HESSE AND NASSAU. 201 



the directions of the great natural highways. Most of them are in the fertile 

 plain of the E-hine, and at the mouths of the valleys which debouch upon it. 

 Others occupy favourable sites on the banks of the Rhine itself. 



Kdiserslautern (22,108 inhabitants), the capital of the province, lies nearl}^ in 

 the very heart of the Hardt, at a spot where the roads from Lorraine converge 

 upon those leading to Speyer, Worms, and Mayence. The town is very ancient, 

 having been founded by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, but numerous factories 

 impart a modern air to it. One of its churches is the finest Gothic edifice of the 

 province. Amongst the many old castles rising in the neighbourhood is that of 

 Landstuhl, in the defence of which died Franz von Sickingen. 



Ziceibrûcken (Deux-Ponts in French, 9,149 inhabitants) has frequently changed 

 hands, even the Swedes having for many years held possession of it (1654 — 1719). 

 During the last century it acquired some celebrity as the town where Christian IV. 

 published the Bipontine classics. At the present day it is the seat of the superior 

 court of justice of the province, and has many factories. Sf. Ingbfri (7,000 

 inhabitants), to the west of it, lies already within the coal basin of Saarbriick. 

 Pirmasens (10,044 inhabitants), built on a plateau 1,600 feet above the level of the 

 sea, engages in the manufacture of shoes and slippers. 



The strategical road from Zweibriicken to the jDlain of the Ilhine runs through 

 the valley of the Queich, the mouth of which used to be defended by Landau 

 (7,579 inhabitants), a fortress constructed by Vauban, but disrated in 1873, as 

 no longer capable of resisting modern artillery. Its place has been taken by 

 Germcrsheim (6,455 inhabitants), at the mouth of the Queich and on the Rhine, 

 spanned here by a permanent railway bridge. 



The road to the north of Landau passes through the towns of Neustadt (10,222 

 inhabitants), Durhheim (5,841 inhabitants), Grunstadt (3,531 inhabitants), and 

 Franhenthal (7,840 inhabitants), all of them situate at the foot of vine-clad hills, 

 and much frequented in summer by persons submitting to the " grape cure." 

 Vineyards and fertile fields have won this part of the country the epithet of 

 Wonnegau. But this " Land of Gladness " was formerly the property of feudal 

 lords and priests, whose mansions still crown many of the hills. The most exten- 

 sive of these ancient castles is that of Hartenburg, the family seat of the Counts of 

 Leiningen. 



Spci/er (Spires, 14,100 inhabitants), the Novtomagus of the Gauls, the Colonia 

 Nemctum of the Romans, is the most famous city of the Palatinate, though not at 

 present the most populous. It was a favourite residence of the emperors, many of 

 whom lie buried in the crypt of the cathedral. At a Diet held here in 1529 the 

 name of "Protestant" originated. The French destroyed the town in 1689, and 

 it never recovered from that disaster, Ludicigshafen (12,093 inhabitants), opposite 

 Mannheim, having superseded it as a place of commerce. 



Hesse and Nassau. — Worms (16,575 inhabitants), a sister of Speyer by its 



destinies, is the first town of Hesse below Ludwigshafen. Known to the Romans 



under its Gallic name of Borhitomagus, it subsequently passed into the hands of 



the Burgundians, and became associated with the legend of the Nibelungs. Like 



86 



