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[Illustration: BOOKCOVER]

[Illustration: COLOGNE CATHEDRAL]

[Illustration: MAP of the RHINE VALLEY]




THE CATHEDRALS AND
CHURCHES OF THE RHINE

By FRANCIS MILTOUN

AUTHOR OF "THE CATHEDRALS
OF NORTHERN FRANCE," "THE
CATHEDRALS OF SOUTHERN
FRANCE," "DICKENS' LONDON,"
ETC., WITH NINETY ILLUSTRATIONS,
PLANS, AND DIAGRAMS,
By BLANCHE McMANUS

[Illustration]

BOSTON
L. C. Page and Company
PUBLISHERS

_Copyright, 1905_
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)

_All rights reserved_

Published September, 1905
Second Impression, May, 1909

_COLONIAL PRESS_
_Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._
_Boston, U. S. A._




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                          PAGE

Apologia                                            v

I. Introductory                                     1

II. The Rhine Cities and Towns                     13

III. The Church in Germany                         29

IV. Some Characteristics of Rhenish Architecture   40

V. The Accessories of German Churches              56

VI. Constance and Schaffhausen                     68

VII. Basel and Colmar                              83

VIII. Freiburg                                     93

IX. Strasburg                                      97

X. Metz                                           114

XI. Speyer                                        127

XII. Carlsruhe, Darmstadt, and Wiesbaden          134

XIII. Heidelberg and Mannheim                     142

XIV. Worms                                        149

XV. Frankfort                                     155

XVI. Mayence                                      161

XVII. Bacharach, Bingen, and Rudesheim            172

XVIII. Limburg                                    181

XIX. Coblenz and Boppart                          187

XX. Laach and Stolzenfels                         194

XXI. Andernach and Sinzig                         199

XXII. Treves                                      202

XXIII. Bonn                                       208

XXIV. Godesberg and Rolandseck                    226

XXV. Cologne and Its Cathedral                    232

XXVI. The Churches of Cologne                     264

XXVII. Aix-la-Chapelle                            277

XXVIII. Liege                                     295

XXIX. Duesseldorf, Neuss, and Muenchen-Gladbach     304

XXX. Essen and Dortmund                           318

XXXI. Emmerich, Cleves, and Xanten                326

XXXII. Arnheim, Utrecht, and Leyden               331

Appendix                                          347

Index                                             363




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                    PAGE

Cologne Cathedral                          _Frontispiece_

General View of Leyden                    facing       8

General View of Duesseldorf                facing      24

Worms Cathedral                           facing      60

Chandelier, Aix-la-Chapelle                           64

Font, Limburg                                         66

Constance Cathedral                                   70

Coat of Arms, Constance                               82

Cathedral Clock, Basel                                85

Basel and Its Cathedral                   facing      86

Coat of Arms, Basel                                   92

Freiburg Cathedral                        facing      94

Coat of Arms, Freiburg                                96

Ancient Church Foundation, Strasburg (diagram)       101

Strasburg Cathedral                       facing     102

Coat of Arms, Strasburg                              113

Metz                                                 115

Speyer Cathedral                                     129

Greek Chapel, Wiesbaden                   facing     140

Coat of Arms, Darmstadt                              141

Heidelberg and Its Castle                 facing     146

Frankfort Cathedral                       facing     156

Coat of Arms, Frankfort                              160

Cenotaph of Drusus, Mayence                          162

Mayence Cathedral                         facing     166

Bacharach                                            173

Bishop Hatto's Mouse Tower                           175

Coat of Arms, Bingen                                 180

Limburg Cathedral                         facing     182

Coblenz and Its Bridge                    facing     190

General View of Boppart                   facing     192

Coat of Arms, Coblenz                                193

Abbey of Laach (restored)                            195

Stolzenfels Castle                                   197

Coat of Arms, Laach                                  198

General View of Andernach                 facing     200

Sinzig Church                                        205

Treves Cathedral                          facing     214

Pulpit, Treves Cathedral                             216

Coat of Arms, Treves                                 219

General View of Bonn                      facing     220

Apse, Bonn Cathedral                                 221

Convent of Nonnenwerth                               229

General View of Cologne                   facing     232

Cologne Cathedral in 1820                            254

Stone-masons' Marks, Cologne Cathedral               262

Coat of Arms, Cologne                                263

Font, St. Martin's, Cologne                          267

Gross St. Martin, Cologne                            269

St. Gereon's, Cologne                     facing     272

Coat of Arms, Cologne                                276

Charlemagne                                          279

Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral in IXth Century            283

Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral                 facing     290

