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the complete writings-2-第18章

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s leisure to see the country as he jogs along。  There is nothing more sedate than a German train in motion; nothing can stand so dead still as a German train at a station。  But there are express trains。

We were on one from Augsburg to Nuremberg; and I think must have run twenty miles an hour。  The fare on the express trains is one fifth higher than on the others。  The cars are all comfortable; and the officials; who wear a good deal of uniform; are much more civil and obliging than officials in a country where they do not wear uniforms。 So; not swiftly; but safely and in good…humor; we rode to the capital of Bavaria。




OUTSIDE ASPECTS OF MUNICH

I saw yesterday; on the 31st of August; in the English Garden; dead leaves whirling down to the ground; a too evident sign that the summer weather is going。  Indeed; it has been sour; chilly weather for a week now; raining a little every day; and with a very autumn feeling in the air。  The nightly concerts in the beer…gardens must have shivering listeners; if the bands do not; as many of them do; play within doors。  The line of droschke drivers; in front of the post…office colonnade; hide the red facings of their coats under long overcoats; and stand in cold expectancy beside their blanketed horses; which must need twice the quantity of black…bread in this chilly air; for the horses here eat bread; like people。  I see the drivers every day slicing up the black loaves; and feeding them; taking now and then a mouthful themselves; wetting it down with a pull from the mug of beer that stands within reach。  And lastly (I am still speaking of the weather); the gay military officers come abroad in long cloaks; to some extent concealing their manly forms and smart uniforms; which I am sure they would not do; except under the pressure of necessity。

Yet I think this raw weather is not to continue。  It is only a rough visit from the Tyrol; which will give place to kinder influences。  We came up here from hot Switzerland at the end of July; expecting to find Munich a furnace。  It will be dreadful in Munich everybody said。 So we left Luzerne; where it was warm; not daring to stay till the expected rival sun; Victoria of England; should make the heat overpowering。  But the first week of August in Munich it was delicious weather;clear; sparkling; bracing air; with no chill in it and no languor in it; just as you would say it ought to be on a high; gravelly plain; seventeen hundred feet above the sea。  Then came a week of what the Muncheners call hot weather; with the thermometer up to eighty degrees Fahrenheit; and the white wide streets and gray buildings in a glare of light; since then; weather of the most uncertain sort。

Munich needs the sunlight。  Not that it cannot better spare it than grimy London; for its prevailing color is light gray; and its many…tinted and frescoed fronts go far to relieve the most cheerless day。  Yet Munich attempts to be an architectural reproduction of classic times; and; in order to achieve any success in this direction; it is necessary to have the blue heavens and golden sunshine of Greece。  The old portion of the city has some remains of the Gothic; and abounds in archways and rambling alleys; that suddenly become broad streets and then again contract to the width of an alderman; and portions of the old wall and city gates; old feudal towers stand in the market…place; and faded frescoes on old clock…faces and over archways speak of other days of splendor。

