a tradition that when any +one was about to die in the little village near Innsbruck, where +Biener's wife, after her marriage, lived happily for many years, she +appears to warn them. + +Near the town, in one of the mining buildings, is a most curious +picture done upon a wooden panel, combining a representation of the +mining works about 1500 with one of the Crucifixion, in which the +miners, with their pickaxes and shovels laid down beside them, are +seen kneeling in prayer. + +[Sidenote: BRIXLEGG] + +Brixlegg is but a mile or so from Rattenberg. The neighbourhood is +pretty, and there is a charming view from the bridge. The little busy +town also forms an excellent centre from which to make some of the +shorter excursions into the Ziller Thal and Achen Thal. But, although +there are considerable smelting works and a wire-drawing industry at +Brixlegg, to the tourist it is chiefly its reputation for peasant +dramas which forms the chief attraction in the town, which is, +however, quaint and in a measure picturesque. + +The rural plays of Brixlegg are not only interesting by reason of the +historical scenes they many of them represent, but also as survivals +of a very early (if not the earliest) type of German dramatic +expression and art which has come down to us. Most of the plays, +types of costume, plots, and all the various items which go to make up +these performances have done service for generations; but occasionally +new plays are written and staged, mostly dealing with historical +incidents and characters. In some parts of Tyrol where these plays +survive, till at least very recent times, old masks were extant, which +must have been handed down from the early Middle Ages, and possibly +(so some competent authorities assert) date from Roman and Etruscan +times. The Brixlegg performances should most certainly be seen by all +who are interested in the true peasant drama and the evolution of +dramatic art. The representations are far more interesting as native +and peasant art than those of Meran, where to a certain extent outside +criticism and influence have served to bring about modifications, the +Meran performances lacking some of the naiveness and spontaneity of +these simpler peasant dramatic plays. + +[Sidenote: SCHLOSS MATZEN] + +Just after leaving Brixlegg, on the left-hand side of the road stand +three castles of note--Matzen, Lichtwer, and Kropfsberg. The first +named is one of the most interesting and well-preserved examples of +the mediæval schloss in Tyrol. A whole volume might be devoted to a +description of its beauty of situation, architecture, romantic history +and sieges, and yet leave much unsaid. Its huge round tower dominates +the landscape, just as its beautiful lower courtyard, with its four +tiers of cloistered corridors round two sides, with the "springs" of +the arches supported upon short columns of unworked marble, its fine +main hall, with priceless carved and panelled oak and hunting +trophies, make it a unique possession. There is a charming view of its +rivals, Lichtwer and Kropfsberg, from the drawing-room window, whilst +standing at which (according to old chroniclers) one of the Frundbergs +was shot dead by a crossbow bolt fired by his brother from the tower +of Lichtwer, of which castle the latter was the owner. + + [Illustration: SCHLOSS MATZEN] + +Of special interest to most visitors who may be fortunate enough to +be permitted to see Matzen and its treasures will undoubtedly be the +famous figure of Christ upon the cross in the chapel; the library--one +of the oldest rooms--with its fine Renaissance chest; the fine +collection of old pewter; the hunting-room, with the many trophies of +its famous "sporting" as well as literary owner;[23] and perhaps not +without interest to most visitors will also be the stone table, once +standing upon the place of execution at the other end of the castle, +but now in the shadow of the great circular Roman tower, just outside +the postern entrance from the garden. At this table in olden times, it +is said, the owner of Matzen sat when dispensing justice to his +vassals or retainers. Set in the wide valley, and girt around by +trees, Matzen is one of the most picturesque as it is one of the most +interesting and historic castles in Tyrol. + +There is not much to detain one at Jenbach, which is a small town at +the entrance to the Achen Thal, on the northern, and the Ziller Thal +on the southern, bank of the Inn. + +Just before one reaches Schwaz, one sees storied Castle Tratzberg high +on a wooded spur of the Bavarian Alps, with its three turrets in line, +seeming to overhang the rocky eminence upon which it stands. Up above +the castle, scarcely visible from the valley, is the famous pilgrimage +church of Georgenberg, which all who can should visit. + +The path, though toilsome, winds through a sweet-scented pine forest. +As one nears the goal of one's pilgrimage, the way is marked by +stations of the cross. One passes through a silent region, and, as one +ascends, the pretty villages scattered below in the valley of the Inn +are gradually and for a time lost to view. Scarcely any one is met +save a stray pilgrim or some tourist curious enough to make the +ascent, and no sound is heard save the soughing of the summer breeze +in the pines and the tinkle of little streams or the water-music of +the Stallen torrents. At last, through an opening in the environing +forest, one catches the first glimpse of the white church, with its +Romanesque tower and rust-red roof, standing on a steep and barren +rock some three hundred feet in height, to reach which the covered +wooden bridge spanning the deep ravine must be crossed. + +And what a shrine it is! An isolated tabernacle set upon a rock in a +solitary place, and amid surroundings of the greatest beauty and +impressiveness; shut out of the world and shut in with nature. The +cross at the head of the bridge records the miraculous escape of a +girl long ago who, whilst attempting to pick the fairest flowers for a +chaplet to place upon the Madonna's head or lay upon the altar, fell +into the ravine, a distance of over one hundred and fifty feet, and +yet escaped serious injury when death seemed certain. + +The impression one receives when at last the summit of the rock upon +which the church stands is reached is one of great solemnity and even +of grandeur. For a time the outer world has receded from one's mind +and ceased to exist. And when one enters the church itself, the +impression which has been created cannot fail to be intensified by the +silent, kneeling figures almost always found within, with their faces +illumined with rapture and faith or transfigured by religious fervour. + +[Sidenote: ST. GEORGENBERG] + +The little chapel of "Our Lady of Sorrows" (Schmerzhaften Mutter) +comes first, surrounded with a tiny graveyard, in which are buried the +favoured few who have had their wish gratified to rest in death in the +solitary but beautiful spot they loved and visited when alive. The +larger building, the church of St. George opposite the chapel, +contains one of those most curious legendary relics of which not a few +have been preserved from time immemorial in Tyrol. The story of the +miracle which produced the relic is briefly as follows:--About the +year 1310, in the days when Rupert I. was the fourteenth abbot in +charge of the Monastery of Georgenberg, the ruins of which surround +the present church, a Benedictine monk was saying Mass in this very +church. Just as he was about to consecrate the cup, a doubt came into +his mind as to whether such a miracle as the changing of the water and +wine into blood could be accomplished in his unworthy hands. Torn with +doubt, he nevertheless proceeded to use the words of consecration; and +he was struck dumb with astonishment and awe to find, in place of the +white wine and water he had placed in the cup, blood, which overflowed +the chalice and fell upon the wafers. Some portion of this miraculous +blood was preserved in a phial, which was set in a reliquary and +placed upon the altar. In former times this precious relic, we are +told, has worked many miracles, and is venerated almost as much to-day +as in mediæval times. + +[Sidenote: A WOODLAND SHRINE] + +The pilgrimage of St. Georgenberg is one of the most famous and +ancient in Tyrol. So ancient, indeed, that its origin appears to have +dated as far back as the end of the tenth century, when a chapel was +consecrated here by Albuin, the then Bishop of Brixen. Even before +this, however, Scherer asserts that a young Bavarian nobleman named +Rathhold, from Aiblingen, "having learned the hollowness of the joys +of even his great position, made up his mind to live apart from the +haunts of men in some wilderness and solitary spot." And in pursuit of +this determination he wandered on through the fertile fields and +valleys of his own land and those of the Inn until he at length +reached this spot in the Stallen valley, and ultimately came to the +rock upon which the church stands. Up on the mountain-side he carved +out for himself a cave where he lived as a hermit. But after a while a +desire possessed him to go to some of the shrines of the greatest +saints. He visited many, even travelling so far afield as to the +shrine of St. Jago de Compostella; and at length returned once more to +his hermit's cave to finish his days in prayer and contemplation. But +he brought back with him a picture of the Madonna, over which with his +own hands he reverently erected a protective shrine. + +Soon from all the district round about, and even from distant parts of +Tyrol and Bavaria, people came to worship at the shrine; and ere long +"Our Beloved Lady under the Lindens" became a great pilgrimage resort. +One day, years afterwards, so the story goes, there came to the place +another young Bavarian nobleman who had wandered far in pursuit of +game, and on hearing of the shrine had determined to visit it himself +to ascertain what were the attractions and virtues of a place which +was so venerated by the peasants of the mountains and valley round +about. On his arrival at the little chapel he sought the hermit +guardian, when what was his joy and astonishment to discover, in the +white-bearded recluse, the elder brother whose strange disappearance +from his castle home years before had caused much grief. Overjoyed at +the meeting, the younger brother vowed that he would build a chapel on +the spot more adequate for the protection of the holy and miraculous +picture, and also a "shelter house" for pilgrims. + +The work was soon started, and from far and near peasants and even +nobles came or sent offerings so that they might have some part in the +work. Then a strange thing happened. All the virtue, which had made +the spot one of miracles, and one of such good fortune to the halt, +diseased, blind, and dumb, seemed to depart. Hardly had the workmen +commenced the foundations of the proposed chapel ere accident after +accident occurred, some of them fatal. The stones would not remain in +place, and everything connected with the building "went wrong." +Another curious happening was the presence day by day of two white +doves, which