The Coolidge examiner., 1934-02-09

fresh water giving to Frelburg =
reputation. which 10 has never lost.
Tor cleanliness and heaithfulness
They took the place of washiubs
and they acted as first aid 10 the
Gre department II was an In
EenIuus arrangement
Since town Is not q town with.
out Inhabitants. the versatile duke
worked out a plan 20 boost popula
ton lie named his offspring Frei-
burg and promised freedom 10 any
man Eho would live within It's walls
for year and = day Such iniori.
eating liberty naturally drew people
from far and neaF. and within a
hundred years or It's founding Frel-
burg wAs one OF the NOS; impor-
iani cities Of the Upper Rhine.
He~ .; Was PsopIsd
II Is astonishing how many Of
The characteristics % that Frel-
burg o, the Twelfth century sur
vlve today. The walls are gone.
save FOR scattered remains here and
there. Two Of the gates have van.
lahed. leaving only the highly deco
rated and impressive tower gates
Nartinstor and Schwabenior: but
the spo; where the hunting lodge
stood Is SIN the center of the city
and the principal streets of ii30
which intersect this spot are still
the principal streets In 1884
Frei9urg streets have lost little
Of their medieval SAVIOR Within
the limits Of the original wall. the
streets and alleys. some 50 mar
row that only a German rarity. two
thin people. can pass In them. twist
and bulge and bend with startling
abandon and a rakish disregard for
right angles
Many of them. too. siill bear
their quaint old names. Oberllnden
square. where a linden tree has
stood. according 20 definite official
record. since the middle of the
Twelfth century. has been known
BY the same name since the city
vas founded.
The brooks also remain. 4 few.
especially In the main streets. have
been covered with gratlngs. and
only the broken purl of water tells
of their existence.
Ancient Houses Still Stand.
No, a few ot the houses that fank
these narrow. twisting streets date
hack 10 the ciiy's infancy. For Frel-
burg. unlike most OF the towns of
this frontier country. such as Hel.
delberg. was never entirely raEed
by enemy Ere. although II has be
longed In turn 10 the Zahrlngens.
20 Austria. Sweden. France. Italy.
and Germany. II has wlthsiood al
most countless Sieges and has had
It's suburbs burned 10 It's very walls
many times
II Is no; uncommon 10 see build
lngs with Thirteenth or Fourteenth
century date plates. Some OF them
still bear the names which we're In
use long before street numbers had
been thought OF. The Black Let
ter. the Golden Tankard. and the
White Goose are among these.
The odd thing about most OF the
old places is that you mus; really
know Freiburg before you discover
them. Stand az the fountain on the
reputed site OF the hunting lodge,
for instance, and cast your eye up
and down the lntersecting streets
on a level with the pavement. You
see windows fun OF furniture. or
sausages, or hats. or flowers. or
rows OF those extraordinary wax
figures whose marked family resem-
blance ard abandoned poses are
peculiar 10 Germany But raise
your eyes above the shop windows
and you are back In the days OF
old when knights were bold. No
two houses are the same height or
width or color: no two roofs are
the same shape or tilt Step ga
bles mount dizzily. high-peaked
roofs lurch skyward. dormer win
dows stand out Ike staring eyes.
Feilburg's cathedral was the first
Gothic church OF any size to be fully
completed In Germany during the
Middle ages. II stands little askew.
Ike everything else in the town. In
the wide Munsterplatz, or Cathe-
dral square. The enormous mass
OF native red sandstone surmount-
ed by a single soaring splre OF al
most incredibly delicate fligree
work. was started soon after the
founding Of the city and was more
than 800 years in building.