Coat of Arms, Aix-la-Chapelle                        294

General View of Liege                     facing     296

Coat of Arms, Liege                                  303

Neuss Cathedral                                      309

Coat of Arms, Duesseldorf                             317

General View of Essen                     facing     318

Seven-branched Candlestick, Essen                    321

Coat of Arms, Essen                                  325

St. Victor's, Xanten                                 329

General View of Arnheim                   facing     332

General View of Utrecht                   facing     340

Round Church in the IXth Century, Aix-la-Chapelle
(diagram)                                            347

St. Genevieve, Andernach (diagram)                   348

Bonn Cathedral (diagram)                             349

St. Castor, Coblenz (diagram)                        350

Ancient Cathedral, Cologne (diagram)                 351

Present Cathedral, Cologne (diagram)                 351

St. Maria in Capitolia, Cologne (diagram)            352

St. Cunibert's, Cologne (diagram)                    352

St. Martin's, Cologne (diagram)                      353

Church of the Apostles, Cologne (diagram)            353

St. Gereon's, Cologne (diagram)                      353

Crypt, St. Gereon's, Cologne (diagram)               353

Constance Cathedral (diagram)                        354

Freiburg Cathedral (diagram)                         355

Abbey of Laach (diagram)                             356

Mayence Cathedral (diagram)                          358

Gothard Chapel, Mayence (diagram)                    358

Abbey Church, Muenchen-Gladbach (diagram)             359

St. Quirinus, Neuss (diagram)                        359

Schaffhausen Cathedral (diagram)                     360

Speyer Cathedral (diagram)                           360

Treves Cathedral (diagram)                           361

St. Martin, Worms (diagram)                          362




APOLOGIA


_The Rhine provinces stand for all that is best and most characteristic
of the ecclesiastical architecture of Germany, as contrasted with that
very distinct species known as French pointed or Gothic._

_For this reason the present volume of the series, which follows the
Cathedrals of Northern and Southern France, deals with a class of
ecclesiastical architecture entirely different from the light,
flamboyant style which has made so many of the great cathedral churches
of France preeminently famous._

_Save Cologne, there is no great cathedral, either in Germany or the Low
Countries, which in any way rivals the masterpieces of Paris, Reims, or
Amiens, or even Lincoln or York in England._

_Strasburg and Metz are in a way reminiscent of much that is French, but
in the main the cathedrals and churches of the Rhine are of a species
distinct and complete in itself._

_Any consideration of the Rhine cities and towns, and the ecclesiastical
monuments which they contain, must perforce deal largely with the
picturesque and romantic elements of the river's legendary past._

_Not all of these legends deal with mere romance, as the world well
knows. The religious element has ever played a most important part in
the greater number of the Rhine legends. For demonstration, one has only
to recall the legends of "The Architect of Cologne," of "Bishop Hatto
and His Mouse Tower on the Rhine," and of many others relating to the
devout men and women who in times past lived their lives here._

_In the Low Countries also,--at Liege, where we have "The Legend of the
Liegeois," and at Antwerp, where we have "The Legend of the
Blacksmith,"--and indeed throughout the whole Rhine watershed there is
abundant material to draw from with respect to the religious legend
alone._

_As for the purely romantic legends, like "The Trumpeter of Sackingen"
and "The Lorelei," there is manifestly neither room nor occasion for
recounting them in a work such as this, and so, frankly, they are
intentionally omitted._

_In general, this book aims to be an account of the great churches in
the Rhine valley, and of that species of architectural style which is
known as Rhenish._

_There is a fund of interesting detail to be gathered in out-of-the-way
corners in regard to these grand edifices and their pious founders, but
not all of it can be even catalogued here. The most that can be
attempted is to point out certain obvious facts in connection with these
ecclesiastical monuments, not neglecting the pictorial representation as
well._

_Tourists have well worn the roads along both banks of the Rhine, from
Cologne to Mayence, but above and below is a still larger and no less
interesting country, which has been comparatively neglected._

_Not all the interest of the Rhine lies in its castled crags or its
vine-clad <DW72>s, and not all the history of the middle ages emanated
from feudal strongholds. The Church here, as in France, played its part
and played it gloriously._

_In this discussion of the Rhine churches from Constance to Leyden, the
reader will be taken on what might, with considerable license, be called
an "architectural tour" of the Rhine, and will be allowed to ramble
along the banks of the river, looking in and out of the various
religious edifices with which its cities and towns are crowded._

_The valley of the Rhine is no undiscovered land, but it served the
purpose of the author and the artist well, for it presents much variety
of architectural form, and an abounding and appealing interest by reason
of the shadows of the past still lingering over these monuments in
stone._




_The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine_




I

INTRODUCTORY


There is no topographical division of Europe which more readily defines
itself and its limits than the Rhine valley from Schaffhausen to where
the river empties into the North Sea.

The region has given birth to history and legend of a most fascinating
character, and the manners and customs of the people who dwell along its
banks are varied and picturesque.

