Thomas Frognall Dibdin - A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Two

T >> Thomas Frognall Dibdin >> A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Two

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There are not fewer than forty-seven bridges in the interior of the town.
These cross the branches of the rivers _Ill_ and _Bruche_--which empty
themselves into the _Rhine_. The fortifications of Strasbourg are equally
strong and extensive; but they assumed formerly a more picturesque, if not
a more powerful aspect.[204]

There are _seven parishes_; of which four are catholic, and three
protestant. This brings me to lay before you a brief outline of the rise
and progress of PROTESTANTISM in this place. Yet, as a preliminary remark,
and as connected with our mutual antiquarian pursuits, you are to know
that, besides parish churches, there were formerly _fourteen convents_,
exclusively of chapelries. All these are minutely detailed in the recent
work of M. Hermann,[205] from which indeed I have gleaned the chief of the
foregoing particulars. A great many of these convents were suppressed in
the sixteenth century, upon the establishment of the protestant religion.

But for a brief outline of the rise and progress of this establishment. It
must indeed be brief; but if so, it shall at least be clear and faithful.
The forerunner of Luther (in my opinion) was JOHN GEYLER; a man of singular
intrepidity of head and heart. He was a very extraordinary genius,
unquestionably; and the works which he has bequeathed to posterity evince
the variety of his attainments. Geyler preached boldly in the cathedral
against the lax manners and doubtful morality of the clergy. He exhorted
the magistrates to do their duty, and predicted that there must be an
alteration of religious worship ere the general morals of the community
could be amended. They preserve a stone chair or pulpit, of very curious
workmanship, but which had nearly been destroyed during the Revolution, in
which Geyler used to deliver his lectures. He died in 1510; and within a
dozen years after his death the doctrines of LUTHER, were sedulously
inculcated. The ground had been well prepared for such seed. The court of
Rome looked on with uneasiness; and the Pope sent a legate to Strasbourg in
1522, to vent his anathemas, and to raise a strong party against the growth
of this new heresy--as it was called. At this time, the reformed doctrine
was even taught in the cathedral; and, a more remarkable thing to strike
the common people, the RECTOR of the church of St. Thomas (the second
religious establishment of importance, after that of the cathedral)
VENTURED TO MARRY! He was applauded both by the common people and by many
of the more respectable families. His example was followed: and the
religious of both sexes were allowed to leave their establishments, to go
where they would, and to enter upon the married state. In 1530 the mass was
generally abolished: and the protestant religion was constantly exercised
in the cathedral.

The spirit both of Geyler and of Luther might have rejoiced to find, in
1550, the chapter of St. Thomas resolutely avowing its determination to
perform the protestant--and nothing but the protestant--religion within its
own extensive establishment. The flame of the new religion seemed now to
have reached all quarters, and warmed all hearts. But a temporary check to
its progress was given by the cautious policy of Charles V. That wary and
heartless monarch (who had even less religion than he had of the ordinary
feelings of humanity) interfered with the weight of his power, and the
denunciations of his vengeance. Yet he found it necessary neither wholly to
suppress, nor wholly to check, the progress of the protestant religion:
while, on the other hand, the Strasbourgeois dreaded too much the effects
of his power to dispute his will by any compact or alliance of opposition.
In 1550, therefore, the matter stood thus. The cathedral, and the
collegiate and parish churches of St. Peter the Elder and St. Peter the
Younger, as well as the Oratory of all Saints, adopted the _catholic_ form
of worship. The other parish churches adopted that of the _protestant_. Yet
in 1559 there happened such a serious affray in the cathedral church
itself--between the Catholics and Protestants--as taught the former the
obvious necessity of conceding as much as possible to the latter. It
followed, that, towards the end of the same century, there were, in the
cathedral chapter, _seventeen protestant_, and _eight catholic_ canons.
Among the _latter_, however, was the celebrated Cardinal de Lorraine:--one
of the most powerful, the most furious, and the most implacable of the
enemies of Protestantism. The part he took in the massacre of St.
Bartholomew's day, consigns his name to everlasting ignominy and
detestation.

