10. From Cassel to Hanover.
Railway in 4 1/4—5 hrs.; express fares 5 Thlr, 5, 3 Thlr. 20, 2 Thlr. 15 Sgr; ordinary 4 Thlr, 15,3 Phir. 11, 2 Thlr. 7 1/2 Sgr.
Soon after leaving Cassel the train crosses the Fulda, and for a long distance skirts the picturesque banks of the stream.
Stat. Münden (Goldner Löwe Hessischer Hof; Hôtel Schmidt ; *Rail. Restaurant), charmingly situated on a tongue of land at the junction of the Fulda and Werra, the united waters of which form the Weser (steamboats to Minden and Bremen), is an old-fashioned place of some commercial importance. The Church of St. Blasius is of the 14th cent. The extensive Schloss, built by Duke Erich II. of Bronswick-Lüneburg in 1571, is now a barrack, near which is the recently founded Forst-Academie. Picturesque views from Andree’s Berggarten (1O min.), and from the Tivoli, near the station and the town. — Railway to Nordhausen and Halle, see R. 55.
The train crosses the Werra, follows the valley of the Weser for some distance, ascends gradually to stat. Dransfeld, the culminating point of the line, and finally descends to the valley of the Leine.
Stat. Göttingen (424 ft.) (Krone; Gebhard’s Hôtel, near the station), with 14,534 inhab., is remarkable for nothing but its uni- versity (700 stud.), founded by George II. of Hanover in 1737. ‘The Library is very valuable (350,000 vols., 5000 MSS. ). The anatomical (remarkable collection of skulls), natural history, and other collec- tions may be visited by the scientific.
From Göttingen to Arenshausen by a direct line from Cassel, in 35 min., ascending the broad valley of the Leine. Thence to Gotha, Erfurt, and Halle, see R. 55.
Beyond stat. Bovenden is the ruin of Plesse, with beautiful wooded environs. Above stat. Nörthen rises the imposing ruin of Harden- berg and a modern château, beyond it a slender watch-tower on an eminence.
Northeim (Sonne), an old town, with a good church of 1519 (old carving at the altar; in the window of the choir, remnants of fine stained glass of 1404), is the station for travellers intending to explore the Harz from this side. .
From Northeim to Herzberg railway in 3/4, hr. (22, 17, 11 Sgr.) Stations Catlendurg, Hattorf. Herzberg, and thence to Nordhausen and Erfurt, see p. 256.
Salzderhelden, with a saline spring and ruined castle, is the station for Eimbeck , 2 1/4 M. to the N.W., an old town famous for its beer.
Stat. Kreiensen is the junction for Cologne, Brunswick, Magde- burg, and Berlin (R. 4). Stat. Freden is situated in one of the prettiest parts of the valley of the Leine, on which the ruins of Freden and the Winzenburg look down from the heights. Stat. Al- feld lies at the base of the Sieben Brüder, a group of hills, the highest of which is 1480 ft. above the sea-level. The mountainous district is now quitted. Stat. Bunteln.
Beyond stat. Elze the Leine is crossed. On an eminence to the l. rises Schloss Marienburg. Stat Nordstemmen is the junction for Hildesheim (p 56).
Hanover, see p. 72