Under these circumstances it was but to be expected that architectural
development should have expressed itself in a decided and unmistakable
fashion.

One usually makes the Rhine tour as an interlude while on the way to
Switzerland or the Italian lakes, with little thought of its
geographical and historical importance in connection with the
development of modern Europe.

It was the onward march of civilization, furthered by the Romans,
through this greatest of natural highways to the north, that gave the
first political and historical significance to the country of the Rhine
watershed. And from that day to this the Rhenish provinces and the Low
Countries bordering upon the sea have occupied a prominent place in
history.

There is a distinct and notable architecture, confined almost, one may
say, to the borders of the Rhine, which the expert knows as Rhenish, if
it can be defined at all; and which is distinct from that variety of
pre-Gothic architecture known as Romanesque.

It has been developed mainly in the building of ecclesiastical edifices,
and the churches and cathedrals of the Rhine valley, through Germany and
the Netherlands, are a species which, if they have not the abounding
popular interest of the great Gothic churches of France, are quite as
lordly and imposing as any of their class elsewhere. The great
cathedral at Cologne stands out among its Gothic compeers as the
beau-ideal of our imagination, while the cathedral at Tournai, in
Belgium--which, while not exactly of the Rhine, is contiguous to it--is
the prototype of more than one of the lesser and primitive Gothic
cathedrals of France, and has even lent its quadruple elevation to Notre
Dame at Paris, and was possibly the precursor of the cathedral at
Limburg-on-Lahn.

From this it will be inferred that the builders of the churches of the
Rhine country were no mere tyros or experimenters, but rather that they
were possessed of the best talents of the time.

There is much of interest awaiting the lover of churches who makes even
the conventional Rhine tour, though mostly the tourist in these parts
has heretofore reserved his sentiments and emotions for the admiration
of its theatrical-looking crags and castles, the memory of its legends
of the Lorelei, etc., a nodding acquaintance with the castle of
Heidelberg, and a proper or improper appreciation of the waterside
beer-gardens of Cologne. For the most part the real romance and history
of the Rhine, as it flows from its source in the Grisons to the North
Sea, has been neglected.

There are a large number of persons who are content to admire the
popular attractions of convention; sometimes they evoke an interest
somewhat out of the ordinary, but up to now apparently no one has gone
to the Rhine with the sole object of visiting its magnificent gallery of
ecclesiastical treasures.

No one glows with enthusiasm at the mention of these Rhenish churches as
they do for the Gothic marvels of France. It is, of course, impossible,
in spite of Cologne, Speyer, and Strasburg, that they should supplant
Reims, Amiens, Chartres, or Rouen in the popular fancy, to say nothing
of real excellence; for these four French examples represent nearly all
that is best in mediaeval church architecture.

The Reformation in Germany, with its attendant unrest, accounts for a
certain latitude and variety in the types of church fitments, as well
as--in many cases--an unconventional arrangement or disposition of the
fabric itself.

One thing is most apparent with regard to German churches in
general,--the fittings and paraphernalia, as distinct from the
constructive or decorative elements of the fabric, are far more ornate
and numerous than in churches of a similar rank elsewhere. It is true
that the Revolution played its part of destruction along the Rhine, but
in spite of this there is an abundance of sculpture and other ornament
still left.

Thus one almost always finds elaborate choir-stalls, screens, pulpits,
and altar-pieces, of a quantity and excellence that contrast strongly
with the severe outlines of the fabric which shelters them.

In connection with the architectural forms of the ecclesiastical
buildings of a country must invariably be considered such secular and
civic establishments as represent the state in its relation to the
Church, and along the Rhine, as elsewhere on the continent of Europe,
the past forms an inseparable link which still binds the two. Here, not
only the public architecture, but the private, domestic architecture
takes on forms which, varied though they are, belong to no other
regions. They are, moreover, only to be judged at their true value when
considered as a thing of yesterday, rather than of to-day.

That portion of the Rhine which is best worth knowing, according to the
ideas of the conventional tourist, is that which lies between Cologne
and Mayence. This is the region of the travel-agencies, and of the
droves of sightseers who annually sweep down upon the "legendary Rhine,"
as they have learned to call it, on foot, on bicycle, and by train,
steamboat, and automobile.

Above and below these cities is a great world of architectural wealth
which has not the benefit of even a nodding acquaintance with most
new-century travellers.

To them Strasburg is mostly a myth, though even the vague memory of the
part it played in the Franco-Prussian war ought to stamp it as something
more than that, to say nothing of its awkwardly spired, but very
beautiful and most ancient cathedral.

Still farther down the river one comes to Duesseldorf, that most modern
of German cities. At Neuss, a short distance from Duesseldorf, is the
church of St. Quirinus, which will live in the note-books of
architectural students as one of the great buildings of the world.

It is