m 



BREDON. 



BREMEN. 



122 



S. from Bois-le-Duc, in 51 35' N. lat., and 4 47' E. long., and has 

 about 13,000 inhabitants. It is a well-built strongly fortified town, 

 surrounded by marshes, which in case of attack can be laid under 

 water. The ramparts are planted with trees and form handsome 

 promenades. The streets are wide and well paved, and the houses 

 well constructed. There are four squares. Several canals traverse 

 the town. The quays are planted with trees. The castle, which is 

 the principal building in the town, is surrounded by the Merk. It 

 riginally built by the family of Schoten, who held it with the 

 title of Baron, in 1190. Breda afterwards came into the possession 

 of the dukes of Brabant ; and in the beginning of the 15th century 

 passed by marriage to the house of Nassau. In 1567 it was annexed 

 by the Duke of Alba to the crown of Spain. In 1577 the Spanish 

 garrison opened the gates to the confederates. Four years after, the 

 town was treasonably delivered to the Duke of Parma ; but it was 

 retaken by stratagem in March 1590 by Prince Maurice of Nassau. 

 In 1625 Breda yielded by capitulation to General Spinola, who com- 

 manded the troops of the Infanta Isabella. In 1637 the town again 

 came into the possession of the States-General of the United Provinces, 

 and was confirmed to them by the treaty of Westphalia. The French, 

 under Dumourier, took Breda in 1793. Charles II. of England 

 resided in Breda during part of his exile. 



The castle already mentioned was rebuilt in 1680 by William, 

 Prince of Orange, afterwards William III. of England. The arsenal 

 and the great market-place are among the chief ornaments of the 

 town. The principal Protestant church is an elegant building, with 

 a spire 362 feet high : it contains a fine monument to Engelhort of 

 Nassau, a general cf Charles V. There are besides another Protestant 

 church, and four Roman Catholic churches, as well as hospitals for 

 orphans and for aged persons. The town-hall and military hospital 

 deserve to be mentioned. Breda has a tribunal of commerce, a 

 grammar school, and a magnetic observatory. Its industrial products 

 comprise broadcloth, linen, leather, beer, and musical instruments. 

 The railway now in course of construction to connect Antwerp and 

 the Hague passes through Breda. 



BREDOX. [WoncESTKKSiiiBE.] 



I;KI:<;KNZ. [TYROL.] 



BREISAC'H, ALT, a fortified town on the Rhine, about 12 miles 

 W. from Freiburg, in the grand duchy of Baden. It was formerly 

 considered the bulwark of Germany on the line of the Upper Rhine, 

 and is still one of the strongest fortresses in Germany. The castle 

 was built by Berthold, duke of Zahringen. Of the numerous sieges 

 which Breisach sustained the most memorable was that of 1638, when 

 it was taken by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. In 1648 Breisach was 

 ceded to the French, but the peace of Ryswick in 1697 restored it to 

 the Austrians. Six years afterwards it was invested and taken by 

 Marshal Vauban. Austria regained possession of the place by virtue 

 of the treaty of Rastadt in 1715, and its works were afterwards ren- 

 dered much stronger by the erection of a citadel on Mount Eckhardt. 

 The events of the campaign of 1743 and 1744 threw it once more into 

 tli. (Miwer of the French, who demolished the fortifications. Part of 

 the town was burnt by the French during the revolutionary campaign 

 in 17!)3 ; three years afterwards, General Moreau, upon re-crossing the 

 Rhino in his retreat out of Swabia, left a garrison in Breisach ; and 

 the French retained possession of it in spite of the efforts of the Aus- 

 trians. In 1806 the French government transferred it, together with 

 the Breisgau, to the house of Baden. Breisach is situated on a circular 

 hill on the east bank of the Rhine, between Basel and Strasburg ; and 

 contains about 3200 inhabitant*. The Minster of St. Stephen, which 

 has survived every calamity that has befallen Breisach, and is built 

 in the old style of German architecture, contains the monuments of 

 several old warriors and individuals of note. 



I'.UKISGAU, orBRISGAU, a district in Germany lying between 

 the Rhine and the Black Forest, is now included in the Baden circle 

 of Ober-rhein. It was originally a landgraviate belonging to the 

 dukes of /ahringcn : it then passed into the possession of the dukes 

 of Hochberg, and in 1367 was sold to the house of Habsburg. 

 Rudolph of Habsburg, the founder of the reigning dynasty of Austria, 

 was born in the castle of Limburg, in this territory. The Breisgau is 

 traversed by numerous mountains, with the exception of the districts 

 adjacent to the Rhine, where the surface is level and the soil highly 

 productive : here large quantities of grain, flax, hemp, fruit, vege- 

 tables, wine, Ac. are raised. In the other parts flocks and herds are 

 reared to a considerable amount, much timber is cut, and the metals, 

 particularly iron, copper, and lead are worked. The inhabitants of 

 the forest-district* are celebrated for the manufacture of wooden 

 clocks and other articles of wood. By the peace of Presburg in 1806 

 Breisgau became the property of the Elector of Baden, with the 

 exception of a small tract assigned to Wurtemberg, which Baden 

 subsequently acquired. It contained seventeen towns, including 

 ital. Old Breisach, Waldkirch, Keniingen, Endingeu, 

 Stanffen, and St. Blasien, and a great number of villages and hamlets. 

