Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-12
BAVARIA GAVE WORLD
HER GREAT MUSICIANS
Noted as Land of Music Entirely
Surrounded by Mountains.

zone, William Hohenzollern,
woodchopper of Doom, Holland,
probably appreciates a certain irony
in the latest dispatches from Ger
many reporting defiance of the Ber-
lin government by Bavaria" says
bulletin of the National Geographic
Society, which continues:
ut was in a Bavarian castle hun
dreds, of years ago that the Hohen-
zollern family struck root. Bavaria,
the home of this family which, with
Bismarcks aid, made the unified
German states world power, is now
threatening to break the combina-
tion.
This small state in the hills gave
to the world the Holbeins, artists
father and son, as we'll as the Hoh-
enzollerns, and afforded friends and
appreciation for Mozart, Wagner and
List. Bavaria may be described, in
fact, as a land of music entirely sur
rounded by mountains. This wooded
amphitheater of the Alps foothills,
slightly larger than the State of
Maine, lies between Germany proper,
Switzerland on the south and Austria
on the east. 1t supports nearly T.
000,000 people; one-eighth of tha
German population. Munich, the
capital, has a population larger than
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while Nu-
remberg is about half as large.
Even nature has had reservations
concerning the logical direction of
Bavarian loyalty. Although tribu-
taries of the Rhine drain the south
ern section of the country, most of
the bowl in the hills drains into the
Danube and thence to the Black Sea.
The LudWigskanal, the connecting
link between the North Sea and the
Black Sea, runs directly across BaVa-
rian territory.
Bavaria agreed to alliance with
Prussia in 1866 just before the
Franco-German war. 1t has been
uneasy under the yoke of the north
ern state, although it had more votes
in the Reichstag than any other
state save Prussia and had independ-
ent control over its posts, telegra phi
railways, and army. The picturesque
history of Bavaria, which has been
ruled for more than century by
Counts of the House of Wittelsbach,
makes it a magnified Graustark.
Before the World War Bavaria
had another name which fitted per-
fectly withhe dukes and duchesses
and her music. Bavaria was Toyland.
Nuremberg is noted the world over
for toys. Made in Germany the
familiar mark on toys in American
stores before 1914, could have been
changed in most instances to Made
in Bavaria Woodcarvers of the
Black Forest, which touches the
state on the south, for years seemed
to have a monopoly knowledge on
how to pull children's heartstrings.
"In 1884 plague swept Bavaria
and in one mountain valley band
of peasants pledged celebration to
God every ten years If the curse
were lifted. For three hundred years
these country folk have kept faith.
Their little village, Oberammergau,
is now known the world over and
! thousands of people come to witness
this unique spectacle amid the hills
which portrays the story OF Christ.
1.-THE continuance of this festival
| through years of strife and trouble
in all Europe is distinctive of the
Bavarian valley. Shut in among the
+, hills it's people have developed a
solidarity and purity of lineage
which is quite unlike the other states
around them. Other peasant bands
up and down the valley produce
| music festivals. Many of the troupes
become so well-known- that they
have been invited to appear before
great audiences in the capitals,
kind Ludwig of Bavaria heard an
opera in 1868 which appealed great
ly to him. He Immediately offered
the author an annuity and house il
he would come to Munich The
author was Wagner. The great mas
ter spent much of his later life in
Bavaria and is buried In Bayreuth,
his last home. The Wagnerian music
festivals in Bayreuth, given in honor
of the composer, are attended by
music lovers from all parts Of the
world"