THE TOWN OK MANY GABLES 



119 



width, yet frequently they give the im- 

 pression of distance, and beautiful 

 breathing places they make for a popu- 

 lation which has long since outgrown the 

 town's ancient limits. Water fowl find 

 homes in the rippling pools that adorn 

 them, ducks and swans so entirely at 

 home and unafraid that, after an inquir- 

 ing glance up and down a street, they do 

 not hesitate to cross it upon their way 

 from pool to pool (see page ii6). 



A SUNDAY TPIRONG 



Flowers and shrubbery, smooth green 

 turf, and thick-foliaged trees lined the 

 quiet walks ; sweethearts and little romp- 

 ing children ; old people, slow and patient 

 of step ; parents with growing families ; 

 soldiers ; students, bold and assertive ; co- 

 quettish nursery maids out for an airing ; 

 school girls, blushing and giggling — all 

 to be met with on a holiday afternoon. 



Adjoining the ring of promenades is a 

 stately Schloss, once the residence of 

 Miinster's proud prince bishops, but now 

 belonging to the crown, and beyond the 

 promenades are Miinster's most charm- 

 ing residences, each with its garden, large 

 or small, but always flower-filled and 

 always with a tiny veranda, or arbor, 

 where the family are drinking coflree this 

 sunny afternoon. Miinster's merchant 

 princes have always been well housed. 

 In the older town are some very stately 

 h'dfe — literally, courts or courtyards, but 

 actually very handsome sixteenth-century 

 residences built on three sides of a grilled 

 court. 



There is a museum with pictures, but 

 Miinster's best pictures are not in her 

 gallery — they are in her streets and mar- 

 kets. Of course, it is not always fair 

 time. There are not so many flags and 

 flowers ; very rarely one sees a costumed 

 peasant or such lively crowded streets. 

 The Westphalian costume is fast disap- 

 pearing; it is remarkable rather than 

 pretty, and will be no great loss save for 

 the element of individuality and quaint- 

 ness it gives to busy market-places. Very 

 rarely one sees it in Miinster, not fre- 

 quently even in the villages. 



On Monday morning market was in 

 progress under the arcades and by the 

 curbs of the Prinzipal Markt, but a 

 drizzly rain was falling, the sky was 



murky gray, the flags were twisted and 

 tangled, everybody wore their dull work- 

 a-day clothes ; the Jahrmarkt booths were 

 deserted. Probably at night the fun and 

 noise were renewed, but we did not wait 

 for it. ''Will it rain all day?" we asked 

 the porter anxiously. "Surely," said that 

 Avorthy positively. So we packed our 

 bags, cast one lingering glance at the 

 blossoms and mottoes across the way, 

 and went on to Hildesheim, ere sober 

 reality dulled the brightness of the holi- 

 day. 



BliAUTlFUL HILDESHEIM 



And Hildesheim is assuredly a jewel 

 of a town, well calculated to make one 

 forget another's charms. Who shall truly 

 picture her delightfulness ; her winding, 

 narrow streets ; her tall-timbered houses ; 

 her market - place, walled by stately 

 dwellings, by Rathaus and Amthaus ; her 

 open places ringed by bewildering gables ; 

 her tall, grave churches and grim old 

 towers. How many fascinating legends, 

 churchly and pagan, one ma}'' hear there. 

 Who can forget the rose bush of a thou- 

 sand years or the bells of the Kehrwieder 

 (turn again) tower? Who does not fear 

 "the Huckup"? Admitted to intimate 

 acquaintance with Hildesheim, it is in- 

 deed difficult to look equably on her 

 rivals. 



Yet there are a score of towns which 

 might readily dispute with her the right 

 to be remembered, and, with Miinster, all 

 claim to our title. Braunschweig, for 

 instance, more of a city, more flagrantly 

 modernized, has nevertheless had the 

 grace to preserve much of her ancient 

 splendor. For entirely personal reasons 

 we love her better than any other gabled 

 town, and, except when we are in Hildes- 

 heim, think her by far the loveliest ; less 

 of romance gilds her, perhaps, but much 

 stately history clings to her old burg ; 

 while Till Eulenspiegel's merry pranks 

 and incidentally his owls and monkeys, 

 both gingerbread and bronze, still enliven 

 his old neighborhood. 



MODERNITY AND MEDIEVALISM 



If the electric lights and very modern 

 plumbing of Braunschweig's best hostelry 

 inform a^ou that the town is distinctly up 

 to date, there are also, not five minutes 



