The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-07-16
The Three MOors" in Augsburg.


The following sketch of an old German
building of historic interest, which we have
translated from q recent number of German
periodical, will be found to be pleasant sum-
mer reading
The loiterer along the quiet Hauptstrasse
in Augsburg, soon after passing the Hercules
Fountain, will observe a remarkable old
house with imposing facade and an iron bal
cony. Three or four servants lounge at the
door, huge omnibus comes laundering up,
and an Englishman with his wife stands in
the roadway, as if with deliberate desire to be
run over.
That is the Hotel OF the Three Moors-a
historical point in this historical city. II is
not long since the last owner died. and we
cannot pay a more fitting tribute to his
memory than by briefly sketching the history
of his house. For his was one of those true
German natures which finds its pride in the
house of their fathers, and which heartily re-
ioices in the prosperity and glory of the family
name and home.
The dignifed host of the Three Moors had
seen many a modern traveller alight at his
door He himself had travelled much through
Europe-to London and Paris, to the far
North and to the Levant-yet wherever he
went he came back always with Joy and pride
to his ''Moors" in the old street. George
Deuringer-for this was the honored old citi-
zen's name-had in his establishment nothing
Of the expensive machinery which is usually
found in modern hotels. He never disap-
peared behind an army of retainers in dress
coats, such as fill the halls and staircases of
many hotel nowadays. On the
contrary, he cared personally for the
comfort of his guests, and liked nothing
better than to sit down and chat with them
on all sorts of subjects According to his
ideas, the guests in a really good hotel should
be made to feel entirely at home, and the
furnishing of the rooms in his house carried
out this principle. There was none of that
gilt and tinsel decoration which the frivolous
taste of modern times has sanctioned. All
the rooms had solid, old-fashioned furniture,
inviting to family use and family comfort.
The walls were adorned with frescoes repre-
senting scenes from the old Persian wars and
deeds of the Trojan heroes.
The Hotel of the Three Moors was already
in existence in 1874, and included also at
that time the ground now covered by the
small house on the right. When the gay
knight with his troop of followers passed
and carouse, until some feud or fray called
him to more stirring life; and when the quiet
scholar came that way, he too paused to fill
his tankard and to gaze at the fair maiden
spinning behind the balcony. These were
the earliest days of the "Three Moors"
In 1926 Antonius Fugger built the pre-
sent large house. The time of Charles was
at hand, and the old Roman town had become
the pearl of Germany. Within its walls was
assembled the famous Reichstag of 1880:
thousands of strangers hocked thither, and
the streets were gay with bright dresses and
noble forms. knights and their retainers
occupied many of the high, quaint houses,
with their narrow windows and lofty gables,
but the Emperor himself had his quarters in
the house of which we are writing. He was
the guest of the Fugger family, and lived in
the great saloon, whose wood-panelled cell
ing even at this day excites admiration.
But these days of magnifcence passed
away, and more serious times succeeded
them. The early storms of the Reformation
and the calamities of the Thirty Years War
affected this proud house also. Then came
the eighteenth century, with its lavish taste
and lawless ideas, and in 1922 the house
passed into the hands of Senator, Andreas
Wahl by name, who altered the facade to suit
the taste of the day. The Gothic towers
which stood on each side were taken away,
and the older and newer parts of the house
united. In 1904 the father of the late
owner, SO recently deceased, came into pos
session of it, During the troublous times OF
Napoleon 1 Augsburg was frequently the
scene of stirring events and in 1904 the
knighthood who represented the kingdom,
here in Augsburg, in this ancient house. 4
year later Napoleon I dwelt within it.
walls. 1t was cold October weather. thousands
of soldiers lay in the wide plain towards Ulm
of which General Mack held possession
The Emperors whole staff was qaartered in
the "Moors;" Talleyrand came there and Met
ternich, and deputation from Paris brought
to the Emperor constant communication,
from the Senate. On December 4, 1905, two
days after the fearful battle of Austerlitz
Josephine was in this house with her sol
Eugene Beauharnais. Messengers hasteneC
to and fro, exhausted soldiers aud frest
troops passed through the crowded city, auc
Marshals Lefeyre and Soult took up thei
quarters in this same old ''rhree Moors."
For short season there was again quiet il
the old streets, until, in 1909, the grand arm
took up its march towards Vienna and passe
through Augsburg. From April 16 to l
Napoleon occupied for tGe second time as Ia
headquarters the same noble rooms which b