In 1610 a league was formed for the adjustment of the differences between
the Catholics and Protestants: but the unfortunate thirty years war
breaking out in 1618, and desolating nearly the whole of Germany, prevented
the permanent consolidation of the interests of either party. All this time
Strasbourg was under the power, as it even now speaks the language, and
partakes of the customs and manners, of GERMANY: but its very situation
rendered it the prey of both the contending powers of Germany and France.
At length came the memorable, and as I suspect treacherous, surrender of
Strasbourg to the arms of Louis XIV, in September 1681; when the respective
rights and privileges of the Catholics and Protestants were placed upon a
definite footing: although, before this event, the latter had considerably
the ascendancy. These rights were endeavoured to be shaken by the
revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685--not however before the Jesuits
had been striving to warp the feelings of the latter in favour of the
former. The catholic religion was, by the articles of the surrender of the
city, established in the cathedral, in the subordinate churches of St.
Peter the Elder and St. Peter the Younger, and in the Oratory of All
Saints: and it has continued to be exercised pretty much in the same
proportion unto this day. The majority of the inhabitants are however
decidedly Protestants. Such is a succinct, but I believe not unfaithful,
account of the establishment of the PROTESTANT RELIGION at Strasbourg.

This subject therefore naturally brings me to notice the principal _Temple
of Worship_ in which the rites of either religion seem, for a long time, to
have been alternately exercised; and this temple can be no other than _the
Minster_--or, as we should say, the _Cathedral._ Ere I assume the office of
the historian, let me gratify my inclinations as a spectator. Let me walk
round this stupendous structure. At this moment, therefore, consider me as
standing in full gaze before its west front--from which the tower springs.
This tower seems to reach to heaven. Indeed the whole front quite
overwhelms you with alternate emotions of wonder and delight. Luckily there
is some little space before it, in which trees have been recently planted;
and where (as I understand) the fruit and vegetable market is held. At the
further end of this space in approaching the Cathedral, and in running the
eye over the whole front, the first thing that strikes you is, the red or
copperas colour of the stone--which I presume to be a species of sand
stone. This gives a sort of severe metallic effect. However you are riveted
to the spot wherein you command the first general survey of this
unparalleled front. The delicacy, the finish, the harmonious intricacy, and
faery-like lightness, of the whole--even to the summit of the spire;--which
latter indeed has the appearance of filigree work, raised by enchantment,
and through the interstices of which the bright blue sky appears with a
lustre of which you have no conception in England--all this, I say,
perfectly delights and overwhelms you. You want words to express your
ideas, and the extent of your gratification. You feel convinced that the
magnificent edifice before you seems to be the _ne plus ultra_ of human
skill in ornamental gothic architecture. Undoubtedly one regrets here, as
at Antwerp, the absence of a corresponding tower; but you are to form your
judgment upon what is _actually_ before you, and, at the same time, to bear
in mind that this tower and spire--for it partakes of both characters--is
full _four hundred and seventy four_ English feet in height![206]--and,
consequently, some twenty or thirty feet only lower than the top of St.
Peter's at Rome. One is lost in astonishment, on bearing such an altitude
in mind, considering the delicacy of the spire. There is no place fitting
for a satisfactory view of it, within its immediate vicinity.[207]

This western front, or facade, is divided into three stages or
compartments. The bottom or lower one is occupied by three magnificent
porches; of which the central is by far the loftiest and most ornamental.
The period of their execution is from the year 1270 to 1320: a period, when
gothic architecture was probably at its highest pitch of perfection. The
central porch is divided into five compartments on each side--forming an
angle of about forty-five degrees with the door-way. The lower parts of
these divisions contain each a statue, of the size of life, upon its
respective pediment. The upper parts, which blend with the arch-like
construction, are filled with small statues, upon pediments, having a sort
of brilliant, fretted appearance. All these figures are representations of
characters in Scripture. Again, above this archway, forming the central
ornaments of the sharper angles, are the figures of the Almighty, the
Virgin and Child, and Solomon. In front, above the door way, upon a flat
surface, are four sculptured compartments; devoted to scriptural subjects.
The same may be said of the right and left porch. They are equally
elaborate, and equally devoted to representations of scriptural subjects.
They will have it, that, according to tradition, the daughter of Ervin de
Steinbach, the chief architect of the western front, worked a great deal at
this central porch, and even sculptured several of the figures. However
this may be, the _tout ensemble_ is really beyond any thing which could be
satisfactorily conveyed by a written description.

