200 



GEEMANY. 



where the view is inlerccpted by a huge castle. Far from being a dull place, 

 Mannheim is politically and commercially a busy hive. Standing at the head of 

 navigation of the Rhine, its harbour is at all times crowded with vessels. A 

 suspension bridge and a bridge of boats connect it with Ludwigshafen, in the 

 Palatinate. Mannheim, however, is not solely given uj) to commerce. The castle 

 contains valuable collections ; there is an observatory ; and the theatre, one of the 

 best in Germany, boasts of having been the first to produce the plays of Schiller. 



Weinheim (6,723 inhabitants), an old walled city on the Bergstrasse, which 

 runs along the foot of the Odenwald, is the only town to the north of Mannheim 



Fig. 116. — Heidelberg and Mannheim. 

 Scale 1 : 190,000. 



— 2 Miles. 



belonging to the Grand Duchy of Baden. In this part of the country ancient 

 customs have survived to the present day, the land being frequently held in 

 common by the inhabitants. The " common lands " of the parish of Virnheim have 

 an area of 1,800 acres, and are divided into 550 " lots," distributed amongst the 

 citizens, the largest plots being allotted to the most aged. The village is pros- 

 perous, its surplus population finding a new home in America, upon lands pur- 

 chased at the common expense. 



The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz). — The position of the towns of this 

 detached portion of Bavaria is dependent, as in the case of those of Baden, upon 



