178 GERMANY. 



{5,14S inhabitants) and its cotton- mills, situated in one of the most picturesque 

 valleys of the Vosges. Near Egisheim, a small village to the south of Colmar, 

 the bones of human beings and extinct animals have been found in the glacial 

 drift. 



Colmar is an open town now, its ramparts having been converted into public 

 walks, but Neu-Breisach (2,772 inhabitants), to the west of it, is an important 

 fortress guarding one of the passes over the Rhine, and faces Freiburg and the 

 principal pass through the Black Forest. 



In the fertile plain of the 111, to the north of Colmar, and in the side valleys 

 of the Vosges, towns and villages are numerous. Kaisersberg i^,b^l inhabitants) is 

 situate at the mouth of the Weiss. RappolUiceiler (Ribeauville, 5,785 inhabitants), 

 famous for its wines, occupies an analogous position on the Strong. Markirch (Ste. 

 Marie-aux-Mines, 8,141 inhabitants) stands on the Upper Leber, in the heart of the 

 Vosges. There are no mines, but the town is a rival of Barmen and Elberfeld, 

 employing several thousand weavers scattered throughout the neighbouring 

 villages. Markirch carries on a considerable commerce with St. Die, on the 

 French slope of the Vosges. 



Lower Alsace. — Descending the Leber, we reach Schlettstadt (9,088 inhabit- 

 ants), a dismantled fortress. Within sight of it the ruins of the Hohe Koniyshurg 

 crown the summit of a hill. Andlau (1,906 inhabitants), Barr (5,945 inhabitants), 

 and Mois/ieim (3,085 inhabitants), lie at the foot of the hills : Waselheim (Wasselonne, 

 3,250 inhabitants) and Schirmeck (994 inhabitants) are situate within them. The 

 quarries of the place named last have furnished most of the stone required for 

 the construction of the new forts of Strassburg. 



Sirassburg (92,379 inhabitants), the capital of Alsace, is one of the historical 

 cities of Europe. Its geographical position, near the confluence of the 111 with the 

 Rhine, and at a point where the latter, flowing between high banks, presents a less 

 formidable obstacle than elsewhere, is a very favourable one. A town has occupied 

 this site as far back as we know, and modern Strassburg, the ** Town of Roads," is 

 the representative of the Roman Argentoratum. The Frankish kings resided here, 

 and the fairs of Strassburg were much frequented during the Middle Ages. The 

 town might have become a great centre of industry had not its fine strategical 

 position attracted the attention of military men. A " bulwark of the empire " 

 two hundred years ago, it became, under Louis XIV., one of the great fortresses 

 of France. Since its recapture by the Germans in 1870 the fortifications have 

 been much strengthened. Twelve detached forts and numerous smaller works 

 surround the town at a distance of from 3 to 5 miles, and its environs thus 

 form an entrenched camp. Three of these forts are on the Baden side of the 

 Rhine. The old citadel is about to be razed, and its site will be utilised for 

 the construction of a dock for receiving a military flotilla. Warlike enter- 

 prises have prevented the town from attaining that importance as a place of 

 commerce and industry which would appear to be due to the principal stage on 

 the road from Paris to Vienna. 



Strassburg, in its general aspects, still retains much of its old character. 



