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METDOEN 
 
 ITS 
 
 CATHEDRAL, ALBRECHTSBURG 
 
 AND 
 
 CHINA-MANUFACTORY. 
 
 MEISSEN 1878. 
 
 . von Louis Mosche. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LEE A AEM Fae RN NT SOE A AAA RA RE A a | ORR Af eZ i SSI SCM SE He SET IE 7 geernsseses —e 
 L / 
 ~ en tna in an Sn oN Toon t Tina Site Ta Sah Sate Ue A aa oe a mei - = ae. . . . ~ 
 

 
 ie are few places more favourably situated in the 
 Kingdom of Saxony, than the old city of Meissen. Sunny 
 hills with distant views, vineclad slopes on the bank 
 of the river Elbe, pleasant valleys, and fertile plains are 
 surrounding it in varied turn. Connected with Dresden 
 by rail-road and steamboat, the way down from Dresden 
 requires only about one hour’s time. 
 
 The old castle of Meissen, called the Albrechtsburg, 
 and iis beautiful cathedral are most attractive points to 
 thelr numerous visitors, and tell of long past centuries. 
 
 The Royal China-Manufactory, the mother of all 
 Huropean manufactories of this most precious kind of 
 pottery, verifies its old fame, and adds to it, by its 
 most elaborate productions. 
 
 Thus the town and its surroundings offer in various 
 respects a great many remarkable points, and the follow- 
 ing lines are written for the purpose of being a trusty 
 guide to Hnglish speaking visitors of the Cathedral, the 
 Albrechtsburg, and the China-Manufactory of Meissen. 
 

 
 2 ena ot SE TE Sm 
 
 aay) pee 
 
 Up to the X™ century the country, wherein Meissen 
 is situated, wag inhabited by a slavic tribe, called the 
 Daleminces. It was not before the year 932 p. Ch. that 
 the German emperor Henry I. had defeated them, and 
 built a fortress on the left bank of the river Elbe, to 
 secure in future the conquered country against rein- 
 vasions of its former inhabitants. This first bulwark 
 stood on the eastern foot of the same hill, whereon now 
 the castle is towering. Soon afterwards very probably, 
 the dominating hill itself was crowned with a strong- 
 hold. Under the reign of Henry’s son and successor 
 Otto L, who was intent on propagating Christendom 
 among the surrounding heathens, the foundation of the 
 first church was laid, and a bishop installed. This 
 bishopric was maintained from 960 till 1542, under the 
 administration of 44 bishops. 
 
 The first church may soon have been found too 
 small for the number of its congregation, and bishop 
 Witigo I. (1266 -— 1293) began soon after his investiture 
 the reconstruction of the present Cathedral. 
 
i ee ah ate SA nt a le 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 The hill, on which the castle of Meissen is situated, has a 
 rapid slope on all sides, and a very high bridge, built in the 
 13th. century, connects it with the opposite hill. An old gate, 
 lately rebuilt, it shows now the figures of St. George, and St. John, 
 painted in scrafitto, leads into the castle-yard, which is surrounded 
 by buildings, showing the architecture of several centuries, in 
 the midst of which the cathedral is situated. 
 
 The outer shape of this beautiful edifice underwent many 
 a change in the course of centuries. Parts were destroyed, and 
 additional buildings were erected. The whole building is less 
 imposing by its size, than by its noble proportions, its lofty 
 simplicity, and the purity of style, by which it ranks among the 
 best masterpieces of old German architecture. 
 
 The reconstruction was achieved in 1290. It comprised the 
 high-altar and that part of the nave up to the southern entrance ; 
 though the plan of the whole building may have been laid under 
 the reign of Witigo I. After the death of this bishop, war- 
 troubles interrupted the progress of the reconstruction, till 
 Witigo If. (1812 — 1342) continued it to the substruction of the 
 western tower. Its achievement took place in the year 1400 under 
 bishop Thymo. This western tower is called: ,,The Broad Tower.‘ 
 Formerly it was surmounted by two pyramidical spires, which were 
 
 cia aint vim alam elane ctene lattice ace att Smet ame et St NN te ee Chen A Nt ot 6 tO ei Seles ao Nie A A BE 
 
 
 

 
 thrown down by a flash of lightning on the 25th. of April 1547, 
 and never have been rebuilt. A brassplate, laid in a tombstone 
 in the church, shows the hole through which the lightning entered 
 the ground. The spires were of the same construction as the 
 perforated steeple in the corner between the high-altar and the 
 transept. This steeple is a square building of slender proportions, 
 and forms beyond the roof of the church two low stories, and 
 then it changes into an octagon with pyramidical turrets. Upon 
 this octagon is a stone-cut gallery with four small turrets, and 
 behind this gallery the octagonal spire rises. It is formed of eight 
 ribs, connected by iron bars, and shows perforated ornaments. 
 The top is crowned by a flower in the shape of a cross. The 
 whole steeple is 234 feet high. 
 
 By the side of this steeple rises the beautiful fronton of the 
 transept, built up in the purest gothic style, both its sides flanked 
 by neat turrets, and ending in a large cross, adorned with lilies. 
 
 The very old chapel of St. John is joined at the left of the 
 transept. A stone inside of it shows the year 1269, and so the 
 chapel is of the first period of rebuilding the cathedral. ‘The 
 window contains glass-paintings of recent date. (The figures of 
 St. John and St. Paul.) 
 
 The principal entrance of the church is hidden by a joined 
 chapel, built in the 15th. century on purpose of containing the 
 tombs of princely personages of Saxony. 
 
 We now enter the church by a fine portal situated on the 
 southside, close to the chapel of St. John. It forms a pointed 
 arch of broad structure, moderated by perforated implections. 
 Seven statues, placed under canopies, form the principal orna- 
 ments of this portal. 
 
 The upper figure represents the holy virgin Maria, crowned 
 as queen of heaven; next to her: St. Agnes and St. Barbara, 
 then follow St. Katharine, and another female Saint without at- 
 
tributes, before which are standing the two patrons of the church, 
 namely: St. John, the Evangelist, and St. Donatus. 
 
 The inside of the church is built in the shape of a latin 
 cross, the base of which is formed by the broad tower, the nave 
 is the shaft of the cross, the transept forms the arms, and the 
 high-altar the top. 
 
 The vault, supported by 14 pillars, is 64 feet high. The 
 shafts of slender columns lean lightly upon the pillars; their capi- 
 tals being decorated with foliage of the richest ingenuity. The 
 nave is 168 feet long by 68 wide, the high-altar 96 feet long by 
 32 wide. The high-altar is separated from the nave by a gallery, 
 bult by bishop John of Ysenberg in the year 1350. In the middle 
 of this gallery stands the altar of the holy cross. This altar is 
 adorned by a picture painted by Lucas Cranach, who was a per- 
 sonal friend of Dr. Martin Luther. (h. Cranach lived from 1472— 
 1553.) The picture is divided into sections, the middle section 
 represents the crucifixion of the Saviour, the offering of Abraham, 
 and the elevation of the brazen snake. The right wing shows 
 the discovering of the holy cross, and the left one: the appearance 
 of the cross in the clouds. 
 
 A door on either side of this altar leads to the high-altar. 
 Over each of these doors is a stone-figure, one representing St. 
 Bartholomew, the other St. Basile. 
 
 THE HIGH-ALTAR. 
 
