it is kept in the Museum at Berlin.
VOL. VII. S
18
EUROPE.
BOOK
cxv.
Forests.
Animals.
and peas are cultivated in Prussia. The culture of the
potatoe is carried to as great an extent in Eastern Prussia
as in Ireland, and it forms in both countries the principal
sustenance of the people. A small volume, written by a
citizen of Gumbinnen in Eastern Prussia, was published in
1792; among other economical discoveries, the author men-
tions a great many methods of using potatoes, he made
them into spirits, flour, candles and starch. Hops and to-
bacco flourish in many parts of the country, and the culture
of culinary vegetables, although less common than in Ger-
many, is by no means neglected. Tlie produce of the fruit
trees is not suflicient for the consumption of the inhabitants^
and a great quantity is every year imported. Hemp and
lint are two articles of considerable exportation ; the former
thrives best in the western, and the other in the eastern
provinces. The agricultural produce of the maritime pro-
vinces, their trade in corn, and the ordinary methods of
farming, shall be fully examined in a different chapter.
The forests consist of oak, lime, mountain ash, alder,
pine and birch-trees, but the large and lofty oaks are not so
common as they once were in Prussia. Potashes and tar
are still exported. More than seventy different species of
fish frequent the rivers and the lakes. Eels and murense
are dried and exported, and caviar is obtained from the
sturgeons in the Frisch-Haf.
The bear and the elk, the wild boar and the stag are
often seen in the woods and the forests. The horse, the
most useful of the lower animals, has been much improved
in these countries. Two different kinds are mentioned,
the one of Tartar origin is common in Lithuania and
Poland, the other sprung from German, French, Nea-
politan and Danish horses, was brought into Prussia by
the Teutonic knights. Of these two sorts, the former is
supposed to be fleeter, but not so sure footed as the
other. All the royal studs in Eastern Prussia have, since
the marshes of Stalluspahnen were drained, been remov-
ed into that district, which is now called Stutamt, and
DESCRIPTION OF PRUSSIA. 19
there are probably more horses in Trakliemen, the prin- book
cipal town, than in any other place of the kind in Europe. ^^^'*
It might, however, tend to promote agriculture, if the great
number of stallions, which are kept there, were scattered
over a wide extent of country. A third sort, which is
small, short-legged, but swift and hardy, is used in some of
the provinces ; it is believed to be the remains of a native
race, common at one time to Prussia, Lithuania and Scan-
dinavia.
In the account, which we are about to give of the differ-
ent towns in Prussia, our principal stations shall be Koe-
nigsberg on the Pregel, and Dantzic on the Vistula.
Primislas the First, king of Bohemia, advised the Teu- Kcenigs-
tonic knights in 1255, then his allies, to build a strong ^'^^*
castle, which they named Koenigsberg or the royal moun-
tain ; it is called Krolewiec^ and Karalauczuge or the royal
town by the Poles and Lithuanians. That capital of the
kingdom is about fifteen miles in circumference, but a great
part of it consists of gardens, and some places of marshes ;
the present population does not exceed sixty-sive or seventy
thousand souls. The numerous quarters into which the
town is divided, are surrounded by ancient ramparts, that
may perhaps be considered ornamental, but are not cer-
tainly, in any way useful for its defence. The Kniepof,
one of the finest, is built on an island in the Pregel,
and Busching mentions that the wooden piles on which
the fortifications rest, are now become as hard as stone.
The castle is a very ancient building, and the view from
one of its turrets extends across the Frisch-Haf, the
port, tlie river, the town, and a great part of Prussia.
The ancient citadel is now almost surrounded with manu-
factories and store houses. The harbour has not more than
twelve feet of water, and that part of the Frisch-Haf with
which it communicates, is still more shallow, so that the
cargo of every large vessel is brought into the town in boats.
Trade, however, particularly that in corn and naval timber,
has not decreased ; there are besides different manufactories,
that of amber is now fallen into decay. Tlic univer-
20
EUROPE.
BOOK
cxv.
Banks of
the Frisch-
Haf.
Towns on
the Pregel.
Towns on
the Me-
men.
Tov;ns in
the inte-
rior.
sity was rendered illustrious by Kant, the most subtle and
perhaps the most obscure of modern philosophers. Impor-
tant documents relative to the ancient history of Prussia,
have lately been discovered in the library and archives of
the town.
