51. From Paris to Mannheim or Coblenz (Bingen).
Express to Forbach in 11, ordinary trains in 14 hrs.; fares to Forbach
51 fr. 30 c., 38 fr. 45 c., 28 fr. 20 c. First-class tickets only issued for
the express trains.
From Forbach to Mannheim in 4¼ hrs.; fares 6 fl. 37 kr., 4 fl. 9 kr.,
2 fl. 51 kr.
The railway-station for Strasbourg and Metz is at the N. extremity of
the Boulevard de Strasbourg (Pl., red 10). Special omnibus see p. 24.
a. From Paris to Metz.
Express in 8, ordinary trains in 12½ hrs.; fares 39 fr. 65, 29 fr. 80,
21 fr. 25 c.
From Paris to Frouard see R. 49.
At Frouard the carriages for Metz are detached from the train
to Nancy and Strasbourg, cross the canal and the Moselle near
the station and follow the pleasant and populous valley of the
latter, which here becomes navigable and is enclosed between
gently sloping banks.
Pont-à-Mousson, with the ruined fortress Mousson (fine view)
on an eminence, its church (St. Martin) with two towers and its
bridge over the Moselle, presents a pleasing picture. Cardinal
Charles of Lorraine founded a university here in 1573, the chairs
in which were occupied by Jesuits. Before the cession of Lorraine
to the French (1746) the town with its small territory
was under the jurisdiction of a German Margrave.
On a mountain on the l., near stat. Pagny, are the ruins of
the château of Prény, once appertaining to the Dukes of Lorraine.
Excellent wine is produced here.
At stat. Novéant a suspension-bridge crosses the Moselle. On
the r. bank of the river the extensive remains of a Roman
*Aqueduct, constructed by Drusus, visible from a considerable
distance, are perceived at intervals. It was 57 ft. in height and
3420 ft. in length and conducted water from the hills of the r. bank
to Divodurum, the modern Metz. At Jouy-aux-Arches 11 arches
are still well preserved, and at Ars (or rather Arches-sur-Moselle),
7 others, termed by the peasantry "Pont du Diable", rise close
to the railway. The bridge by which the train crosses the
Moselle affords a good final survey of this imposing Roman
structure.
The train then reaches Metz, which lies so buried amidst its
green ramparts, that little of the town is perceived from the
railway.
b. Metz.
Hôtels. *Grand Hôtel de Metz (Pl. a), R. 2, B. 1, D. inc. W. 3½,
A. ¾ fr.; Hôtel de l'Europe (Pl. b), R. and L. 3, D. 4, A. 1 fr.; both
in the Rue des Clercs. *Hôtel de Paris (Pl. c), adjoining the Terrace,
of the second class. Hôtel du Nord (Pl. d); Hôtel du Commerce
(Pl. e); Hôtel du Porte Enseigne (Pl. f)
Cafés. Café Parisien, Place de la Comédie; Café du Grand
Balcon, in the Esplanade near the station, affording a great variety of
ices; Café Français and Café Fabert, in the Place Napoléon, near
the cathedral.
Metz, once the capital of the kingdom of Austrasia, afterwards
appertaining to the German empire, and in 1556 ceded to
France together with Toul and Verdun, is now one of the most
important military stations in France, with a garrison of 14,000
men and a great school of artillery. It is the capital of the
Département de la Moselle and contains a population of 56,888.
The river flows through the town in several branches, thus
forming several islands.
The most important edifice is the *Cathedral (Pl. 7), a
Gothic structure with numerous flying buttresses. The nave
was completed in 1332, the choir in 1519 and the portal added
in 1764. At the altar adjoining the sacristy is the kneeling
figure of the architect Pierre Perrat (d. 1400). All the ancient
monuments and pictures were destroyed during the revolution,
with the exception of a few venerable frescoes on the pillars,
recently freed from their coating of whitewash. The choir contains
some fine stained glass, dating principally from 1523,
besides several windows of modern workmanship.
The tower is 363 ft. in height; 110 steps ascend to the first
(105 to the large bell La Muette), 78 more to the highest terrace.
The passage is very narrow at one point, but presents no
real difficulty. The view from the summit amply repays the
ascent and embraces the extremely fertile "Pays Messin", the
town, the fortifications and the course of the Moselle.
The open halls of the Marché Couvert (Pl. 23), opposite
the W. portal, are occupied by vendors of fruit, vegetables and
flowers and afford a striking proof of the luxuriant fertility of
the environs. Pine-apples of considerable size, as well as fine
specimens of other fruits, are frequently observed. — Those who
are interested in such establishments may visit the extensive
Abattoir, or slaughter-house, situated without the Porte Chambière.
