left bank of the Main, near Staffelstein, a village possessing a celebrated pilgrimage Church of the Vierzehn Heiligen, under the Staffelberg, a remarkable table hill, which hems in the river on the 1., while on the rt. rises a height, crowned by the suppressed convent of Banz, now residence of Prince Max, brother of the King of Bavaria. The Main, on issuing from this opening in the hills, flows past the small town of Zapfendorf, to

Bamberg Stat.-in HANDBOOK SOUTH GERMANY.

ROUTE 94.

LEIPZIG TO COBURG, BY JENA, RUDOLSTADT, AND SONNENBERG.

25 Germ. m. 1201 Eng. m. 63 Naumburg, in Route 76. 2 Kamburg, on the Saal. It was through the defile in the rear of the castle of Dornburg that the French marched to outflank the Prussians at the battle of Jena, 1806. Bad road.

1 Jena, in Rte. 94 A. The road continues to follow the pretty valley of the Saal, ascending it along the 1. bank of that river. 2 Kahla. Inn, Stern. A town of 1200 inhab. On the opposite bank of the Saal stands the castle of Leuchtenburg, now a prison. The next object worth mentioning is the ruined castle Orlamunde, on a hill beneath which the road passes.

3 Rudolstadt. - Inns: Löwe; Adler; Ritter. The chief town of the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, with a population of 4000. On the summit of an eminence nearly 200 ft. above the river, stands the residence of the prince, the Castle of Heidechsburg, containing some pictures and a library. It has a park, called Ham, attached to it. The Ludwisburg in the town contains a cabinet of natural history, rich in shells. Opposite Volkstädt a bust of Schiller has been set up to commemorate the poet's residence here in 1788. At Schwarza, 3 m. above Rudolstadt, the river Schwarza joins the Saal.

5 m. from Rudolstadt, above the small town of Blankenburg (Inn, Goldner Löwe), rise the picturesque ruins of the castle of Greifenstein, birthplace of the unfortunate emperor Günther of Schwarzburg. 5 m. farther up this winding valley, one of the most beautiful in Thuringia, on the summit of a bold precipitous rock, stands the Castle of Schwarzburg. The greater part of the building is modern, erected after a conflagration, 1726; but, in the relic still preserved of the old castle, the Kaiser Saal is worth notice. It contains portraits of Roman emperors, from Julius Cæsar to Charles IV. ! In the Arsenal is shown some ancient armour, including a suit attributed to the Emperor Günther. Inn, Weisser Hirsch, near Schwarzburg. Travellers should ascend the Tripstein, 1 m. from the castle. There is a cross-road from Blankenburg to the ruins of the Abbey of Paulinzelle, 9 m. distant. It was founded 1105, by Pauline, daughter of the cup-bearer of the Emperor Henry IV. It is finely situated in the depths of a forest. The church is a very interesting monument of the plain Byzantine or Romanesque style; date, the close of the 11th century; the E. end is gone. Near the abbey are the monks' fish ponds.

1 Saalfeld. Inns: Der Goldene Anker, one of the oldest inns in Germany; the Empr. Charles V. put up here along with his prisoner the Elector John Frederick, June 27. 1547; Rautenkranz, in the suburb.

Saalfeld is a very ancient walled town, in the midst of the Thuringian forest, and contains 4800 inhab. The Rathhaus in the market-place is a venerable Gothic edifice. The Gothic Ch. of St. John was built 1212, out of funds produced by the neighbouring gold mines of Reichmansdorf; the painted glass, and a colossal wooden statue of St. John in the interior, deserve mention. Near the town wall, at the side of the Saal, are the ruins of the Sorbenburg, a fort dating from the 8th century, built, according to tradition, to defend the frontier from inroads of the Slavic barbarians (the Servians and Wends).

The old Ducal Castle, also within the town, is now the Mint.

In the suburb outside the walls is the more modern Château or Palace of the Dukes of the extinct line of SaxeSaalfeld, with fine gardens attached to it. The road now quits the banks of the Saal, and begins to ascend the central ridge of the Thüringer Wald. The battle of Jena, so fatal to Prussia, began near Saalfeld.