 Entering the high-altar one sees the wooden pews of the 
 former prebendaries. These pews are separated from each other 
 by small columns with nicely sculptured foliage in their capitals, 
 and crowned by fine gothic canopies. The picture of the altar 
 represents the three holy kings, worshiping the infant Jesus Christ. 
 This altar is standing in the same place as that of the first 
 
 
 

 
 church, and, very probably, has been kept during the achieve- 
 ment of the reconstruction. 
 
 History tells us: that in the year 1156 Conrad the Great, 
 head of both lines of the Saxon houses, laid down before this 
 very altar his trusty sword, and all the ensigns of his power, to 
 turn monk. He went into a monastery, where he died in the 
 following year, bare of all earthly splendour. 
 
 Immediately before the altar are two tombstones, covering 
 the remains of Margrave William the one-eyed, and his Marchio- 
 ness. The brazen figure of the Margrave, and coat of arms have 
 fallen a prey to plunderers during the thirty year’s war. 
 
 The fine tabernacle, on the left of the altar, shows in its 
 lower part three shrines, separated from each other by iron bars, 
 and secured by iron gratings. Surmounted by a rich stone-cut 
 crowning, it spires up in a pyramide, and ends in a flower. It 
 is indeed lamentable that it has suffered damage about the centre. 
 
 At the side of this tabernacle is a door, leading to the sa- 
 cristy, over which are standing on pedestals the coloured statues 
 of Emperor Otto I, and his second wife Adelheid, and opposite 
 them, those of the Evangelist John, and bishop Donatus. They are 
 ranked among the best works of sculpture of the 13th. century, 
 and are distinguished for a faithful representation of the peculia- 
 rity of the costumes of that period. 
 
 Of the numerous painted windows, which formerly adorned 
 the church, only a few are remaining on the eastern side of the 
 high-altar, representing scenes from the holy story. 
 
 The sacristy (formerly All Saints Chapel) gives through its 
 windows a very fine view of the river, and the opposite hills. 
 
 Reentering the nave of the church, we perceive the whole 
 flooring covered with tombstones. The oldest of these are on the 
 right side of the altar of the holy cross. They show no in- 
 scription, but contain a mitre and a crosier. The most remar- 
 
eatin at ok ee 
 
 kable ones of the rest, which partly show well conserved in- 
 scriptions, are those of Witigo I. (+ 1293) the rebuilder of the 
 present church, and of Witigo II. (+ 1312) the enlarger of it, 
 John of Ysenberg (1370), Conrad of Wallhausen (1375), Nicolaus 
 of Meissen (+ 1411). All these tombstones lie at the foot of 
 the altar. 
 
 The most celebrated among the bishops of Meissen was Benno, 
 who died 1106. He is said to have performed miracles, and was 
 canonized by Pope Adrian VI. in the year 1523. At the time 
 of the reformation his remains were taken to Munich, where they 
 are objects of adoration by the catholics to the present time. 
 Separated from the nave by a trellised iron-gate is a chapel (the 
 game, which hides the main-entrance), built 1423—1425, on pur- 
 pose of containing the tombs of Saxon Dukes, and of their fa- 
 milies. In the middle of this chapel stands the monument of 
 Frederic, surnamed the Warlike. It is cast in brass with a re- 
 presentation of the duke, with a long sword in his hands, lying 
 upon it. The tomb itself is richly decorated with symbolic 
 figures, angels and coat of arms. Around it are the tombs of 
 his family, and of Dukes of Saxony, covered with beautifully 
 engraved brassplates. 
 
 The principal door of the cathedral is very richly decorated 
 with statues and reliefos. The topmost figure represents the 
 Saviour with St. Maria and St. John. 
 
 On either side are arranged the twelve apostles; all these 
 figures stand on consoles with angels in a praying attitude under 
 each, and under canopies similarly crowned. The two figures 
 below the apostles represent: Bishop Donatus on the right, and 
 St. John on the left. The three reliefos inside the arch show: 
 the coronation of St. Maria, the birth of the Saviour, and the three 
 kings, worshiping the infant Christ. The whole portal seems to be 
 of a more recent date, than the substruction of the broad tower. 
 
 ala vim eel eens cteee ates acne ety Smart Smee ae Te tote SE eh hea EA Nee te RD Ge Ith A Ne A ee BS 
 
 
 

 
 ea (4 pe 
 
 To the southside of this chapel is joined a smaller one, erected 
 by Duke George the Bearded (+ 1539). The low portal is con- 
 structed of marble and serpentine stone, and contains in relief, 
 cut in alabaster, the inhuming of the Saviour by an Italian artist. 
 Covering the remains are two brass-plates, whereon is engraven 
 a representation of the Duke and Duchess Barbara. A picture, 
 opposite the tombs represents the descent from the cross, and 
 George and Barbara worshiping the Saviour. 
 
 Reentering the nave just below the organ-loft, the spectator 
 enjoys a full and most effective view of the whole church. It 
 shows now the simplicity of all protestant churches; but at the 
 end of the 15ti. century 56 altars were scarcely sufficent for say- 
 ing the number of masses, and two hundred priests were engaged 
 in worshiping God, and the Saints. Rich were the ornaments, 
 and most valuable the treasures of gold, silver, and precious 
 vestments. They were taken away in consequence of the refor- 
 mation. It was on the 10th. of October 1542, when the cathedral 
 was delivered up to the protestants. 
 
 Connected with the cathedral by the cross-way is the chapel 
 of St. Maria Magdalene, built in the beginning of the 13th. cen- 
 tury. It is remarkable for its noble simplicity of architecture. 
 
 The cross-way, surrounding the yard before this chapel, shows 
 two different periods of architecture. That part, next to the church 
 is of the 13th. century, and the other three sides are of the 
 15th. century. 3 
 
 Those wishing to enjoy a most picturesque view on the sur- 
 rounding country, may ascend to the platform of the broad tower. 
 The castle- yard, and the city of Meissen are spread out at their 
 feet, and far in the distance Dresden and the Switzerland of 
 Saxony can be seen on a clear day. 
 
 South-east of the crossway is the castle of the former bishops. 
 It was built in 1476 and the following years under bishop John 
 
of Weissbach by the same architect, who built the Albrechtsburg. 
 At present it contains a court of justice. 
 
 THE ALBRECHTSBURG. 
 
 Of all the old Gothic Castles of Germany none make such 
 a splendid display of architecture, as does this magnificent edifice. 
 Built on purpose to be an outguard of German culture, and a 
 stronghold against the ennemies of Germany, the first residence 
 of the Margraves being much damaged during several sieges, 
 Duke Albrecht of Saxony, surnamed the Courageous, had him- 
 self a castle built, which answered better the pretentions of taste 
 and comfort. From 1471 to 1483 master Arnold from West- 
 phalia was leading architect. Duke Albrecht took profit of every 
 interval of war, to come and watch the progress of the building, 
 and when it was achieved in 1483, the hero, whom his soldiers 
 called: The German Roland, choose this castle for his favourite 
 residence, here to cultivate the aquaintance of learned men, to 
 whom he was a friend and protector. 
 
 Being built in the style of later Gothic, the castle shows 
 two buildings joined at right angles. ‘The principal part is adja- 
 cent to the church, and the smaller one parallel with it. They 
 contain four floors above the ground, and two vast underground 
 stories; the later, formerly serving for cellars, containing space 
 for about 1200 large barrels of wine. 
 
 The outer appearance of the castle, viewed from the river- 
 side, is very imposing with its projecting structure, and a slender 
 
 a a ee ee ee es ee Se ee 
 
 
 

 
 REE AONE a 
 
 tower, containing real masterpieces of arched cabinets. To be 
 shown through the inner appartments visitors may apply to the 
 castellan. 
 