In the Place Napoléon, which adjoins the W. side of the
cathedral, rises the Statue of Marshal Fabert (d. 1662), a
contemporary of Turenne. The inscription records a declaration
by the marshal of his willingness to sacrifice his life and property
in the service of his king.
The Library (Pl. 2), near the cathedral, contains numerous
Roman antiquities and a small collection of pictures.
The Arsenal (Pl. 1) contains specimens of modern, as well
as ancient weapons, tastefully arranged, and in the court numerous
cannons (gratuity 1 fr., closed on Sundays). Under a roof to the
l. of the entrance is a long cannon carried off by the French
with 189 others in 1799 from the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein,
where it was known by the name of Vogel Greiff, having been
constructed by order of the Elector of Trèves, Richard von
Greiffenclau. It is 15 ft. in length and weighs 12½ tons.
The high road to Germany issues from the Porte des Allemands
and the Fort Belle Croix. The Rue des Allemands, leading
to this gate, contains a considerable number of German shops.
The gate exhibits bullet-marks dating from the unsuccessful siege
of the town by the emperor Charles V.
The contiguous church of St. Eucaire (St. Eucharius) (Pl. 5)
is a tasteful structure of the 12th cent., especially interesting to
the professional observer. Interior destitute of ornament.
The S. side of the town is bounded by the Esplanade,
with its beautiful walks and imposing barracks. Military music
here in the evening, three times weekly.
On the Esplanade rises the Palais de Justice (Pl. 25),
an extensive building erected during the last century, and seat
of the different courts of judicature. In the police and other
courts the services of an interpreter are frequently required when
the parties concerned are natives of the E. or N. portion of the
department, where in several of the villages German is still
exclusively spoken.
A few leisure hours may advantageously be employed in
making an excursion to Jouy-aux-Arches (p. 265).
Railway from Metz to Trèves by Thionville and Luxembourg,
the most direct route, in 3¾ hrs.; fares 12 fr. 45, 9 fr. 25,
6 fr. 65 c.
c. From Metz to Mannheim and Mayence.
By Railway in 7½ hrs.; fares from Metz to Forbach 11 fr. 65, 8 fr. 65,
6 fr. 95 c.; from Forbach to Ludwigshafen (Mannheim) 6 fl. 37, 4 fl. 9,
2 fl. 51 kr.
An undulating, agricultural district is traversed between Metz
and Forbach, and several unimportant stations are passed.
At St. Avold the line enters a forest; the red sandstone
imparts greater variety to the landscape.
Hombourg lies picturesquely on an isolated eminence, which
has procured for the place the epithet of "la guérite du monde".
The cuttings through the wooded mountains beyond Hombourg
afford a survey of the strata of the red sandstone.
Forbach is the last French station, where those entering
France undergo the usual custom-house formalities. Carriages are
changed here. Soon after the station is quitted several smelting
furnaces are perceived on the r., and the coal-district is entered.
The frontier is crossed, and the train descends to the Saar, which
it crosses, and soon reaches
Saarbrücken (Post), the first Prussian station, and seat of
the custom-house officials. — Arnual, in the vicinity, possesses
a fine Gothic church of 1315, containing an admirable font and
very interesting ancient monuments of the princely family of
Nassau-Saarbrücken.
(Railway to Trèves in 3 hrs. From Trèves to Coblenz by
steamboat in 10—12 hrs., comp. Baedeker's Rhine.)
The long series of furnaces near Duttweiler are situated in
the midst of a most valuable coal-district, which in almost its
entire extent belongs to the Prussian government, and is the
seat of numerous industrial establishments in the vicinity of the
following stations Sulzbach, Friedrichsthal and Neunkirchen. The
cuttings through the rocky and wooded mountains frequently
display the stratification of the coal. Between the two last
stations a tunnel 500 yds. in length.
At Neunkirchen the Rhine-Nahe Railway diverges to Creuznach
and Bingen (Coblenz), see p. 269.
At Bexbach, where the Bavarian Palatinate commences, the
country becomes flat. To the r. a pleasing survey of the green
dale watered by the Bexbach.
Homburg is a small town with a handsome modern church.
It was once fortified, but was dismantled in consequence of the
Peace of Westphalia. In 1705 it was re-fortified by the French,
but again destroyed in 1714 after the Peace of Baden. The
castle of
Carlsberg, situated on an eminence 1½ M. from the
town, erected in 1780 by Duke Charles II. of Zweibrücken,
was destroyed by the French in 1793.
The line now skirts a chain of wooded hills and passes two
small stations.
Landstuhl was once the seat of the Sickingen family, whose
ruined stronghold, with walls 24 ft. in thickness, rises above the
village. Francis von Sickingen was here besieged by the electors
of the Palatinate and Trèves and killed, May 7th, 1523, by a
falling beam.
