29. From Frankfort to Heidelberg.
Railway (station, see p. 147) to Darmstadt in 1/2—3/4, hr. (fares 1 1. 6, 42, 30 kr.), to Heidelberg or Mannheim in 2—3 hrs. (fares 3 fl. 33, 2 1. 21, 1 fl. 33 kr.). Express fares higher. Ommnibuses and cabs, see p. 147. Seats on the left (E.) side of the train should be selected for the view.
The country between Frankfort and Darmstadt is unattractive.
Darmstadt (*Traube (Pl. 2); DARMSTÄDER HOF (Pl. b); *Post (Pl. c), near the theatre; *HÔTEL KÖHLER (Pl. e), at the station; Prinz Karl (Pl. d). *Jochheim’s Baths, adjoining the last hotel. — Restaurants: Stengel’s, opposite the station; Bühler; Finck; Stamm), the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hessen , with 39,605 inhab. (chiefly Protestants, including the suburb of Bessungen), was the capital of the Grafschaft of Katzenelnbogen, and a place of no importance , down to the close of the 18th cent. The Grand Duke Ludwig I. (d. 1830) erected the new part of the town with its handsome streets, and to him Darmstadt is indebted for its prosperity. In 1844 a Statue (PI. 17), was erected to him by his ‘grateful people.’ It is borne by a column, 140 ft. inheight, the summit of which affords a survey of the town and the flat environs (fee 18 kr.).
The Schloss (Pl. 29), most of which dates from the middle of last century, is at the end of the Rhein-Strasse, which leads from the station into the town. The tower contains musical bells , which play every hour. The valuable Library consists of 450,000 vols., some MSS., and typographical curiosities (open 9—12 a. m. and 2—4 p. m.). The other *Collections (pictures, antiquities, natural history , costumes, and coins) are open on Tuesd., Wed., Thursd., and Frid. 11—1, on Sunda. 10-1‘
[For Collections see the book] …
To the N. of the Palace is the Herrengarten, or public grounds. To the r. on entering it is the Theatre (Pl. 31), burned down in 1871, to the l. a military magazine. Between these are Statues (Pl. 18, 19) of the Landgrave Philip the Generous (d. 1567), and his son George I. (d. 1590), founder of the Grand-ducal family. In the Herrengarten to the r. is the tomb of the Landgravine Henrietta Carolina (d. 1774), mother of the queen of Frederick William II. of Prussia; the unpretending urn erected by Frederick the Great bears the inscription; ‘Femina sexu, ingenio vir’.
The modern Rom, Cath. Church (Pl. 12) in the Wilhelminen-Platsz contains the well executed marble sarcophagus of the Grand Duchess Mathilde of Hessen (d. 1862), with recumbent figure of the princess by Widnmann. On the W. side of the Platz is the handsome Palace of Prince Ludwig (Pl. 24).
To the S., in the Wilhelminen-Strasse , is the Palace of Prince Charles (Pl. 12), containing the celebrated *Madonna with the family of Burgomaster Meyer of Bâle, by Holbein, ascertained since the Holbein Exhibition at Dresden in 1871, to be the original work of the master.
To the E. of Darmstadt are beautiful and extensive woods. Picturesque walks (N.E.) to the shooting-lodge and park of Kranichstein (3 M.); (S.E.) to the *Ludwigseiche, or Ludwig's Oak (4 1/2 M.), whence an extensive view of the Odenwald, Spessart, Vogelsberg, Taunus, and Melibocus is obtained; (S.) to the *Ludwigshöhe and Marienhöhe (2 M.), and to *Frankenstein (7 M.); farther S.W. to Seeheim and (1 1/2 hr.) Jugenheim (p. 172), or S. to the (6 M.) Felsberg (p. 173). .
From Darmstadt to Mayence by direct railway in 3/4—1 1/4 hr. (fares 1 fl. 42, 1f1., or 36kr.). Stations Weilerstadt, Grossgerau, Nauheim, Bischofsheim, Gustavsburg. Country sandy and flat. The railway crosses the Rhine near the Mainspitze (p. 102) by an iron bridge in an oblique direction, intersects the Mayence and Ludwigshafen line at Weissenau (p. 102) on the l. bank, and finally descends in a curve through the Neue Anlage (p. 107) to the station of Mayence (p. 101). — From Darmstadt to Aschaffendurg, see Baedeker’s S. Germany.
