Legends of the Rhine

Legends of the Rhine, by
Wilhelm Ruland

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Title: Legends of the Rhine
Author: Wilhelm Ruland
Release Date: January 31, 2007 [EBook #20496]
Language: English
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LEGENDS OF THE RHINE
BY

WILHELM RULAND
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PAINTINGS BY CELEBRATED
ARTISTS
8TH EDITION

KÖLN AM RHEIN VERLAG VON HOURSCH & BECHSTEDT

"O, the pride of the German heart is this noble river! And right it is; for
of all the rivers of this beautiful earth there is none so beautiful as this."
Longfellow.

Prefatory Note.
Last year I made the journey between Mainz and Bonn on one of our
splendid Rhine steamers. Our vessel glided along like a great
water-bird. On the shore rose mountains, castles, and ruins, and over all
the sun shined brightly from a blue August sky. It was twelve years
since I had visited the scenes of my youth, and every Rhinelander will
understand with what pleasure I saw again those smiling landscapes
arrayed in their summer beauty. Wandering back to my deck-chair, I
soon became absorbed in the ever-changing panorama.
Then the sound of a melodious female voice speaking English fell on
my ears. I looked around. A girl was bending over a book, and
entertaining her father and mother by reading something of special
interest and beauty. I listened and recognised some of my own
sentences rendered into the speech of Shakespeare. These three were
learning to feel the charms of the Lorelei legend as I had felt it. I
confess my pulse beat quicker as I heard my poor endeavours highly
praised, and I could not refrain from advancing and thanking the young
reader for her kindly appreciation of my endeavours. She seemed

delighted when she discovered that I was the author, and rose to greet
me in the most amiable manner. I complimented the travellers that
during the past century the Rhine had become the home of romance for
the English speaking nations, the same as Italy for the Germans. The
girl smiled, and remarked that I must pay that compliment to her
mother in particular, as she was by birth an Englishwoman. But the
head of the family hastened to add that among Americans, whom he
might speak for, the enthusiasm for the beauties of the Rhine was not
less than among their Anglo-Saxon cousins. These two nations which
are bound by so many ties to each other, and also to ourselves, were
thus represented before me. The English-speaking people undoubtedly
form by far the largest contingent of our Rhine travellers, and it was
pleasant indeed to receive so fine a testimonial to the beauties of my
birth place.
We had a most interesting conversation, and I was not a little moved, as
I observed that these foreigners who had travelled over half the world,
and had seen the grandeur of Switzerland and the charms of Italy,
should have such an unaffected admiration for our grand old river. I am
rather sorry for those who neglect the Rhine. "Aren't Lohengrin and
Siegfried, immortalised by the great Master of Bayreuth, also heroic
figures in your Rhine legends?" remarked the young Anglo-American
enthusiastically. It was the first time I had seriously thought of this. I
was indeed touched, and my thoughts travelled back to the days of
"long, long ago" when as a little chap in my native Bonn, I had first
listened with interest to the charming voices of the golden-haired
daughters of old Albion who came in large numbers to reside in the
famous Beethoven-town.
As I separated from my friends at the foot of the Drachenfels I gave
them a small present to keep as a memento of the Rhine and one of its
poets.
München, Mai 1906. Dr. Wilhelm Ruland.

Contents

=St. Gotthard.= The Petrified Alp 7
=Thusis on the Hinter Rhine.= The Last Hohenrätier 10
=Bodensee.= The Island of Mainau 13
=Basle.= One Hour in Advance 18
=Castle Niedeck.= The Toy of the young Giantess 20
=Strassburg.= The Cathedral Clock 22
The little Man at the Angel's Pillar 25
=Worms.= The Nibelungen Lied 27
=Speyer.= The Bells of Speyer 31
=Frankfort.= The Knave of Bergen 33
=Mayence.= Heinrich Frauenlob 36
Bishop Willigis 38
=Johannisberg.= 40
=Ingelheim.= Eginhard and Emma 45
=Rüdesheim.= The Brömserburg 53
=Bingen.= The Mouse-Tower 58
=Valley