EIFEL. 



EISENACH. 



the inscription ' In hoc Siguo viuces,' upon it, it is said, appeared to 

 Constantine when marching towards Italy against Maxentius. The 

 ancient Roman road along the left bank of the Rhine nearly coincides 

 with the present diligence road between Bonn and Coblenz. Remayen, 

 a small place of 1400 inhabitants, occupies the site of the ancient 

 Rigomagtu. Roman antiquities have been found here. 



About 5 miles inland, from the mouth of the Brohl, is the large and 

 beautiful crater-lake of Laach, or Laacher-See, which is 666 feet above 

 the Rhine, of nearly elliptic shape, 2 miles long and about a mile and 

 a half broad ; its depth increases towards the centre where it is 

 214 feet deep. The lake is hemmed in on all sides by a ridge of hills 

 covered with wood down to the water's edge. It is supposed to occupy 

 the crater of a volcano. A stream of carbonic acid gaa issues from 

 an opening on the north-east side of the lake ; and in a neighbouring 

 pit bodies of birds have been found killed by the noxious vapour, 

 which circumstance has given rise to a popular notion similar to that 

 connected with Averaua in Italy, that no bird can fly over the Laacher- 

 See. The lake is fed by numerous springs beneath its surface, which 

 keep its basin always full. Ita waters are clear, deep-blue in colour, 

 very cold but never freeze ; and abound in fish. It has no natural 

 outlet, but its superfluous waters are carried off by an underground 

 emissary nearly a mile long, cut in the 12th century by the Benedic- 

 tine monks of the now ruined abbey of Laach, which is a little south- 

 west of the lake. The shores of the lake are covered with masses of 

 scoriae, cinders, ashes, pumice, and other volcanic products. Laach 

 abbey, or Kloster-Laach as it is called, was suppressed at the time of 

 st French revolution. Part of the old buildings that remain is 

 nverted into a farm-house ; the church, a beautiful specimen 

 on a Binall scale of the round-arched gothic, erected in the early part 

 of the 12th century, has been purchased in order to its preservation, 

 by the Prussian government. The gardens of the abbey, the lake, 

 and village of Laach, are favourite places of resort with the 

 inhabitants of Coblenz. Between the lake and the Nette are the 

 famous millstone quarries of Nieder-Mendig, which have been worked 

 in the hard porous lava for 2000 years. The lava stream in which these 

 quarries lie ia 5 miles long and 3 miles broad. The lava separates iuto 

 gigantic columns, some of which are left by the quarrymeu to support 

 the roof; there are vast caverns in it, probably the result of ancient 

 excavations. At Mayan, a picturesque old town, on the Nette, with 

 about 3000 inhabitants, defended by a castle and surrounded by walls 

 and gardens, there are several millstone quarries, a paper-mill, tan- 

 yards, and mineral springs. To the geologist, the botanist, and lover 

 of the picturesque, all the southern and eastern part of the Eifel is 

 extremely interesting. Besides the Laacher-See no less than 27 maare, 

 marking as many extinct craters, exist between the Nette and 

 the Ahr. 



The climate of the table-land of the Eifel is damp, and much colder 

 than that of the plain of the lower Rhine ; cold mists very frequently 

 hover over it. In all Prussia there is no district so poor in arable 

 land as the Eifel. The rugged surface of the region is covered with 

 wild heath or swampy bog, the thin coating of the soil not affording 

 nourishment for the roots of trees. Some parts of it however as 

 before stated are clothed with forests. This is especially the case in 

 the districts covered with volcanic deposits. The chief species of 

 forest trees are beech, oak, and fir, which are grown for the supply of 

 fuel and timber. The valleys and glens are all inhabited, and in these 

 the population is gathered into small towns, villages, and hamlets, 

 moat of which have sprung up under the frowning protection of some 

 feudal castle, and a few in the neighbourhood of ancient monasteries. 

 On the rapid slopes along the Ahr valley and towards the Rhine, vines 

 :ind fruit trees yield valuable crops; here every piece of cultivated 

 hind is covered with walnut, apple, pear, or cherry trees. The wine 

 of tlie Ahrthal is of excellent quality. The commune of Riibeuach 

 draws a revenue of 10,000 francs annually from Coblenz for cherries 

 alone. Walnuts are a favourite crop on the hills but not in the valley 

 bottoms, where, it is said, the leaves of the walnut tree injure the 

 eoiL The nuts are preserved for oil. Apples and pears are sliced 

 and strung upon pack-thread to serve as vegetables with meat in 

 winter. The fruit of the valleys of the Eifel is good generally ; but 

 the apples and pears grown on the Moselle slope are particularly 

 delicious and not surpassed by those of any region in Europe. The 

 corn crops of the region are necessarily restricted in quantity ; the 

 deficiency is supplied from the neighbouring districts. 



The region of the Eifel is exposed to a phenomenon called Wolken- 

 bruch, or Cloud-Burnt, being a sudden discharge of water, which brings 

 sudden destruction on everything that it may strike ; trees are rooted 

 tip and hurled down by suddenly formed torrents ; cattle, houses, soil, 

 and crops are swept away. A cloud-burst of this description 

 destroyed the greater part of Miinstereifel ia 1818. 