From Darmstadt to Worms by railway in 1 1/2 hr. (fares 2 fl. 30, 1 fl. 50, or 51 kr.). Several small stations; then Gernsheim (Karpfen; Weisses Ross), a busy little town on the Rhine, the birth-place of Peter Schöffer, one of the inventors of printing, to whom a statue in sandstone was erected in 1836. From stat. Hofheim a branch-line diverges to Lorsch and Bensheim (reached in 25 min.; p. 171). Stat. Rosengarten, the terminus, is connected with stat. Worms-Hafen by a bridge of boats and a steam-ferry, and is 1 1/2 M. distant (rail. in 6 min.) from the station of the Mayence-Worms line (p. 226).
From Darmstadt to Erbach railway in 2 hrs. (fares 2 fl. 18, 1 fl. 24, 57 kr.). Stations Nieder- and Ober-Ramstadt, Reinheim, Léngfeld, Wiebelsbach (branch line hence to Babenhausen and Aschaffénburg), Höchst (the line now traverses the pretty Mümlingthal), Mümling-Grumbach, König, Zell, Michelstadt (water-cure estab., terms 18—80 fl. per week), Erbach (see p. 175).
On the mountains to the l. of stat. Eberstadt rises the handsome ruin of Frankenstein; beyond Bickenbach (p. 172, station for Jugenheim), the zinc-covered tower of the Alsbacher Schloss is visible.
At stat. Zwingenberg (*Löwe, moderate) begins the picturesque Bergstrasse, the road leading hence to Heidelberg.
The *Bergstrasse runs through orchards and pleasant villages, along a range of hills, partly wooded and partly covered with vineyards, and here and there crowned with ruined castles. To the W. between the road and the Rhine, a distance of 10—12 M., extends a wide and fertile plain. Though wanting in water, this district is one of the most beautiful in Germany; but the railway-traveller will scarcely be able to appreciate it. The name of ‘Bergstrasse’ applies to the W. slopes of the Odenwald, and is not confined to the road (Strasse). One of the highest points is the *Meliböcus, or Malchen (1679 ft.), easily ascended from Jugenheim (1 1/2 hr.) or Zwingenberg (1 hr.). Guide (unnecessary) 24 kr., for the whole day 4 fl. The traveller should ascend by Jugenheim, and descend by the Auerbacher Schloss and Auerbach; or proceed from the Auerbacher Schloss by the route described at p. 173, viâ the Fürstenlager and Schönberg, to Bensheim. The former excursions, allowing for a short stay on the Melibocus, will take about 3 1/2, the latter, from the Auerbacher Schloss on-wards, 2 1/2 hrs. The ascent of the Melibocus may also be made by carriage (4 fl.); the traveller may then drive to the Felsberg (p. 173), and back by Reichenbach (p. 173) to Zwingenberg (whole round 6 fl.).
Pedestrians without a guide should attend to the following directions: The road leads E. from the ‘Löwe’ at Zwingenberg and ascends the hill; after 8 min. the path follows the water-conduit to the r., leads over the Luzieberg, and in 25 min. more regains the carriage-road, which is furnished with direction-posts. Where the high wood terminates, a path leads to the l., by a young beech-wood, to the tower (80 ft. high) on the summit, erected in 1777 by Lewis IX., Landgrave of Hessen.
The Melibocus consists entirely of granite. The view embraces the valley of the Rhine from Speyer to Mayence, the Vosges, the Donnersberg, and the Main as far as the Taunus and Vogelsberg. A little to the W. of, and about 20 ft. lower than the tower is the best point of view, which commands a prospect of the entire plain from Mannheim to Darmstadt. Key of the tower.at the forester’s at Zwingenberg, where enquiry should be made, but in fine weather he is generally on the spot (fee for 1 pers. 9, a party 30 kr.). — From the Melibocus to the Auerbacher Schloss direct in 3/4, hr.
Next stat. Auerbach (* Krone, R. 48, D. 48 kr.; Nack’s restaurant at the mill in the village, and at the ‘Schloss’ in favourable weather; refreshments at the Fürstenlager), a picturesque village with a small château and park in the vicinity, the property of the Grand-Duke, is a favourite summer resort, and affords good headquarters for excursions in the W. part of the Odenwald (p. 172).
