rank and
degree, became domiciled here. A thousand blue and white flags streamed
from the tops of castellated mansions, and fluttered along the then
almost impregnable ramparts. It was also not less remarkable for the
number and splendor of its religious establishments. Here was a
cathedral, containing twenty-four chapels; and an abbey or monastery (of
Saints Ulric and Afra) which had no rival in Bavaria for the size of its
structure and the wealth of its possessions. This latter contained a
Library, both of MSS. and printed books, of which the recent work of
Braun has luckily preserved a record; and which, but for such record,
would have been unknown to after ages. The treasures of this library are
now entirely dispersed; and Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is the grand
repository of them. Augsburg, in the first instance, was enriched by the
dilapidations of numerous monasteries; especially upon the suppression
of the order of the Jesuits. The paintings, books, and relics, of every
description, of such monasteries as were in the immediate vicinity of
this city, were taken away to adorn the town hall, churches, capitals
and libraries. Of this collection (of which no inconsiderable portion,
both for number and intrinsic value, came from the neighboring monastery
of Eichstadt), there has of course been a pruning; and many flowers have
been transplanted to Munich.
The principal church, at the end of the Maximilian Street, is that which
once formed the chief ornament of the famous Abbey of Sts. Ulric and
Afra. I should think that there is no portion of the present building
older than the fourteenth century; while it is evident that the upper
part of the tower is of the middle of the sixteenth. It has a nearly
globular or mosque-shaped termination--so common in the greater number
of the Bavarian churches. It is frequented by congregations both of the
Catholic and Protestant persuasion; and it was highly gratifying to see,
as I saw, human beings assembled under the same roof, equally occupied
in their different forms of adoration, in doing homage to their common
Creator.
Augsburg was once distinguished for great learning and piety, as well as
for political consequence; and she boasts of a very splendid
martyrological roll. At the present day, all is comparatively dull and
quiet; but you can not fail to be struck with the magnificence of many
of the houses, and the air of importance hence given to the streets;
while the p
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