2 Gräfenthal.-Inns: Post; Weisses Ross. Near this you have a fine view of Wespenstein, an old castle of the Pappenheims, in ruins.

3 Sonnenberg. This little town of 3200 inhab. is chiefly remarkable for the peculiar manufacture of toys, dolls, boxes of various kinds, including pillboxes, boot-jacks, chess-boards, and the endless variety of articles for the amusement of children which fill the toy-shops of every quarter of the globe, and are commonly called Dutch toys. There are several manufactories of papier maché, to make dolls' heads, and of pipe heads; and one or two mills for grinding boys' marbles. Hones for sharpening knives are prepared here out of a species of slate; and there is also a quarry producing slate-pencils, in the neighbourhood. Altogether the trade in toys is supposed to produce 400,000 fl. yearly.

2 Neustadt.- Inn, Halbe Mond.
1 Coburg. (In Route 93.)

ROUTE 94 a.

WEIMAR TO CARLSBAD BY JENA,
ALTENBURG, GERA.

Posting, 1st day, to Altenburg, 68 Eng. m. in 11 h.; 2d day, to Carlsbad, 763 Eng. m., in 134 hrs.

This is a good post road through beautiful and richly cultivated country, and may afford a variation of the journey to those acquainted with the usual route by Leipzig. The first part of the road traverses some singularly bare looking ravines, one of which leads down into the broad valley in which stands

1 Jena. Inn: Sonne. A dull, dingy, antiquated town, in a hollow surrounded by naked hills, having nothing worth notice but its University, founded 1550, and numbering at present about 500 students. "Groups of them, in falling collars not particularly clean, and flowing hair not remarkably glossy, may be seen swaggering about with foils, masks, and cudgels."— L. R. G. The University Museum is valuable to students. The Garden of the Observatory was Schiller's favourite resort while Professor of History, between 1789 and 1799, and he composed in it some of his poems.

"The road, somewhat narrow and very serpentine, but not bad, takes its course among clear streams and happy looking villages, and afterwards" through forests of pine, to

3 Kloster Launitz, a clean village inn.

There is a new and better road from Jena to

3 Eisenberg.

2 Gera (Inn, Reussischer Hof, very good), a picturesque, clean, and thriving modern town, of 11,000 inhab., on the Elster, belonging to the sovereign princes of Reuss-Schleitz and Ebersdorf.

The Castle of the Prince of R. Ebersdorf, backed by hanging woods, rises over against the town, and adds much to its picturesque appearance.

Roneburg, a small modern town and watering-place, is passed, and the road traverses a country not particularly interesting, abounding in mines.

1 Schmöllen. Smelting-house. 2 Altenburg. Inn, Stadt Gotha; good. (See p. 482.)

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A railroad runs hence to Leipzig, and to Zwickau (Route 91.).

Beyond this the road enters the Erzgebirge.

3 Schneeberg (Route. 91 a.).

3 Wildenthal (a capital rural Inn), a neat village, where a good deal of lace is made and sold.

After following for a long way a wooded gorge, you at length emerge from the hills a little beyond

2 Neudeck, "where the Austrian

the old Schloss there only remains a tower, and some walls of 1554.

[A new road (43 Germ. m. in length) has been opened between Arnstadt and Rudolstadt through a beautiful country.] After leaving Arnstadt the road runs through a narrow valley amidst beechwood, and then rises, passing among fields, to This town of 2700

2 Ilmenau. inhab. belongs to Weimar. Here are mines of manganese and iron. Near it is Elgersburg, romantically situated, and an establishment for the cold-watercure, under Dr. Fitzler. The road after leaving Ilmenau ascends for 2 m. to a height of 2500 ft., and then descends with many windings through a forest belonging to the King of Prussia to

4 Schleusingen.-Inn, Grüner Baum. 3000 inhab. A town formerly belonging to the Counts of Henneberg, now to Prussia. The old castle of Bertholdsburg, prettily situated on a hill, has been repaired by the King of Prussia. In the Stadtkirche are the tombs of the old Counts of Henneberg; and in the neighbourhood a suppressed Præmonstrant Abbey, an interesting monument of German architecture of the 12th cent. Hildburghausen. Rodach. Route 92. 2 COBURG.

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