The fortress of Pillau, the military key of eastern Prus-
sia, is situated on a peninsula to the east of the capital. The
inner coasts of the peninsula, and the country near the main
land, are denominated the paradise of Prussia. Verdant
coasts, fruit trees and gardens, thick woods and villages, a
sea that abounds in i&sh, and to which many fishing boats
repair, tlie large and tranquil basin of the Frisch-Haf, co-
vered with swans and different water fowl, form part of a
view, which may be seen by sailing on the lake, by ascend-
ing the observatory of Pillau, or from the neighbourhood of
the Pfundbude, an old custom-house.
Wehlau, Intsterburg at the confluence of the Alle, a place
of nearly six thousand inhabitants, and Gumhinnen, a new
town peopled by seven thousand individuals, and the capi-
tal of a government, which forms Lithuanian Prussia, are
situated eastward of Pillau on the higher banks of the Pre-
gel.
Tilsit is situated on the Memel or Niemen, it contains
eleven tliousand inhabitants, and is the second town in
eastern Prussia; it is not less celebrated from its treaty, as
from an interview which took place there between the Em-
perors Alexander and Napoleon. The flourishing town of
Memel, a place of considerable commerce, particularly in
hemp and timber, is built near the embouchure of the Cu-
risch Haf, the sterile extremity of Prussia.
The country between Tilsit and the Curisch-Haf, is low
and marshy; traversed by two branches of the Memel, the
Russe and the Gilge, it is exposed to their inundations.
The land does not yield much grain, it is ill provided with
wood, but the pasturage is rich and abundant, and the in-
habitants might supply the kingdom with the produce of
their dairies.
The fruitful and well wooded plains of central Prussia
DESCRIPTION OF PRUSSIA. 21
extend between Koenigsberg and the country last mentioned, book
The ancient castles and modern farms in that part of Prussia cxv.
are more interesting to travellers than small towns, although â–
the latter are peopled by industrious and well educated
burgesses. Braunsherg forms a solitary exception, it is built
on the Passarge, and its citizens carry on a trade in linen,
grain and masts ; it is supposed to contain upwards of six
thousand inhabitants. Rastenburg, Bartensteinf Heilsbergf
and other places are less populous. Every town in the
same part of the country has its particular beverage ; full-
wurstf a sort of beer, is the ordinary drink at Preussisch-
Hollandf and hydromel is as common at Goldapp. Gerdauen
is built at a short distance from a lake, remarkable for a
floating island, which by its motions indicates the state of
the atmosphere, and the inhabitants call it for that reason,
the almanack of Gerdauen. The small town of Ermeland
is the metropolis of a diocess; and among the canons of
its cathedral, was the celebrated Nicholas Copernicus, the
author of the most probable hypothesis concerning the
planetary system ; that great astronomer died at Ermeland
on the 24th of May 1543.
The most of the towns in Western Prussia are situated Dantzic.
on the banks of the Vistula, the only river that waters the
country. Dantzic, the Polish Gdansk, from which its
modern Latin name Gedamnn is derived, was in all proba-
bility a flourishing city, and not a mere burgh or village in
the tenth century. Much of its ancient splendour is now
lost. The invasion and conquest made by "Waldemar the
First of Denmark, appears to have occasioned the settle-
ment of a Danish colony in that favourable position, and
it is thus easy to explain the comparatively modern name
of BantziCf by Bansk-vik, a Danish port or gulf. In
many old diplomatic writings the town is called Bansk or
Gdansk, It was enlarged and fortified by the Teutonic
Knights, but the inhabitants did not submit tamely to the
tyranny of their new masters, they revolted in 1454, and
put themselves under the protection and sovereignty of
the Polish kings, from whom they received many valuable
/
22
EUROPE.
BOOK privileges, of which perhaps the most important was the ex-
cxv. elusive navigation of the Vistula, for it put into the hands of
the citizens, all the maritime commerce of Poland. It con-
tinued in possession of several privileges and immunities,
until the year 1795, so that it might then have heen con-
sidered rather a free town or a republick than a depend-
ence of a foreign crown. Its population, which amounted
in past times to eighty thousand souls, was reduced before
the year 1772 to sixty thousand. The restraints, which
have since been imposed by Prussia on the Dantzic trade,
compelled many individuals to emigrate; and in 1803,
the number of inhabitants, including those in the different
suburbs, was not more than forty-seven thousand.
