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B E K 



are mostly imported from foreign parts : swine are universally 

 reared. Except in the district of Koswig, the lower duchy 

 is dependent upon its neighbours for timber and fuel ; its 

 mineral products are coal, lime, gypsum, red earth, clay, and 

 sandstone ; game and fish abound, and among the latter the 

 salmon of the Saale is in repute. The productions of the 

 upper duchy are of a very dissimilar character: here, the soil 

 being mountainous and stony, the growth of grain is inade- 

 quate to the consumption ; little wheat or barley is raised, but 

 the cultivation of rye, oats, potatoes, peas, and turnips for 

 cattle is extensive ; flax is also grown about Hoym. Horned 

 cattle are abundant, but the breeding of horses is incon- 

 siderable : there is plenty of red and black game, as well as 

 of fish. The most valuable products of this part of Anhalt- 

 Bernburg are, however, timber and minerals, among which 

 we may mention iron (1000 tons), silver ore (1400 marks), 

 lead (150 tons), copper, vitriol (600 cwt.), sulphur, coals, 

 sandstone, and marble. 



The duchy is by no means a manufacturing country. Its 

 chief products are iron and steel ware, yarns, linens, wool- 

 lens, and flannels, articles of wood, porcelain, and earthen- 

 ware ; it exports butter, some grain, wool, timber, iron, and 

 ironware. The breweries and distilleries only produce suffi- 

 cient for the internal demand ; and the same may be said 

 of the supply of lime, millstones, and tiles. There are four 

 smelting furnaces, two sulphur-houses, a vitriol manufac- 

 tory, and gunpowder works in the valley of the Seiko ; a 

 large paper-mill at Bernburg, a saw-mill at Gernrode, a 

 manufactory of arms at the same place ; and coke is made 

 in various parts of the upper duchy. Some writers mention 

 other manufactures as existing in Anhalt-Bernburg, but 

 they are no longer in operation, or never existed at all. In 

 fact, the inhabitants find full employment in agriculture, 

 mining, and with their woods and forests, which extend over 

 a surface of about sixty-three square miles, or nearly one- 

 fiflh of the entire surface of the duchy. 



Little is known of the financial state of the duchy. 

 Lindner says, in his excellent work on the three duchies 

 (Dessau, Bernburg, and Ktithen), that the revenues may be 

 estimated at 450,000 gulden, about 41.250/., and the amount 

 of public debt at 600,000 gulden, about 55.000/. 



Anhalt-Bernburg contains seven towns, one market-vil- 

 lage, and sixty other villages. In 1830 the number of 

 houses was G~i47, and of inhabitants 43,325 ; of the latter 

 19,9 17 in the lower, and 23,408 in the upper duchy. Lindner 

 states the previous increase to have been from 34,193 in 

 1805 to 37,047 in 1817, and 39,618 in 1827. Upon these 

 data we may assume the present population to be about 

 4i,000 souls. 



The form of government is that of an unlimited monarchy. 

 Religion and education are under the controul of the con- 

 sistory of Bernburg, which is composed of three clerical mem- 

 bers and a government assessoMjjpd is independent of the 

 prince in all ecclesiastical matters? A union has been brought 

 about between the members of the Lutheran and Reformed 

 persuasions. The state of public education is very satisfac- 

 tory ; 8000 children, nearly one-fifth of the whole population, 

 attend the national schools, over which local supervision is 

 everywhere exercised. Each bailiwick, town and village 

 supports its own poor, under its own board, with partial 

 assistance from the government, and under the super- 

 intendence of the consistory. The medical police of the 

 duchy, and every sanitory regulation, are intrusted to the 

 medical board at Ballenstedt. 



The military consist of a corps of sharpshooters, 370 

 strong, and the company of grenadiers of the ducal guard at 

 Bernburg. The landsturm, or national guards, of 1814 

 mustered 7328 foot and 140 horse: and the contingent 

 which Anhalt-Bernburg is bound to supply for the army of 

 the German confederation is 370 infantry. 



(Lindner, History and Description of the Country of 

 Anhalt; Crome's Anhalt-Bernburg; Hassel's States of 

 Germany ; Stein, von Schlieben, &c.) 



The seven towns in the duchy of Bernburg are Ballen- 

 stedt, Bernburg, Koswig, Harzgerode, Hoym, Gernrode, 

 and Giinthersberge : 



Ballenttedt is situated on the summit and side of a hill 

 at the foot of the Lower Harz, in 51 43' N. lat., 1 1 18' E. 

 long. ; and is composed of the Old Town, encircled by a wall 

 with two entrances, the New Town, which is open, and the 

 avenue and new street, by which the ducal palace on an 

 adjacent hill is united with the town. The Old as well as 

 a portion of the New Town is confined and ill-constructed ; 



but the avenue and new street, which are adorned with 

 two rows of chestnut trees, between which there is a foot- 

 way with roads outside of them, form a handsome street 

 rather more than a mile in length. The Old Town con- 

 tains a church, synagogue, hospital, and the public offices. 