The * Auerbacher Schloss (3/4 hr. from the Melibocus , same distance from Auerbach), situated on an eminence (1053 ft.), is said to have been founded by Charlemagne. It was afterwards the property of the monastery of Lorsch (see p. 171), then of the Electorate of Mayence. In 1674 it was blown up by Turenne. The two towers stood till 1806, when one of them fell, but it was rebuilt in 1853. View less extensive, but more picturesque than that from the Melibocus. The custodian (usually on the spot) opens the door of the tower (fee 9—30 kr.),
A broad road leads through a beech-wood from the castle to the Hochstätter Thal, by a mineral spring and a mill, to the Neun Aussichten (9 views), the Champignon, and the Fürstenlager (3 1\2 M.); thence to Schönberg (1 1/2 M.); delightful view from the garden of the château and the church. Then through the Schönberg valley to Bensheim (1 1/2 M.).
Bensheim (Sonne; Post; Traube), a busy town in a picturesque situation, was besieged unsuccessfully during eleven days in 1504, as an inscription on the gateway records.
From Bensheim to Rosengarten ( Worms) railway in 35-min. (comp. p. 169). First stat. Lorsch, on the Weschnitz, with ruins of a Monastery, founded by Charlemagne , to which in 788 he banished Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, who had been condemned to death as a traitor. The Church, was consecrated in 1130, but portions of the nave only are now extant, In front of it is the old entrance to the monastery, now a chapel, erected between 876 and 882 by Lewis III., son of Lewis the German, with curiously formed imposts and inlaid walls. King Lewis the German, his son Lewis III., and the Empress Cunigunde, wife of Emp. Conrad I. are interred at Lorsch, but the spot is unknown. The ‘Bunte Capelle’ at Lorsch, being the last resting-place of the founder of the German Empire, was highly revered in the middle ages, and was solemnly consecrated in 1053 by Pope Leo IX. in person. The Nibelungen-Lied represents these vaults as the burial-place of Sigfried and Queen Ute, mother of Chriemhilde).
Near Heppenheim (“Halber Mond) to the l., on the road side, rises the Landberg, a hill crowned with three trees, where the Counts of Starkenburg held their tribunals. The church was found- ed by Charlemagne, according to an inscription bearing the date 805.
The Starkenburg (932 ft.) is ascended by a good path from Heppenheim in 1/2 hr. It was erected in 1064 by an abbot of Lorsch, captured by the Swedes and Spaniards in the Thirty Years’ War, besieged in vain by Turenne in 1645 and in 1674, and was only recently quite abandoned. It gives its name to a province of Hessen. Fine view from the lofty square tower.
Beyond Heppenheim is the large Lunatic Asylum of the district. The train now enters the dominions of Baden. Stat. Hemsbach, with a villa of Baron Rothschild. Near Weinheim (*Pfälzer Hof, 1/2 M. from the stat.; Carlsberg, in the market-place) the train crosses the Weschnitz. The town, with a handsome new church, is the most beautifully situated on the Bergstrasse. Its towers and fosses, and the old buildings of the Templar and Teutonic knights, bear testimony to its former importance. The conspicuous new building is a manufactory of leather wares. Higher up is Bender's School for Boys. Bender's Hydropathic Establishment and a Reformatory for Children are thriving institutions. — Hubberger, the best wine of the Bergstrasse, is produced near Weinheim.
To the E. rises the old castle of Windeck (685 ft.), the property of the monastery of Lorsch in the 12th cent., afterwards that of the Palatinate, commanding a remarkably beautiful view. Delightful walks through the valleys of Gorxheim and Birkenau. At the entrance to the village of Gorxheim, to the I. of the road, 3 M. from Weinheim, is a stone to the memory of peasants of the district, who were driven out of their valleys and cruelly massacred by the French in 1799.
At Gross-Sachsen, a village said to have been founded by Charlemagne, the line leaves the Bergstrasse and turns S.E. to Ladenburg (Adler), the Roman Lupodunum, the walls, towers, and fine old Gothic church of which give it an air of importance. The Neckar is crossed here by a bridge of red sandstone. Then stat. Neckarshausen.
Stdt. Friedrichsfeld is the junction for Mannheim (p. 182). Heidelberg, see p. 176. :
The Bergstrasse is most attractive between Weinheim and Heidelberg (12 M.), and is recommended to the notice of pedestrians. The * High Road leads through (3 M.) Gross- Sachsen (good red wine) and (3 M.) Schriesheim, where the Strahlenburg is seen in the background. A column to the r. in the plain marks the site of a Roman villa discovered in 1766. Then (3 3/4 M.) Handschuchsheim (*Ochs) and (1 1/2 M.) Neuenheim (Rose), where the Neckar is reached, and Heidelberg (R. 31), with its imposing castle and the Königsstuhl in the rear, first becomes visible. To the l. of the road rises the Heiligenberg (p. 182). Bridge over the Neckar, see p. 181.