4*5 



SCHWARZENBERO. 



SCHWYZ. 



466 



territories. It vt watered by the rivers Wipper and Helbe. The total 

 area of the two counties is 697 square miles, and the total population 

 at the end of ISoi amounted to 129,885. The surface of the country 

 is diversified with mountains, valleys, and plains, and is on the whole 

 fertile. The Lower County is however more productive than the 

 Upper, which is traversed by a part of the Thuringer Wald. In the 

 Lower County is the Kyffbiiuser, 1458 feet high, and the Hainleite, a 

 wooded mountain chain which begins at the river Unstrutt and extends 

 8 leagues to the west. The natural productions are corn, fruit, pota- 

 toes, flax, and pulse. The forests furnish timber for every purpose, 

 and abound in game. The mineral productions are silver, copper, iron, 

 lead, vitriol, sulphur, alum, saltpetre, salt, marble, alabaster, freestone, 

 slate, pottera'-clay, porcelain-clay, and lime. Oxen and swine are 

 numerous ; the breed of sheep has been much improved. 



The family of the princes of Scbwarzburg is very ancient, and is 

 mentioned in the earliest period of the middle ages. It is now divided 

 into two branches, Rndolstadt and Sondershausen, between which the 

 two counties are thus divided : 



In the Upper County the prince has the 

 liis town has aloo a palace, a gymnasium, 

 ils, and 6000 inhabitant., who have some 



Sckwanbwy-Rudolttadt had a revenue of 720,408 florin* in 1854. 

 The portion of the Upper County possessed by the prince i* called the 

 lordship of Smdolttadt, from it* capital, a well-built town in a valley 

 oo the Saale. Within the walls is Ludwigsburg, the prince's palace, 

 which contains some considerable scientific collections. There are in 

 RndolsUdt two churches, a gymnasium, a theological seminary, and 

 about 5000 inhabitants. In the Lower County the prince of Rudol 

 stadt poesesse* the lordship of Prantenkauten, to named from its 

 capital, which i* situated on an arm of the Wipper, has two churches 

 within the wall* and two without, a palace, a Latin school, and 4700 

 inhabitants. 



6Veray SondtnkmMn ha* a revenue of 601,000 thaler*. The 

 distinctive title of this branch i* taken from the lordship of Sander*. 

 kmmtm, which eomprieee the prince's portion of the Lower County, 

 and is named from iU chief town, which to situated in a pins sent 

 valley oo the Wipper. The palace, situated on an eminence, contains 

 a good cabinet of natural history. The town baa a theatre, a gymna- 

 sium, an orphan asylum, an hospital, and other public institution*. 

 The population to 4000. In 

 lordship of Anutadl. This 

 four churches, two hospitals, 

 trade in timber and corn, and considerable beeweiies. 



Both these little states have their court* and their ministriee; and 

 Austria. Prussia, and Switzerland have accredited envoys to Rudol- 

 todc They belong to the German Confederation; and have, with 

 Oldenburg and Anhalt, the fifteenth place in the select council, and in 

 the full council one vote each. The contingent of Sondershausen to 

 the federal army to 451 men, and that of RudolsUdt 539 men'. Rudol- 

 stodt has had ever since 1810 a representative constitution with an 

 assembly of state*, consisting of 18 deputies. 



KHWABZKNBKRa h L lanhUp la HiMh fmrna^k, hi aV 



kingdom of Bavaria, from which the prince* of Schwanenberg take 

 their title. This illustrious family to one of the moot ancient of the 

 noble houses of Franconia. By an imperial diploma of December 8, 

 1740, the princely dignity was extended to all the male and female 

 desosodanU of the family. The present possessions of the family in 

 Bavaria, l~llp; the county or principality of Sehwaneuberg, are 

 130 square miles, with 10,000 inhabitants ; in Bohemia 1655 square 



' , with a population of 230,412 ; and in Styria 413 square miles, 

 population of 16,113. All the** possessions belong to the 

 branch of the family. The second branch ha* also extensive 

 i in Bohemia and in Hungary : in the latter country it* estate* 

 extend over 440 square mil**, with a population of 65,000. 



SCHWARZWALD. [lUoi*; WOftnutBCBO.] 



8CHWATZ. FTTBOU] 



8CHWKI)T. lllRAXDE.YBi-ma] 



8CHWKIDXITZ, a fortified town of Prussian Silesia, is situated in 

 60' 47' X. lat, 16* 30- E. lone., on the left bank of the Weistritz, in 

 on* of the most beautiful part* of Silesia, 35 mile* by railway S.W. 

 from Brsalon, and ha* about 13,000 inhabitants, including the garrison. 

 It sustained several siege* during the Thirty Years' War; wo* token 

 in 1757 by the Atwtrians, in 1759 by the Prussians, in 1781 by the 

 Austrian*. The Prussians afterward* recovered the town and held it 

 till February 1807, when it wan taken after a month's siege by the 

 French, who blew up the greater part of it* defence*. Among the 

 public buildings ore two Roman Catholic churches, one of which bo* a 

 spire 327 feet high ; two Lutheran churches, a convent of Ursuline nun*, 



OCOO. DIT. TOL. IT. 



large barracks, an hospital, a poor-house (which was formerly a castle), 

 and an orphan asylum. The town has a Protestant gymnasium, and 

 manufactures of woollens, linen, leather, starch, gloves, hats, silk, 

 ribands, paper, beer, spirits, and viuegar. The corn, cattle, and wool 

 are much frequented. Not far from the town are copper-works. 