 From the year 1710 till 1863 the castle was occupied by the 
 Royal China-Manufactory of Saxony. Many were the destructions 
 caused by it being fitted out for the purpose of this manufactory. 
 Walls were pierced, other walls were erected, and of all the 
 costly ornaments, of the goblins ectr. nothing was left to show 
 the former richness of decoration. The greatest part of it had 
 fallen a pray to Swedish plunderers after the conquest of the 
 castle in 1645. In 1863 the manufactory was removed to a new 
 building in a suburb of the town, and the reembellishment of 
 the castle began. 
 
 Now most of the inner appartments show their former beauty 
 again, and artists of high fame are busy decorating the stately 
 rooms with paintings and sculptures. For this purpose they take 
 their ideas from the former history of the castle. Before and 
 above all the valiant Duke Albrecht, the bronze-statue of whom 
 already adorns the castle-yard, will be glorified in pictures, re- 
 presenting his warfares and the exploits of his bold spirit. Events 
 of historical interest, occurring in later times are the subjects of 
 other pictures, and the statues of princes and heroes form an 
 other part of giving worthy ornaments to the lofty halls. 
 
 Tbe ground-floor comprised rooms for the household. Two 
 winding stair-cases lead to the upper floors. One of them is of 
 magnificent structure. It has open galeries in every floor, the 
 first and the second of which are ornamented with stone-cut 
 figures, representing scenes of biblical and other ancient history 
 in the first, and scenes taken from life in the second. Another 
 shows coats of arms, and other ornaments. 
 
 From these galeries many a sweet glance from the eyes of 
 fair ladies rewarded the victorious champion below in the tild- 
 
yard; for turnaments were often held during duke Albrecht’s 
 government. 
 
 The principal rooms of the first floor are: The hall to receive 
 the auditory for the adjacent chapel of St. John; the banqueting 
 hall, and another hall, destined to be the meeting - place of the 
 ducal family. 
 
 In most of the halls the vault rests on two or three stone- 
 pillars in the middle, connected to other pillars in the wall by 
 pointed arches. The pillars are in the shape of palm-trees, the 
 stems of which are spreading out in branches, forming the ribs 
 of the vault. 
 
 Four large plains in the first hall show the following pictures: 
 
 1. The Germans chastise the Slavic gangs of robbers. 
 
 9. Emperor Henry I founding the first castle of Meissen. 
 
 3. The Germans and their wives defend the castle against 
 Polanders in 1015. 
 
 4, ‘The public entrance of emperor Conrad, who transferred 
 the margraviate of Meissen on the house of Wettin, 
 in 1088. (Painted by Dietrich.) 
 
 The stone-figure of emperor Otto I, the founder of the cathe- 
 dral, and that of Bishop Benno, its most celebrated bishop, have 
 their place on either side of the entrance to the chapel of St. John. 
 
 The rest of the smaller walls show a chronological succession 
 of representatives of the house of Wettin. 
 
 The banqueting-hall, which is more spacious, and more splen- 
 did than the former, contains four pictures. 
 
 1. The knight Kunz von Kaufungen and his assistants car- 
 rying the two princes Ernst and Albrecht out of the 
 castle of Altenburg. 
 
 29. The rescue of the prince Ernst by the charcoal - burner 
 Schmidt. 
 
 3. The retourn of the princely brothers to Altenburg. 
 
 pn Bl nd tenn eter eae a ay ote — ‘ : 2 
 —t AO ee oho Tt eerie one. awit a ei HOS Gee 
 
 
 

 
 ae A pee 
 
 It was in the night before the 8th. of July 1455, when the 
 knight Kunz von Kaufungen took revenge of duke F feted. by 
 carrying off his sons. Kunz was forced to hand back again One 
 estates, left to him for a time for losses he had sustained during 
 the war between the brothers Wilhelm and Friedrich. The princes 
 were rescued, and the knight, taken prisoner, was beheaded. 
 
 4, The young prince ice: crowned as a victor at a tur- 
 
 nament in Pirna, when he was not older than 16 years. 
 (Painted by Professor Oehme.) 
 
 Besides these paintings seven statues of painted sandstone 
 represent : 
 Henry 1, Conrad the Great, Henry the Illustrious, Fre- 
 deric the Warlike, Albrecht the Courageous, George the 
 Bearded, and John George II. 
 
 The meeting hall 
 
 is adorned with a picture representing the betrothal of duke Alb- 
 recht and Sidonia, daughter of the king Podiebrad of Bohemia, 
 and several lendeeags and architectonic paintings, as: the house 
 wherein Albrecht was borne: the castle of Grimma, and those of 
 Kiger and Tharand, and the cathedral of Emden. 
 
 (Painted by Prof. Hofmann and Preller.) 
 
 The right wing contains two halls, which show nine pictures: 
 
 The sleeping room of the Duke contains: 
 
 Albrecht defending the fortress of Neuss on the lower 
 Rhine against Charles of Burgund. 
 
 He is knighting his braves. 
 
 He forces the entrance to the castle of N egau in Hungaria. 
 
 He conqueers the city of Archol in Flanders, 
 
 While Albrecht is sitting at table, two ladies, induced 
 to‘it by emperor Maximilian, cut off the beard of 
 
 femre 
 e 
 
 Or go bo 
 
 
 
hee ER EDS ee 
 
 ee RE NR NA GN RA eR Ee AE RE OR mE Te 
 
 Albrecht, which he would allow to grow, till he had 
 conqueered the whole Flanders (1493). 
 (Painted by Scholz.) 
 The second hall: 
 1. Albrecht enters Harlem as a victor. 
 Surrender of the fortress of Sluys. 
 The West-Frieslanders offer to Albrecht the government 
 of their country. 
 4, Albrecht relieves the besieged city of Franecker. 
 (Painted by Scholz.) 
 
 The second floor. 
 This floor contains more halls than the first, of which how- 
 ever only those are selected for being painted, which afford the 
 best light, and sufficient place on their walls. 
 
 The hall of escutcheons 
 is embellished by four Jandscaps showine: 
 
 1. The ancestor’s castle the Wartburg. 
 
 2. The castle of Wettin. 
 
 3. The Albrechtsburg. 
 
 4, The castle of Landsberg. (Painted by Schoulant.) 
 
 Two halls, wherein formerly the court of appeals had its 
 
 meeting place, contain five pictures representing: 
 
 1. Prince electoral Augustus, called the father of Saxony, 
 joining in a public feast. (Augustus lived from 1526 
 till 1586.) (Painted by Spiess.) 
 
 2. Arrival of the students of Leipzig, and of their professors 
 on the market-place of Meissen, where they are 
 received by the magistrate. (Painted by Spiess.) 
 
 During the Shmalkaldish war Leipzig was besieged, and, for 
 
 this reason, the university was transplaced to the Albrechtsburg, 
 where it remained only a short time. (1547.) 
 
 
 
 a eel ee ee ne ee es ee er eee Se eee Se eee 
 

 
 3. The foundation of the college of Meissen by prince electoral 
 Moritz (1543). (Painted by the history-painter Spiess.) 
 4, The Conventus deliberativus, convoked by Moritz, trans- 
 acting in his presence the possibility of embracing the 
 interim of Augsburg, in order to establish a peaceable 
 condition among the divergent confessions in the empire. 
 Present are: George von Anhalt, provost of the cathe- 
 drals of Magdeburg and Meissen, Professor Forster 
 from Wittenberg, Superintendent Pfeffinger from Leip- 
 zig, Cruziger, George Major, Philipp Greher, and 
 Melanchton. (This meeting took place the 1st. of July 
 1548.) 
 5. An other scene taken from the history of the reformation. 
 (Painted by Professor Marshall.) 
 All these pictures are painted in wax-colours on the walls; 
 this is a way of paintig, which makes them as durable as pain- 
 ting in fresco. 
 