came down, apparently from out of the woods higher up +the mountain-side, and picked up every chip of wood upon which any of +the workers' blood had fallen when they cut themselves with their +tools (as they frequently did), and then at once flew away with the +chips in their beaks. + + [Illustration: A WAYSIDE SHRINE IN A PINE WOOD] + +Finding that this action of the doves continued and that no progress +could be made, the hermit determined to seek an explanation of the +mystery, and so one day he followed the birds up the mountain-side, +and on reaching the spot where he saw them descend he found to his +astonishment a perfect miniature chapel or shrine which had been +constructed out of the chips and shavings the doves had carried away. +"In this miracle the hermit discovered the directing hand of God, and +going down again to his brother he entreated him to have the +contemplated chapel built upon the spot which had been so miraculously +pointed out." This the latter willingly consented to do, and the work +now progressed without accident or other interruption. The chapel so +erected, which is further up the hillside than the larger church of +St. George, was rebuilt at the time the latter was erected in the +eighteenth century. + +From time to time other pilgrims both noble and simple who visited the +shrine set amid the woods and mountains were moved to remain, and thus +gradually a community was gathered together living in roughly built +huts in the vicinity of the hermit's cell, which in course of time +about the twelfth century was put by the then Bishop of Brixen under +the rules governing the order of St. Benedict. The monks not only +built a monastery but cultivated the surrounding land, and quite a +large community at last dwelt in this secluded spot. But the life of +the monks was destined to be very chequered, and often troubled with +grave misfortunes. Fire, avalanches, famine, and disease all did their +best to extirpate the brotherhood. And at last, at the beginning of +the eighteenth century--after having been established at St. +Georgenberg for more than five hundred years--it was decided to remove +the monastic institutions to Fiecht. + +Vast funds were needed, for the then abbot, named Celestin Böhmen, who +was a native of Vienna, and had formerly been an officer of artillery, +projected the new monastery and buildings upon a lavish and colossal +scale. There was, however, no lack of funds. St. Georgenberg held a +place in the hearts of all the people for a wide district round about, +and money also flowed into the monastic coffers from foreign lands +from which pilgrims had come to the famous shrine. Then a great +disaster happened. The abbot, tempted by the vast wealth which had +been placed in his hands, and perhaps weary of his life of retirement +from the world in which he had once been a prominent figure, fled with +the money which was to have been used for the new abbey at Fiecht. The +work of building was for a time brought to a standstill, as no trace +of the defaulting abbot could be discovered. But after some years a +sufficient sum of money was obtained to permit of the work being +continued under the direction of Abbot Lambert. The result was the +present handsome late Renaissance building; which, however, comprises +but a small portion of the first magnificent scheme. The renegade +Abbot, Celestin Böhmen, some years after his flight and crime, once +more became enamoured of a life of contemplation, and suddenly +appeared at the monastery, confessing his wrong-doing and throwing +himself upon the mercy of his former companions. He did not appeal to +their clemency in vain; for, refusing to deliver him up to justice, +they allowed him to end his days in piety and repentance, which one +can only trust was genuine. + +Such, at all events, is substantially the story as told by Burglechner +and other writers. + +A strange fascination seems to enshroud this quiet and secluded +shrine of St. Georgenberg, and certainly it is one of the pilgrimage +places which most inspire one with the spirit of those remote ages +when in the making of such journeys many found comfort, peace of mind, +and refreshment. Indeed, one almost wonders that the monks should have +deserted it for a new home and a less quiet situation on the hillside +near Schwaz, which has now for some years been used as a school. + +[Sidenote: CASTLE OF TRATZBERG] + +Just before reaching Schwaz one passes the old and fine castle of +Tratzberg, which well deserves a visit, not only on account of its art +and other treasures, but also by reason of the delightful views +obtained from it. Tratzberg, which was sold by the Duke Frederick to a +rich mine-owner named Christian Tanzel in 1470, with the title of +Knight of Tratzberg, was often visited by the Emperor Maximilian I. on +his various hunting expeditions in the neighbourhood. Knight Tanzel +spared no expenditure to make it one of the most beautiful and famous +castles in the Inn Thal. Not the least interesting of the many finely +decorated rooms which it contains are those which were generally +occupied by Maximilian on his visits, and the fine apartment known as +the Queen's room, with beautiful presses, interesting portraits, and +magnificent panelled ceiling. The armoury, too, full of mediæval +cannon, pikes, lances and other ancient weapons, never fails to +interest the student and archæologist, who, whilst wandering through +these ancient and wonderfully well-preserved rooms, gains a more vivid +idea of the conditions of life in the Middle Ages than much "book +learning" could give him. In the great hall are some remarkable +frescoes in _tempera_, depicting the genealogical tree of the house of +Habsburg with quaint groups of portraits. Some of the antlers, which +are so attached to the wall as to serve as portions of the design, are +said to have been hunting trophies of Maximilian himself. + +The two Maximilian rooms, which open one into the other, are happily +in much the same condition and state as when occupied by the Emperor. +The panelling, whilst not comparing for elaborateness with that in +some of the other rooms, is good, and the ancient stove, dating from +the fifteenth century, is of great interest. On the walls of the room +in which this stands is an inscription in chalk, said to have been +written by Maximilian himself, which sums up a quaint philosophy, and +has been translated thus-- + + "I live I know not how long, + I die I know not when; + Must go I know not whither; + The wonder that I so joyful am." + +[Sidenote: A GRUESOME STORY] + +In 1573 the castle and lands passed into the possession of the famous +Fugger family, and ultimately into that of the Enzenbergs, one of whom +is the present owner. There is at least one gruesome story and +tradition told in connection with Tratzberg, which is not itself at +all gruesome-looking, as Tyrol castles go. + +It appears that the ancient owners of the castle were most of them +more noted for love of the chase than for being "instant in prayer," +and one was so great a defaulter in this respect that, although he +could always hear the notes of the hunting horn blown early in the +morning and rise with alacrity to obey its summons, sad to relate, +when the chapel bell rang for Mass, it was quite a different matter. +One morning the bell woke him as usual, and as usual he yawned, and +turned over in his bed for another nap, thinking, no doubt, pityingly +of the folk who had got up early to attend the service. He had no +sooner done this than he had a dream or vision of the old chaplain +performing the service in the chapel, and of the devout worshippers +gathered to listen to him. Then the triple tinkling of the Mass bell +announced to him the most solemn rite of the service was being +performed. Then came a rumbling noise, the very foundations of the +castle seemed to shake, and the building to sway as though about to +collapse, and the hundreds of windows rattled and shook. The knight, +who was superstitious if not religious, terrified beyond control, +shrieked aloud, and then tried to hide himself under the bedclothes in +his terror. His cry was heard by some of the servants and retainers, +who came hurrying to the room; and upon entering they were +horror-struck to find their master dead, whilst upon his throat were +the imprints of three claws, which had burned as well as torn the +skin. The inference drawn was that the knight had been enjoined by +some Heavenly spirit to rise and repair to the celebration of the +Mass, but had resisted the Divine influence, and had been claimed by +his master, the Devil, who had strangled him. Some marks on the walls +of the room where he died were for years afterwards shown as those of +the wicked knight's blood. + +There are many other traditions and legends attached to this famous +castle, which is one of the several buildings in Europe making a claim +to possess exactly as many windows as there are days in the year; but +for these stories, interesting though they are as exhibiting the +credulity, barbarism, and imaginativeness of mediæval times, we have +not space. + +Not far from Tratzberg is the quaint, interesting, and flourishing +town of Schwaz, on the right bank of the Inn, and overlooked by the +Castle of Frundsberg. It was, far back in the times of the Roman +occupation of Tyrol, a station of considerable importance and size; +but after the evacuation of the country it gradually declined until +the fourteenth century, when it was little more than a scattered +hamlet of poor houses, with an inn for the accommodation of travellers +who were too weary to proceed further on their way to Innsbruck, or +who had been overtaken near the place by nightfall. + +[Sidenote: SCHWAZ MINERS] + +Then at the commencement of the fifteenth century, according to +Burglechner, a vein of silver ore was discovered through the rampant +behaviour of a bull, who went mad or became uncommonly energetic, and, +tearing up the grass on the hillside with his horns, was the means of +disclosing what afterwards proved to be a vast deposit of silver ore. +The news of the discovery was brought hot haste to the poor hamlet by +the herdsman who was in charge of the animal, and the inhabitants +flocked out to investigate the story of the shining metal which had +been uncovered. In a very short time Schwaz regained its ancient +prosperity and importance, and at one time, when the silver mines were +at their best, the population, which nowadays is about 6500, was not +far short of five times as many. The discovery of the silver caused +several of the noble families in the neighbourhood to forsake the +calling of arms and knightly service for that of mine owning and mine +working; and the vast wealth of the Augsburg merchants and bankers, +notably the Hochstetters, Ilsungs, and Fuggers, was largely employed +in the working of the mines which had been speedily opened up. Amongst +the noble families who turned miners or mine proprietors was that of +the Fiegers, one of whom was an intimate companion of Maximilian I. +The latter, when Fieger died full of years and leaving an astonishing +progeny and an enormous fortune behind him, was present at his old +friend's funeral. His son, Hans Fieger, married Margaret von +Pienzenau, who, on her coming to her husband's home, was accompanied +by a vast cavalcade consisting of four thousand horses, of which those +drawing her coach were shod with silver.