But the Munich of to…day is as if built to order;raised in a day by the command of one man。  It was the old King Ludwig I。; whose flower…wreathed bust stands in these days in the vestibule of the Glyptothek; in token of his recent death; who gave the impulse for all this; though some of the best buildings and streets in the city have been completed by his successors。  The new city is laid out on a magnificent scale of distances; with wide streets; fine; open squares; plenty of room for gardens; both public and private; and the art buildings and art monuments are well distributed; in fact; many a stately building stands in such isolation that it seems to ask every passer what it was put there for。  Then; again; some of the new adornments lack fitness of location or purpose。  At the end of the broad; monotonous Ludwig Strasse; and yet not at the end; for the road runs straight on into the flat country between rows of slender trees; stands the Siegesthor; or Gate of Victory; an imitation of the Constantine arch at Rome。  It is surmounted by a splendid group in bronze; by Schwanthaler; Bavaria in her war…chariot; drawn by four lions; and it is in itself; both in its proportions and its numerous sculptural figures and bas…reliefs; a fine recognition of the valor 〃of the Bavarian army;〃 to whom it is erected。  Yet it is so dwarfed by its situation; that it seems to have been placed in the middle of the street as an obstruction。  A walk runs on each side of it。  The Propylaeum; another magnificent gateway; thrown across the handsome Brienner Strasse; beyond the Glyptothek; is an imitation of that on the Acropolis at Athens。  It has fine Doric columns on the outside; and Ionic within; and the pediment groups are bas…reliefs; by Schwanthaler; representing scenes in modern Greek history。  The passageways for carriages are through the side arches; and thus the 〃sidewalk〃 runs into the center of the street; and foot…passers must twice cross the carriage…drive in going through the gate。  Such things as these give one the feeling that art has been forced beyond use in Munich; and it is increased when one wanders through the new churches; palaces; galleries; and finds frescoes so prodigally crowded out of the way; and only occasionally opened rooms so overloaded with them; and not always of the best; as to sacrifice all effect; and leave one with the sense that some demon of unrest has driven painters and sculptors and plasterers; night and day; to adorn the city at a stroke; at least; to cover it with paint and bedeck it with marbles; and to do it at once; leaving nothing for the sweet growth and blossoming of time。

You see; it is easy to grumble; and especially in a cheerful; open; light; and smiling city; crammed with works Of art; ancient and modern; its architecture a study of all styles; and its foaming beer; said by antiquarians to be a good deal better than the mead drunk in Odin's halls; only seven and a half kreuzers the quart。  Munich has so much; that it; of course; contains much that can be criticised。 The long; wide Ludwig Strasse is a street of palaces;a street built up by the old king; and regarded by him with great pride。  But all the buildings are in the Romanesque style;a repetition of one another to a monotonous degree: only at the lower end are there any shops or shop…windows; and a more dreary promenade need not be imagined。  It has neither shade nor fountains; and on a hot day you can see how the sun would pour into it; and blind the passers。  But few ever walk there at any time。  A street that leads nowhere; and has no gay windows; does not attract。  Toward the lower end; in the Odeon Platz; is the equestrian statue of Ludwig; a royally commanding figure; with a page on either side。  The street is closed (so that it flows off on either side into streets of handsome shops) by the Feldherrnhalle; Hall of the Generals; an imitation of the beautiful Loggia dei Lanzi; at Florence; that as yet contains only two statues; which seem lost in it。  Here at noon; with parade of infantry; comes a military band to play for half an hour; and there are always plenty of idlers to listen to them。  In the high arcade a colony of doves is domesticated; and I like to watch them circling about and wheeling round the spires of the over…decorated Theatine church opposite; and perching on the heads of the statues on the facade。

The royal palace; near by; is a huddle of buildings and courts; that I think nobody can describe or understand; built at different times and in imitation of many styles。  The front; toward the Hof Garden; a grassless square of small trees; with open arcades on two sides for shops; and partially decorated with frescoes of landscapes and historical subjects; is 〃a building of festive halls;〃 a facade eight hundred feet long; in the revived Italian style; and with a fine Ionic porch。  The color is the royal; dirty yellow。

On the Max Joseph Platz; which has a bronze statue of King Max; a seated figure; and some elaborate bas…reliefs; is another front of the palace; the Konigsbau; an imitation; not fully carried out; of the Pitti Palace; at Florence。  Between these is the old Residenz; adorned with fountain groups and statues in bronze。  On another side are the church and theater of the Residenz。  The interior of this court chapel is dazzling in appearance: the pillars are; I think; imitation of variegated marble; the sides are imitation of the same; the vaulting is covered with rich frescoes on gold ground。  The whole effect is rich; but it is not at all sacred。  Indeed; there is no church in Munich; except the old cathedral; the Frauenkirche; with its high Gothic arches; stained windows; and dusty old carvings; that gives one at all the sort of feeling that it is supposed a church should give。
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