Dantzic has all the disadvantages of an old town, the porch-
es jut into the narrow streets, and disfigure the houses, which
are strongly but clumsily built. Of its twenty-one pa-
rish churches, thirteen are appropriated by Lutherans, four
by reformists or Calvinists, and four by Catholics. It has
been remarked that tlie Calvinists are the most wealthy in-
liabitants. An astronomical observatory, a large museum of
natural history, several learned societies, and a seminary
with a library of thirty thousand volumes, prove that the
people are not exclusively devoted to mercantile pursuits.
The town is surrounded by fortifications, and has support-
ed several memorable sieges. The harbour is formed by
the emboucliure of the Vistula, and protected by the forts
of Munde or IVeichselmunde. The anchorage or what may
be more correctly termed the Gulf of Dantzic, is shelter-
ed from the north wind by the promontory on which the
small town of Hela is built. A werder or low and fertile
island between the Vistula and the Motlau was not the
least valuable part of the city lands in the time of its free-
Commcrcc. dom. It posscsscd during tlie same period a very great
trade in grain, wood, lint and nianfacturcd goods; it was
the mart of the Poles, who exchanged there tlie raw pro-
duce of their vast territory for the different articles of Eu-
ropean luxury. Altliough its trade was much diminished
, under the Prussian government, it is certain tliat in the
Harbour
and road.
DESCRIPTION OF PRUSSIA. 23
<*
year 1803, eighteen or nineteen hundred vessels entered book
its harbour, and as many sailed from it. But the depre- ^^^*
dations of the French and tlie Russians, from which this
unfortunate city suffered perhaps more than any other,
drained at last the sources of its prosperity ; during the
short period between 1807 and 1815, it lost the sum of
seven millions, and the only branches of industry, which
remained, were its sugar works and distilleries. Of late
years the calamities of war have been removed, its popula-
tion, which has been gradually increasing, amounts now to
fifty-three or fifty-four thousand, and it is still the first
maritime city in Prussia.
Marienburg, or the Polish Malborg, the ancient capital Werders.
of the Teutonic knights, is situated on the banks of the
Nogat, a feeder of the Vistula. It is at present a town of
five thousand inhabitants, and it carries on a trade in cloth
and linen. The werders or low islands in the neighbour-
hood of Marienburg, Dantzic and Elbing are very fruitful
and well peopled. Agriculture and the breeding of cattle
are carried to a great degree of perfection ; the peasantry
are free, and most of them belong to the sect of the Men-
onitcs. The land in these islands is very valuable, the
price given for a morgen, a measure nearly equivalent to
an acre, varies from L.40 to L.60. It is a bad crop
that returns only twelve for one, the average harvests re-
turn twenty, and the good more than thirty fold. Part
of the fruit that grows on the same land, is exported to
Russia.
The flourishing and commercial town of Elbing, is built
on a low and fruitful valley near the werders ; its name is
derived from the small river of Elbach, which issues from
the lake of Drausen. Alfred of Prussia, who wrote a
geography of Europe, calls the I'iver the i^n^, and the lake
the Truso. The Iffing then discharged itself into the Frisch-
Haf, of which the dimensions are exactly described by the
king under the name of the Estmere, and it may therefore
be inferred that the Nogat, a feeder of the Vistula, has be-
gun to flow since that period. The harbour of Elbing is
24 EUROPE.
BOOK formed by the canal of KrafTuhl, and large ships cannot
^^^' advance beyond Pillau. The number of vessels that have
arrived in the port within the last few years is supposed to
be about fifteen hundred, but in that number are included
six or eight hundred Polish boats, and two or three hundred
lighters. The trade consists in corn and hemp, the expor-
tations in wine, iron and colonial produce. The houses are
solid, but ill arranged, and the total population amounts to
twenty thousand souls. A colony of fishermen from the
same place are settled at Tolkemit on the Frisch-Haf ; they
depend chiefly for subsistence on the produce of the stur-
geon fisheries, the profits of which, though sometimes great,
are very variable.
Other The other towns above Elbing and on the banks of the
thevfstu'ia ^J^tula, are Marienwerder, situated in a fruitful district,
and containing a population of six thousand souls, Grau-
(lentx>, a town of seven or eight thousand inhabitants, with
an important fortress that now commands the Vistula, and
Culm or Chelmo with an insignificant catliolic university.
