Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-04
THE BLUE DANUBE.
AN INTERESTING VOYAGE ON THE
FAMOUS AND BEAUTIFUL RIVER.

.HMOOo ANU BEAU It'll RIVER.
A Few of the Towns Which Stand ON 1t.
Banks-Historical Associations-The Val.
ley Which Has Been the Scene of Many
Battles.
The Danube is the second river in Europe
having length of over 1,700 miles. it and It's
tributaries draining valley comprising an
area Of considerably over 100000 square
miles A score of nations live along its banks
! and those of the rivers which flow into its
mighty current, and nearly thirty tongues OF
dialects are spoken between its source and its
mouth 1t rises a little TO the north OF
Switzerland, in the Black Forest, and almost
in sight of the French frontier, for from the
top OF the mountain In Baden from whose
base the Danube spring flows the hills OF
France can be seen on the west. Through
Bavaria and Austria lies its course; through
Hungary. past Seryia and Bulgaria, Rou-
mania and Roumela, while tributaries flow
in from Bosnia and Macedonia on the south,
and Poland on the north, so that practically
the valley Of the Danube comprises the most
important portions of eastern Europe. 1t
runs through country full Of historic asso-
Citations, the battle ground of civilization and
savagery. Here the Romans contended with
the Scythians and the Huns; here the Greek
empire strove TO maintain its supremacy over
the hordes Of savage tribes which came down
from the steppes Of Russia: here, after the
empire of the east had faded away, Charlie
magne cortended with savage tribes of semi
Asiatics; here all Europe fought the Turks
for generation after generation, until by q
great battle fought under the walls Of Vienna,
the food of the Mohammedan invasion was
rolled back towards Asia.
The route Of the travellers lay past Ulm,
once the great imperial free city, and a fort
ress from the earliest times. Its magnificent
cathedral, begun over 500 years ago, is still
unfinished, but even incomplete is one of the
finest church buildings to be found il
Europe We need not, however, go back to
the foundation OF the cathedral to find history
made in and about Ulm, for in sight Of the
cathedral towers Marshal Ney gained the
great victory which gave Napoleon absolute
control over this part of Austria. The only
relic of Ulm's former strategic Importance is
seen in the forts which still rise round the
city and protect it against a possible future
are those of commerce, for the pipes of Ulm
are famous all over Germany, and the repu-
tation Of the Timer bread has extended as far
Is that of the wienerwurst.
Past Neuberg went the travellers, and
Schonbuechel, and Durrenstein, the famous
castle where Richard was imprisoned, and
where his faithful servant, after traversing
the whole of Europe, and visiting every castle
OF importance, in the vain effort to discover
his imprisoned king, at length found him by
singing under his window the old chanson
which was the favolite of Napoleon l, 80,
Richard, mon Roi," he singing one line
and the king answering with the next. Past
Passau they went, situated on the peninsula
where the Inn and the liz mix their waters
with those of the Danube. Like Ultn, Passau
has been a fort for untold ages, for here the
Germans had fortress before the Romans
invaded the land, and Fort Oberhaus, which
crowns mountain on the left bank of the
Danube, was once a medieval castle, now re-
modelled into a modern fortifcation and
forming one of the strongest citadels in
South Europe.
But Passau does not rely altogether on the
old Oberhaus castle for its protection, Tor
almost within the city is the Niederhaus
castle, and dozen other forts at various
points in the neighborhood attest the value
placed upon it by the Austrian government.
In truth, it is a beautiful town, rising like an
amphitheater On the peninsula, well built in
the modern style, its public buildings,
churches and palaces doing credit to the
situation on which they stand. Past In
golStadt went the travellers, a curious old.
town too big for the number of people it con-
tains, very much decayed, and bearing even
to the present day in its houses, churches and
public buildings evidences of the destruction
wrought there in the year 1900 by the French
army. Fifty years ago its Notifications were
all restored, and it is now among the best
armed cities in Central Europe. The playing
cards of Austria are made here, and someeven
exported to North Germany, but the queer
old city derives the most Of its fame from
the university, no longer there, but ages ago
removed to Munich, and the university itself
would have been forgotten hundreds of years
since had it not been for one Dr. Rhegius, a
poet and philosopher, known in the drama
ard opera as DR.. FaUstus. His tomb stands
in one of the churches, and his memory has
been enbalmed by the dramatsts and
hbrettists.
Past Aggstein went they, where tho IA
nous ghost has haunted the castle for many
generations Like the White Lady Of Dub
lin, the Aggstein ghost appears prior to the
death of one Of the family owning the castle,
end wanders about its halls, shrieking and
moaning in such a way as to strike terror
into the hearts of all the survivors. Leav-
ing the AggStein castle and specter, the
travellers went on past the Strudel, a magni-
fcent gorge in the Upper Danube, where the
stream, confined in narrow channel be-
tween precipitous banks, doubles the velocity
OF its current and sweeps along with an over
whelEaing force between two castle crowned
hills, hoary with historic associations
Next comes Ratisbon, in the Bavarian
province Of Oberpfaiz, at the mouth Of the
Ragen, the most medieval city in Europe,
for at every turn its ramparts, meats, gates,
drawbridges, crooked streets, overhanginS
houses, projecting windows, clusters of old
fashioned chimneys doors with huge knock
ers, lack Of paving, narrow passways through
which it is impossible for vehicle to pass.
dark passages under the houses, all remind
one of cities of 500 years ago. Now gone to
decay, RatiSbon was once the most flourish
ing city Of southern Germany. Its cathedral,
begun in the Eleventh century and finished
less than 100 years ago, is one of the finest
specimens of Gothic architecture in the
world Ratisbon is noted for nothing but its
antiquity, but it has any quantity Of that,
and TO spare.
Then into Hungary COWS tie Danube, past
Presburg. the former capital Of Hungary
after Buda- Pesth had been taken by TIE
Turks rs old rs Rat;Sbon IS Prs5urg, but
it does not show its age 50 plainly; still one
nay here revel IN the associations Of the past.
for here is the cathedral where for hundreds