 The upper floor 
 
 contains several appartments with furowed beams supporting the 
 ceiling, and narrow windows. 
 In all, the Albrechtsburg comprises seven large halls, 20 rooms, 
 14 smaller appartments and a number of vaulted cellars. Among 
 them is a dungeon, containing many inscriptions of one of the 
 last prisoners. One of these inscriptions means: 
 ,,Man must die, that is certain, 
 But never he knows the day nor the hour, when death 
 will come ; 
 So fear thy God, and think, each coming hour may 
 be thy last.‘ 
 
stideeetieeien ato eee 
 
 Another building, connected to the Albrechtsburg by an open 
 galery with wooden pillars, was built on purpose for a grainary. 
 It was erected 1520, and has lately been fitted out in the style 
 of the Albrechtsburg. 
 
 At the other side of the cathedral are some more remarkable 
 buildings, the ornamentation of which shows that they belong to 
 the clergy. 
 
 The provost’s house, built 1497, shows the coats of arms of 
 its builder. 
 
 Another, with the stone- figure of St. John over its door, is 
 the dean’s house, and was erected 1526. 
 
 A third house is the meeting house of the chapter, and shows 
 eight coats of arms in its front. 
 
 Taking the way back to the town, we pass the old bridge, 
 through the battlements of which we enjoy on both sides a beauti- 
 ful view. On the right we look down upon a fresh green valley 
 with its cottages, hidden in fruit-trees, and on the left we see 
 the vineyards on the other side of the river. 
 
 A second door, formerly provided with a draw- bridge, leads 
 to the opposite hill. 
 
 Most of the buildings, situated on this hill, belonged for- 
 merly to the monastery of St. Afra, the church of which was 
 erected 1329. . ; 
 
 With exception of the houses of the parson and of the dean, 
 and a few other buildings, the other appurtenance of the said 
 monastery was transformed into one of the first protestant colleges 
 of Saxony in the year 1543, wherein presently 130 boarding- 
 scholars, and a number of external pupils are prepared by pro- 
 fessors for their professional study in any faculty of a university. 
 
 All the pupils are kept under a close survey, be it in the 
 institution itself, or in the families of the teachers. 
 
 The whole premises of the college are newly built. 
 
 2 
 
 AE et CIO Steet se Sat Tine Ties Nag hia SS tse Ltn ch cits Coa Hc chisancis 
 
 Fe I TT Nr WaT we TN Tey eae - 
 ~ . oo eens 
 
 
 
 Rand wir pales aerenep ines eS 
 

 
 Steps, leading down from this hill, bring us back to the 
 narrow streets of the town, which show many an interesting old 
 house with scrolls in their gables, and ornamented doors, some 
 of them having inscriptions of a pious meaning. Several buildings 
 are of the 15th others of the 16th century. The townhall on the 
 market -place was erected 1479. 
 
 The parish church, situated on the same place, is a plain 
 building, which was erected in the 15th century, after the former 
 had been destroyed by fire 1447. The steeple was struck in its 
 upper parts by a flash of lightning during the same thunderstorm 
 which destroyed the spires of the broad tower of the cathedral 
 1547, and was rebuilt in the same shape, it shows now. 
 
 A short way through the inner town leads to the suburb in 
 which is situated 
 
 1k ROY AL 
 
 CHINA-MANUFACTORY. 
 
 The writer of this guide, being for many years employed 
 ag an embosser in this establishment, may be permitted to sketch 
 in a few lines the historical points of the useful and noble art of 
 pottery. 
 
 In all parts of the globe, thousands of years ago, even in 
 those remote countries, where culture is in its most primitive 
 state, men looked for a material to form receptacles , impenetrable 
 enough to conserve liquids, or to preserve dry fruits from get- 
 ting wet. Nature had richly furnished the soil with all kinds of 
 plastic clay, very often lying at hand on the surface. Water to 
 
 
 

 
 EN OR BI ew we ee 
 
 SO a aa tare et aes 
 nies om, 7 ee ee 
 
 — 19 — 
 
 a 
 
 soften this clay, was not more distant, and the first trials to 
 shape the required vase, may have similarized a childish attempt, 
 which is beut upon imitating of clay all shapes before its eyes. 
 Culture grew, and opened the eyes of men, to see the beautiful 
 forms of fruits, of eggs, and of many other gifts of nature. So 
 they found out the first models to be imitated, because they were 
 most fitting for the purpose of constructing their vessels for, do- 
 mestic use. ‘The ready objects were exposed to the burning rays 
 of the sun, or to a fire, to harden them, till at length experience 
 taught them to build up kilns, for which the bricks were made of 
 the same material. In these kilns the vases were hardened by a 
 fire of long duration, and so they got the wanted hardness, which 
 made them fit for being carried to another place, or better to 
 conserve their contents. But aJl the potteries of the ancients 
 were more or less porous. No glasslike coating prevented the con- 
 tents of the vases from being spoiled by the moisture penetrating, 
 or the liquids from being absorbed. 
 
 In Greece the first glaced vases were made about 3000 years 
 ago. The glacing coat was spread out very thinly over the sur- 
 face, and showed commonly a black or red colour. 
 
 In the occident of Europe it was not before the year 1283, 
 when a potter at Shlettstadt in Alsace, whose name is unknown, 
 invented a glacing, the principal material of which was an oxyde 
 of lead. Nearly the same as is employed now for common ware. 
 
 During the middle age, among the Italians Luca della Robbia 
 in Florence about 1430, and Orazzio de Fontana in Pezaro 1540, 
 in France Bernard de Palissy were highly famed for their em- 
 bellishment of pottery. In the middle of the last century in Eng- 
 land the great improver of pottery was Wedgewood. So it was in 
 Kurope. But far in advance were the Asiatic nations in per- 
 fectioning their pottery. At last two thousand years ago the 
 Chinese invented the fine ware, the name of which is derived 
 
 
 
 ©) 
 ea 
 
 ne a eee ee aD oeepneiemeiem nae oe 
 

 
 
 
 Se ETN AN a a AN A NY Nl) WRN a a ot SR INN OR ERIS oe RE 
 
 = 4 
 
 from the country of its inventors. To own some pieces of this 
 costly ware, was a privilege and a desire to the monarchs of 
 Europe, and large sums of gold went to China in exchange for 
 this precious pottery. 
 
 Among the many monarchs of Germany Augustus the Strong 
 King of Poland and prince elector of Saxony spent the largest 
 sums for this costly ware, and in this way he brought together 
 that fine collection, which is still exhibited to its admirers in 
 Dresden. He gave even once in exchange for a number of big 
 vases, in possession of the King of Prussia, a whole regiment of 
 troopers. But the love of fine collections of China-ware was not 
 his only weakness, he was very fond of other beauties, and the 
 poor people of Saxony could scarcely pay the taxes laid upon 
 them, to provide the necessary means for so splendid a court. No 
 wonder that a young man, who pretented to own the philosopher’s- 
 stone, and to have the very receipt of transmuting common 
 metals into gold, was graciously received by this prince. The 
 young man’s name was: John Frederic Boéttcher, the in- 
 ventor of the European China. He was born the 2nd Febr. 1685, 
 at Scheitz, a small residence in the principality of Reuss. and 
 came to Wittenberg in his flight from Berlin. 
 
