FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93  
94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   >>   >|  
t as marking the transition between the Romanesque and Gothic in a manner not usually associated with the Rhine. One observes it notably in the porch, where the lower range of round-headed arcades is surmounted by a colonnade of sloping angular arches, which are certainly not Romanesque or classical, though, truth to tell, they resemble the clearly defined Gothic of France but little. To-day the church of Lorsch presents no remarkable architectural features, and is simply an attractive and picturesquely environed building containing a few monuments worthy of note. In olden times the town was protected by a strong chateau, constructed in 1348 by the Archbishop of Mayence, but no traces of it are left to-day. XV FRANKFORT There is a legend which connects the foundation of Frankfort with a saying of Charlemagne's when he was warring against the Saxons. Having fortunately escaped an attack from a superior force, by crossing the river Main during a thick fog, Charlemagne thrust his lance into the sand of the river-bank and exclaimed: "It is here that I will erect a city, in memory of this fortunate event, and it shall be known as '_Franken Furth_,'--'the Ford of the Franks.'" The city owes its ancient celebrity, in part, to the crowning of the emperors, which, before Frankfort became an opulent commercial city, always took place here according to the laws promulgated in 1152 and 1356. Later the ceremony was transferred to Aix-la-Chapelle. The first historical mention of the city was in 794, when Charlemagne convoked a Diet and a council of the Church. Frankfort suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War, in the War of Succession, and in the Revolution in 1793. Napoleon made the city a grand duchy in favour of the Prince-Primate Charles of Dalberg. Of the ancient gateways of the city, but one remains to-day, that of Eschenheim, a fine monument of characteristically German features of the middle ages. It dates from the fourteenth century. One of the principal attractions of Frankfort for strangers has ever been the Juden Gasse,--the street of the Jews. It dates from 1662. As one enters, on the left, at No. 148, is the _maison paternelle_ of the celebrated Rothschilds. The cathedral at Frankfort is consecrated to St. Bartholomew. It was begun under the Carlovingians and was only completed in the fourteenth century. At the extreme western end is a colossal tower which ranks as one of the
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93  
94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Frankfort

 

Charlemagne

 

fourteenth

 

century

 

features

 
Gothic
 

ancient

 

Romanesque

 

Church

 
mention

Napoleon

 
greatly
 

Thirty

 

council

 

convoked

 

suffered

 

Revolution

 

Succession

 

opulent

 

commercial


emperors

 

celebrity

 

crowning

 

transferred

 

Chapelle

 

ceremony

 

promulgated

 

historical

 

monument

 

celebrated


paternelle

 
Rothschilds
 

cathedral

 

consecrated

 

maison

 
enters
 

Bartholomew

 

western

 

colossal

 

extreme


Carlovingians

 

completed

 

street

 

remains

 

gateways

 

Eschenheim

 
Franks
 

Dalberg

 

favour

 

Prince