The principal roads through the region of the Eifel are those from 

 Aix-la-Chapelle to Treves, and from Coblenz to Bonn; the high 

 road up the left bank of the Moselle from Coblenz to Treves, and 

 the new road up the Ahrthal to Treves. There are also numerous 

 cross-roads, but most of them are bad. The great Roman road made 

 by Agrippa from Trevea to Cologne traversed the western part of the 

 Eifel. Along it were numerous post-houses (mutationes) and six 

 ' mansiones,' serving as military posts and hotels. Bffidao Vicus, now 

 Bit burg, was one of these 'mansiones.' Zulpich (population 1200), 



near the Nassel, a feeder of the Erfft in the plain, at the northern 

 base of the Eifel, was another of the mansiones, and was called 

 Tolbiacum. The road is still in a perfect state at Zulpich. Remains 

 of an aqueduct which ran parallel to the road, and along its whole 

 length, to supply the stations with water, are still visible at ten or a 

 dozen different places between the two cities. The road along the 

 left bank of the Rhine, between Remagen and the precipitous 

 projection of Rolandseck, which is composed of prismatic basalt, and 

 is crowned with the ruins of au old castle, is cut in the rock. In 

 making this part of the road several Roman remains were found. 

 Connected with Rolaudseck is the circular crater of Rodersberg, 

 which is a quarter of a mile across and 100 feet deep; its sides, 

 which are composed of tufa and scoriae, are cultivated. The castle 

 of Godesberg, a town of about 1000 inhabitants, a short distance 

 north of Rolandseck, is an interesting object on the road and from 

 the Rhine. Between Godesberg and Bonn, at -the north-eastern 

 extremity of the Eifel, are the coal and alum-mines of Friesdorf. 

 The coal is of the kind called lignite or fossil wood, and has evidently 

 resulted from the subsidence of some primeval forest ; fossil fishes, 

 fresh-water shells, and very fine potters' clay are also found in these 

 beds. 



As the Eifel is a popular and not an administrative division of 

 Rhenish Prussia, we have no means of stating its population. The 

 region is divided between the three governments of Aachen, Coblenz, 

 and Treves. The inhabitants are less polished than their lowland 

 neighbours, in their dress rather slovenly than neat, and their houses 

 are in general rudely constructed. The principal mineral and other 

 products have been already mentioned ; here we must add iron and 

 lead, mines of which are worked near Gemiind. The manufactures 

 are unimportant, with the exception of leather. The chief exports 

 are millstones, trass, wine, and fruit. The inhabitants are almost all 

 Roman Catholics. Eifel is said to be au old German name for the 

 Ardenne, of which region the Eifel is in reality a part. [ARDENNE.1 



EILENBURG. [MERSEBURG.] 



KIMBECK. [GRUBENHAGEN ; HILDESUEIM.] 



EINDHOVEN. [BRABANT, NORTH.] 



EISENACH, a principality in the centre of Germany, belonging to 

 the grand duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. It forms one of the 

 three detached circles or provinces which constitute the grand duke's 

 dominions, and is bounded N. by Prussian Saxony, E. by Saxe-Gotha 

 and Saxe-Meiuingen, S. by Bavaria, and \V. by Hesse-Cassel. The 

 detached district of Ostheiui, part of Eisenach, liea to the south 

 within the Bavarian confines. The principality is of greater extent 

 than it formerly was, since it now comprehends the bailiwicks of 

 Lichteuberg, Kaltennordheim, Geiss, Dermbach, Vach, Fraueusee, 

 Volkershausen, and some minor tracts which have been acquired by 

 cession or exchange from the territories of Fulda, Henneberg, and 

 Hesse-Cassel. Its area is 465.J square miles, and the population 

 in 1853 amounted to 82,321. The greater part of this principality 

 belongs to Thiiringia, aud a considerable portion of it is traversed by 

 the Thiiringerwahi ; between which mountains and the Rhongebirge 011 

 the west, the principality comprehends a tract about 42 miles in 

 length, aud from 9 to 14 miles in width. The country presents a 

 succession of hills and mountain heights, uninterrupted by any 

 extensive levels, and the soil is consequently not very favourable to 

 cultivation. It is watered by the Werra, with its tributaries, the 

 Nesse and Hbrsel, Ulster, Fulda, Sulz, Ruhl, and Vach. The 

 climate is healthy, though from the proximity of the Thiiringiau 

 heights, it is variable. The products consist of grain, which is not 

 adequate to the consumption, timber, potashes, aud tar, rape-seed, 

 flax, hemp, hops, fruit, &c. Horned-cattle and sheep are reared 

 in great numbers, as well as swine. Of minerals copper, iron, 

 alum, and coals in small quantities are obtained ; and there are 

 quarries of stone and marble, as well as salt-springs near Kreutzburg, 

 from which about 500 tons of salt are annually extracted. Potters' 

 clay and fullers' earth are found. The principal manufactures are 

 linens, woollens, cottons, iron- and copper- ware, yarn, potashes, leather, 

 earthenware, and articles of wood. 



The principality fell to the dukes of Saxe-Weimar on the decease 

 of the last duke of Saxe-Eisenach, who died without issue in 

 1741. 



Eisenach, the chief town and seat of government of the principality, 

 is situated at the confluence of the Horsel and Nesse, which unite 

 immediately north of the town, and then flow through it in one 

 channel : the village of Fischbach touches it on the east ; and the 

 celebrated Wartburg, a mountain fastness, commands it on the south. 

 Eisenach stands in about 50 58' N. lat., 10 18' E. long. ; it is a 

 first-class station on the Thuriiigian railway, 49 miles W. from 

 Weimar, and 66 miles S.E. from Cassel. The town, which has a 

 population of about 10,000, is surrounded by walls, has five gates, is 

 well built, and has broad, clean, well-paved streets. The ducal palace 

 (Furstenhaus) is a large and handsome edifice. Among other public 

 buildings there are five churches, a gymnasium, with an extensive 

 library, a handsome civic school which ornaments the spacious market- 

 place, a training school, and an academy for superintendents of woods 

 and forests. The chief manufactures are woollens, cottons, linens, 

 soap, white-lead, meerschaum-pipes, leather, and carpets. A steep 

 ascent through a fine park leads to the well-known stronghold called 