[24] + +The mining industry was speedily developed by the immense sums wealthy +merchants in Bavaria and elsewhere were willing to embark in +speculation, or advance upon the security of the mines themselves; and +so skilful and daring did the Schwaz miners become, that later on +their services were requisitioned for use in the mines of other +districts, and for military mining operations against the Turks in +Hungary. In the siege of Vienna in 1529 by the Turks, Soliman the +Magnificent, who invested the city with an army of 300,000 men, was +forced to raise it, after losing nearly a fourth of his men, owing to +the countermining of the Schwaz miners. Two centuries later, the +Schwazers undermined and blew up the splendid and almost impregnable +fortifications of Belgrade before it was ceded to Turkey; and at +various times their services were engaged by the Dukes of Florence and +Piedmont. + +Schwaz, too, has the distinction of having had one of the earliest of +printing presses set up in the town; and matters referring to mining +and mining methods were often referred to the experienced and skilful +miners and engineers of Schwaz. + +Just as was the case with the miners of the not far distant +Principality of Salzburg, those of Schwaz embraced the doctrines of +Luther, and made serious attempts to put down Roman Catholic +clericalism and oppression. On two occasions at least they marched in +considerable numbers upon Innsbruck, but were met at Hall by the +Bishop of Brixen, who prevailed upon them to return to their homes by +promises of redress of their grievances. But though they consented to +do this and did not proceed further down the Inn Thal, in Schwaz +itself the new faith and its supporters became so powerful that at one +time the latter managed to possess themselves of half of the parish +church, in which portion the Lutheran service was performed. +Ultimately they were ejected, and had to meet in a wood near the town, +where two followers of the Reformer, who had been deprived of their +status as Catholic priests, used to preach. + +The appearance some little time later of a Franciscan, who came to +Schwaz with the object of "stiffening" the backs of the Catholics and +stamping out the new faith, led to collisions of a violent character +between the two parties. + +One story, that was very generally accepted as a miracle by the +Catholic population, concerning these disputes, which sometimes were +not confined to words and arguments alone, is as follows. A leader +amongst the reformers is stated to have exclaimed during a heated +discussion, "If Pastor Söll (one of the priests who had accepted +Luther's doctrines) does not preach the true doctrine, may the Devil +carry me up into the Steinjoch." Hardly, we are told, were the words +out of his mouth when the speaker vanished. + +It is unnecessary to add that the Lutheran faith received a heavy blow +from this incident, and the effect of the miracle, establishing, as +the Catholics claimed, the true faith, was further increased when the +unfortunate man who had thus been so suddenly spirited away returned +some time afterwards, confessing his transportation to the Steinjoch, +with a bruised body, and shattered faith in Pastor Söll. + +Later on the mining industry was brought almost to a standstill owing +to religious disputes, and an invasion of Anabaptists. And although +the latter were expelled, and many thousands of those who favoured the +reformed faith were brought back to the true fold through the +instrumentality of the Jesuit fathers from Hall, the mines from this +time commenced to decline in richness, and never recovered their +former productiveness. For a considerable period copper and an +excellent quality of iron was found in large quantities after the +silver gave out, but the place as a mining centre declined more and +more as the years rolled by. + +Schwaz, in addition to its religious dissensions, has in the past +suffered from a visitation of the plague, "when the inhabitants died +off like flies"; and it also suffered terribly in the campaign of +1809. In the latter year the Bavarians under the Duke of Dantzic and +their French allies under De Roi determined to strike terror into the +hearts of the inhabitants of the Inn Thal by burning the town. They +attacked the place, and not content with putting the inhabitants to +the sword practised upon them the most horrible cruelties; more +especially upon the women and young girls; some so revolting as to be +indescribable in print. None were spared; "old and young alike were +outraged, then either slain or thrown into the river or the blazing +ruins which had once been their homes." + +[Sidenote: SCHWAZ PARISH CHURCH] + +Fortunately, although little of the town itself was left standing to +show succeeding generations what ancient Schwaz had been like, owing +to successive occupations by hostile troops at the latter part of the +eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries, the fine parish +church which had been commenced in 1470 (about) and was consecrated in +1502 was less injured than might have been expected. The plan of the +building is remarkable, containing a double nave, each complete with +its aisles, choir, and high altar, the cause of this peculiarity being +the fact that the miners were of sufficient wealth and importance at +the time of its construction to insist upon having a separate church +to themselves apart from the townspeople. Indeed, even nowadays one of +the high altars is known as "the Knappen Hoch Altar," or Miners' High +Altar. In the roof, composed of copper tiles, of which there are said +to be no less than fifteen thousand, provided as a contribution by the +mine-owners and miners, and in the device of crossed pickaxes, +appearing here and there in the decorations of the building, one can +clearly trace its connection with the mining industry, and the +interest the miners themselves showed in its erection. + +The church at various times has been unskilfully restored, but it +still contains some very interesting and fine monuments, that to Hans +Dreyling, a metal-worker and founder, being especially worthy of note. +In it are depicted not only the metal-worker, but his three wives and +children, who are habited as knights, all being under the protection +of St. John the Baptist. This remarkable work is by the famous +founders Alexander Colin of Malines, and the even more famous Hans +Löffler. There are, too, nine altar pieces by Tyrolese painters which +should be carefully noted. + +One finds some interesting painted houses in Schwaz, as in many other +villages and towns of the district of the Inn Thal, and some of the +frescoes, most of which depict religious subjects, are of considerable +merit. + +The town, however, is not one to which many travellers come, or in +which tourists linger, although it is on the main line of railway, and +has considerable interest for those for whom church architecture, +legendary lore, and picturesqueness of a sort possesses attractions. + +[Sidenote: GEORG VON FRUNDSBERG] + +The deserted and ruined castle of the famous Frundsberg (whose name, +by the way, outrivals that of Shakespeare in the many forms in which +it is and can be spelled), a fortress which was there before the dawn +of the Christian Era, and no one seems to know quite how long even +before that, is quite close to the Schwaz. Its history is obscure for +many centuries after the period we have named, and only the barest +fragments have come down to us of the doings and life at Castle +Frundsberg during the eleventh down to the end of the fourteenth +century. It was in the time of "the famous fighter of a fighting +race," Georg von Frundsberg, son of Ulrich, knight of Frundsberg, born +at Mindelheim in 1473, and the founder of the _Landsknechte_, that the +castle and the family appear to have reached their zenith of +prosperity, wealth and fame, the former two characteristics being +chiefly due to Georg's marriage with a wealthy Suabian heiress. He was +"one of many sons, most of whom became distinguished, and three of +whom (Georg himself being one) were much esteemed by the Emperor +Maximilian." Georg was, at a very early age, made a general, and after +the Battle of Regensburg, in 1504, was knighted on the field by +Maximilian, who had witnessed his astonishing bravery and feats of +arms. When only four and twenty, he was esteemed a skilled and +unequalled leader of men, and in his campaigns against the Swiss and +Venetians he was wonderfully successful. Some most astonishing feats +of personal strength of his are recorded; how he could push an +ordinary man over with one of his fingers; could catch a runaway horse +and bring him to his haunches with one hand; and many a time clove his +opponents in two halves with a blow from his two-handled sword. It is +not unlikely that his immense natural strength had a good deal to do +with his being exalted into a popular hero, and being made the central +figure of many legendary tales and astonishing romances. Of him they +sang-- + + "Georg von Frundsberg, + Von grosser Sterk, + Ein theurer Held; + Behielt das Feld + In Streit und Krieg. + Den Feind niederslieg + In aller Schlacht. + Er legt Got zu die Er und Macht." + +Which maybe roughly translated: "George of Frundsberg, of marvellous +strength; a hero of renown; invincible upon the field of combat and +war; victorious in every battle. The honour of which success he gave +to God." + +He threw in his lot with the Lutherans, and commanded the troops under +Charles V., and was one of the knights who were concerned in the +attack upon Rome. + +Although at one time immensely wealthy, when he was at last taken with +an apoplectic seizure during the siege of the latter city, and carried +home to die at Mindelheim, he was a ruined man. He had spared none of +his wealth in the prosecution of expeditions in which he had been +engaged, where, as often as not, the kings and emperors on whose +behalf they were undertaken failed to pay the troops. To his credit, +Georg von Frundsberg seems to have invariably paid the men himself; +and we are told he seldom took the booty which fell to his share, +selecting only some comparatively valueless, though generally +historically interesting objects, such as flags and banners, a sword +(jewelled sometimes, it is true, but still comparatively unimportant +monetarily compared with the vast treasure he might have taken as his +share), or the helmet of a conquered challenger, preferring that his +men should be well paid by the major portion of the loot for their +bravery and endurance. In those days money advanced by nobles and +others to warring princes to carry on expeditions was generally not +recovered from the actual borrowers, but repaid by robbery of the +conquered, out of the booty seized, or by means of the ransoms paid by +distinguished prisoners. So it happened that Georg von Frundsberg, +scorning these means, was gradually ruined, for neither Charles V. nor +Maximilian saw to it that the vast sums he from time to time expended +on their behalf during their campaigns were repaid to him. + +His motto, which ran, "The more opponents the greater honour," was +characteristic of himself and of his race. But with his death, and the +financial embarrassments which afflicted his heirs, owing to the heavy +mortgages on the estates which he had left behind him, with no means +of discharging the same, the Frundsbergs declined rapidly in power, +and the race came to an end in the male line on the death of his son +George (one of nine children) in 1586,[25] though there are +descendants in the female line of the Frundsbergs living at the +present time. + +The castle afterwards fell into ruins, and its history may be said to +have ceased with the close of the sixteenth century. The Bavarians, +however, made use of the ruined walls for "cover" during the campaign +of 1809, when they were attacked by the forces raised by Hofer and his +comrades. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[21] W. A. Baillie Grohman, "Tyrol: the Land in the Mountains." + +[22] The Emperor is stated to have trained and fired the first shot +himself. + +[23] Mr. W. A. Baillie-Grohman. + +[24] One account states that the coach itself was drawn by the four +thousand horses! + +[25] Some authorities give the year as 1580.--C. H. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + THROUGH THE OBER-INNTHAL: ZIRL, ITS CHURCH, LEGENDS, AND + PAINTED HOUSES--THE MARTINSWAND AND + MAXIMILIAN--SCHARNITZ--LANDECK--BLUDENZ--BREGENZ AND ITS + LEGEND OF THE MAID + + +From Schwaz to Zirl,[26] beyond Innsbruck, is between twenty-nine and +thirty miles, either by train or road. The latter is quite good for +cycling, and those who are not cyclists or pedestrians will find to +make the journey by carriage a delightful way of reaching the +picturesque little village from which the ascent of the Gross Solstein +may be made, and that also of the more romantic and famous +Martinswand. + +The village is, unlike many of those lying in the Unter-Innthal, east +of Innsbruck, an agricultural one, with most of the houses built in +straight rows, and having quaint and picturesque, but not very clean +or salubrious, courtyards in the rear. Some of the most charming +groups of peasants, ox-carts, and "farm scenes" are to be found at +Zirl, which is a good deal visited by artists, and invites the +attention of amateur photographers. + +In most cases the houses have their dwelling-rooms and sleeping +accommodation on the first floor, which is reached by flights of +steps, and the exteriors of the dwellings are made picturesque and +quaint by the projecting gables of carved wood, and the galleries +which jut out beneath them, where the corn, herbs, and other produce +is either laid out or hung up to dry. As in other villages of the Inn +Thal, one sees the love of colour in the delicate pink, blue (almost a +lavender), and green tints of the stucco-work on the house-fronts and +walls. Zirl is a picture-village, too, and on the houses, as one +drives or walks through the narrow streets, one catches glimpses of +paintings of Virgins, saints engaged in vigorous and deadly combats +with evil-looking monsters of the dragon tribe, and here and there, +set in a niche in the wall, a tiny figure of a Madonna, saint, or +crucifix protected with glass, and often surrounded with a chaplet or +bunches of withered flowers. + +One of the Inns, named "the Regenbogen," has a most vivid and even +startling representation of a rainbow (which gives it its name) +painted over the arched doorway. + +The church of Zirl is chiefly interesting from the frescoes it +contains, which are the work of Schöpf. The churchyard is a spot in +which to linger. It is instinct with the pathos which comes in a +measure from partial neglect, and picturesqueness of environment. + +One of the little town's chief attractions to the antiquarian and the +student of ancient and curious things will undoubtedly be the +Calvarienberg, which lies a little to the north; green and beautiful, +and crowned by a picturesque pilgrimage church. The ascent is +comparatively easy, and well repays one for the climb, not only on +account of the interest of the "Calvary," to form which the natural +rocks have been adapted, but by reason of the delightful views which +are obtainable from the plateau. + +The path is dotted here and there by tiny buff-coloured chapels, +painted a sky blue inside, marking the stations of the cross; and from +almost all, as one turns round and faces the way one has come, or +looks out over the valley below, there is some charming view, or tiny +tree-framed vista, to arouse one's interest and delight one's eyes. +The church, were it not so isolated, and set amid greenery, and +surrounded with flower-bedecked grass, would strike one as garish, so +bright in tone are the colours with which it is adorned. But somehow +or other there, amid silence scarcely ever disturbed by the noises of +the village and only occasionally broken by the musical tinkle of cow +bells, and in a sunshine and air which is so bright and breezy and +clear, one's artistic sense seems to rest unshocked by the vividness +of the distemper and paint, and the crudity of the decorations. + +[Sidenote: THE MARTINSWAND] + +The village is, of course, very closely connected with several +incidents in the defence of Tyrol against the various Bavarian +invasions; and in the immediate neighbourhood is the Martinswand, +which rises sheer from the valley below Zirl, and was the scene, +according to tradition, of a perilous hunting adventure of the Emperor +Maximilian. The story is as follows: It was on Easter Monday, in the +year 1493,[27] when "Kaiser Max," as he was familiarly and +affectionately called by his Tyrolese subjects, was staying at +Weierburg, that he determined to set out on one of his favourite +hunting expeditions on the Zirlergebirge. There are many accounts of +what happened, but one of the most credited says that the chamois +which the Emperor had been stalking suddenly led him down the +precipitous face of the Martinswand. + +[Sidenote: MAXIMILIAN'S EXPLOIT] + +Intrepid hunter as he was, however, the steepness of the terrible +descent, which suddenly opened up beneath his feet, did not quench his +ardour for the chase nor deter him. But unfortunately, in his haste in +scrambling down the rocks, the iron nails in his hunting boots were +torn out one by one, until when he at last reached a rocky ledge +scarcely a foot in width there was but a single spike left in either +of them. To descend further was impossible, and upon glancing upward +along the path he had come, the Emperor at once saw that retreat by +the same way was equally hazardous. So there he hung literally +between earth and sky, visible as a mere speck from the valley which +yawned beneath him. A less fearless sportsman might well have been +unnerved by the position in which he found himself, or exhausted by +the strain put upon him. But the Emperor was made of tough and +enduring stuff, and his nerves were iron. Not only did he manage to +retain his foothold at that dizzy height, but he succeeded in nerving +himself to look about him, and after doing so for some time discovered +near by a small cleft or cavity in the rock which would afford him at +least a better foothold, if not actual protection. + +The members of his hunting party who had followed him to the edge of +the precipitous Martinswand now looked down, but were unable to +determine what had become of Maximilian. And none from below in the +valley could, of course, see him, even if he had not been partly +hidden, first, by the ledge of rock and then by the cave, from the +fact that he was more than a thousand feet above them. At last, +however, when his probable situation became known to his followers and +to the inhabitants of Zirl, prayers for his safety and ultimate escape +were offered up in the church; and the priests also brought the Holy +Sacrament out to the top of the Martinswand, and there again offered +prayers for the Emperor's deliverance. + +His retainers, huntsmen, and companions in the chase gazed up or down, +as the case might be, helplessly and hopelessly at him, and to them no +human aid seemed to be possible. Just as every one was about to +abandon hope (one version of the occurrence tells us), a daring +huntsman, named Oswald Zips, appeared, having himself climbed down the +precipice in pursuit of his quarry. + +Surprised to find the Emperor, he called out, "Hullo! What brings you +here?" + + [Illustration: AUTUMN IN S. TYROL] + +And the former, no doubt, relieved in mind and not disposed to stand +upon ceremony or resent so unconventional a greeting, replied, "I am +on the look out." + +To which the newcomer replied, "And so am I. Shall we venture down +together?" + +And upon the Emperor agreeing to make the attempt--after, according to +various accounts, having spent from twenty-four to seventy-two hours +in his perilous position--they set out to descend the remainder of the +cliff face, and ultimately succeeded in doing so in safety. The daring +hunter (who various accounts say was a brigand, and others an outlaw), +to whom a secret path was known, was naturally well rewarded by the +grateful monarch, and ultimately was ennobled with the title of +Hollaner von Hohenfelsen; the last word, "High Rock," commemorating +the incident. As is perhaps natural, some accounts place a +supernatural aspect upon the Emperor's deliverance, and state that it +was an angel which guided him to safety, sent by Heaven in answer to +the prayers of the priests and people and the Emperor's trust in +Providence. + +Amongst the treasures of Schloss Ambras is the monstrance in which the +Host was carried by the priests of Zirl when they celebrated Mass for +the comfort of the Emperor on Martinswand and offered up prayers for +his deliverance. + +Maximilian, finding afterwards that many of the people of Zirl and the +district were determined to make the perilous descent to the little +cave which had afforded him shelter and foothold, employed some of the +Schwaz miners to cut a path down to it and to enlarge the cavity, +which became known as the Max-Höhle. In the cave was placed a +crucifix, with figures of the Virgin and St. John on either side, of +sufficiently large size to be visible from the valley below. The +cavern can be reached by this path (or one made since) in about an +hour and a half; but the climb is distinctly one which should be +attempted only by the clear-headed and sure-footed. A very excellent +view of the "hole" used to be obtainable from the ruins of the little +hunting-box and chapel to St. Martin which Maximilian afterwards +erected upon the green knoll opposite to it, known as the +Martins-buhel, but now private property. + +Those who stop at Zirl and visit the Martinswand should not fail to +proceed a few miles further northward to the pretty little village of +Seefeld. On the way along the six miles of winding and picturesque +road one passes Fragenstein, once a strong fortress