lower Lahn province were among the most powerful in
all Germany. They gave their city the name of Roemercastel, which name,
to some extent, may be said to live up to to-day. Later the Franks
called it Lintburc, from the little river Linther, which flows into the
Lahn at this point.

The cathedral of Limburg is the most imposing and homogeneous of all the
_romano-ogival_ edifices of Germany.

Consecrated to St. George, this church dates from the latter years of
the twelfth century and the early part of the thirteenth. It was erected
by Count Henry of Nassau, and replaced two more ancient edifices on the
same site.

Without a doubt it is a mediaeval monument which stands supreme in its
class, though its grandeur comes not so much from mere magnitude as it
does from the general disposition of its plan, and the wonderful
blending of the transition elements which, after all is said and done,
in Germany, are not elsewhere very pronounced.

The seven spires and towers of this cathedral form a wonderful grouping
and make a sky-line more broken than that of any other great church in
all Europe.

There is a certain symmetry about this outline, but it is not pyramidal,
after the manner of the cathedral at Bonn. In short, it is
reminiscent only of itself.

[Illustration: LIMBURG CATHEDRAL]

On the west are a pair of massive towers with conical caps, which give a
facade at once remarkable and distinguished.

Flanking the north transept are two smaller towers, and the same
arrangement is found just opposite on the south.

Above rises the great central octagon, surmounted in turn by a dwindling
octagonal spire, not beautiful in itself with its steeply inclined slate
or lead roofing, but which, under all atmospheric conditions, lends a
harmony to and is a key-note of the whole structure which is wonderfully
effective.

The interior plan is conventional and simple enough, consisting of the
usual three naves, with an easterly apse, surrounded by an ambulatory
and flanking chapel.

Within, as well as from the outside, the effect is one of an ampleness
which is not borne out by the actual dimensions, which fact, of course,
shows most able design and execution.

The elevation of the nave, choir, and transepts is divided into four
ranges of openings, such as are seen at Soissons in the Isle of France,
and, in a less complete form, in Notre Dame at Paris.

This has always been a daring procedure, but in this case it has been