 Wittenberg, at present belonging to Prussia, was at that 
 time a Saxon fortress. Béttcher had been an apprentice to the 
 
 ‘chemist Zorn in Berlin. Here he found a manuscript of a certain 
 
 Hellmont, an alchemist, who ended his life in Switzerland. This 
 and his knowledge of chemistry induced him to search for the 
 philosopher’s-stone; this, being a very universal idea at that time. 
 He examined closely all the writings of renowned alchemists, and 
 found a teacher in the art of making gold in a monk, named 
 Laskaris. Béttcher was an ingenious man in his bussiness, but 
 otherwise very light minded. Very often, being short of money, 
 he began cheating his master, in order to acquire the means for 
 
——————— 
 
 Sen in ae Ra Renee — 
 =e ec« A I Np ER en ene 
 Ss a 
 
 his expenses, and, to conceal the source of them, he pretented 
 to own thoroughly the secret of making gold. Once he showed 
 to his companions a piece of gold, about the length of a small 
 finger, feigning it was of his own making. Of course, this was 
 , soon spoken of in a large circle, and Béttcher, apprehending a 
 closer trial of his pretented knowledge, knowing himself to be an 
 impostor, ran away from Berlin to Wittenberg. Meanwhile the 
 rumour, to have a gold-maker in the walls of Berlin, came to the e 
 ears of the King of Prussia, and this monarch is told to have | 
 felt a great passion in hearing of the adepts escape to the neigh- 
 bouring country of Saxony. He offered a reward of 1000 thalers 
 for the recovering of Béttcher, and had a great mind to send 
 several of his regiments to Wittenberg, in order to bring him 
 back by force. The commanding officer of the fortress sent word 
 to his court, and the prince- elector, Augustus the Strong, being | 
 very glad to have a real goldmaker in his power, caused the young 
 i 
 
 
 
 man to be brought to Dresden under a strong escort of horse- 
 
 men. Arrived in the capital of Saxony he entered into connection 
 
 with a very experienced natural-philosopher and chemist , named 
 
 Walther de Tzschirnhausen, and with the governor Prince Egon 
 
 de Furstenberg. The former owned a laboratory, and here Bott- 
 
 cher was desired to realize the promises of his pretented art. 
 He was obliged to work under the observation of Tzschirn- 
 
 hausen. An intended trial to escape from here to Bohemia ren- 
 
 dered his surveillance more severe, and for fear of loosing the 
 
 keeper of so important a secret, the king kept him closely con- 
 
 fined and guarded. All his further trials, to produce the tincture | 
 
 by which, for instance, he had boasted himself to transmute one 
 
 part of silver into 180 parts of gold, were in vain, and having 
 
 pawned his own head to guaranty the success of his promise, he 
 
 was in the worst situation immaginable. The king himself, when 
 
 present at Dresden, came to look after the expected gold, and 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 AO ry as 
 
 once he is said to have menaced Bottcher by the following words: 
 Fulfil my desire, else! — The wanting words were easily supple- 
 mented by the terrorstriken man: Else you will be hanged! 
 
 And so it would have been, if aot by a happy chance Béttcher, 
 who was trying a new mixture of clay for making crucibles, had 
 made an invention, which restored him in the favour of Augustus. 
 The crucibles, when coming out of the oven, showed some quali- 
 ties of the real China- ware, though they were of a red-brown 
 colour. The king bestowed upon him rich presents, but in spite 
 of being a made man, he was not yet at liberty. To keep him 
 better in custody he was desired to remove his present laboratory 
 to the Albrechtsburg in Meissen in the year 1705, where he worked 
 under the never ceasing guard of an officer, and under the in- 
 spection of Tzschirnhausen. He was aided by five smelters and a 
 brick -layer, who were kept in such a perfect concealment, that 
 even the families of the smelters knew not the purpose nor the 
 place of their concealment from them. 
 
 When in the year 1706 Suedes under Charles XII invaded 
 Saxony, Béttcher and his coworkers were taken to the fortress 
 of Kénigstein. Here Béttcher tried again to escape in company 
 with several noble prisoners. But finding that his workmen had 
 caught a suspicion of the plot, he betrayed his companions, and 
 alleviated in an ignoble manner his imprisonment. 
 
 The following year at the close of the invasion, he came 
 back to Dresden, and began his work anew in his own laboratory, 
 aided by Tzschirnhausen. In the year i708 the latter died, and, 
 having found two other experienced men, who were very practi- 
 cal in all kinds of pottery, the technical part of the invention was 
 matured in a high degree. During this time Bottcher brought 
 all his faculties into play, to immitate the white China, and to 
 have it just of the same appearance, as the genuine. A happy 
 chance made him successfull. 
 
 
 
LN PREG eg 
 
 en nee Wn de tee 
 sere FO ee nn rn er ee 
 . eer genes, 
 
 It was at that time when curled and powdered wigs were 
 fashionable. Once his hair-dresser brought a new sort of powder | 
 with him. By chance Béttcher got it into his hands, and, finding 
 it to be of another appearance than the wheat-flour, commonly 
 used for powder, and too heavy for being a vegetable substance, 
 he tried it in a chemical way. He found it to be a clay of the 
 purest white colour, and not at all fusible. This earth came from 
 the Saxon mountains, where a farmer, named Schnorr (pronounce 
 Shnorr), an ancestor of the renowned painter Schnorr of Carols- 
 feld, had found it on the surface of his fields. He dug it merely 
 for the purpose of selling it for hair powder, and made a very 
 good business with it. 
 
 To produce the brown ware Bottcher had probably mixed a 
 certain quantity of felspar to a redish clay, dug in the neighbour- | 
 hood of Meissen. This ware had not a glacing coat, nor was it 
 transparent like the genuine China-ware. In a similiar way he | 
 made his new trials, till in the year 1709 he succeeded in inven- 
 ting a ware, not only similar, but even of a purer white colour ! 
 than the Chinese or the Japanese had produced. 
 
 Bottcher was not at all without energy and, being a merry 
 man himself, he liked to make others merry also. His ware re- 
 quired five days’ and nights’ baking, before it was perfectly done, 
 and he is said not to have stirred from his place among his work- 
 men, during this period, but to have kept them in good humour 
 by his jovial conversation. 
 
 One day the king assisted at the baking, being highly inter- 
 ested in the new progress of the invention, and was greatly 
 amused by seeing a tea-pot, taken out of the fire when white 
 hot, and being immediately plunged into cold water, showed not 
 the slightest injury. 
 
 The king, resolved to reap profit out of the new invention, | 
 and the laboratory in Dresden being too narrow he ordered to | 
 
 
 
 
 
 pteniiienigniteede ee 
 
 Se eee eee ae eee 
 
TE YH ee AA et CE ANCA SA NO OM eZ RO SEN ET eR Rg SS ORS fo weg rE Set Se REE vara 
 
 Sede OO ARE 
 
 have the first China manufactory founded in Meissen. The spa- 
 cious localities of the Albrechtsburg seemed most favourable for 
 the purpose, and so on the 6th of June 1710 this castle was 
 delivered to Bottcher and his assistants. Great promises were 
 made to artists to provide the necessary hands, and the manu- 
 factory began with a number of 88 persons, employed under the 
 directorship of Béttcher. 
 
 During the first years of the establishment, he seemed to 
 have a great care for perfecting his work, but soon he began an 
 extravagant mode of living, by which the progress of his work 
 was much retarded. He destroyed his health by strong liquids, 
 and died the 13th of March 17!9, not older than 34 years. At 
 his decease not more than 26 persons were employed in the 
 manufactory. 
 
