A sensible difference
of climate is now felt and the air is keener than in the Tyrol. The price
of a place on the raft from Mittenwald to Munich cost only one florin, and
at Toelz an excellent supper, bed and coffee in the morning cost me only one
florin.
MUNICH, 23rd July.
Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is an ancient Gothic city of venerable
appearance. The houses are very solid in structure, and the streets
sufficiently broad to give to the city a cheerful appearance. There are
some suburbs added to it, built in the modern taste, which embellish it
greatly. A large Place outside the old town, called the Carolinen-Platz,
presents a number of villas disposed in the form of a circus. In these
suburbs the people assemble on holidays and Sundays, to smoke and drink
beer, of which a great quantity is consumed, it being the favorite and
national beverage. From the lively scene of the lower class of the
bourgeoisie, male and female, meeting here in the Biersschanks and
Tanzsaale I was reminded of the lines in Faust:
Gewiss man findet hier
Die schoensten Maedchen, und das beste Bier,
which may be thus rendered:
Here let us halt! 'tis here we're sure to find
Beer of the best and maidens fair and kind!
There are other very agreeable promenades outside the town, laid out as
jardins anglais, the garden of Ostenwald for instance; and should you
wish to extend your walk further, there is Nymphenburg, a royal Palace and
gardens, just one league distant from the city.
The Residenz-schloss or Palace of the King is a solid building. The
interior is well worth seeing. There is a superb saloon with a vast number
of valuable miniatures appended to the wainscoating. An enormously heavy
bed, groaning with gold and silver embroidery and pearls and which is said
to weigh a ton, is to be seen here. There is a very good collection of
pictures, chiefly portraits, of the Electoral, now Royal family. There is a
fine chapel too belonging to this palace; a superb staircase of marble, and
some fine old tapestry representing the actions of Otto von Wittelsbach.
There is likewise a curious miniature copy of Trajan's column in gold and
incrusted with precious stones, besides a variety of other things of value.
There are two theatres in Munich; one called the Hof or Court theatre,
where there is a company of comedians for tragedy and comedy, the expences
of which are defrayed principally by the King. The boxes are generally let
to the nobility and the parterre is open to every body on payment.
