THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. STEPHEN, VIENNA.

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EISENACH.

THE plate before us conveys a favourable impression of the picturesque situation of Eisenach. It was formerly the capital of the principality of this name, but now belongs to the Grand Duchy of Weimar. The city suffered severely in the French war, from the explosion of an ammunition waggon, and the memory of the misfortune is perpetuated by the name of Explosion Square. The gymnasium was formerly a Latin school, and had the honour of numbering Luther among its pupils. Eisenach is one of the oldest cities of Thuringia; it was rebuilt in the year 1070, by Ludwig, the Springer, nearer the Wartburg, which towers above the city, and affords an agreeable prospect from the summit of the hill. To this fortress, the celebrated scene of Luther's captivity, at the hands of his friend, the Elector of Saxony, and in which the great reformer translated the greater part of the Bible; the town was indebted for its prosperity as the Landgraves of Thuringia made it their residence from the year 1672 to 1741. The description of the Wartburg itself, which no traveller on the high road from Frankfort to Leipzig should leave unvisited, we reserve for a later number.

THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. STEPHEN, VIENNA.

THE Augustine Church, says an English traveller who has furnished us with one of the best accounts of Germany which we possess, is the only specimen in Vienna of the more light and airy species of Gothic, while all that is lofty, imposing, and sublime in that architecture, is united in the church of St. Stephen. Majestic as is its exterior, it is perhaps too heavy, every corner being overburdened with stone, a defect not diminished by the old ornaments which are stuck round its outer walls. But the interior is noble-ample, sombre, simple, elevated and overpowering.

This church is the largest in Germany; it was begun in the year 1144, but not completed 'till three centuries afterwards, during the course of which it underwent many vicissitudes. During the earlier half of the thirteenth century it was burned down, and 't is probable that, in its present form, very little can be traced to an

VOL. III.

earlier period than this, except the two towers (Heidenthuerme, heathen towers), with the chief, or, so called, giant's gate, which date from the latter half of the twelfth century, the latter contains many strange and unintelligible bas reliefs. Among the exterior monuments may be noticed the stone pulpit from which John of Capistran inflamed the enthusiasm of the assembled people to a crusade against the Turks, in 1541. The church has five entrances; the principal gate is never open except on very solemn occasions. The interior of the cathedral is three hundred and forty-two feet long, two hundred and twenty-two feet broad, and eighty-six feet high. Eighteen free columns, and as many pillars in the wall, support the roof. It contains thirty-eight marble altars; the wooden carving round the stalls of the choir exhibit an interesting memorial of the early excellence of the Germans in this department of art. One or two bulky monuments, although not ornaments, do not greatly interrupt the fine perspective of the nave and ailes; the church derives its ornaments simply from its architecture; the altars are unassuming, the pictures do not deserve particular mention, except an Ecce Homo by Corregio, which is hardly visible. At the western extremity is a gaudy chapel of the Lichtenstein family, remarkable for a privilege from Pius VI., by which the soul of a Lichtenstein shall be released from purgatory every time that mass is celebrated at the altar of this chapel. Among the principal monuments are those of the Emperior Frederic IV., 1513, by Nicholas Lerch, of Salzburg marble, with three hundred figures, and that of Prince Eugene, of Savoy, in the Krenz-Kapelle. In the great music choir is a very fine organ. The cathedral is lighted by thirtyone lofty windows, painted in the old German style of art. Beneath the church, in the catacombs, which extend round the whole building, is the prince's vault, in which the members of the Austrian family were buried for nearly two centuries (1365-1576); at present, the bowels of the imperial dead are deposited here, in copper urns; their bodies are placed in the imperial burial vault in the church of the Capuchins, and the hearts are preserved in the Loretto chapel of the Augustines.

The celebrated St. Stephen's tower, rivalled in height only by that of Strasburg, to which it must yield in lightness and elegance, is four hundred and fifty feet in height, from the pavement to the pinnacle. On its summit are a crucifix, six feet in height, and a double eagle, a somewhat singular union of earthly and divine majesty. A stone staircase, of seven hundred steps, leads to the tower clock, and a second ascent, of thirty steps, to the balcony, which commands an interesting view of the interior of the city, as well as of its environs. The bell in the tower is the largest in Germany, it weighs three hundred and forty-five hundred weight, exclusive of the tongue, or clapper, which weighs one thousand three hundred