 His successors were men of great knowledge, and animated 
 by the best will to bring up the establishment to a high point. 
 They understood very well how to choose artists not only to work 
 out their own ideas, but to scrutinize the products of the other 
 employed men. An immense number of new patterns were formed, 
 and large vases, all kinds of large animals, elegant groups and 
 paintings from originals of the Dresden galery showed a more 
 refined taste, than all the former productions, which were almost 
 mere copies from Chinese shapes and paintings. 
 
 After 1750, especially after the war of 7 years durance (1758 
 till 1763), which was a period of great distress to the whole coun- 
 try of Saxony, new improvements took place. A school of art 
 was erected in order to train up young men as clever artists. 
 This school was richly provided with casts from antique figures, 
 and fine paintings from the galery, and experienced teachers were 
 the leaders of it. 
 
 Several artists were sent to other countries to cultivate their 
 taste by studymg fine objects of art, and so the productions 
 
 
 
 
 
2 ee DI 5 
 
 
 
 a a eT _ 
 
 ee 5 5 hae 
 
 gained the high accomplishment, which spread the reputation of 
 the establishment over all parts of the world. 
 
 The prevailing style of that period, when the manufactory 
 was established, and had made its progress was that richly orna- 
 mented and very free style called Rococco. No wonder if the 
 greatest part of the models and paintings show it in all its splen- 
 did flower. 
 
 There are thousands of groups and figures, sets, vases and 
 looking-glasses bearing the features of that time in their graceful 
 attitudes, their rich ornaments, and their bright colours. 
 
 No other establishment of this kind has so rich a collection 
 of the most valuable patterns, as that of Meissen, and clever 
 artists are busy inventing new designs. From the isolating bells 
 on the telegraph poles, through the whole scale of dishes and 
 implements, used in chemistry and mechanic, from the plainest 
 dish, used at table, to the richest dinner-set, from the tiny cup, 
 to the largest vase, in every shape and size, all that can be 
 made of our materials, is executed here in the most elaborate 
 style. 
 
 Stately rooms offer the most splendid show of all the various 
 patterns, exhibited for sale to their visitors, and to those, who 
 take a more special interest in the method of manufacturing ail 
 this costly ware, admission to the workrooms is kindly granted 
 by the administration of the works, through the most interesting 
 parts visitors will be shown by a guide. 
 
 The following lines may give a true picture of many proce- 
 dures in making china. 
 
 The principal material used in china-making is Kaolin. This 
 is a white earth, very friable; it shows no ebulition by any acide, ‘ 
 and is not fusible at all. It is produced from decayed rocks, 
 containing felspar. We find it in pits very near the surface of 
 
 - Ne as Slat ante a Fi oh shoes Neteiia nd te enni saab eateae 
 

 
 
 
 ey ORE oe 
 
 our hills, and the abouts of Meissen are very richly supplied 
 with this and various other sorts of valuable clay. 
 
 When taken out of the pit it contains various coarser par- 
 ticles, as mical, grains of quarz and not decayed felspar, these 
 are ejected by washing. This being the first proceeding, I shail 
 give a short explanation of it. ! 
 
 A spacious hall, having two elevated terraces on one end, 
 contains on its most elevated point, a huge tub, filled with the 
 water necessary for this proceeding, and several smaller ones, in 
 which the kaolin is dissolved. By stirring it with shovels the 
 coarsest particles are separated from the koalin, and sink to the 
 bottom. The water, saturated with kaolin is scooped from the 
 surface, and poured through a very fine sieve into channels slop- 
 ing slightly. The channels have small prominences at short 
 intervals. The saturated water, flowing slowly down the channels, 
 leaves all the heavier particles behind the prominences, and fills 
 the reservoirs, placed on the ground-floor. Here the kaolin sinks 
 to the bottom, and the water is drawn off by moveable pipes. 
 After this the kaolin is scooped out and dried. 
 
 As said before, this earth is not at all fusible, and it re- 
 quires the addition of a fusible matter, in order to produce the 
 semi-pellucid appearance of porcelain. For this reason we add 
 a fixed quantity of not decayed felspar to the earth. The felspar 
 is calcined, is mashed and then ground between mill-stones to a 
 fine powder. The mixture in the condition of a thin pap, is put 
 into another tub, having a stirring wheel inside. The mixture 
 being perfect, the liquid matter is running into linen bags, and 
 taken into a press, to bring the paste in a plastic consistence. 
 The store of paste, prepared in this way, is left in reservoirs for 
 several weeks, to increase its malleability. After this, the paste 
 is ready to be used for making all the various articles shown in 
 the exhibition - rooms. 
 
 
 
EL PANTER TC ae LI Ne IT cr ete nh acta are 
 " Pree rman gt ea 
 
 EW hag ee 
 
 The men employed as artists in the establishment, are trained 
 in the school of drawing, painting and modelling. Among these 
 the most talented are chosen to invent new patterns, or to work 
 them out. 
 
 : The plastic models are made of clay, or of plaster of Paris, 
 and sometimes they are combined of both the materials. 
 
 For instance, the body of a round vase with raised orna- 
 ments is of plaster of Paris, while the ornaments are made of 
 clay. Models of figures are made of clay and executed sculptorally. 
 
 After having finished a model of a group, the sculptor cuts 
 off every projecting part of it, to have over each a mould cast 
 of plaster of Paris. 
 
 So we have groups consisting of more than two hundred 
 parts, and the number of all our moulds is immense, for there 
 are several thousands of figures and groups, besides all the many 
 other patterns. The moulds are commonly made of two shells. 
 When they are ready, they are handed to the moulder. 
 
 Before this man-begins his work of taking impressions, he 
 must get out the air-holes of the paste, and bring it into a ho- 
 mogeneous condition. For this purpose he cuts it into pieces, 
 which he kneads considerably throwing them heavily upon the 
 table and one upon the other. After the paste is fit to moul- 
 ding, he takes off one shell of the mould, puts a lump of paste 
 into the hollow of it, and there upon he presses the other shell. 
 In a short time, when the porous mould has absorbed some of 
 the water contained in the paste, he opens the mould, and takes 
 out the impression. Pieces of more than an inch in thickness are 
 moulded hollow. The impression of all parts of a group having 
 been taken, they are handed to another man, who trims them. 
 For moulding oval dishes or square ones, vases, baskets a. 8. 0. 
 a large lump of paste is spread out as long and as broad as the 
 mould of the object. Two rulers of the same thickness, the dish 
 
 
 
 Menthe paths nabs iiedagsctee 
 
ASL Ee Ree EA AO A ONE EM SOLES AION RO Od | OGM FHI eT Sie I CL eR REIT Ip ae OR RE Sng SSE See ue ee Bp SOT Se SRS a ee ge, 
 
 
 
 es) 
 | 
 
 oO} 
 aad a 
 
 requires, are put on both sides of the paste. By means of a 
 wire-string the moulder cuts off a leaf of the clay, pressing the 
 
 wire down along the rulers while cutting. This leaf is put upon 
 
 or into the mould, and by beating it with a moist sponge against 
 
 it, the impression is taken. One side of the dish, the same which 
 does not touch the mould, is always made by hands. Large vases 
 
 must be thicker in their lower parts, than at the top, to stand 
 
 the heat in baking. 
 