 [BiDfiv | 



l:i;i;\li;\. IirrHV OF, in Hanover, is bounded N. by the German 

 Ocean, N.K. by the Kibe, K. by I.mielmrg, S. by Brunswick, S.W. by 

 the I 1 ,. >|, nl, li,. ,,f Hrrinen, and \V. by tb Weser. Its area is 19574 

 square miles, and it population about 190,000. The soil which 

 borders upon the sea and the rivers is fertile marsh land. The 



interior consists of heaths and moors, a considerable portion of which 

 has been of late years brought into cultivation. Dykes are main- 

 tained to preserve the marsh land from inundation. The Este, 

 Bremer, Liihe, and Schwinge flow into the Elbe. The Aller and the 

 Lesum (which receives the Wumme ana? the Worpe) fall into the 

 Weser. The Oste and the Lesser Medem have their whole course in 

 the duchy, and enter the sea near the mouth of the Elbe. Flax, 

 hemp, and fruit, corn and other agricultural produce in abundance, as 

 well as vegetables, are raised. Peat is used for fuel. Considerable 

 numbers of horses, horned cattle, sheep, and swine are reared. 

 Geese are very numerous. The duchy is now merged in the Province 

 of Stade, the whole area of which is 2626 square miles. The capital, 

 both of the duchy and of the province, is STADE. 



BREMEN, REPUBLIC OF, extends along both sides of the Weser, 

 between 53 1' and 53 11' N. lat., 8" 32' and 8 58' E. long. It is 

 bounded N., E., and S. by Hanover, and W. by the duchy of Olden- 

 burg. The whole area of the republic amounts to 74 square miles, 

 and the population, including that of the town of Bremen, amounted 

 in 1849 to 79,047. The surface is low, and consists chiefly of drained 

 marsh land. The pastures are remarkably rich, and the breed of 

 horned cattle is very fine : corn is grown only on the more elevated 

 spots. Two separate districts, nearer the mouth of the Elbe, also 

 belong to the republic ; on these stand the towns of Vegesack, popu- 

 lation 3538, and Bremerlehe, which is the port of Bremen and has a 

 population of 3618. The legislative power of the republic is vested 

 in a Senate, which consists of 4 burgomasters, 12 syndics, and 24 

 senators ; and in the Burgher-Assembly, which is composed of all 

 citizens who pay any considerable amount of taxes. The senators 

 are chosen for life out of a number of candidates proposed by the 

 burgesses, and the mode of election is by ballot. The Republic of 

 Bremen is a constituent member of the Germanic Confederation, to 

 the army of which it is bound to furnish 485 men. Four battalions of 

 militia are kept up by the republic, which meet at least once a year. 



The population of the Republic of Bremen was thus distributed 

 in 1849 : 



City of Bremen 53,478 



Country Parts 18,413 



Town of Vegesack ...... 3,538 



Fort of Bremen 3,618 



Total 79,04? 



In 1852 the revenue of the republic was estimated at 989,706 

 thalers ; the expenditure at 978,277 thalers. 



The commerce of 1851 is returned as follows : 



Arrivals. 

 2518 



Tonnage. 

 171,603 



Departures. 

 2934 



Tonnage. 

 181,124 



Value of Imports. Value of Exports. 



By Land . . 19,671,096 thalers By Land . . 15,988,359 thalers 

 By Sea . . 17,874,4SO By Sea . . 16,880,588 



Total 



37,546,116 thalcrs 



Total . 32,868,947 thalers 



BREMEN, one of the free Hause.itic towns and capital of the 

 Republic of Bremen, stands upon the Weser, about 50 miles from its 

 mouth, in 53 4' 45" N. lat., 8 43' E. long., and has a population <-f 

 53,478. The Altstadt, or old town, which is on the right bauk of the 

 river, contains some handsome streets and dwellings ; but in general 

 the streets are narrow, and, in consequence of the height of the 

 houses, dark and gloomy. It has large suburbs, and these form by 

 much the larger portion of the city. The Neustadt, or new town, 

 which stands on the left bank of the Weser, is regularly built, and has 

 broad straight streets. The two quarters are connected by the Weser 

 bridge, which crosses the island of Wercler, that lies between them 

 and is covered with buildings. The quays extend along both sides 

 of the river. The ramparts of the old town have been converted into 

 promenades. Among the public buildings are the cathedral, erected 

 in 1160, and 8 other churches. The old archiepiscopal palace, now 

 the town-hall, is an imposing building in the gothic style. The old 

 town-hall, built in 1405, and famous for its Rathsweinkeller, or 

 ' council's wine cellar,' which, it is said, contains hock of the vintage 

 of 1624, and various other wiues of an advanced age, still exists. 

 Besides these must be mentioned the exchange, the building in which 

 the chief merchants hold their sittings, the great waterworks near the 

 bridge, the arsenal, the granaries, the museum, the city library, the 

 observatory from which Olbers discovered the planets Pallas and 

 Vesta, and the theatre. 



Bremen owes its prosperity to the navigable river on which it 

 stands. It is the entrepdt for imports of all the countries bordering 

 on the Weser, and especially for Hanover, Oldenburg, and Hesse- 

 Cassel. A railroad from Bremen to Hanover was opened in December 

 1847. Large vessels go up the river only as far as Bremerhaveu, 28 

 miles below Bremen ; there they discharge their cargoes in a new 

 harbour. Ships of 200 to 250 tons unload at Vegesack, 13 miles below 

 Bremen ; and vessels of seven or eight feet draft go quite up to the 

 town. Cargoes brought to Breraerhavcn and Vegesack arc forwarded 

 to Bremen by lighters and boats. Bremen is a place of great resort 

 for the warehousing and transit of foreign and German goods ; it has 

 a bank, discount office, and several insurance companies. The ships 