We now cast our eye upon the second division of this stupendous facade; and
here our attention is almost exclusively devoted to the enormous circular
or marygold window, in the central compartment. It is filled with stained
glass--and you are to know that the circumference of the outer circle is
one hundred and sixty-English feet: or about fifty-three feet in diameter;
and I challenge you to shew me the like--in any building of which you have
any knowledge!

Perhaps the most wonderful part of this structure is the open filigree work
of the tower, immediately above the platform: though I admit that the
_spiral_ part is exceedingly curious and elaborate. Of course there was no
examining such a wonder without mounting to the platform, and ascending the
tower itself. The platform is about three hundred feet from the pavement.
We quitted this tenement, and walked straight forward upon the platform.
What a prospect was before us. There flowed the RHINE! I felt an
indescribable joy on my first view of that majestic river. There it
flowed ... broad and rapid ... and apparently peaceful, within its low
banks. On the other, or eastern side of it, was a range of lofty hills,
of a mountainous character. On the opposite side of the town ran the great
chain of hills--called the VOSGES--which we had crossed in our route
hither; and of which we had now a most extensive and unobstructed view.
These hills were once the abode of adventurous chieftains and powerful
nobles; and there was scarcely an eminence but what had been formerly
crowned by a baronial castle.[208] Below, appeared the houses of
Strasbourg ... shrunk to rabbit-hutches--and the people ... to emmets!

It remained to ascend the opposite tower. At each of the four corners there
is a spiral stair-case, of which the exterior is open work, consisting of
slender but lofty pillars; so that the ascending figure is seen at every
convolution. It has a fearful appearance to the adventurer: but there is
scarcely the possibility of danger. You go round and round, and observe
three distinct terminations of the central work within--forming three
roofs--of which, the _third_ is eminently beautiful. I could not help
expressing my astonishment at some of the exterior columns, which could not
be much less than threescore feet in height, and scarcely twelve inches in
diameter! Having gained the top of one of these corner spiral stair-cases,
I breathed and looked around me. A new feature presented itself to my view.
About one hundred feet beneath, was the body of this huge cathedral.
Immediately above, rose the beautifully-tapering and curiously ornamented
SPIRE--to the height of probably, one hundred and twenty-five feet! It
seemed indeed as if both tower and spire were direct ladders to the sky.
The immortal artist who constructed them, and who lived to witness the
completion of his structure, was JOAN HUeLTZ, a native of Cologne. The date
of their completion is 1449. Thus, on the continent as well as in England,
the period of the most florid style of gothic architecture was during the
first half of the fifteenth century.

I essayed to mount to the very pinnacle; or _bouton_ of the spire; but the
ascent was impracticable--owing to the stair-case being under repair. On
the summit of this spire, there once stood a _statue of the Virgin,_ above
a cross. That statue was taken down at the end of the fifteenth century,
and is now placed over the south porch. But, what do you think supplied its
place during the late Revolution, or in the year of our Lord 1794, on the
4th day of May? Truly, nothing less than a large cap, made of tin, and
painted red--called the _Cap of Liberty!_ Thank heaven, this latter was
pulled down in due time--and an oblong diamond-shaped stone is now the
finishing piece of masonry of this wonderful building. In descending, I
stopped again at the platform, and was requested to see the GREAT BELL; of
which I had heard the deep-mouthed roar half a dozen times a day, since my
arrival. It is perhaps the finest toned bell in Europe, and appeared to me
terrifically large--being nearer eight than seven feet high.[209] They
begin to toll it at four or five o'clock in the summer-mornings, to
announce that the gates of the town are opened. In case of fire at night,
it is very loudly tolled; and during a similar accident in the day time,
they suspend a pole, with a red flag at the end of it, over that part of
the platform which is in a line with the direction of the fire.

A grand defect in the structure of this Cathedral, as it strikes me, is,
that the nave and transepts do not seem to belong to such a western front.
They sink into perfect insignificance. Nor is the style of their exterior
particularly deserving of description. Yet there is _one_ feature in the
external architecture of this Cathedral--namely, a series or suite of
DROLLERIES ... of about four or five feet high ... which cannot fail to
attract the antiquary's especial notice. These figures are coarsely but
spiritedly cut in stone. They are placed upon the bracket which supports
the galleries, or balcony, of the eastern side of the facade of the tower,
and are about sixty-five English feet from the ground. They extend to
thirty-two feet in length. Through the kind offices of my friend Mr.
Schweighaeuser, junior, (of whom by and by) I have obtained drawings of
these droll subjects,[210] and I am sure that, in common with many of our
friends, you will be amused with the sight of a few of them. They are
probably of the date of 1370;