 The men who trim the parts of figures a. s. 0. are called 
 embossers, and must understand drawing and modelling Very 
 often this part of manufacturing requires a great deal of skill, 
 taste and time, for the impression is never as exact as necessary, 
 and the joinings of the shells leave always a raised edge. When 
 all parts are trimmed, they are joined with a thin pap of the 
 same paste. After a group is put together, all the necessary 
 things are laid on, as garlands, ties, buttons a.s. 0. Very often 
 flowers are used for ornaments. Most of them are made by hands 
 The arrangement of wreathes on vases is commonly left to the 
 taste of the embosser. 
 
 Among the embossers some are employed to perforate dishes. 
 This is done with a small knife. The man handles it following 
 the raised outline of the pattern. After a while the cut is 
 taken out. 
 
 Round pieces are made on the potters-wheel. After the clay 
 has undergone the operation for getting out the air-holes, and 
 to have it of an equal softness, the potter throws a lump of 
 paste upon the top-wheel, and moves the wheel below with his 
 feet. His hands are working the clay by pressing and drawing 
 it up to the right size and shape. To have the piece easily glid- 
 ing through his fingers, he keeps it constantly wet. In this 
 way the object acquires only its rough shape. For getting the 
 exact form, it must be put upon or into a mould, which shows 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
es 
 
 
 
 SOO Ie IRIE AR CCR rr ET Ne SE rer te er 
 < oleae ame teeteeete beneeee eee 
 
 te ROO eee 
 
 the ornaments of the piece. He gets the impression of it by 
 pressing it with a moist sponge down on the mould. The outside © 
 of a plain plate or a saucer is cut out with a metal pattern, but 
 ornamented dishes are made by hand. For this purpose the im- 
 pression is left for a while on the mould, to have it a little 
 harder and there-upon the potter works it with hook- shaped, 
 cutting tools. The handles and spouts of tea-pots or cups are 
 moulded separately and stuck on. 
 
 All the pieces, when finished, are exposed to the air or to 
 the warmth, to have them perfectly dry, before they are baked. 
 
 THE BAKING, 
 
 The china requires two bakings to acquire its semi-pellucid 
 white appearance, and ity hardness, but it must never be ex- 
 posed to the flame itself. So we must put the objects into boxes 
 of fire-clay; a great and variously shaped number of them are 
 required to shelter the ware from getting spoiled by the blaze, 
 and the ashes. The ovens are built of fire-bricks and in the 
 shape of huge cylinders. Hach comprises three compartments, 
 one above the other, which are separated by flat vaults, pierced 
 by holes in order to let the flame pass. The ground compart- 
 ment has five boxes round its outside, and inside a channel with 
 small holes, through which the fire enters to fill the recom; in 
 each compartment is left a door for entering it. Below is the 
 hottest place; there the heat is incommensurable. It amounts to 
 more than 2000 degrees centigrade. The top-compartment re- 
 ceives empty boxes, to have them hard enough for putting in 
 the ware. In the middle-room the china gets its first baking, 
 which makes it as hard as plaster of Paris. The boxes are piled 
 
 Sentai vie nh Reieta cites aetjutia oc iy Sitti oe oem, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 up in the oven at a distance of the breadth of a man’s hand, 
 each of the piles containing boxes of the same size and shape. 
 The largest pieces are put in the center. After the oven is filled, 
 (the ground compartment containing pieces, which have got their 
 first baking in the middle room), the door is bricked up and the 
 fire is lighted. A mixture of bituminous and anthracit-coals is 
 found to be the best for our baking. In the beginning the fire 
 is kept burning slowly, but after several hours it devoures immense 
 quantities of fuel. In the bricks of the entrance a projecting 
 tube is fixed with a glass in it, through which the progress of 
 the fire is watched. Close behind the bricks are placed some 
 small boxes contaming cups, serving for trials. After the fire has 
 burned for about 20 hours, the whole inside of the oven is glowing 
 white, and the time has arrived for drawing out one of the trials. 
 Some projecting bricks are taken out, and by means of long iron 
 tongs, one of the fire-men takes a box out of the oven, and 
 puts it before the surveying functionary for inspection, while 
 another man shuts the hole immediately. This is repeated from 
 time to time, till the surveyor finds the ware is done. Thereupon 
 the fire is ceased, and the ware is left in the oven for about 
 three days to cool gradually before it is taken out. 
 
 After the pieces came out of the middle compartment, where 
 they get the first baking, the trade-mark, which shows two 
 blue crossed swords, is painted on the foot of every piece, and 
 the glacing coat is put on. The men, who are employed in the 
 glacing-room, have the pieces placed to their left, while they 
 are standing before a vat, filled with a white liquid. They manage 
 their pieces exceedingly carefully, for in this condition the china 
 is very brittle. ‘They take one piece after the other, and, by a 
 quick moving of the hand, they plunge them into the liquid, and 
 take them out again as quickly as possible. It requires only a 
 moment to have absorbed a couch of sufficient thickness. Other 
 
 
 
 
 
Ce 
 
 SOE NO IL PR ENO NG FON RO IE ME IE ee OO RN me 
 
 men in the same room are employed for scraping off the glacing 
 of each foot of the objects, to prevent them from sticking to the 
 fire-box in the second baking. 
 
 There are also two colours which are applicable under the 
 glacing, because they bear the immense heat of the second fire. 
 They are: blue, made of cobalt, and a dark green, made ot 
 chrome. The blue patterns, chosen for these paintings are partly 
 in a Chinese style. One of them being most in favour is called: 
 the Onion - Pattern. 
 
 Not all our figures are glaced. Without glacing they are 
 called: biscuit -figures. The materials for glacing are: felspar, 
 limestone, quarz and pulverized china. The same fire, which 
 makes the china semipellucid, melts the glacing into a perfectly 
 
 transparent glass, which allows the body of the paste, or the ~ 
 
 colours underneath it, to shine through. 
 All the finer paintings, and the precious metals are put on 
 the surface of the glacing, and fixed by an other fire. 
 
 THE PAINTING. 
 
 All our colours are, without exception, of metallic origin, 
 and experienced chemists prepare them im our laboratory. The 
 blue of all shades is made of cobalt, the red of iron, the rose- 
 colour of gold and tin, the yellow of antimone a. s. 0. To each 
 of the colours is added a fusible matter, which is melted by a 
 heat of about 600 to 800 degrees centigrade. — 
 
 A machine grinds the colours to the required fineness, and 
 so they are distributed among the painters, who put them together 
 into showy pictures. 
 
 a el ee Sanat Koes. Some. 
 
 Oe a abana emcee oh (ania antes snare sina tages > 
 
 
 
 
 Oe er en ome 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 AG 
 ES PRO eae 
 
 A fugitive oil must be mixed to the colours else the fire would 
 cause them to go off in blisters, if they contained a greasy stuff. 
 
 More than two hundred painters are employed for giving the 
 final decoration to all the various objects. They perform their 
 duty according to their previous study. There are several rooms 
 for painters, who produce from their own idea a whole Spring of 
 flowers on dishes and vases. 
 
 In an other room all the lovely groups and figures are pain- 
 ted. Cupids in the most various disguise, groups of elegant ladies, 
 and courtly gentlemen, in an other place is a comical figure, viz: 
 a tailor on goats-back, fitted out with all the implements of his 
 trade, or all sorts of animals in groups, as: birds, lions attacked 
 by dogs, vases representing the elements with their attributes, 
 Jove throwing his flashes of lightning, monkeys playing on all 
 kinds of musical instruments, iit all: what fancy can imagine, are 
 samples to be found. 
 
