St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-11-14

ins-Rolandseck and the ConUent of
Nonnenwerth The Legends of the Pic
turesque Rirer-Castles and Vineyards
--Coblens and EhrenbreitStein- Fair
Bingen' and its beautiful surround
ingS.
HOTEL VICTORIA,
WIESBADEN, Germany, July, T9.
ON THE RHINE.
We went on board the express steamer
"Kaiser Wilhelm" Just above the bridge
of boats at Cologne for our days jour
ney up the River Rhine. The day was
made for such trip as this and we en-
joyed every moment it gave us upon
the romantic and historic stream, which
for ages has been the great highway of
of Europe and whose borders are crowd
ed with the noble relics of bye-gone
days of pomp and rugged splendOr.
The distance from Cologne to Biebrich,
which is the landing place for the great
watering place of Wiesbaden, is about
l25 miles, and the voyage between the
two points, in going against the current
is made in twelve hours, with three in
termediate stops at Bonn, COblenz and
Bingen. The down trip is made in
nine hours or less, but there is no spe-
cial advantage in that, for the voyager
can count no time lost that is spent
amid such enchanting scenes. There is
little to be seen of special interest be-
low Bonn, although the fading view of
Cologne arrests the attention for awhile.
Some time before Bonn is reached,
however, the graceful form of the Seven
Mountains which rise from the livef's
northern bank beyond that city, and
just above Konigswinter, are seen.
They form the gateway to the most
romantic regions of the Rhine, and are
themselves crowned with ruined castles
and enriched by numerous legends
Bonn is an interesting old city of nearly
thirty thousand inhabitants, celebrated
chiefly for its university and for having
been Beethoven's birthplace.
THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS.
But we are nearing the Drachenfels
which forms the outpost of the line OF
peaks extending nOrthward from this
point. The Drachenfels rises to height
of little over a thousand feet, and
some of the others are nearly five hun
dred feet higher. The castle of Dra-
chenfels is GIG feet above the Rhine
1t is near here where Siegfried is sup
posed to have killed the dragon, and
the product of the vineyards which ter
race the southern slopes is known as
DrdcheRblut Siegfried bathed himself
in the dragons blood and so became
invulnerable except in a single spot i
stray leaf chanced to protect at the
time of his wonderful bath. The mod
ern Siegfrieds have improved upon the
mode of applying the dragons blood
The Rhine steamers are fitted up
with tables on deck, and an ubiquitous
waiter calls attention to the picturesque
places by announcing the products oi
the vineyards at so many marks pei
bottle. The prices are generally quite
low, and the traveller can sip the pro-
duets of the most famous vineyards,
such as those of Assmannshausen, Ru-
desheim and SchOss Johannisberg,
while gazing upon the sunny slopes
which gave the liquor forth, or the am
Der Moselblumchen and Brauneberger
while floating past the mouth of the
beautiful Mosel, at COblenz, and all at
Il mere fraction of what the wines cost
in America, and much less even than
the German hotel keepers charge. But
the waiter omitted the Drdchenblut from
his list so that cannot report upon the
magical qualities of which il is still said
to be possessed. If it imparts invul-
nerahility to the inner cuticle as the
dragons blood of old did to the outer,
it ought to be kept on draft where GER
tain American "drinks" are dispensed.
| CASTLES AND LEGENDS.
Above KOnigswinter, on the opposite
bank of the Rhine, rises the ruined cas-
tie of Rolandseck, whilst the old nun
merry of Nonnenwerth is half hidden by
the trees on an island in the river.
Roland was brave French knight and
II paladin of Charlemagne. He fell in
love with Hildegunde, the fair daugh-
tel of Count Herbert, lord of the Seven
Mountains, and then went to the cru
sades. News came back that he had
fallen before the Infidels, and Hide
gunde betoOk herself to the neighbor-
ing convent. The rumOrs of his death
proved untrue, and Roland came back
to find his love lost to him forever. In
despair he built the castle, crumbling
arch alone of which now remains, where
he could overlook the walls which held
Hildegunde. He saw her often, but
there came time when a funeral pro-
cesSlOn was all he deserted. From that
moment he never spoke again, and it
was not long before he died of a broken
heart. Schiller's Ritter Togqenburqn
was suggested by this legend.
But there is n romantic legend at
tached to every castle we shall pass
during the day, and l will not weary
your readers by relating them. An un-
poetic writer sums them all up very
briefly: 1.-THE history of the Rhine. -