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

The common people call this series the _Sabbath of Demons,_ or _the Dance
of the Witches_. You are to know, however, that on the opposite side of the
cathedral there is a series of figures, of the same size, and executed
nearly in the same style of art, descriptive of scriptural events, mixed
with allegorical subjects. Having now pointed out what appears to me to be
chiefly interesting in the _exterior_ of this marvellous building, it is
right that I give you some notion of its _interior_: which will however
occupy but a short portion of your attention. Indeed--I grieve to speak
it--both the exterior and interior of the _nave_ are wholly unworthy of
such a magnificent west-front.

The nave and choir together are about three hundred and fifty-five English
feet in length; of which the nave is two hundred and forty-four--evidently
of too scanty dimensions. The width of the nave and side aisles is one
hundred and thirty-two feet: the height of the nave is only seventy-two
feet. The larger of the nine clustered columns is full seventy-two feet in
circumference; the more delicate, thirty feet. There is really nothing
striking in this nave; except that, on turning round, and looking up to the
painted glass of the circular or marygold window, you observe the colours
of it, which are very rich, and absolutely gay, compared with those of the
other windows. There is a profusion of painted glass in almost all the
windows; but generally of a sombre tint, and of a correspondent gloomy
effect. Indeed, in consequence of this profusion, the cathedral absolutely
wants light.

The choir is sixty-seven feet wide, without side aisles, and is much lower
than the nave. It is impossible to speak of this choir without indignation.
My good friend--the whole of this interior has recently undergone rather a
martyrdom than a metamorphosis. The sides are almost entirely covered with
_Grecian_ pilasters and pillars; and so are the ornaments about the altar.
What adds to the wretched effect of the whole, is, a coat of _white-wash_,
which was liberally bestowed upon it some forty years ago; and which will
require at least the lapse of another century to subdue its staring effect.
There are only three chapels in this cathedral. Of _altars_ there are not
fewer than twelve: the principal being in the chapels of St. Lawrence and
St. Catharine.

It was near the chapel of _St. Catharine_, that, on the morning of our
first visit, we witnessed a group of country people, apparently from the
neighbourhood of _Saverne_--from their huge, broad, flat hats--engaged in
devotion before the image of some favourite saint. The rays of a bright sun
darted through the windows, softened by the varied tints of the stained
glass, upon their singular countenances and costumes; and the effect was
irresistibly striking and interesting.

In the centre of the south transept, there rises a fine, slender, clustered
column, reaching to its very summit. On the exterior of this column--placed
one above another, but retreating or advancing, or in full view, according
to the position of the spectator--are several figures, chiefly females;
probably five feet high, with labels or scrolls, upon each of which is an
inscription. I never saw any thing more elegant and more striking of its
kind. These figures reach a great way up the pillar--probably to the top--
but at this moment I cannot say decidedly. It is here, too, that the famous
Strasbourg _Clock_, (about which one Dasypodius hath published a Latin
treatise in a slim quarto volume[211]) is placed. This, and the tower, were
called the _two great wonders of Germany_. This clock may be described in
few words: premising, that it was preceded by a clock of very extraordinary
workmanship, fabricated in the middle of the fourteenth century--of which,
the _only_ existing portion is, a _cock_, upon the top of the left
perpendicular ornament, which, upon the hourly chiming of the bells, used
to flap his wings, stretch out his neck, and crow twice; but being struck
by lightning in the year 1640, it lost its power of action and of sending
forth sound. No modern skill has been able to make this cock crow, or to
shake his wings again. The clock however is now wholly out of order, and
should be placed elsewhere. It is very lofty; perhaps twenty feet high: is
divided into three parts, of which the central part represents _Our
Saviour_ and _Death_, in the middle, each in the act as if to strike a
bell. When, in complete order, Death used to come forward to strike the
_quarters_; and, having struck them, was instantly repelled by our Saviour.
When he came forward to strike the _hour_, our Saviour in turn retreated:--
a whimsical and not very comprehensible arrangement. But old clocks used to
be full of these conceits.