 Many artists are busy performing the graver part of pain- 
 
 ting. The painting of figures, landscapes and similar higher 
 ranches of art is left to the most talented artists. Lovely 
 pictures of Watteau, Boucher and Lancret, the old Netherlan- 
 dish-genre-paintings, and pictures of the most renowned painters 
 ot old, are, indelible in colours, dispersed over the world. 
 
 The ornaments painted in gold, silver and platina have quite 
 another appearance, before they go through the finishing fire. 
 Gold looks brown, silver grey and platina black. 
 
 A peculiar kind of oven, called muffle-furnace, receives the 
 painted objects, in order to fix their colours. These ovens are 
 large boxes of fire-clay fastened in a furnace, their open fore- 
 side is shut by a plate of the same clay. After the whole box 
 is filled with painted objects, the open part is shut, and the fire 
 surrounds the whole box. About 600 to 800 deg. centigrade are 
 sufficient to bring out the bright shine of the colours. 
 
SN ee a ee po ee Me RT ME ea eR mn Tne Re ene en eer em ee 
 
 Female hands give the last touch to the ware by burnishing 
 the ornaments of gold, silver a. s. 0. with agates. 
 
 This done, the ware is ready to be sent over the world as 
 a delight for the eyes, or as a valuable dish adding to the em- 
 bellishment of the house. The number of functionaries, engaged 
 in the factory is 32, and. more than 600 artists and workmen 
 are employed. 
 
 Thus the old establishment maintains its high position among 
 all the numerous china- works, and as it is the oldest, a long 
 experience, and the richness of samples, will secure it for times 
 to come. 
 
 
 
 The abouts of Meissen are very rich with the most valuable 
 sorts of clay, used in pottery. Our china-earth and the fire-clay, 
 dug in the vicinity are sent far abroad. So it is a matter of 
 consequence that in Meissen rose several fine establishments, which 
 produce ware of high originality. The best of them are two manu- 
 factories fabricating stoves and chimneys of the appearance of 
 fine porcelain, decorated with painting and gilding in a most 
 gracious style. 
 
 In general, the industry of Meissen is going on in a pros- 
 perous way, and its inhabitants, of the number of 13000, living 
 in a healthy country, are of an intelligent and merry character. 
 Much care is bestowed upon the schools; a sum of 800,000 Mark 
 was spent to erect new buildings for city-schools. (The college 
 is built on expences of the government.) 
 
 ———"——-— ¢ Gia 
 
 
 
 omnia el tara eee tte oie Tt Sat Smt Se et hy Ee i nS hatha een eth i ageless Sasa tains 
 

 
 
 
 Se ig 
 
 THE ENVIRONS OF MEISSEN. 
 
 The surrounding country offers.on both sides of the river, in 
 a distance of not more than an hour’s walk, several interesting 
 points of view. Following the Elbe down its left bank, we 
 find the hills drawing closer to both sides of it. Instead of 
 vineyards one sees steep quarries driven into the hard granit of 
 our hills. There, in the space between the hills and the river, 
 about 25 minutes of walk from the town, hidden in a garden, are 
 
 the ruins of a 
 NUE Nate Rev 
 
 This nunnery was erected in the year 1217 in a style which 
 shows the transition out of the Byzantine into the Gothic style. 
 The thirty years war, which destroyed so many fine edifices of 
 ancient issue in Germany, laid down this nunnery also, and of 
 most of its premises only the groundfloor is standing. 
 
 The church has a length of 100 feet, and is divided into the 
 upper and the lower choir by a wall in the middle of it. The 
 primitive form of it is a plain basilical one, but the capitals of 
 the columns, in shape of lotos, and the pointed arches of the 
 windows bear the character of the Gothic style. Below of the 
 upper choir is the sacristy, which is very well conserved. Behind 
 it a narrow stair-case leads to the upper choir, whereupon for- 
 merly the organ had its place, but presently trees and shrubs 
 are growing lustily. 
 
 A chapel was joined to the East of the church, of which 
 three walls are standing. To the North are several apartments, 
 gome of which have kept their vaults. The largest of them shows 
 the substruction of a column. Its door and windows have round 
 arches. The next two rooms are the refectory with two windows 
 to the river-side, and a winter-residence of the nuns. The building, 
 adjacent in a right angle, contained the cells. 
 
 
 
Sn Oe ee 
 
 This nunnery was richly endowed. At the time of the refor- 
 mation 4 towns and 56 villages, several forests and vineyards 
 belonged to it, and it owned large treasures of gold, silver and 
 jewels. 40 nuns lived here with an abbess, till at length, in the 
 year of its secularization (1570) their number sank to 16. 
 
 Part of the revenues of this nunnery, its garden and surround- 
 ing fields are transferred upon the college of Meissen. 
 
 SIEBENEICHEN. 
 
 An other short walk up the river, leads to the castle of 
 Siebeneichen, situated on the same bank of the river in a beauti- 
 ful park upon a hill, connected only by its west-side with the 
 chain of the hills. 
 
 Two ways lead to this place; one along the river through a 
 small village, hidden in fruit-trees, to an old house of a forester, 
 in front of which the way leads up to the park and the castle. 
 An other way, which is known for the beautiful points of view, 
 ascends from the town and leads over the back of a hill, called 
 ,»Plossen. 
 
 The oldest part of the castle of Siebeneichen has been erected 
 in the. middle of the 16th century, about 1544. Siebeneichen 
 numbers among the estates of the family von Muiltitz. 
 
 The beautiful park with its shadowy walks offers the most 
 picturesque views on the charming valley of the Elbe with its 
 sunny hills and agreeable villages; the whole valley from Meissen 
 to Dresden forming almost one line of cottages, interrupted only 
 by gardens and vineyards. 
 
 SCH AR EAN BE aeG. 
 
 An other castle, the old castle of Scharfenberg, in the dis- 
 tance of about one hour of way from Siebeneichen, shows in its 
 oldest southern parts the style of the bulwarks of the middle- 
 
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 age. It was erected by Henry I, the founder of Meissen. Its 
 antiquity is warranted by a document written in the year 1227. 
 
 Besides several halls, and a long suit of apartments, decorated 
 with the portraits of the ancestors of the family of Miltitz, the 
 owners of this castle, a deep dungeon is shown by the castellan. 
 The narrow compass of this dungeon is supplied with iron rings 
 in the walls, and reminds of the cruel captivities of former centuries. 
 
 The eastern part of the castle was destroyed by lightning in 
 the year 1783, and is transformed into a garden- terrace, which 
 offers a most charming view. In a clear day Dresden and the 
 blue outlines of the Saxon-Switzerland may be seen from this 
 point. 
 
 Opposite to the castles of Scharfenberg and Siebeneichen, on 
 the right bank of the river, a chain of rocky hills, overgrown 
 with vines, shows a splendid display of pleasant walks and fine 
 views. The most charming point is a*steep rock at the southern 
 end of these hills, called the ,,Posel.‘‘ 
 
 The steamboat carries the visitors to the village of Scharfen- 
 berg, where a ferry-boat lies ready to bring them across the 
 river to the foot of the Posel. 
 
 The best wine of our country is growing on this chain of 
 hills. The culture of wine in the abouts of Meissen dates as far 
 back as to the 12th century, when bishop Benno planted the first 
 vines and cherry-trees. 
 
 Upon the hill between the two bridges, connecting Meissen 
 with the right bank of the Elbe, next to the rail-road station, 
 a neat house is built by the owner of a fine restaurant at the 
 hill’s foot, where from the visitor of our town may enjoy a part- 
 ing look on our country. 
 
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 Printed by C. E. Klinkicht & Son, Meissen. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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