BERLIN TO HAMBURG 37 



change" is situated in the very center of this Metropolis, 

 one need not be surprised that it has become the soul of 

 all material and intellectual lift' here; he who doubts it 

 will easily become convinced if he pays a visit to the said 

 place about "Exchange time," i. e., from one to two in the 

 afternoon. The Exchange opens promptly at one o'clock; 

 at ten minutes past the gates close and every late-comer 

 has to deposit a small fine except, I am told, if he is an 

 active member of the Board of Commerce, to which, how- 

 ever, only a limited number of the most influential mer- 

 chants are eligible. The inner hall measures about two 

 hundred feet square, but a few minutes suffice to fill ev- 

 ery inch with humanity, so that, viewing from the gal- 

 leries, the spectator can see nothing bnt one black mov- 

 ing mass, head on head, mostly adorned with the indis- 

 l^ensable headgear of a Hamburg merchant, the tall, 

 black silk hat. A double row of arcades, supported by 

 immense pillars, surround the inner hall. The Exchange 

 reading rooms, the assembly rooms of the Board of Com- 

 merce and the reception parlors are right above the ar- 

 cades, while the main hall has an immense skylight for 

 its roof. The galleries, whence one can watch the whole 

 jyroceedings, are about thirty-live feet above the ground 

 floor, and entrance to the different library and committee 

 rooms is effected from there. 



All those rooms even are so filled with people during 

 exchange hours that one can scarcely pass. And yet, 

 there is a system governing this immense busy bulk of 

 humanity or merchant body. Every branch of commerce 

 has its circle and every member of that circle has his 

 place, elbowing his sharpest competitor in the most har- 

 monious manner. The polished floor itself is marked 

 with well-measured squares, circles, triangles and the 

 like figures, whereby the respective members may know 

 and remember their stand. There is the banker's, the 

 exporters', the commissioners', the dry goods merchant, 

 the ship-brokers', the stock-brokers', the cotton mer- 

 chants' and numberless other circles. Harmony reigns 

 supreme and the old Hamburg motto: "The keener the 



