Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1907-05-22

AAA'-No "AHAoA ioH tue kUtgutS. % men De-
gan to come from different parts Of Ger
many; weavers and dyers SRA artisans Of
all kinds, in such numbers that the guilds
Of which we read so much, sprang up
among them. Then, because the emperor
spent 80 much time at the castle, poets and
artists were attracted thither.
Thus, after time, instead OF a few fish
er's huts along the valley OF the river, and
lonely forester's cabins on the border of
the Franconia mountains, the watch
tower looked down upon innumerable red
roofs, for all about it, close to the foot of
the rock, had spread great city full of a
thousand activities.
QUAINT old town of toll and traffic;
Quaint old town of art and song"
Let US leave the castle for the square to
look at the beautiful oriel window OF the
parsonage Of st. Sebald
Where in old heroic DAYS
Sat the poet Mechoir singing Kaiser
Maximilian's praise.
All the NurembeYgers love the emper-
or's memory and still sing the praise of
"Kaiser Max, As they additionally call
him. Under his reign the arts fiourished.
Painters, sculptors and poets were sure of
his protection and even of his personal
friendship. You cannot fail to admire the
delicate tracery with which the upper
part Of the chorlein or oriel window is
filed, and you will want to study out the
scenes from the Nativity at the base,
which are ranked among the finest exam
pies Of fifteenth century stone-carving.
Shall we follow the golden cord a little
further? We, too, see everywhere around
US
"Rise the wondrous world Of art;
Fountains wrought with richest sculpture
Standing In the common mart"
The fountains Of Nuremberg form one
of its most distinctive features. We shall
find the most celebrated one, the Schone-
brunnen, or Beautiful fountain, in the
market-place, as our poet says, directly in
front Of the graceful Frauenkirche. From
a distance you can see its tapering stone
pyramid rising to slender pinnacle. It
is bright with gold and color. Can you
make your way through the maze Of
stands, heaped high with fruit and
flowers, with vegetables scattered ON the
ground beside them? The costumes of the
peasant women who preside over these
stands will look strange to you. Their
big, white Umbrellas make the square
look like field OF mushrooms.
You may not understand what the small
boys, who rush eagerly toward you, are
saying, but there is no installing their
gestures. You are to touch a gilded ring
skillfully wrought into the iron railing
around the fountain. These boys would
tell you, if they could, that the ring was
made by a smith whose life was spared On
that he should finish it within
a certain time. Touch it, it brings good
luck. Afterwards you will probably be
ready to drop few coins into some of the
palms before you. Possibly
the good luck was for the boys, after all.
But 1 feel sure that the fountain which
you will like the best, as do the Nurem-
bergers as well, is the Gansemannchen-
brunnen or "fountain of the little goose
man." There he stands with a goose I'M
der each arm from which stream of
water flows. A poor boy he is supposed to
have been, to whom a farmer gave two
geese with which he made his fortune.
Not only may you see him at the fountain
but in the shops wrought into all sorts OF
designs, would you see
.sAbove cathedral doorways saints and bish-
ops carved in stone,
By former age commissioned as apostles to
our own.
Then we will go first Of all to st. Sebaldus
koiche and stand before the ..'bridal door,,
where bride and bridegroom used to stand
during the first part of the wedding cere-
mony. Could you imagine stone wrought
into anything more exquisite than the
canopy overhead? Follow the
line of ''wise and foolish virgins" up to
the "holy mother" with the infant
Saviour. The statue at the right is ST.
Sebald himself, and in his hands he holds
a model Of his church.
All is executed with minutest care, yet
you will not learn whose cunning hand
was thus employed, for the sculptors who
carved all the beautiful churches Of
worked not for mems praise,
but for the honor Of God. Within, just
in front of the chair, we shall find st.
Sebald's tomb, where ''sleeps enshrined
his holy dust" The oaken sarcophagus Is
covered with beaten plates of silver and