and afterwards +converted by "Kaiser Max" into one of his numerous hunting seats, +which lie scattered about the Inn Thal and the district round about. + +There is quite a romantic story of buried treasure in connection with +ruined Fragenstein, in which a huntsman clad in green is mixed up, who +appears periodically and invites the peasants by his gestures to come +and assist him in digging up the treasure. Several attempts have been +made to discover the latter in past times, but all have been +frustrated when success appeared to be certain. On one occasion the +peasants of the valley say those who were digging, and had worked hard +for many days turning up the soil in every direction, actually had the +metal chest, in which the treasure is reputed to lie buried, in sight, +when a terrific storm burst over the valley, and when it had subsided +all traces of their work had been washed away or otherwise +obliterated, and the clue was never again discovered. The road to +Seefeld, though tempting for pedestrians, is steep, especially up to +Leiten and Reit; but those who walk may take some short cuts on the +curves, and will be well repaid by the pretty scenery and fresh, +invigorating air. + +Neither at Leiten nor Reit is there much to detain the traveller--a +few picturesque houses; nothing more. And so on to Seefeld. In +connection with the village and its Heilige Blutskapelle there is one +of those many legendary stories, of which there are so great a number +known to Tyrolese Folk-lore. + +Many centuries ago there appears to have lived at Seefeld a man named +Oswald Milser, who was rich and powerful and generous both to the +Church and to his poorer neighbours. His one besetting sin, however, +was pride, and so one day when he went to take the Easter Eucharist he +insisted that to distinguish him from the other communicants and mark +his importance the priest should give him one of the larger wafers +reserved for the use of the priests alone. Afraid to offend Milser, +who had been a generous supporter of the Church and a giver of large +alms, the priest complied with his request. No sooner, however, was +the host placed upon his tongue than the weight of it bore Milser to +the earth. And although in his terror and predicament he clung to the +altar, and then to the altar steps as he sunk further, the latter gave +way, and he continued to sink lower and lower, till in his terror he +called upon the priest to take the host back from him. This the priest +did, and when Oswald Milser had recovered from his fright he +recognized that the circumstance was a lesson to his pride, and +ultimately he gave his goods to the poor and the Church, and entered a +monastery to lead a life of penance and contemplation. + +[Sidenote: A MIRACULOUS ROSEBUSH] + +When his wife was told the miracle, she refused to credit it, saying +that sooner than do so she would believe that a dead rose-tree could +blossom. The story goes on to tell how immediately "a rose-tree which +was near by and had been dead for a long time, put forth the most +beautiful blooms, and so confounded the wicked woman that she went out +of her mind, rushed from her house, and was never more seen in the +flesh." But her spirit was often heard at night, wailing and moaning +on the mountain-side. + +It was to contain this miraculous host which had confounded Oswald +Milser's pride that the Archduke Ferdinand, in 1575, built a special +little chapel on the left side of the fine fourteenth-century Gothic +church of Seefeld. This is even nowadays an object of veneration, to +which a considerable number of pilgrims come. The altar-piece is a +fine one, and was well restored about five-and-thirty years ago. The +statues which adorn it are those of the favourite legendary heroes of +Tyrol, St. Oswald and St. Sigismund, whilst the subjects of the +bas-reliefs are the incidents of Biblical history, known as "The +Mysteries of the Rosary." Amongst the "treasures" of the church are a +remarkably fine and interesting crystal reliquary and crown, given by +the Archduchess Eleonora. + +From Seefeld there are many interesting excursions to be made into the +picturesque Mittenwald district, which lies to the north, upon the +Bavarian frontier. + +Scharnitz lies at the point where the Hinderan and Karwendel valleys +unite. It has memories of many a struggle against the Bavarian +invaders, and more particularly of the defence of the fortress Porta +Claudia, built during the Thirty Years' War by Claudia de Medici, by +an Englishman named Swinburne, an ancestor of the late Algernon +Charles Swinburne the poet. He was an officer in the Austrian service, +and had a force of only 600 against Marshal Ney, with nearly 20,000, +and made so gallant and stubborn a defence that when the garrison at +length surrendered to such vastly superior numbers they made their own +terms and were allowed to march out as prisoners of war whilst +retaining their side-arms. They were sent as prisoners to +Aix-la-Chapelle, but the "colours" were saved by one of the garrison, +a Tyrolese, who made his escape with them wound round his body. He was +sought for amid the mountains for many weeks, but was not recaptured, +and lived to, later on, reach Vienna and hand the precious colours to +his gallant chief, who had so well defended the fortress. + +We reached Telfs from Seefeld by road. The village, which boasts a +large cotton factory, is prettily situated and pleasant, but there is +nothing in the place itself to detain the traveller. The same remark +applies to Imst, once given over to the breeding of canaries, which +were so celebrated for their singing qualities that they were exported +to all parts of Europe. The old Inn, however, is worth inspection +should a stop be made at the little town, and there are many +excursions of a charming character to be made in the district round +about. + +[Sidenote: LANDECK] + +Landeck is a prettily situated and important little town in a wide +bend of the Inn Thal, having a fine prospect of environing mountain +summits occupying both sides of the river and dominated by Castle +Landeck, whose grim, square, and battlemented tower forms a striking +feature of the landscape. Another prominent building, which at once +strikes one on approaching the place either by road or rail, is the +fine fifteenth-century parish church standing on the slope of the +hill, which is crowned by the castle. + +The church was founded by two natives of the place, only the Christian +names of whom appear to have survived, who, having lost their two +children in the forest near by, vowed that if the latter were found +they would show their gratitude by erecting a church to the Holy +Virgin. Hardly had the vow been uttered, the legend states, when the +distracted parents saw a bear and a wolf advancing towards them, each +bearing a child unharmed in its mouth! + +The spire of the church, which has a curious double bulb surmounting +it, is of considerably later date than the building itself, which, +although thoroughly restored some forty years ago, was done very +carefully and sympathetically, and preserves many of its most +interesting architectural features, including some very early +sculpture. In the churchyard, from which such a delightful prospect of +the valley of the Inn is obtained, there are two monuments, which +should not be missed by any one interested in antiquities and history. +One is to Oswald von Schrofenstein, dating from early in the fifteenth +century; the other takes the form of a little Gothic chapel, dating +from 1870, which was erected to the memory of the Landeckers who fell +whilst assisting to defend the Italian frontier of Tyrol during the +Austro-Italian campaign of 1866. + +[Sidenote: A TYROLESE VICTORY] + +Landeck bore a brave part in the War of the Spanish Succession in +1703, when Maximilian, Elector of Bavaria, joined forces with the +French and Italians against Austria, and invaded Tyrol. The Tyrolese, +always ready to speedily assemble in defence of their beloved country, +soon made the main road over the Brenner impossible of passage by the +enemy, and Maximilian thought to elude the sharpshooters who swarmed +upon the hillsides commanding that way, by sending his forces round by +the Finstermunz and Ober-Innthal. They reached the neighbourhood of +Landeck without much opposition; but the Tyrolese had gathered to +dispute their further advance on the first favourable opportunity. + +The Judge of the district, one Martin Sterzinger, had speedily +summoned all the available Landsturm forces of the neighbourhood, and +worked out a plan of campaign. The latter were to permit the enemy to +advance until they were well into the gorge, and then attack them so +fiercely and from so commanding a position as to have some hope--in +spite of their greater numbers--of severely and finally defeating +them. They were in consequence allowed to advance into the narrow +gorge, the road through which was spanned by the Pontlatzerbrucke. But +before they entered the defile the bridge had been destroyed by the +Tyrolese. The Bavarians, who were compelled to traverse a steep and +narrow mountain path, when they came in sight of the destroyed bridge +at once realized that they were entrapped. The precipitous sides of +the hills above them were practically unscalable, and there was no way +now the bridge was destroyed by which they could cross the roaring, +rushing Inn to safety on the other side. In the panic which ensued +numbers fell or were pushed from the road into the river, to be swept +swiftly away. + + [Illustration: LANDECK AND ITS ANCIENT FORTRESS] + +Then suddenly the heights above literally swarmed with Tyrolese, who +had remained hidden until the right moment to attack, who poured into +the huddled and panic-stricken mass of the enemy a hail of bullets, +supplemented by stones and pieces of rock hurled down by those who +were not possessed of guns. Only a mere handful of the force was able +to turn back and escape along the path by which they had come, and +these were speedily overtaken by the active mountaineers and made +prisoners. Not one, we are told, made good his escape to bear news of +the disaster to headquarters, and thus the French and Bavarian +commanders were for some considerable time in doubt as to what had +occurred. In the end they learned how their immensely superior force +had been literally cut to pieces and wiped out, and perhaps also to +hold the "rough jackets" of Landeck and the Inn Thal in greater +respect than they had done before. The victory of July 1st, as it is +known amongst the many other successes of the peasants' campaign +against the invaders of their land, is celebrated every year by a +procession and _fête_. + +Besides being a most interesting little town, Landeck is yearly +growing more popular with holiday makers and rest seekers as a fine +centre from which to make some of the most delightful excursions and +short tours in the whole of the Inn Thal. The chief of these are +either in the immediate neighbourhood into the Lotzer Thal, and +Medriol Thal, or along and by way of the splendid Finstermunz high +road to Sulden, Trafoi, and other smaller places. There is