 The New Town is embellished with the palace, the main 

 body of which is of antient construction. This residence is 

 beautifully situated, and the view from its elevated terrace 

 is delightful; its appendages are a church, theatre, and 

 riding-house, besides pleasure-grounds, a small picture- 

 gallery, a library of 8000 volumes, chiefly modern, a cabinet 

 of Anhalt coins, and a collection of minerals, which is very 

 complete so far as regards the products of that part of the 

 Harz Mountains which lie within the territory of Anhalt. 

 There are extensive out-offices and yards, called the Vorwerk, 

 also attached to the castle ; among them are a spacious 

 sheep-walk, a brewery, where the celebrated ' Ballenstedter 

 Lagerbier' is made, and a vinegar manufactory. Ballenstedt 

 is the residence of the ducal court and the seat of justice, as 

 well as of the medical board and board of works for the 

 duchy. The town is mainly supported by agricultural pur- 

 suits, and possesses considerable manufacture* of flannel, 

 linens, and pottery-ware. The Geitel, an inconsiderable 

 stream, runs through it, and drives some (lour and oil mills ; 

 it has four fairs in the course of the year, hut they are not of 

 much moment. The population amounted to 1301 souls in 

 1708, 2500 in 1800, and 3740 in 1830, when it contained 

 several Jewish families. It is the chief place of the baili- 

 wick of the same name, the inhabitants of which are esti- 

 mated at G100. 



In the upper duchy likewise are Hoym, on the Selke, an 

 open town, about live miles north-east of Ballenstedt, with a 

 church, town-hall, three large mills, and about 2300 inha- 

 bitants ; Gernrode, an open, ill-constructed town, built on a 

 declivity at the foot of the Harz, about three miles to the 

 west of Ballenstedt, with two churches, some old monastic 

 buildings, mills, &c., and a population of about 2050 souls ; 

 Gunthnrsberge, about ten miles south-west of Ballenstedt, 

 an old open town, lying in a small valley encircled by 

 forests, and containing a church, an antient burgh in ruins, 

 and between 700 and 800 inhabitants ; and, lastly, tlurz- 

 gerode, situated in a deep hollow, about five miles to the 

 i south-west of Balleustedt, in 51 38' N. lat. It is of as 

 ' early a date as the year 961, is encompassed by a wall, and 

 contains a decayed ducal residence, a church, town-hull, 

 school, and about 2400 inhabitants. It is the seat of the 

 ducal boards of mines, and woods and forests. 



Bernburg, the chief town of the districts which compose 

 the lower duchy, and lie along the banks of the Kibe 

 and Saale, is a large town, divided into two nearly equal 

 portions by the Saale, in 51 47' N. lat., 1 1 45' E". long., 

 and at a distance of about fifteen miles from the iullux 

 of that river into the Elbe. It consists of three quar- 

 ters, the Old and New Towns on the left bank, and the 

 Bergstadt, or Mount-town, on the right bank of the Saale ; 

 the last is open, and the two first are surrounded by a 

 wall with four gates. They are connected by a stone 

 bridge, 173 feet long and 23 feet broad, at the com- 

 mencement of which, from the Old Town on the north- 

 west side, is a fine gate. From this bridge to the New 

 Town gate runs a handsome street, about 1200 paces in 

 length, part of its line being formed by the market-place ; 

 on the whole, the town is well-built, clean, and well-paved. 

 The Mount-town lies partly on tAie rapid declivity, and 

 partly at the top of the high ground which skirts the Saale. 

 It has rapidly increased on account of the superior eligibility 

 of its site : and contains the castle, situated on a steep hill, 

 in which the heir-apparent usually resides, with an orangery, 

 play-house, riding-house, &c., the town-hall, house of in- 

 dustry, mint, and an earthenware manufactory. There are 

 three churches, several old chapels, a synagogue, asylums 

 for orphans and widows, six schools, and many benevolent 

 institutions in Bernburg. Its population was 4018 in the 

 year 1 797, and at present amounts to upwards of 6000. 



Koswig, likewise in the lower duchy, is a very antient 

 open town, on the right bank of the Elbe, about seven miles 

 west of Wittenberg in Prussian Saxony, and near the ex- 

 treme eastern border of the duchy. It has a church and 

 chapel, a synagogue, a ducal residence, a brewery, and some 

 small manufactures, with a population of about 2800 souls. 

 BERNERS, JULYANS, or JULIANA, otherwise 

 BARNERS or BARNES, one of the earliest female 

 writers in England, is supposed to have been born towards 



