Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-07-21
FROM GERMANY.
HiShiy Interesting Accounts of Ger,air
CaIhedrars, Museums, de-, by Kpx.
willie Bow

Vile Boy.
We have had the pleasure of readiu a
very well written and interesting Letter
from young gentleman of this CITY. nty
travelling and taking a special course of
study in Germany, from which we make
the following extracts. He is travelling in
company with a friend from Nashville.
He writes from Munich under date of June
9th:
Dresden is the handsomest CITY in Ger
many. We remained there a week. during
which we saw all that was to be seen.
The city is situated in a valley. through
which the river Elbe flows, dividing il IN
to two almost equal parts-the old and the
new town. The two parts of the CITY are
connected by an old stone bridge which
was built with the money raised by the
sale of dispensations from the Pope to eat
butter and eggs during Lent. Tie lion of
Dresden isits picture gallery, which is the
most celebrated in Germany 1t contains
more than twenty-three hundred pictures,
the most remarkable of which are the two
pictures by Raphael and Hans Hoblin
"The Madonna and child" and Jacob
Meyer and family kneeling before the Ma
donna and Christi Each has q separate
room set apart for it. A great many pic
| lures from Correggio, Titan, Murillo,
Snyder, Bol, Van Dyck, Rubens, Rem
brandt and others are very handsome.
They are considered as a precious inheri-
tance by the gallery. Three days of our
week were profitably spent in this gallery.
l feel well repaid.
The Catholic Church is a large building
of the pure gothic style besides many pic
lures and statues it contains for an altar
picture, '"The Ascension" by Raphael
Mengs. The vaults of this church contain the
bodies of the royal family. The music, on
Sundays is celebrated. The choir of fifty
boys and men, accompanied by the organ
and large orchestra. produced grand eff
feet. Our churches in America are very
small when compared with European
Cathedrals. Very few of them are so small
as Trinity Church, New York, our largest
church.
ITS MUSEUM, LIBRARY AND JEWELS.
Dresden boasts of one of the best His
torcal Museums in the world, though the
greater part is taken up with the history of
Saxony. Here we saw the statues of all
the Kings of SaXony since the fourteenth
century-their horses, clothes, &c, besides
the kinds of arrow used by them, in many
cases, it being the same lance or sword
with which they killed another King or
high noble in battle. Here, also, we saw
the saddle and boots used by Napoleon at
the battle of Dresden in 1878; the shoes of
Maria Theresa No. u the shoes of Kant
and the boots or Me'anchton the sword,
drinking cup and writing table of Luther;
the pistols of Gustavus Adolphus of Swe
den, of Charles XII, &C., &c. Such collec-
tions make it very interesting place to
visit.
In the japanese Palace are the museums
of medals and bronzes and the Royal Libra
ry. The library is very large. 1t contains
many old and precious MSS. of the differ
ent languages, some of which have never
been read; valuable books, one of which
cost thirty thousand dollars. The picture
book of August II, in nine volumes, each
volume of which cost two thousand dol
lars. Only one other copy of this work ex-
lists. The painting in it is almost as bright
now as it was when it was first painted,
though more than two hundred years old.
We found the museums of casts and anti
quities instructive. One of the institutions
of Dresden is the Acoustic Hall. Here all
kinds of musical instruments are played by
mechanical power.
We visited the celebrated Green Room
in the Royal Palace. In this room all the
Jewels of the Royal Family of SaXony are
Kept. They amount to more than three
thousand, and consist of brOnzes, ivory
carvings, mosaics, shells, corals, objects of
gold and silver, engraved wood and stones,
Jewels, pearls and sculptures and the
crowns and regalia used at the coronation.
There are more than one hundred carved
in ebony and ivory pearl of the size OF
hem s egg, representing the dwarf of Charles
III. of Spain pearls transformed into gro
tesque personages; agolden egg enclosing a.
golden fowl, a crown, signet ring and a
diamond ring; basket of flowers in enam-
ell; an automaton spider; pure vases of
onyx; two braceltes ornamented with shell
pictures in enamel objects in
alabaster and wood; arms with diamond
handles; and the works in gold and silver
of Ding linger." In one room above the
Jewels are valued at more than fifteen mil
lions of dollars. 1 have never seen such a
collection of wealth in my life; they far
surpass those in the tower of London.