also, of +course, the famous Stilfserjoch, the highest carriage-road in Europe, +and the pretty villages and valleys of the Kaunser Thal to invite a +long stay amid surroundings which are scarcely excelled in any other +district of North Tyrol. + +But not merely days and weeks, but even months could be pleasantly +spent with Landeck as a base from which to explore the numberless +beautiful and almost unknown smaller valleys and gorges which run out +of the Inn Valley north and south, and in the former case lead one to +that wonderland of the Bavarian highlands, with its many ancient and +Royal castles, lovely little lakes, and fertile, flower-decked +pastures. + +Soon after leaving Landeck, either by rail or road, one crosses the +boundary which separates the Ober-Innthal from the Vorarlberg. If by +the latter, as one approaches the summit of the Arlberg, which is 5910 +feet above sea-level, one catches sight of an immense crucifix +overshadowing the road, near which are the two posts marking the +boundary line. The old road was opened for traffic nearly a century +and a quarter ago, but a considerable portion of that now generally +used, which is more sheltered and protected, was not made until 1825. +By the magnificent Arlberg Pass route one can reach Bregenz, and to +make the journey in this way by carriage or afoot is most delightful, +though the railway, after the long tunnel is passed, is very +interesting and picturesque. + +However, comparatively few tourists and travellers nowadays devote the +time necessary to traverse the Arlberg to Bregenz by road, and so +Bludenz must be included in the itinerary we are describing. The +little town, which has a bustling and prosperous air, though it is +decidedly hot in summer, still possesses a considerable number of its +older buildings and houses. The ancient château or castle of +Gayenhofen is now used for Government purposes; it forms a picturesque +landmark in the town. + +Bludenz will always have a place in the romantic history of Tyrol from +the fact that it was here that the well-beloved "Frederick with the +Empty Purse" came while an outlaw and in fear for his life. He made +himself known to the innkeeper where he sought refuge, who, though +embarrassed, was delighted to shelter the popular hero. His view was +shared by the rest of the inhabitants of the town, who when summoned +by the Emperor Sigismund to deliver up their prince declined to do so, +saying, "they had sworn fealty to Duke Frederick and the house of +Austria, and they would not betray him." + +Frederick, though doubtless touched by the loyalty of the Bludenz +folk, knew that if he remained amongst them the result would probably +be the dispatch of a force by the Emperor to capture him, and the +possible destruction of the town by way of reprisal. So he stole +quietly away, and Bludenz was saved. + +The old town is well worth a few hours' stay, and there are many +picturesque "bits" to be discovered for sketch book and camera in the +older houses and side alleys, even if time will not permit of a +sufficiently long sojourn to allow one to visit the pretty Montfacon +Thal, with its legend of a beautiful maiden who lived up in the +mountain guarding a hidden treasure, which she is condemned to watch +over until some one is bold enough to kiss three times a huge toad +which lives hard by, and also guards the wealth that is to reward the +bold rescuer of the maiden. + +[Sidenote: FELDKIRCH] + +Feldkirch is the last important town on the route to Bregenz. +Pleasantly situated near the grim gorges through which the river Ill +rushes with ever-increasing rapidity and force to join the Rhine, +there is much of interest in the quaint streets, and the arcades which +run in front of many of the houses. + +The town itself is shut in by the mountains and dominated by the old +fortress of Shattenburg, now used as a retreat or home for the poor; +and for this reason perhaps is less resorted to than it otherwise +might be. There are, however, a large number of most interesting +excursions to be made in the neighbourhood, and the fifteenth-century +church is a fine one, with a good "Descent from the Cross" by a native +artist, Wolfgang Huber, and a remarkable and handsome pulpit, both +dating from the early years of the sixteenth century. Costume, too, is +occasionally seen in Feldkirch, and on one Sunday, the occasion of a +festival, there were quite a number of women wearing the old-time +steeple-crowned, brimless beaver hats--in shape somewhat like that of +a Russian _Moujick_ or the busby of a Grenadier--wide white collars, +embroidered bodices, and handsome brocaded aprons. + +The last place in Tyrol when leaving it by the Arlberg route is the +most delightful and ancient town of Bregenz, standing upon the +north-eastern shore of Lake Constance. It is the capital of the +Vorarlberg, and in this delightful corner of Tyrol there is no town of +greater charm or historic interest. Above it rises the picturesque +Gebhardsberg, from the summit of which there is one of the most +celebrated panoramic views in Tyrol, embracing as it does the +beautiful lake, the Appenzell Mountains, and the rapidly flowing +Rhine. + +There are really two towns in Bregenz. The old town, shaped like a +quadrilateral, standing on the hill which ages ago was the site of the +Roman settlement and castle, with two ancient gates, one of which has +been pulled down; and the newer town, with its shady promenades, quay, +modern buildings, and air of bustle during the tourist season. + +[Sidenote: A LEGEND OF BREGENZ] + +Irrespective of its unusually beautiful situation, one finds in +Bregenz much to interest and detain. It is a truly ancient place, with +much history--some of it of a romantic kind--attached to it. In the +Middle Ages, indeed, the overlords of the town and district were so +powerful that their house supplied the Emperor Charlemagne with a +bride, concerning whom there is a legendary and highly romantic tale. + + [Illustration: CHURCH INTERIOR, TYROL] + +It would appear from this story that Charlemagne was of a more than +usually suspicious nature, and by no means one of those complaisant +husbands with which the Mediæval tales have familiarized us. An old +lover of Hildegarde, having seen her married to the Emperor with great +distress of mind, in his wrath against her for preferring even an +Emperor to himself, got ear of Charlemagne, and so succeeded in +poisoning the latter's mind against his bride, that he either divorced +or repudiated her, and married a Lombardian princess called +Desiderata. + +Accepting her fate resignedly, Hildegarde eventually found her way to +Rome, where she devoted herself to the care of the sick, and +especially of the sick pilgrims who came to the "Eternal City." In +course of time, so the story goes, her revengeful lover, whose name, +Taland, is almost as common a one in Tyrol as Smith in England, having +lost his sight, came on a pilgrimage, and whilst in Rome was cared for +by Hildegarde, "whose tender and saintly hands," we are told, "not +only restored his physical sight, but also his moral perception of +right and wrong." + +He was so overcome with remorse when he learned to whom, under +Providence, he owed his restoration to sight, that he confessed his +fault to Hildegarde, and insisted upon accompanying her to +Charlemagne, to whom he also confessed, and proved Hildegarde to have +been blameless. The Emperor at once restored her to favour and honour. + +In another story connected with Bregenz, which was made the subject of +a poem by the late Adelaide Ann Proctor, one has preserved an incident +connected with the heroic conduct of a Bregenz woman in saving the +town from surprise and destruction by the Swiss. There are several +versions of the story, which dates from 1408, but probably, as it is +of a legendary character, the one given in the ballad is as correct as +any other. + +Unhappily, the Bregenz folk of to-day appear to know little of this +heroine; and on one occasion on which we visited the town, and made a +search for the effigy of the Maid and her steed on the gate of the old +castle, or walls of the upper town, we were unable to find it. No one +seemed to know the story of the "Maid of Bregenz," and an old lady, +who had a temporary stall outside the gate for the sale of cakes and +other refreshments, became quite irascible upon our persisting in the +belief that there must have been a "Maid," and that she (the old lady) +ought to know the legend. + +"There is no 'Maid of Bregenz,'" she said angrily at last. Adding, +after a pause, during which she looked us up and down as though to +decide upon our nationality, "But mad English people have asked me +hundreds of times about her. I know nothing. There is no more to be +said." + +And with this she returned to her perusal of the paper she had been +reading when we accosted her, and we had to be content. + +We made our way down the somewhat rugged and steep road to the lower +town a little crestfallen, although the view of the lake in the late +afternoon sunshine of a July day was exquisite beyond description, the +water deep blue and green in patches, with the incoming and outgoing +boats and steamers leaving frothy-white or rippling wakes behind them +almost as long as they themselves remained in sight. One determination +we came to. It was in future not to inquire too closely into such +pretty and poetical stories as that of the "Maid of Bregenz," and not +to allow our desire for legendary or antiquarian knowledge to permit +us to run the risk of further disillusionment.[28] + +We did not find the effigy of "the maid and her milk-white steed," on +which she had ridden over the Swiss frontier and swum across the Rhine +to warn the inhabitants of her old home of a projected attack by the +Swiss amongst whom she had gone to dwell in service. The genial +proprietor of the Oesterreichischer Hof, we found, had heard of "the +Maid." Alas! not from his fellow-townsfolk (who should have cherished +her memory), but, like the old lady in the upper town, from English +tourists, who had, doubtless, climbed the steep ascent on a similar +errand of inquiry and research to our own. + +"Maid" or no maid, however, Bregenz is delightful, and well deserves +the title of "pearl of the Vorarlberg" which has been bestowed upon +it. In its quaint old streets, its Capuchin Convent, which is so +prominent a feature, standing as it does upon a wooded knoll of the +Gebhardsberg, and its fine church, to the south on another eminence, +with an ancient and weather-worn tower, there is plenty of interest. +Picturesque the place most certainly is, and the effect is greatly +heightened by the near presence of the lake, which stretches away in +front of the town to fair Constance in the far distance. + +[Sidenote: FAREWELL, TYROL] + +In leaving Tyrol by way of beautiful Bregenz, washed as it is by the +waters of one of the most delightful of Swiss lakes, one carries with +one a last impression which is fragrant with the memories of a +hospitable race, charming scenery, and innumerable things of historic, +artistic, and antiquarian interest. There is, indeed, no other gate +through which one would rather leave this "Land within the Mountains," +which, as yet unspoiled by crowds of tourists and general +sophistication and the deterioration which arises therefrom, lures one +to return to it again and again. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] By a strange coincidence, whilst the following description of +this interesting and charming village was actually being written, the +news of its almost total destruction by fire reached the author, +necessitating the omission of some details. Many of the houses, +however, have been rebuilt, in much the same style as formerly.--C. H. + +[27] Some authorities give the date as being several years +earlier.--C. H. + +[28] It is possible that Miss Proctor's poem ("A Legend of Bregenz") +is founded upon the legendary story of Ehre Guta, who is reputed to +have delivered the country-folk of the Bregenz district from an attack +of the Appenzellers some time during the early part of the fifteenth +century.--C. H. + + + + +INDEX + + A + + Abbey of Wilten, 17 + + Abel of Cologne, work of, 99 + + Absam, 139-142 + and Jakob Stainer, maker of violins, 139 + dragon legend of, 140 + painted houses at, 140 + story of "Miraculous Window" at, 141 + + A buried city, 249 + + Adventures of Oswald von Wolkenstein, 217-220 + + Aeni, Pons, 7 + + A fifteenth-century "blue stocking," 194 + + Aguntum (Innichen) Station, 9 + + Albianum (Kufstein), 7 + + "A Legend of Bregenz," 326 + + Alemanni, the, 11 + + Alpine flowers at Cortina, 267 + + Alt, Salome, and Archbishop von Raitenau, 174 + + Altissimo di Nago, 253 + + Ambras, Castle, 113 + Court at, 121 + early history of, 114 + the Hoch Schloss, 123 + the tourney ground, 125 + traditions, 124 + treasures at, 123 + + Ancient palaces of Trent, 243-247 + + Andechs, family of, 16 + + Anif, castle of, 179 + + Anna Katharina Gonzaga of Mantua, 31 + + Anton Gump, Landhaus of, 84 + + Aquila Nera Inn, Cortina, 266 + + Araba, 273 + + Archduke Ferdinand, 29 + Leopold, 31 + + Arco, 251 + church at, 251 + + Arlberg tunnel, 72 + + Arms, summons to, 41 + + Arno, Bishop of Salzburg, 156 + + Art, collection at Innsbruck, 89 + + Art, world-famous collection, 30 + + Arthur, King of England, 93 + + Arzl, pilgrimage chapel of, 133 + + Augusta Vindelicorum, 6 + + Austerlitz, battle of, 38 + + Austria, emperors of, 32 + + Austrian, defeat of forces at Wagram, 43 + + + B + + Bad Ratzes, 278 + + Baiovarii, 12 + + Battle of Austerlitz, 38 + Custozza, 50 + Giants, 106 + Leipsic, 49 + Marengo and Hohenlinden, 37 + Naïssus, 11 + near the Brenner, 4 + Sadowa, 50 + Spinges, 228, 229 + Vercelli, 3 + + Bavaria, Duke Louis of, 25 + + Bavarian occupation, 39 + troops enter Tyrol, 43 + + Bavarians, 12 + + Belluno, cathedral at, 270 + + Bible incidents, oral versions of, 57 + + Biener, William, and Rattenberg, 291 + story of, 291-293 + + Bishop of Freisingen, 20 + Passau, 15 + + Bisson, General, surrender of, 41 + + Black Death, 21 + + Bludenz, 322 + and "Frederick of the Empty Purse," 322, 323 + + Bohemia, Prince John of, 19 + + Bozen, 206-210 + Calvarienberg, near, 211 + description of, 206, 207 + fine houses, 208 + Franciscan monastery at, 210 + history of, 207 + Laubengasse at, 209 + Parish Church, 209 + (Pons Drusi), 8 + Sarnthal costumes at, 210 + + Bozen, statue of von Vogelweide at, 209 + + Bregenz, 324-327 + Capuchin convent, 327 + + Brenner route, the, 3 + road, the, 8 + history of, 10 + + Brixen, 226-228 + cathedral of, 227, 228 + bishop's palace at, 228 + + Brixlegg, 293 + peasant plays at, 293, 294 + + Buchenstein, 270 + + Büchsenhausen, castle of, 97 + + Burg, the, 80 + + + C + + Campo Formio, treaty of, 37 + + Canazei, 274 + + Caprile, 271 + + Castle Ambras, 113 + Court at, 121 + early history of, 114 + the Hoch Schloss, 123 + the tourney ground, 125 + traditions of, 124 + treasures at, 123 + + Castle Tyrol, 16 + siege of, 22 + + Castle of Büchsenhausen, 97 + Frundsberg, 303 + Lizzana, 248 + Runkelstein, 211 + + Castle of Runkelstein, frescoes of, 211, 212 + Schonna, near Meran, 203 + Starkenberg, 68 + Tratzberg, 295 + Trautson, 231 + Trostburg, 216, 217 + + Cathedral, Belluno, 270 + Brixen, 227, 228 + Salzburg, 171, 172 + + Cathedral, Salzburg, burning of, 171 + Trent, 241 + + Catherine of Saxony, 27 + + Catholic persecutions, 161 + + Cavalese, 276 + bishop's palace at, 276 + + Cell, Maximilian's, 85 + + Cenotaph, Maximilian's, description of panels surrounding, 99 + description of, 98 + + Ceremonials, pathetic, 60 + + Chapel, pilgrimage, of Maria Larch, 145 + Silver, Innsbruck, 97 + Silver, Innsbruck, statues in, 103 + + Charlemagne, empire of, 13, 14 + reforms by, 15 + + Chasteler, General, 42 + + Church of the Servites, Innsbruck, 84 + Jesuit, Innsbruck, 85 + of Maria Waldrast, near Matrei, 231 + Madonna alle Laste, near Trent, 247 + + Cimbri, the invasion of, 2 + + Civil war, 21, 25 + + Conquest of the country, Roman, 6 + + Constance, Council of, 25 + + Cortina, 265, 266 + church at, 266 + famous inn at, 266 + festivals at, 265 + frescoes at, 266 + + Costumes of Innsbruck, 75 + at Feldkirch, 323 + at St. Ulrich, 226 + national, of Tyrol, 82 + the Sarnthal, 210 + Tyrol, 63 + + Council of Constance, 25 + Trent, 236-240 + + Counts of Tyrol, 16, 17 + + Court at Castle Ambras, 121 + Innsbruck, 80 + + Customs, curious wedding, 64 + quaint Tyrolean, 59 + + Custozza, battle of, 50 + + + D + + Dante and the Castle Lizzana, 248 + Trentino, 242 + Val Sacra, 243 + + "Das Land im Gebirge," 13 + + Death, Black, 21 + + Defregger, Franz, historical masterpieces of, 90 + + Dialect, concerning, 225 + + Diaries of early travel, 14 + of the Bishop of Passau, 15 + + Dolomite district, 255 + groups, 261, 262 + scenery, 258 + + Dolomites, 254-280 + characteristics of the, 260 + formation of, 256, 257 + inns and hotels in the, 259 + theories concerning, 256 + theories of origin of, 257 + touring in, 259 + + Dreiheiligen Kirche (Holy Trinity), 86 + + Drusi, Pons (Bozen), 8 + + Drusus, 4, 6 + + Duke Ernest, 25 + Frederick, 24, 25 + Louis of Bavaria, 25 + Sigismund, 26 + + + E + + Eggenthal, famous waterfall in the, 213 + + Eleanora, daughter of James I. of Scotland, 194 + Vincenzo of Mantua, 31 + + Emperor Theodoric the Goth, 93 + + Empire, Charlemagne's, 14 + + "Empty Purse, Frederick of the," 24 + + Enneberger, 271 + + Epiphany performances, 60 + + Eppans, the, 16 + + Ernest, Duke--reconciliation of Duke Frederick, 25 + + Etruria, ancient language of, 53 + + Evangelic Union, 170 + + + F + + Falzarego Pass, 270 + + Fassa Thal, 275, 279 + + Feldkirch, 323 + costumes at, 323 + engagement near, 37 + + Ferdinand, Archduke, 29 + Tomb of, 102 + + Festival of St. Vigilius, 234 + + Festivals at Cortina, 265 + + First Counts of Tyrol, 17 + + Fleimse Thal, 276 + + Florus, the historian, 5 + + Franz Defregger, historical masterpieces of, 90 + + Franzenfeste, 229 + + Frauenberg, Conrad of, 23 + + Frederick, Duke, 24 + reconciliation of Duke Ernest, 25 + of the "Empty Pocket," story of, 73 + + Freisingen, Bishop of, 20 + + French, Bavarian and Saxon troops enter Tyrol, 43 + + French Revolution, 36 + + Frundsberg, Georg von, 308-310 + + Fugger, George, story of, 243-246 + + Fulpmes, 131 + + + G + + Gaisberg, 179, 180 + view from, 180 + + Gebhardsberg, 327 + + General Bisson, 41 + Chasteler, 42 + + Georgenberg, St., 295 + ancient shrine at, 296 + dishonest abbot of, 300 + miracle of, 296 + origin of the Church of, 298 + + Germanization of Tyrol, 53 + + Ghostly Legend, A, 69 + + Giants, battle of, 106 + + Gilg Sesselschreiber, 95 + flight to Augsburg, 96 + + Golden Roof, the, 79 + + "Goldener Adler," 81 + + Goths and Huns, 12 + + Goths, Emperor Theodoric of the, 93 + + Goths, inroads of the, 11 + + Grafschaften, 15 + + "Grape Cure" at Meran, 198, 200 + + Grape Harvest at Meran, 200 + + Grasleiten Pass, 277 + + "Great Week" in Tyrolese history, 45 + + Grödenerthal, ascents in, 273 + + + H + + Habsburgs, schemes of the, 22 + + Haimon and the Dragon, 107 + + Hall, 134-138 + interesting church of, 137 + Münsterturm at, 135 + St. Saviour's church, 138 + salt mines, 135 + + Haspinger, the Capuchin Monk, 38 + + Haydn, Michael, at Salzburg, 185 + + Heilig Wasser, 128 + + Hellbrunn, Chateau of, 176-178 + gardens and fountains, 177 + mechanical theatre at, 178 + Monatsschlösschen at, 178 + stone theatre at, 178 + + Henry, youngest son of Meinhard II., 17 + + Herzog-Friedrich-strasse, arcades of the, 82 + + Highway, Tyrol, 14 + + Historian Florus, 5 + + Historic Events, Innsbruck, 101 + + Historical masterpieces of Franz Defregger, 90 + + History of the Statues at Hofkirche, 94 + + History in Marble, Innsbruck, 99 + + Hofburg, the, Innsbruck, 91 + + Hofer Andreas, 37, 46 + birth of, 38 + commander-in-chief, 40 + "battle cry" of, 44 + triumph of, 45 + + Hofer's nickname, 45 + + Hofer named dictator of Tyrol, 46 + capture of, 48 + led forth to die, 48 + death of, 49 + tomb of, 102 + in the Meran "Hero Plays," 195, 196 + + Hofkirche, the, Innsbruck, 92, 104 + History of the statues, 94 + + Hohen-Salzburg, 167-170 + description of, 167 + sieges of, 169 + cable railway, 169 + + Hohen Tauern, range, 150 + + Hohenlinden, battle of, 37 + + Hollaner von Hohenfelsen, 315 + + Horace, 4 + + Hostelries, 10 + + Huns and Goths, 12 + + + I + + Igls, 126 + + Inhabitants, original, 1 + + Innichen (Aguntum) Station, 9 + church and village, 262 + + Inns and hostelries, 10 + ancient, 81, 275 + + Innsbruck, approach to, 72 + art collection, 89 + attractions of, 110 + capture of, 42 + character of, 74 + costumes and uniforms at, 75 + famous statues, 97 + gaieties, 73 + gay court at, 80 + historical masterpieces of Franz Defregger, 90 + Jesuit church at, 85 + market types, 83 + Marktgraben, 83 + Maximilian's Tomb, 93 + Maximilian's, description of, Cenotaph, 98, 99 + mediæval buildings in, 81 + museum treasures, 89 + National Museum, 87 + plague, 86 + rise of, 76 + rulers, 77 + Silver chapel at, 97 + site of, 5 + some historic events at, 101 + the environs of, 113-132 + the Hofburg, 91 + the Hofkirche, 92 + the newer town, 87 + winter sports at, 111 + + Invaders, Teutonic, 13 + + + J + + Jews, the, 21 + + John, Prince of Bohemia, 19, 21 + + Julium Carnicum (Zuglio) station, 9 + + + K + + Kapuzingerberg, view from, 180 + + Karrersee, 213, 276 + + Kastelruth, 278 + + Kerpen, General, 36 + + King Arthur of England, 93 + + Kitzbühel, 287, 288 + sports at, 288 + + Kitzbühlerhorn, ascent of, 287 + + Klausen, 215 + story of a nun, 216 + + Kufstein, 281-287 + castle of, 282-284 + siege of, 283, 284 + plundering of, 284 + Maximilian at, 283, 284 + legend of, 285, 286 + + + L + + Ladin, the dialect of the Grödenerthal, 225 + + Lake Missurina, 262 + + Landeck, 319, 320 + church of, 319 + + Landhaus of Anton Gump, 84 + + Landtag, first Tyrolean, 26 + + Language, the Tyrol, 55 + + Larch, Maria, pilgrimage chapel of, 145 + + Latemar, curious customs relating to, 276 + + Laudon, General, 36 + + Legend of Castle of Tratzberg, 302 + a ghostly, 69 + Chapel of Madonna alle Laste, 247, 248 + Kufstein Castle, 285, 286 + St. Leonard auf der Wiese, 289, 290 + San Marco, 249 + the Sclavini di San Marco, 248-250 + + Legends of the Rosengarten, 214 + Tyrol, 55 + Wilten, 109 + + Leipsic, battle of, 49 + + Leopold, Archduke, 31 + I., Emperor, 34 + II., Emperor, 