The trade of these places consists mostly in linen and wool-
len stuffs. Thorn, one of the most ancient towns in Prus-
sia, was founded in 1231 by the first great master of the
Teutonic order ; it became an independent town or republic
about the year 1454, under the protection of Poland ; its for-
tifications were afterwards razed by Charles the Twelfth.
The people suffered much from tlie violent persecutions ex-
cited by the Catholics, particularly the Jesuits, against the
Lutherans. The inhabitants, who amount to nearlv nine
thousand, are almost all Protestants, and the Catholics are
still in possession of their empty churches. A seminary
that was founded in 1594, is well known from the number
of learned men that attended it. Nicolas Copernicus was
born at Thorn on the 10th January 1472. The town is re-
markable for its public buildings ; one of the bridges on
the Vistula is upwards of a mile in length.
Different The different classes of inhabitants in Prussia may be
tams^' divided into nobles, landed proprietors, burgesses with
more or less extensive privileges, and peasants, who though
DESCRIPTION OF PRUSSIA. 25
free and capable of possessing land by a law passed on the book
11th September, 1811, are still the vassals of the nobles; ^^^*
from this vassalage the peasants on the werders, and the ^
inhabitants of the new colonics are exempt. These inhabi-
tants indeed are the wealthiest of the peasantry ; their
houses are not destitute of elegance, and their children are
well educated ; but the progress of improvement has been
retarded by the devastations committed in tlio course of the
last war. The other extremity of the country is inhabited
by Lithuanian peasants, the descendants of the ancient
Pruczi, they retain their native dialect, and are still igno-
rant and slothful. The coarse cloth with which they are
clad, is manufactured by themselves, and all of them have a
sort of scarf, or as it is called a marghif that descends to
the legs. Tlie Koures wear their margins across their
shoulders. The boots and hats of the women are nowise
different from those of the men. A plated or white iron gir-
dle loaded witli a great many keys is the ornament of every
housewife.^ These tribes are not unworthy of observation,
and it is likely that some curious documents concerning
them are concealed in tlie German libraries. It may be re-
marked, in the absence of all authentic information on the
subject, that the maro-i?i appears to be the same as tiie plaid
of the Scottish Highlanders, a circumstance which renders
perhaps the singular assertion of Tacitus less improbable
than it might otherwise appear, viz. that the ^Estyi spoke
the same language as the ancient Britons.
Some of the Prussian nobles are the descendants of the Nobles.
Teutonic knights, who renounced their monastic vows.
Other noble families came at a later period from the north
of Germany ; they were distinguished from the rest by their
haughtiness and contempt of their inferiors, qualities which
have been gradually softened down by the usages of civiliz-
ed society. The Livonian nobles were equally proud, but
more humane and indulgent to their vassals. The Prus-
* Beriiouilli, Samlung von Reiscbeschreibungen, VII. p. 332.
VOL. VII. 4
26 EUROPE.
BOOK sian aristocracy is not a wealthy order, their estates are of
^^^' little value, it is supposed that the greatest annual income
derived from the land of any one noble, does not exceed
£2500.
Burgesses. The burgesscs differ according to their origin and the
size of the towns; thus the descendants of the German co-
lonists are more enlightened than those sprung from the
Poles and the Wendes. In Memel, Koenisberg, Elbing,
Dantzic and Thorn, traces of the ancient freedom enjoyed
by the Hanseatic towns may still be observed. If that be
true with respect to all these places, it is more applicable to
Dantzic than to any other. It may be perhaps worth while
to quote the account which a well informed traveller gave
of it at a time when it still retained its independence."^
Burgesses Dantzic is more agreeable to a stranger than the other
o Dantzic. tj.j^(jj,^g towns. As most of the inhabitants are merchants
or manufacturers, most of them are active and industrious.
At the same time, their commercial relations with Berlin,
England and other foreign countries, have contributed
greatly to improve the people. Many of those, who from
prejudice are supposed to be only desirous of gain, are not
insensible to the charms of literature and the fine arts.
There is scarcely a father in the' town, who does not give
his children an education conformable to his circumstances
and station in society. Every young man can read, write,
and cast accounts ; many of them are sent to foreign uni-
versities, and they are well instructed at home in ancient
and modern languages.
Republican The good and bad citizens may be easily distinguished,
^P''^'^' they never mix with each other. As the greater num-
ber are united by a common interest, any thing like
fraud or dishonesty excites general indignation. The
germs of discord by which other capitals are agitated, are
not known. No individual can encroach on the rights of
another; no such homage is paid to talent, wealth or even
* Hermes.
