126 



^ ULF1LA8 WDRTEMBERG. 



the woodpeckers; hut the tail is sufi, and cannot 

 serve in any way as a suppoit ; and it never strikes 

 the bark of trees with its hill. It also differs wide- 

 ly in its appearance, the plumage hcing mottled 

 somewhat in the same manner as that of the Ame- 

 rican whip-poor-will. The name is derived from a 

 hahit of twisting- its nock in a singular manner. This 

 bird arrives in the south of England a fewcl;i\s pre- 

 vious to the cuckoo. It i- i.ue in Scotland, and 

 the northern parts of England. 



WULFILAS. See Ulfilas. 



WUKMSI'.U, DAUOBKHT SIGISMOND, count von, 

 Austrian generul field-marshal, was born of a rich 

 Alsatian family, in 1724, and, having early entered 

 the Austrian service, was engaged through the 

 whole of the seven years' war ; at the close of 

 which he held the rank of major. In the war of 

 the Bavarian succession (see Bavaria}, he com- 

 manded an army in Bohemia, and, in 1779 (January 

 18), gained some advantages over the Prussians at 

 Habelschwerd. The peace of Teschen soon after 

 put an end to hostilities. On the breaking out of 

 the war against France, Wurmser commanded a 

 division of the Austrian army, and passed the Rhine 

 March 31, 1793. After gaining some unimportant 

 advantages, he was compelled to recross the Rhine, 

 towards the close of the year, and was recalled from 

 his command. In August, 1795, he rejoined the 

 army, and captured Manheim November 22. In 

 the summer of the next year, he took the command 

 of the army of Italy, and forced his way to Mantua, 

 i'lto which he threw himself September 30. Here 

 Ke was finally obliged to surrender to the French 

 troops, after a siege of nine months. After his re- 

 turn to Vienna, he was appointed to the command 

 in Hungary, but died before he could leave Vienna, 

 of the consequence of his privations and sufferings 

 in Mantua, in the summer of 1797. 



WURTEMBERG, OR WIRTEMBERG ; a 

 kingdom of the western part of Germany, bounded 

 by Bavaria on the east, and Baden on the west, and 

 bordering on lake Constance on the south. It is 

 of an oblong form, extending from Ion. 8 to 10 

 3<X E., and from lat. 45 36' to 49 45' N. It 

 forms part of the old circle of Suabia, and covers 

 an area of 7240 square miles. It is divided into 

 four provinces, the Neckar, the Schwarzwald, the 

 Danube and the Jaxt, with a population, in 1829, 

 of 1,562,033 souls, of whom 1,506,270 were Ger- 

 mans, 2400 Waldenses, and 9100 Jews. The re- 

 ligion of the great majority of the people is Pro- 

 testant : there are, also, 478,444 Catholics. There 

 is one university at Tubingen, with, in 1830, 837 

 students; and there is also a considerable number 

 of lyceums, gymnasia and high schools, with 2187 

 common schools ( Volkschvleii). The chief town 

 and royal residence is Stuttgart, with a population 

 of 31,000: the other principal places are Ulm 

 (12,049), Reutlingen (10,180), Heilbronn, Tubin- 

 gen, Hall, Esslingen, Ludwigsburg, Rothenburg 

 and Gmiind. The great natural features of this 

 country are two ranges of mountains, one called the 

 Black Forest, or Schwarzwald, extending along the 

 western frontier, the other called the Suabian or 

 Wiirtemberg Alp, an insulated range of rocky hills, 

 destitute of wood, beginning at Rotweil, and tra- 

 versing the kingdom in a north-east direction. On 

 these lofty tracts, the climate is cold and bleak ; 

 but the rest of the country is agreeably diversified 

 with hilhj of moderate elevation, and pleasant val- 

 leys, which enjoy a mild and pleasant climate. 

 The principal rivers are the Danube and Neckar, 



also the Enz, Muhr, Kocker, Jaxt and Tauber. 

 Wtirtemberg, with ihe exception of the two moun- 

 tainous ranges, is one of the most fertile and best 

 cultivated parts of Germany. It produces the vari- 

 ous kinds of grain; wine, the best qualities known 

 abroad under the name of the Neckar wine; fruits 

 of various kinds. The minerals are iron, silver, 

 copper, coal and porcelain. The Black Forest pro- 

 duces abundance of pine and fir, considerable quan- 

 tities of which are exported. The revenue, in 

 1830, amounted to 27,8t?7,145 guilders ; the expen- 

 diture to 27,868, 136 guilders, the public debt to 

 28,604,350. The standing army, in time of war, 

 is composed of 16,824 men, the peace establish- 

 ment, of 4906, the contingent to tin- lorec> of the 

 German confederation, of 13,955. The king of 

 Wtirteinberg has the sixth vote in the German diet, 

 and four votes in the plenum. The government is 

 a constitutional monarchy : the constitution was 

 adopted September 25, 1819. The king shares the 

 legislative power, and the right of imposing taxes, 

 with the estates, which consist of two chambers or 

 houses, and possesses the entire executive power. 

 The crown is hereditary in the male line, but, in 

 case of the failure of males, passes to the females. 

 The upper chamber is composed of the princes of 

 the blood, of the heads of the mediatized families, 

 and of members called to sit by the king. The 

 lower chamber, or chamber of deputies, is composed 

 of thirteen deputies, chosen by the nobility, who 

 have the right of judicial jurisdiction, six deputies 

 of the clergy, deputies of seven towns, and deputies 

 of the sixty-three bailiwics of the kingdom. The 

 reigning king, William I., born 1781, ascended the 

 throne in 1816. By his third wife he has one son, 

 Frederic, the crown prince, or heir apparent, born 

 1823. His predecessor on the throne was Frederic, 

 declared king of Wiirtemberg in 1805. 



Wiirtemberg, History of. The origin of the 

 kingdom of Wurtemberg, more properly Wirtein- 

 berg,* is as follows. Lords of Wiirtemberg are 

 first mentioned toward the end of the eleventh 

 century: down to the middle of the thirteenth cen- 

 tury this family seldom appears; but from that 

 time, the Suabian History is full of their conquests 

 and compacts. The counts of Wtirtemberg were 

 not, like other counts of the empire, originally 

 officers of the emperor. They were the proprietors 

 of extensive domains, and, by way of honour, called 

 counts. TJie emperors infeoffed them at a later 

 period. Besides the revenue which they derived 

 from their estates, they received a considerable in- 

 come from convents, towns and villages, which they 

 agreed to protect. This branch of revenue was 

 charged with the expenses of the government. Se- 

 parate from this was the income of the patrimonial 

 estates of the family. Such a separation is seldom 

 found elsewhere, especially at so early a peiiod. 

 Taxes were to be raised only when the revenue 

 was insufficient. This state of things began with 

 count Ulrich, who acquired distinction in the mid- 

 dle of the thirteenth century. Germany was then 

 without ahead. The kingsand emperors of Germany, 

 from the death of Frederic II. to Rodolph of Haps- 

 burg, were mere shadows. Ulrich died in 1265. His 

 successor, count Eberhard, doubled the possessions 

 which he had received from his father. He had many 

 feuds with the emperors Rodolpb, Adolphus of 

 Nassau, and Albert of Austria. The emperor Henry 



Wiirtemberg was originally the name of a castle near Stutt- 

 gart. Hi-nee it tjetame the name of a family, then of a duchy 

 and at last of a kingdom. 