Upon throwing an eye over what I have just written, I find that I have
omitted to notice the celebrated STONE PULPIT, in the nave, enriched with
small figures--of the latter end of the fifteenth century. In fact, the
date of 1485, in arabic numerals, (if I remember rightly) is at the bottom
of it, to the right of the steps. This pulpit, my good friend, is nothing
less than the very ecclesiastical rostrum from which the famous _John
Geyler_ thundered his anathemas against the monkish clergy. You may
remember that some slight notice was taken of it at the beginning of this
letter, in which the progress of Protestantism at Strasbourg was attempted
to be traced. I will frankly own to you, that, of all pulpits, throughout
Normandy, or in Paris--as yet examined by me--I have seen none which
approaches to THIS; so rich, varied, and elaborate are its sculptured
ornaments.[212] The Revolutionists could only contrive to knock off the
figure which was upon the top of the canopy, with other contiguous
ornaments; all of which might be easily restored.

[Illustration: STONE PULPIT, STRASBOURG CATHEDRAL.]

A word now about the great _Organ_. If Strasbourg have been famous for
architects, masons, bell-founders, and clock-makers, it has been not less
so for organ builders. As early as the end of the thirteenth century, there
were several organs in this cathedral: very curious in their structure, and
very sonorous in their notes. The present great organ, on the _left side_
of the nave, on entering at the western door, was built by Silbermann about
a century-ago: and is placed about fifty feet above the pavement. It has
six bellowses, each bellows being twelve feet long and six wide: but they
are made to act by a very simple and sure process. The tone is tremendous--
when all the stops are pulled out--as I once heard it, during the
performance of a particularly grand chorus! Yet is this tone mellow and
pleasing at the same time. Notwithstanding the organ could be hardly less
than three hundred feet distant from the musicians in the choir, it sent
forth sounds so powerful and grand--as almost to overwhelm the human voice,
with the accompaniments of trombones and serpents. Perhaps you will not be
astonished at this, when I inform you that it contains not fewer than two
thousand two hundred and forty-two pipes. This is not the first time you
have heard me commend the organs upon the Continent.

One of the most remarkable features belonging to the history of Strasbourg
cathedral, is, the number of _shocks of earthquakes_ which have affected
the building. It is barely possible to enumerate all these frightful
accidents; and still more difficult to give credence to one third of them.
They seem to have happened two or three times every century; and, latterly,
yet more frequently. Take one recital as a specimen: and believe it--if you
can. In the year 1728, so great was the agitation of the earth, that the
tower was moved one foot out of its perpendicular direction--but recovered
its former position presently. "What however is _quite certain_--(says
Grandidier)--the holy water, contained in a stone reservoir or basin, at
the bottom of a column, near the pavement, was thrown by this same
agitation, to upwards of _half the height of a man_--and to the distance of
_eighteen feet!_ The record of this marvellous transaction is preserved in
a Latin inscription, on a slab of black marble, fastened to the lower part
of the tower, near the platform."[213] In 1744 a severe tempest of thunder
and lightning occasioned some serious injuries to portions of the
cathedral; but in 1759 it suffered still more from a similar cause. Indeed
the havoc among the slighter ornamental parts, including several delicately
carved figures, is recorded to have been dreadful.

Of the subordinate churches of Strasbourg, the principal, both for size and
antiquity, is that of _St. Thomas_. I visited it several times. The
exterior is one of the most tasteless jumbles of all styles and ages of art
that can be imagined; and a portion of it is covered with brick. But I
question if there be not parts much older than the cathedral. The interior
compensates somewhat for the barbarism of the outside. It is large and
commodious, but sadly altered from its original construction; and has
recently been trimmed up and smartened in the true church-warden style. The
great boast of this church is its MONUMENTS; which, it must be confessed,
are upon the whole exceedingly interesting. As to their antiquity, I
noticed two or three of the thirteenth century; but they pretend to run up
as high as the tenth. Indeed I saw one inscription of the eleventh
century--executed in gothic letters, such as we observe of the latter end
of the sixteenth. This could not be a coeval inscription; for I doubt
whether there exist, any where, a monumental tablet of the eleventh century
executed in _coeval gothic_ letters. The service performed here is after
the confession of Augsbourg; in other words, according to the reformed
Lutheran church. A small crucifix, placed upon an altar between the nave
and the choir, delicately marks this distinction; for Luther, you know, did
not wage an interminable war against crucifixes.

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