PLAINS OF THE ELBE, ODEE, AND VISTULA. 327 



Berlin as the Baltic, and they were able to control the whole of the commercial 

 movement going on in the seaports from Emden to Konigsberg and Memel. In 

 its commanding position in the centre of the vast plain stretching from the Ems 

 to the Memel, it exercises a preponderating influence upon all other towns, and 

 this influence grows with the advance of railways. Its increase in population, 

 industry, and wealth has been much more rapid than that of Prussia's political 

 power. The removal of all restrictions upon trades and handicrafts, at a time 

 when they were still enforced in many other parts of Germany, attracted crowds 

 of immigrants, and the number of residents who are not natives of Berlin is 

 nearly as large as in American cities.* Many of these immigrants, no doubt, sank 

 into misery instead of making their fortunes, as they expected, for the cost of 

 living has increased even more rapidly than the population, and the rents have 

 risen to an unprecedented height. 



The interior of Berlin can hardly be said to redeem the monotony of the 

 surrounding plain. The Spree, when it first enters the town, is a respectable 

 river, nearly 300 yards wide, but, in its passage through it, it gradually becomes 

 changed into an open sewer. The principal buildings rise in the insular 

 quarter surrounded by the Spree, and in the vicinity of the noble avenue 

 of lime-trees known as " Unter den Linden." An area extending in no direc- 

 tion for more than 1,300 yards is crowded with the town-hall, the royal castle, 

 the arsenal, the university, the academy, the museums, the librar}^, the opera- 

 house, the principal theatre, the exchange, the finest churches, and the grandest 

 private mansions. Many of these buildings contain valuable collections of art 

 treasures. The arsenal, to be converted into a temple of glory, contains a collec- 

 tion of arms. The old museum, with a peristyle decorated with incomprehensible 

 mythological frescoes by Cornelius, boasts but of few masterpieces, but its collec- 

 tions are well arranged. The staircase of the new museum contains Kaulbach's 

 famous historical frescoes. Its collection of Egyptian and other antiquities is 

 highly esteemed. A National Gallery contains works by modern German 

 masters. 



As a " city of intelligence," Berlin, of course, possesses a good library, 

 numerous scientific societies, and hundreds of periodicals.! The imiversity, with 

 its special museums and laboratories, numbers 2,600 students. The Victoria 

 Lyceum, founded by Miss Archer, is attended by 600 lady students. A technical 

 school has 1,600 pupils. There are botanical and zoological gardens, an excellent 

 aquarium, and numerous private collections. Amongst famous men born in 

 Berlin are the brothers Humboldt, Richard Boeckh, Klaproth, Brugsch, Miidler, 

 and many others, but nearly all the public statues commemorate military 

 heroes. The most conspicuous amongst them is that of Frederick the Great, by 

 Ranch. 



Berlin holds a high rank as an industrial city. In 1877 its 2,213 manu- 

 factories emploj^ed Ôf^,246 hands, a number far less than in preceding years, for 



* In 1875, out of a population of 966,858 persons, only 399,673 were natives of Berlin. 



t In 1877, 364 periodicals were published at Berlin, inclusive of 241 devoted to science or art. 



