202 GEEMANT. 



Speyer, it was an early bulwark of Protestantism, and like it was razed to the 

 o-round by the French in 1689. It never recovered from that blow, and instead 

 of 40,000 or 70,000 inhabitants, as in the time of its prosperity, it now hardly 

 numbers 16,000. The Jews of Worms claim to be the descendants of a colony 

 settled in the country prior to the introduction of Christianity. There is a fine 

 monument of Luther by Rietschel. 



Darmstadt (43,695 inhabitants), the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, lies 

 far away from the Rhine, in the centre of a sandy plain, and there is nothing in 

 the o-eographical features of the locality to favour the growth of a city. A small 

 village occupied the site of the modern town as far back as the eighth century, and 

 became, in 1319, the residence of a Count of Hesse. Since that time Darmstadt 

 has o-rown by degrees, and now that railways facilitate its communications, it has 

 become an important centre of commerce. The Grand Ducal castle, with its 

 museums, art collections, and library, is the principal building of the town, which 

 has also a Polytechnic school and several learned societies. A fine forest extends 

 close to the houses of the town, but the environs cannot rival those of Heidelberg 

 in natural beauty. 



Franlifort-on-Maia (103,136 inhabitants),* unlike Darmstadt, occupies a most 

 favourable geographical position. Though some 20 miles above the mouth of 

 the Main, it is nevertheless a Rhenish city, owing to the great natural high-roads 

 which converge upon it. One of these roads follows the foot of the hills from 

 Basel to the northward, by way of Freiburg, Pforzheim, Heidelberg, and Darm- 

 stadt, and crossing the Main, runs through the Wetterau to the AVeser. It is 

 intersected at almost right angles by a road following the Main, the Rhine, and 

 the Nahe. The whole of the basin of the Main is tributary to the town, and 

 gives access to the basin of the Danube. Upon Frankfort converge the most 

 important roads of the west, and the line separating Northern and Southern 

 Germany runs through it. 



The town was founded by the Franks at a " ford ; " hence its name. Charle- 

 magne had a palace at Frankfort, and under Lewis the German Frankfort became 

 the capital of the eastern kingdom of the Franks. Its fairs acquired a European 

 reputation, and wealth flowed from all quarters into this meeting- place of 

 merchants, princes, and ecclesiastics. In former times the place where the 

 Emperors of Germany were elected and crowned, Frankfort in 1816 became the 

 seat of the Diet of the German Band. In 1866 it ceased to exist as a free city, 

 and now forms part of a Prussian district, the capital of which is Wiesbaden. 



The town, notwithstanding its loss of independence, keeps growing in impor- 

 tance. It ranks among the great money marts of Europe, and has given birth to 

 one of the most powerful banking families in the world. Formerly Frankfort was 

 celebrated for its book trade, and the first daily newspaper made its appearance there 

 in 1625. The environs are carefully cultivated, and supply all the town requires. 

 A locnl proverb says, *' The Wetterau (in the north) is Frankfort's granary, the 



* With its suburbs (Bornheim, Bockenheim, Oberrad, and RiJdelheim), Frankfort has 134,776 

 inhabitants. 



