EHENISH PRUSSIA. 209 



Once more descending the Rhine, we pass the industrial town of Neuwied 

 (9,474 inhabitants), partly inhabited by Protestants. On a hill nearly opposite 

 rises an obelisk erected by the army of the Sambre and Meuse in memory of 

 General Hoche. The Nette, which flows along the foot of the hill, takes us to 

 Ma yen (6,839 inhabitants), the principal town of the Eifel. Lower down on the 

 Rhine is Andcvnach (4,839 inhabitants), the Antoniacuni of .the Romans, with 

 ancient walls, a feudal castle, and a Byzantine church. 



The Rhine once more enters a narrow gorge, and village succeeds village, but 

 it is only after the picturesque Siebengebirge has been left behind that we again 

 reach a town of importance. This is Bonn (28,075 inhabitants), the ancient 

 Bonna, occupying a position on the outskirts of the great alluvial plain of 

 Germany analogous to that of Maestricht on the Meuse. Bonn is best known 

 now for its university, and as a head-quarter of tourists. A statue has been 

 erected there to Beethoven, a native of the place. Another great man, Rubens, 

 probably saw the light of day at Siegen (12,901 inhabitants), the old capital 

 of the Sicambri, on the river Sieg, which flows into the Rhine a ïq\y miles below 

 Bonn. Siegen prospers, thanks to its iron, lead, zinc, and copper mines, its 

 metallurgical establishments and tanneries, Sicghurg (5,668 inhabitants) lies 

 lower down in the same vallej^ 



Cologne (Koln, 154,564 inhabitants) is the principal town of Rhenish Prussia. 

 Its geographical position on the great natural high-road which from Northern 

 France to Western Russia runs along the foot of the hills bounding the plain of 

 Northern Europe is a most favourable one. That high-road crosses the Rhine at 

 Deutz, the "Dutch" suburb of Cologne. In a time when artificial roads were 

 still scarce, Cologne had but few rivals amongst the inland towns of Northern 

 Europe, and when the Romans founded there their Colonia Claudia Augusta 

 Agrippinensium the town quickly rose into importance. In the Middle Ages it 

 became the great staple of trade on the Rhine, and long before the Hanseatic 

 League was formed the merchants of Cologne concluded commercial treaties with 

 foreign powers. As early as the tenth century they dispatched their own vessels 

 to London, where they had a herherglie of their own.* After a long struggle 

 with their bishops the citizens of Cologne secured their municipal liberties, and 

 rapidly grew rich. In 1235, 18,000 of them, sumptuously attired, paraded 

 before the English bride of the Emperor Frederick IL, and " Rich as a cloth 

 merchant of Cologne" became a proverbial expression throughout Germany. 

 Cologne at that time was not only one of the principal cloth marts of Europe, it 

 also held a foremost place in the sale of gold and silver, and its artisans were 

 distinguished in many handicrafts. But in the end disasters overtook the town. 

 The discovery of America led to the abandonment of the old commercial route 

 which connected Venice with Augsburg ; the United Netherlands, when they 

 acquired their independence, closed the mouths of the Rhine against all vessels 

 except their own ; and, as if this were not enough, the Catholics, proud of the 

 epithet of " German Rome " which had been bestowed upon their city, suicidally 

 * On the site of what is now known as Cold Harhour (Colon Merherghe), near the Tower. 