SCHWEITZ. [SWITZERLAND.] 



SCHWERIN. [JlECKLKNBDBO.1 



SCHWYZ, a Swiss canton, which baa given its name to all Switzer- 

 land. It is the wealthiest and most populous of the forest cantons 

 (Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden), which were the first to assert their 

 independence in January 1308, and to form a confederacy, which 

 repulsed the force of the house of Austria at Morgarten ; the men of 

 those cantons became known by the name of Schwyzem, or Schweizem, 

 which name continued to be applied to the Confederation in general 

 after it was enlarged by the successive junction of other cantons ; and 

 lastly, the whole country formerly known in the Roman times by the 

 name of Helvetia has been called Schweiz, or Schweizerland. [SWIT- 

 ZERLAND.] 



The canton of Schwyz lies on the west side of the high Alps of 

 Glarus, of which the Gliirnisch, 9000 feet high, is the loftiest summit. 

 It consists of several long valleys between lower oflsets of the Alps, 

 the summits of which are from 4000 to 6000 feet high, and of a 

 plateau or table-land in the centre of the canton. The principal 

 valleys are the Waggi Thai in the north, the Sihl Thai in the middle, 

 and the Muota Thai in the south. The waters of the northern part 

 of the canton of Schwyz run in a north direction into the Lake of 

 Zurich; those of the central part flow north-west by the river Sihl 

 into the Limmat; and those of the southern part run southward 

 into the Lake of Luzern. Besides bordering on those two lakes, the 

 canton embraces within its territory the southern part of the Lake of 

 Zug, and it also entirely incloses the small Lake of Lowerz, which is 

 about two miles long and one mile wide, and the waters of which have 

 an outlet southward into the Lake of Luzern. North-west of the Lake 

 of Lowerz, and between it and the Lake of Zug, is the valley of Goldau, 

 between Mount Rigi and the Roasberg. On the 2nd of September 1806 

 an enormous fragment of the Roanberg detached itself from the moun- 

 tain, and rolled down into the valley, which still exhibits mark* of 

 this catastrophe. 



The canton of Schwyz i* bounded E. by Olarus ; N.E. by St. Gall, 

 from which it is separated by the river Linth ; X. by the Lake of 

 Zurich ; W. by Zug, from which it is separated by the ridge of 

 Morgarten and by the Roa^prg ; 8.W. by Luzern, the group of the 

 Rigi lying on the borders of the two cantons; and S., partly by the 

 Wsldstatten Lake, or Lake of Luzern. which separates it from Unter- 

 walden, and partly by the canton of Uri, an offset of the Alps called 

 the Roastock, from ttOOO to 7000 feet high, forming the boundary. 

 It* area to 388 square miles. The population numbers 44,168, all 

 Catholics but 155, who are CalvinisU, and all native Swiss except 193. 

 None of the mountains of Suhwyz are covered with perpetual snow, 

 the cold is therefore not so severe as in the other Alpine valleys, and 

 cattle, which number about 20,000, are able to feed in summer as far 

 a* the summits. There are also a few sheep, and large herds of 

 swine and flock* of goat*. In the district of Einaiedeln tho breeding 

 of horse* i* attended to. A considerable quantity of cheese and 

 butter to made. Corn is only partially cultivated; potatoes are a 

 common article of food ; flax and hemp are produced in several 

 district* ; artificial grass is sown in some place*. There are vineyards 

 near the border* of the Lake of Zurich, but cider is the common 

 drink of the people. Kirschwa*ser is distilled. The forests form a 

 considerable source of wealth. The canton exports butter, cheese, 

 timber, firewood, cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs. It imports corn, 

 wine, brandy, salt, coffee, sugar, and manufactures of various sort*. 

 The manufactures of the canton consist chiefly of linens, potash, soap, 

 walnut-oil, wax-caudle*, tobacco, and gunpowder. There are also some 

 breweries, and many saw-mills and lime- and brick-kilns. 



Tho people of Schwyz are remarkable for their square athletic 

 form* and muscular strength. Most of the houses are built of wood, 

 covered with tiles, and wanned by stoves. The total number of 

 land- and house-owners in the canton, at the census of March 1850, 

 amounted to 5994. There are elementary school* in the various 

 commune*. There to a college or gymnasium in the town of Schwyz, 

 and a clerical seminary at Einsiedeln. There is also at Eiusiedeln 

 a deaf and dumb school The language of the people is Swiss- 

 German. 



Sckvyt, the capital of the canton, is situated at the junction of the 

 valley of Muota with two other valleys, not quite 3 miles distant from 

 the Waldstiitten Lake. The curiously-shaped mountain called Mythen, 



irly 6000 feet high, rises immediately north-east of the town, and 



on* to threaten to overwhelm it by its fall. The country around 

 Schwyz is beautiful and very fertile, and the scenery is splendid. 

 Schwyz to an open town : it has two good streets, a large square, a 

 church dedicated to St. Martin (which is one of the finest in Switzer 

 land), two or three convents, a college, a town-house, an hospital, a 

 library which is rich in works relative to the history of the country, 

 a cabinet of medals, and 2414 inhabitants. In the burying-ground 

 annexed to the parish church is the monument of Aloys Reding, who 

 fought bravely for the independence of his country against the French 

 in 1798-99. The parish church contains the rich banner given by Popo 



2 n 



