ABBREVIATIONS, &c., USED IN THE HANDBOOK. The points of the Compass are marked simply by the letters N. S. E. W. (rt.) right, (l.) left. The right bank of a river is that which lies on the right hand of a person whose back is turned towards the source, or the quarter from which the current descends. m.=mile; Rte.=Route; Stat.=Railway Station. Eng. Ch. Service = English Church Service. An asterisk (*) to call attention of travellers to objects of note, Inns deserving commendation, and the like. When miles are spoken of without any descriptive epithet, English statute miles are to be understood. The names of inns precede the description of every place (often in a parenthesis), because the first information needed by a traveller is where to lodge. The best inns, as far as they can be determined, are placed first. Instead of designating a town by the vague words "large" or "small," the amount of the population, according to the latest census, is almost invariably stated, as presenting a more exact scale of the importance and size of the place. Every Route has a number, corresponding with the figures attached to the Route on the Map, which thus serves as an index to the Book; at the same time that it presents a tolerably exact view of the great high roads of Europe, and of the course of public conveyances, HANDBOOK FOR NORTH GERMANY AND THE RHINE. NORTH GERMANY. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. § 1. Money.-2. Weights and Measures.-3. Passports.-4. Hotels.-5. Valetsde-place, or Commissionaires-6. Railways.-7. Diligences-8. Hired Carriages.-9. Some Peculiarities of German Manners.-10. German Wateringplaces.-11. German School of Painters. [N.B. For general information, such as:-Maxims and Hints for Travelling -Language-Couriers-Carriages-Requisites for Travelling-Luggage, Dress-Landing on the Continent; Custom-houses and CommissionairesBritish Custom-house; Transmission of Baggage or Goods from the Continent to England-Skeleton Tours, &c., see Handbook for Holland and Belgium.] § 1. MONEY. The establishment of the German Empire has led to the introduction, by the law of Dec. 1871, of a Uniform decimal monetary system, of which the unit is the mark or shilling, and gold a legal tender and the standard of value. The Imperial gold coins are 20 and 10-mark pieces, having a common obverse of the Imperial eagle with the words "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire), and the reverse varying according to the State which mints the piece. The values are: GOLD-Piece of 20 marks (Doppel Krone) (Krone) (strictly 19s. 7d.) 9s. Gad. = 11. = 10s. = 58. (rarely met with) 48. 101d. [N. G.] وو the Old Coinage) وو NICKEL COINS-Pieces of 10 pfennigs Introd.] 2. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.-§ 3. PASSPOrts. 3 Paper Money-Bank-notes of the value of 5, 20, and 50 marks and upwards are issued by the Imperial Bank of Germany (Deutsche Reichs-bank), and are of equal value with the gold and silver coins. Accounts are kept according to the following system:— The safest and most convenient way of carrying large sums to meet the expenses of a long journey is in the form of Circular Notes, which are now issued by all the leading bankers without charge, but the traveller will generally get a better exchange for 51. Bank of England Notes, and English Sovereigns usually command at least their full value all over Europe. The German Gold Coins of 20 and 10-mark pieces are very useful, and are nearly equivalent in value to sovereigns and half-sovereigns. § 2. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. In 1872 the Metric System of Weights and Measures became compulsory for the whole of the German Empire. Length. The Metre (i.e. the ten millionth part of the distance between the Equator and the Pole = 39.37079 Eng. inches; Centimetre, or New-Zoll; Millimetre; Dekametre (Chain); and Kilometre. Distances are measured, as in France and Italy, by Kilometres. For ordinary purposes― 1 Kilometre may be taken as = 5 furlongs. 5 Kilometres 8 Kilometres = 3 miles. = 5 miles. Surface.-Square Metre, or 100 Square Metres; and Hectar, or 1000 Square Metres. Litre, or Capacity-The Cubic Metre is the basis; the Litre or Kanne is the unit, and is the roth part of a Cubic Metre; a beer measure); Litre; Litre; and 50 Litres, or Hectolitre, or Scheffel (bushel); Bushel. Litre; Kanne Schoppen (chiefly Weights.-The Kilogram is the unit; the Dekagramm, or New-Loth = 10 Gramms; the Dezigramm; Zentigramm; Milligramm; Pfund = Kilogramm or 500 Gramms; Zentner or 50 Kilogramms, or 100 Pfunds; and Tonne, or 100 Kilogramms, or 200 Pfunds. § 3. PASSPORTS. Passports are no longer insisted upon in Germany, but it is not prudent to travel without this important certificate of identity, and pedestrians in remote and frontier districts may be subjected to constant annoyance from the police if they neglect to carry one about with them. They are useful in obtaining delivery of letters at the Post Office and admission to private collections. A Foreign Office passport can be procured (charge 2s.) at the Foreign Office between 11 and 4, by leaving or sending on the preceding day a letter of application from any Banking firm in the United Kingdom, or a certificate of identity, signed by any mayor, magistrate, justice of the peace, minister of religion, physician, surgeon, solicitor, or notary resident in the United |