There
Is Nothing To See But A Great Tunnel, And The River Pleisse - The
Latter, Or Rather The Elster, Is Rendered Famous By The Death Of
Prince Poniatowski.
{9}
The town of Leipzig, celebrated far and wide for its fairs, and more
for its immense publishing trade, presents an appearance of noise
and bustle proportionate to its commercial importance. I found
streets, squares, and inns alike crowded. {10}
Perhaps there does not exist a town with its houses, and
consequently its streets, so disfigured with announcements, in all
sizes and shapes, covering its walls, and sometimes projecting
several feet, as Leipzig.
Among the public buildings, those which pleased me most were the
Augusteum and the Burgerschule. The Bucherhalle (book-hall) I
should suppose indebted for its celebrity rather to its literary
contents than to its architectural beauty or its exterior. The hall
itself is indeed large, and occupies the whole length of the
building, while the lower story consists of several rooms. The
hall, the chambers, and the exterior are all plain, and without
particular decoration. The Tuchhalle (cloth-hall) is simply a large
house, with spacious chambers, containing supplies of cloth. The
Theatre stands on a very large square, and does not present a very
splendid appearance, whether viewed from within or from without.
The plan of having stalls in front of the boxes in the second and
third galleries was a novelty to me. The orchestra I could only
hear, but could not discover its whereabouts; most probably it was
posted behind the scenes. On inquiry, I was told that this was only
done on extraordinary occasions, when the seats in the orchestra
were converted into stalls, as was the case on the night of my
visit. The play given was "the original Tartuffe," a popular piece
by Gutzkow. It was capitally performed.
In the Leipzig theatre I had a second opportunity of observing, that
as regards the love of eating our good Saxons are not a whit behind
the much-censured Viennese. In the Dresden theatre I had admired a
couple of ladies who sat next me. They came provided with a neat
bag, containing a very sufficient supply of confectionery, to which
they perseveringly applied themselves between the acts. But at
Leipzig I found a delicate-looking mother and her son, a lad of
fifteen or sixteen years, regaling themselves with more solid
provisions - white bread and small sausages. I could not believe my
eyes, and had made up my mind that the sausages were artificially
formed out of some kind of confectionery - but alas! my nose came
forward but too soon, as a potent witness, to corroborate what I was
so unwilling to believe!
Neither did these two episodes take place in the loftiest regions of
Thalia's temple, but in the stalls of the second tier.
Beautiful alleys are planted round Leipzig. I took a walk into the
Rosenthal (Valley of Roses), which also consists of splendid avenues
and lawns. A pretty coffee-house, with a very handsome alcove,
built in a semicircular form, invites the weary traveller to rest
and refreshment, while a band of agreeable music diffuses mirth and
good humour around.
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