DESCRIPTION OF PRUSSIA. 27
to services conferred on the community. Although that book
republican spirit may tend to depress the powers of a few ^^^'
great minds, it also defends the state from a greater evil, the
designs of artful and wicked men.
No mendicants are permitted to remain in the town, be-
cause every healthy individual may obtain employment in
the numerous manufactories ; every infirm person can find
an asylum in the public hospitals, and every vagrant
ought to be confined in a house of correction, where he may
have some chance of being reformed. Public women were
banished beyond the walls, and the marriage vow could
not be broken with impunity, as it often is in other capi-
tals. A foundling hospital is not the least useful institu-
tion in the town, mothers never destroy the fruits of their
illicit love, and infants are never exposed on the streets.
Nothing increased more the prosperity of Dantzic, than
the freedom of commerce and industry. Every man could
follow without constraint the profession which was best
suited for him, and thus add both to the public weal and
his private fortune. As to its internal administration, the
government of Dantzic, was one of the most equitable,
that can well be imagined. Any magistrate, more espe-
cially if he was a merchant, whose probity was suspected,
or who had obtained suffrages by intrigue or promises made
to the electors, was deprived of his situation, the citizens
Tied with each other in turning him out of office. It is
true that the merchants lived at great expense, all of
them had at least a country house and a garden. Their
houses were finely furnished, and one large apartment was
set apart for a library. The men were defended against
the cold by the most costly furs in Europe; addicted to
hospitality, or fond of ostentation, they gave sumptuous
entertainments, kept a number of horses and a great reti-
nue of servants. The Russians and French obliged them
to dispense with such si^perfluities ; which, however, were not
disproportionate to their income before tlie arrival of these
strangers. It has been remarked that the luxury of the
28 EUKorE.
BOOK opulent citizens, was not of that frivolous nature, which is
^^^' common in other large towns. It is certain that they loved
"—"—^ their country, spared nothing in emhcllishing it, and were
charitable to their poorer brethren. The fair sex acted an
important part, and their influence was attended with good
consequences ; society was by this means improved and po-
lished, and drunkenness became a vice wholly unknown
among the better sort of burgesses. Such was Dantzic in
the days of its independence, and the liappy effects of that
independence have not been effaced under the Prussian go-
vernment.
Great The great dutcljy of Posen forms physically a part of
PoMo.^°^ Poland; the same plains, the same kind of sand intermix-
ed with clay and black loam, the same fertility in corn, and
the same sort of forests may be observed in the two coun-
tries. A traveller whose work is little known, maintains
that the rye of Posen is finer than any in Brandenburgh,
the orchards of plum, apple, and pear trees, more extensive,
whilst morel and asparagus grow spontaneously and in
abundance. The mushroom too is very common in almost
every part of the country. The peasants rear a great many
bees; the poultry is as large and not inferior to any in
France, and the fields abound with partridges and phea-
sants. The land tortoise is exported to Prague, and the
castor builds its dikes and dwelling in the heart of the for-
ests.*
Risers and '^^hc author of the latest statistical account informs us,
warshes. ^|jjj^ many large marshes, covered with weeds and brush-
w^ood, arc still undrained in the province, particularly along
the winding course of tlie Obra.f The Wartha is the prin-
cipal river in Posen, and a canal by whicli the country has
been much improved, forms a communication between the
Vistula and the Oder by means of tlie Netze.
Peasantry. The peasantry are slothful, ignorant and superstP-
tious, drunkenness is a common vipe amongst them ; all
* Bernouilli's Collection, IV. p. 229.
t Holsche"'s Statistics of Soiitbern Prussia.
DESCRIPTION OF PRUSSIA. 29
the legislative enactments, all the efforts of the Prussian book
administration to improve their moral and intellectual con- cxv.
dition, have hitherto heen accompanied with slow and un- — —
certain success. According to the traveller, whom we
have already quoted, the condition of the peasants in the
time of the repuhlic, was little better than that of negroes;
the petty nobles carried off their daughters, and if the pa-
rents ventured to complain, they might perhaps receive
many stripes ,• in short, there was neither law nor jus-
tice for a peasant. The same class, says a writer who re-
sided in the country, lived better than the German labour-
ers. Abundance of food, coarse but warm clothing, dirty,
but large cottages, a bed of down, the privilege of singing,