Kaiserslautern (Cygne) is one of the most considerable towns
of the Palatinate. The site of a magnificent palace erected here
by the emp. Frederick I. (Barbarossa) in 1153, destroyed in the
Spanish War of Succession, is now occupied by a modern house
of correction. The handsome corn-exchange was built in 1846.
A monument in the churchyard is sacred to the memory of
soldiers of Napoleon who were natives of Kaiserslautern. The
ancient Protestant church, with its three towers, said to have
been also founded by Frederick I., is one of the most conspicuous
edifices.
The line soon enters the Haardt Mountains and descends in
the picturesque and wooded valley of the Speierbach to the
plain of the Rhine, 100 ft. lower. Within a short distance 12
tunnels here penetrate the variegated sandstone rock, the first
of which (1500 yds. long) is the longest. Each tunnel is
furnished with a species of portal.
At Neustadt (Löwe, at the station; Schiff; Krone) the line
reaches the plain of the Rhine. This is the principal town of
the Haardt Mts., and was founded by the Counts Palatine, several
monuments to whom are preserved in the handsome church,
erected about the middle of the 14th cent.
On an eminence about 1000 ft. in height, 3 M. to the S.
of Neustadt, rises the Maxburg, a still unfinished castle erected
by king Max II. of Bavaria when crown-prince, on the site of
the former castle of Hambach.
To the l. near Neustadt, half-way up the hill, lies the Haardter
Schlösschen (the ancient castle of Winzingen), the ivy-clad ruins
of which are converted into picturesque grounds.
The line then traverses extensive vineyards and tobacco-fields.
At Schifferstadt a line diverges to Speyer (15 min.). Then
Ludwigshafen (Deutsches Haus), a small well-built town of
recent origin, connected with Mannheim (European Hotel on the
Rhine; Palatinate Hotel, German Hotel in the town) by a bridge
of boats.
Cab from the station at Ludwigshafen to that of Mannheim
a drive of 20 min., 1—2 pers. 45 kr., 3 pers. 1 fl., 4 pers.
1 fl. 12 kr.
From Ludwigshafen in 2 hrs. to Mayence (Rhenish, Dutch
and English Hotels), comp. Baedeker's Rhine.
d. From Metz to Coblenz by Neunkirchen, Creuznach
and Bingen.
Railway to Bingen in 6½, to Coblenz in 8 hrs.; fares to Bingen
22 fr. 60, 15 fr. 95, 16 fr. 85 c.; from Bingen to Coblenz 50, 37½, 22 Sgr.
Scenery and construction of railway very interesting between Neunkirchen
and Bingerbrück.
From Metz to Neunkirchen see p. 267. Hence by the
Rhein-Nahe line to Ottweiler, St. Wendel and Wallhausen, the
culminating point (1200 ft.) between the Moselle and the Rhine.
Then Birkenfeld (Medicus) capital of a small isolated territory
belonging to Oldenburg. Next stat. Heimbach and Kronweiler,
beyond which the construction of the line is less remarkable.
Oberstein (*Heindl, on the r. bank; Scriba, on the l. bank),
the most picturesque point of the Nahe Valley, with its church
curiously inserted in the face of a cliff, is noted for its agates,
in polishing which most of the inhabitants are occupied. The
stones themselves are now largely imported from America. Next
stat. Fischbach and Kirn (Post) with the ruin of Kyrburg. To
the l. a valley opens, in which the imposing ruins of the castle
of Dhaun are situated.
Then Monzingen, Sobernheim and Staudernheim (*Salmen).
To the r. rises the Dissibodenberg, with the ruins of an abbey
founded as early as 500 and deserted in 1560. Above Waldböckelheim
rises the ruin of Böckelheim. The next important
station is
Creuznach (Palatinate Hotel; Eagle), with 11,000 inhab.,
noted for its saline baths (6000 patients annually). The environs
abound in beautiful walks (Münster am Stein, Rheingrafenstein,
Ebernburg, Gans, Rothenfels).
At Bingerbrück the line unites with the Rhenish Railway.
Bingen (Hôtel Victoria; White Horse; *Bellevue), a Hessian
town with 6000 inhab., lies opposite Bingerbrück, on the r. bank
of the Nahe, at a considerable distance from the terminus of the
Nahe line, and is not entered by passengers proceeding down
the Rhine.
Then stat. Bacharach, Oberwesel, Boppard, St. Goar, Capellen
(Stolzenfels) and Coblenz, all interesting points (comp. Baedeker's
Rhine).
![illustration](https://iiif.lib.virginia.edu/iiif/uva-lib:111317/full/!1600,1600/0/default.jpg")