35 + + Lienz (Lonicum) station, 9 + + Lizzana, Castle, 248 + + Löffler, Gregor, and Castle of Büchsenhausen, 97 + + Lonicum (Lienz) station, 9 + + Lotzer Thal, 321 + + Louis, Duke of Bavaria, 25 + + Lueg Pass, 151 + + Luneville, treaty of, 37 + + + M + + Madonna alle Laste, chapel of, 247 + + "Maid of Spinges," 229 + + "Maid of Bregenz," 325, 326 + + Mantua, Anna Katharina Gonzaga of, 31 + Eleanor Vincenzo of, 31 + + Marco, San, 249 + + Marengo, battle of, 37 + + Maria Larch, church of, 145 + + Maria Theresa, empress, 34 + + Maria Waldrast, chapel of, 231 + + Marriage in Tyrol, 61 + + Martin, St., home of Speckbacher, 144 + + Martinswand, 313-315 + Maximilian's adventure on the, 313-315 + + Masciacum (Matzen), 7 + + Massena, general, 37 + + Matrei, 231 + church of Maria Waldrast, 231 + + Matrejum (Matrei), 8 + + Matzen, Schloss, 294, 295 + + Maurice of Saxony, 30 + + Max-Höhle at Zirl, 315 + + Maximilian, 28 + + Maximilian's cell, 85 + tomb, Innsbruck, 93 + Cenotaph description, 98 + + Medriol Thal, 321 + + Meinhard II., youngest son of, 17 + untimely end, 23 + + Meran, 192-201 + architecture of, 193 + the Burg, 193 + the Landesfürstliche Burg, 193, 194 + gardens of, 195 + "Hero Plays" at, 195, 196 + costumes at, 197 + "grape cure" at, 198 + the "Saltner" at, 199 + sports and pastimes at, 201 + castles near, 201-203 + + Merchants, Venetian, 27 + + Michael, St., 144 + + Milser, Oswald, 316, 317 + + Mines, salt, 9 + + Mirabell, Schloss, garden of, 174, 175 + + Missurina Lake, 263 + + Monasteries, suppression of, 35 + + Mönchsberg, early church in, 153 + walk along the, 182, 183 + + Mozart's birthplace, 184 + relics in, 184 + + Mozart-Häuschen on the Kapuzingerberg, 181 + furniture and relics in, 181 + + Mozart-Häuschen, beautiful garden of, 182 + + Muhldorf, battle of, 157 + + Munatius Plancus, 4 + + Museum, National, at Innsbruck, 87 + treasures, 89 + + Myths of Tyrol, 55 + + + N + + Naïssus, battle of, 11 + + Napoleonic wars and Salzburg, 163 + + Nave d'Oro, inn, 275 + + Nonnberg, convent on the, 183 + Gothic chapel of the, 183 + + + O + + Ober-Innthal, through the, 311-327 + + Original inhabitants of Tyrol, 1 + + Ostrogothic leader, Theodoric, 12 + + Oswald Milser, 316, 317 + + Ottoburg, the, 81 + + + P + + Paneveggio, 279 + + Paris von Lodron, archbishop, 171 + + Passau, bishop of, 15 + + Passeier Valley, 205 + Hofer's hiding-place in, 205 + + Peace of Westphalia, 160 + + Peasants' revolt at Salzburg, 159 + + Persecution by Catholics, 161 + + Petermann, lover of Margaret of Tyrol, 108 + + Philippine Welser, tomb of, 102 + romantic story of, 115-120 + character of, 119 + death of, 122 + + Pienzenau, story of Governor, 283, 284 + + Plague, ravages of the, 86 + at Trent, 238 + + Plancus, Munatius, 4 + + Plätz-Wiese, 268 + + Pliny, quotation from, 9 + + Plutarch's "Marius," 3 + + "Pocket-Mouthed Meg," 18, 23, 108 + + Pons Aeni, 7 + + Pons Drusi (Bozen), 8 + + Pontlatzerbrucke, 320 + + Porta Claudia, Scharnitz, 318 + + Post Road, Brenner, 7 + + Power of Rome, 11 + + Pragser Lake or Wildsee, 269 + + Predazzo, 274, 275 + Nave d'Oro inn, 275 + + Pressburg, treaty of, 38, 40 + + Prince counts of Tyrol, 17 + + Prince John of Bohemia, 19 + + Princess Catherine of Saxony, 27 + + Protestants, expulsion of, 161 + + "Pulpit bride," the, 61 + + + R + + Rattenberg, 290 + castle of, 291 + history of, 291 + + Reforms by Charlemagne, 15 + + Regent, Archduke Leopold as, 31 + + Revolution, French, 36 + + Rhætians, the, 4, 7 + their dialect, 53 + + Rhæto-Roman stations, 8 + + Riva, 252, 253 + parish church of, 252 + + Roman conquest of the country, 6 + occupation of Rhætia, 7 + Rhæto-, stations, 8 + + Rome, power of, 11 + + Romedius, St., story of, 133, 134 + + Rosengarten, 213-215 + excursions in the, 215 + legend of, 214 + + Route, the Brenner, 3, 7 + + Roveredo, 250, 251 + churches of, 251 + + Rudolph IV., 24 + + Rulers, Innsbruck's, 77 + + Rum, village of, 133 + + Runkelstein, castle of, 211 + frescoes at, 211, 212 + + Rupert, St., at Salzburg, 155 + + + S + + Sadowa, battle of, 50 + + St. Leonard auf der Wiese, 288, 289 + + St. Martin, village of, 203 + Hofer's inn at, 204 + Hofer relics at, 205 + + St. Peter's church, Salzburg, 185 + cemetery, Salzburg, 186 + monastery, Salzburg, 186 + + St. Romedius, story of, 133, 134 + + St. Ulrich, costume at, 226 + quaint guide-book to, 226 + toy industry of, 222, 223 + village of, 221, 222 + + St. Vigilius, festival of, 234 + + Salome Alt and Archbishop von Raitenau, 174 + and Schloss Mirabell, 174 + + Salsbund, the, 161 + + Salt mines, 9 + discovery of, 142, 143 + + "Saltner," the, at Meran, 199 + + Salzach Valley, 151 + + Salzburg, 147-191 + beauty of, 147 + + Salzburg, approach to, 148 + province of, 149 + in Roman times, 152 + building of, 153 + history of, 154 + rise of, 155 + early rulers of, 157 + the Reformation and peasant revolt at, 159 + province of, during French invasions, 162 + luxurious archbishops of, 164 + rebuilding of, 165, 166 + ancient fortress of, 167 + cathedral, burning of, 171 + cathedral, 171, 172 + Residenz-Platz, 172 + St. Peter's church, 185 + monastery, 186 + cemetery, 186 + Carolina-Augusteum museum, 186 + special features, 187 + peasants' ball at, 188, 189 + a curious custom, 190 + the market, 191, 192 + + Sandyland, birth of Andreas Hofer, 38 + + San Martino, 279 + + Sarnthal, costumes of the, 210 + + Saxon troops enter Tyrol, 43 + + Saxony, Princess Catherine of, 27 + Maurice of, 30 + + Scarbio (Scharnitz), 8 + + Scenery, Tyrol, 1 + + Schabs (Sebatum) station, 9 + + Scharnitz, 318 + defence of, by Swinburne, 318 + + Schlern, the, 277 + + Schloss Mirabell and Salome Alt, 174 + gardens of, 174, 175 + Zenoburg, Meran, 201 + Rubein, Meran, 201 + Tyrol, near Meran, 202 + " description of, 202, 203 + Matzen, description of, 294, 295 + + Schluderbach, 264 + + Schmalkald, war of the, 29 + + Schonberg, 131 + + Schonna, castle of, 203 + + Schwaz, 303-308 + silver mines at, 304 + curious church at, 307 + + Sclavini di San Marco, 248-250 + + Sebatum (Schabs) station, 9 + + Servites, church of the, 84 + + Sesselschreiber, Gilg, 95 + flight to Augsburg, 95 + + Sigismund, duke, 26 + + Silver chapel, Innsbruck, 97 + statues, 103 + + Site of Innsbruck, 5 + + Spanish Succession, War of the, 33 + + Speckbacher, birth of, 38 + + Spinges, Battle of, 228, 229 + maid of, 229 + engagement of, 36 + + Sports, Tyrolese, 67 + at Kitzbühel, 287, 288 + at Meran, 201 + winter, at Innsbruck, 111 + + Starkenberg, Castle of, 68 + + Stations, Rhæto-Roman, 8 + Tricesimum, 9 + Julium Carnicum (Zuglio), 9 + Aguntum (Innichen), 9 + Lonicum (Lienz), 9 + Sebatum (Schabs), 9 + + Statues, famous, at Innsbruck, 97 + + " " Hofkirche, 94 + in Silver Chapel, Innsbruck, 103 + + Sterzing (Vilpetenum), 8 + + Sterzing, 229-231 + Rathaus at, 230 + church at, 230 + + Stilfes, gorge of, 44 + + Story of Charlemagne and Hildegarde, 324, 325 + a nun, 216 + Georg von Frundsberg, 308-310 + Governor Pienzenau, 283, 284 + Heilig Wasser, 128 + Oswald Milser, 316, 317 + Oswald von Wolkenstein, 217-220 + Pastor Söll, 306 + Philippine Welser, 115-120 + St. Romedius and the Bear, 133, 134 + Teufelspalast, Trent, 244-246 + the "Maid of Bregenz," 325, 326 + + Strange natural phenomena, 131 + + Stubai Valley, 129 + Bahn, 130 + + Summons to arms, 41 + + Superstitions of Tyrol, 55 + + Swinburne and Scharnitz, 318 + + + T + + Telfs, 318 + + Territory, New, 29 + + Teutonic Invaders, 13 + + Thaur, 133 + village of, 56 + + Theodoric, Emperor of the Goths, 93 + the Ostrogothic leader, 12 + + Thirty Years' War, 33 + + Tiberius, 4, 6 + + Toblach, 263 + + Tomb of Archduke Ferdinand and Philippine Welser, 102 + + Tomb of Hofer, 102 + Maximilian, 93 + + "Toy-land," 223, 224 + + Tratzberg, castle of, 301, 302 + Maximilian rooms, 301, 302 + story of, 302, 303 + + Trautson, castle of, 231 + + Travel, diaries of early, 14 + + Treaty of Campo Formio, 37 + Luneville, 37 + Pressburg, 38, 40 + Vienna, 47 + + Tre Croci Pass, 265 + + Trent (Tridentum), 8 + + Trent, 233-247 + ancient, 235 + " palaces of, 243-247 + cathedral of, 241 + church of Santa Maria Maggiore, 240 + Claudia Porticelli, story of, 243 + Council of, 236-240 + Dante and, 242 + decrees of the Council of, 238 + end of the Council of, 240 + festival of St. Vigilius at, 234 + foundation of, 233 + museum, 242 + opening of the Council of, 236 + plague at, 238 + story of the organ-builder of, 241 + Teufelspalast, 244-246 + + Tricesimum, Roman station of, 9 + + Tridentum (Trent), 8 + + Trostburg, castle, 216, 217 + + Tunnel, Arlberg, 72 + + Types, ancient, along the highway, 14 + + Types, market, Innsbruck, 83 + + Tyrol scenery, 1 + inhabitants, 1 + types along the great highway, 14 + Counts of, 16, 17 + castle of, 16 + possession of, 32 + population of, 37 + French, Bavarian, and Saxon troops enter, 43 + Hofer, dictator of, 46 + as Bavarian territory, 47 + triple division of, 49 + description of, 52 + Germanization of, 53 + the language of, 55 + legends, superstitions, and myths of, 55 + Wälsch, 57 + + Tyrol folk-lore, tales of, 57 + quaint customs relating to Christmas in, 59 + Epiphany performances, 60 + pathetic ceremonials in, 60 + marriage in, 61 + bride's procession, 62 + costumes of, 63 + curious wedding customs, 64 + sports and wrestling in, 67 + national costume of, 82 + Margaret of, 108 + "Toy-land" in, 223 + + Tyrolean dances, 66 + Landtag, first, 26 + wedding, 65 + + Tyrolese character, 56 + history, in--as "the Great Week," 45 + masters, works of the, 89 + sports, 67 + + + U + + Ulrich, St., 221, 222 + church at, 225 + costume at, 226 + quaint guide-book to, 226 + toy industry of, 222, 223 + + University, of Innsbruck, 84 + + Unter-Innthal, vast mineral wealth of, 27 + through the, 281-310 + + + V + + Val Sacra and Dante, 243 + + Val Sugana, 280 + + Veldidena, 5, 8 + + Vendome, General, 33 + + Venetian merchants, 27 + + Vercelli, 3 + + Via Claudia Augusta, 8 + + Vienna, treaty of, 47 + + Vigilius, St., festival of, 234 + + Vilpetenum (Sterzing), 8 + + Vindelicorum, Augusta, 6 + + Vineyards at Meran, 199, 200 + + Von Keutschach, Bishop Leonhard, 158 + + Von Lodron, Paris, archbishop, 171 + + Von Raitenau, Bishop Wolf Dietrich, 160, 170 + + Von Vogelweide, statue of, 209 + + Von Wolkenstein, story of, 217-220 + + Vorarlberg, words and expressions used in, 54 + + + W + + Wagram, defeat of Austrian forces at, 43 + + Waidbruck, 272 + + War, Civil, 21 + of the Schmalkald, 29 + of the Spanish Succession, 33 + Thirty Years', 33 + + Wasser, Heilig, story of, 128 + + Wealth, vast mineral, 27 + + Wedding, a Tyrolean, 65 + customs, 64 + + Weisslahn-Bad, 278 + + Welser, Philippine, character of, 119 + death of, 122 + romantic story of, 115-120 + tomb of, 102 + + Westphalia, Peace of, 160 + + Wildsee, Pragser, 269 + + Wilten (Veldidena), 8 + abbey of, 17 + a legend of, 109 + story and description of abbey of, 105 + + Woodcarvers of St. Ulrich, 222, 223 + + Wrestling, Tyrolese, 67 + + + Z + + Zillerthal maidens, 59 + + Zirl, 311-316 + Calvarienberg of, 312 + Maximilian at, 313-315 + painted houses of, 312 + + Zuglio (Julium Carnicum), Roman station of, 9 + + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tyrol and its People, by Clive Holland + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40889 *** |