Postcards from the Past #12: Rudesheim & Kronthal, Germany

C.M. Sedgwick Quote
(click on the square to see the video in a full screen)

Instagram Post of January 6, 2021:

Today’s quote comes from American author, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, after she spent almost two months in Germany in 1839. In September of that year, she and her traveling party left Germany for Switzerland. Heading south from Frankfurt through Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, and Baden-Baden, Catharine absorbed the cottages and cathedrals of the Old World along the way and hoped that the “inventive genius of our people, guided by the rules of art, will devise an architecture for us suited to our condition, and [e]mbodying the element of beauty.”⁣
⁣
The last memorable sight before crossing the border was the Gothic cathedral in Freiburg that Catharine thought was “the most exquisitely beautiful of all cathedrals” with its webbed spire “so light in its effect as to give you the idea … of an arrow shooting from the bow.” Without even a photograph to help convey its beauty, however, Catharine gave up trying to describe it in her letters and instead signed off with: “I can go on and give you dimensions, colour, and form, but, after all, there is nothing for you but to come and see.”⁣

There is nothing quite like seeing something for yourself, is there? How many other things can you buy that have the potential to achieve anything comparable to travel for you? May you enjoy each and every one of them in 2021!⁣
⁣
For more excerpts from Catharine’s travelogue and pictures of the German castles and villages that Catharine visited, check out today’s Postcards from the Past #12 Facebook post at https://www.facebook.com/awomanofthecentury.⁣

C.M. Sedgwick Quote on Kronthal, Germany--click on image for full resolution

Facebook Post of January 6, 2021:

Using Wiesbaden, Germany as their base, Catharine’s traveling party finished their Rhine cruise with a stop at the “little hamlet” of Rudesheim to see the Niederwald (hill on the Rhine), the Temple (pavilion above the Rhine valley), and the Rossel (observation tower and scenic overlook).

⁣

In the images, you can see an 1890 depiction of Rudesheim as well as a 2008 picture of the Temple. For a glimpse of the stunning view from the Rossel, see https://goo.gl/maps/fK9nJpZZUaYHhHM76 and toggle the screen to the right and left to see the entire 21st-century panorama. Of the scene, Catharine wrote: “Do you wonder that we turned away with the feeling that we should never again see anything so beautiful? [T]hank Heaven, to a scene like this ‘there can be no farewell!’”

⁣

On August 29, 1839, they made a four-hour drive to Frankfurt, Germany, which is located on the Main River. Instead of heading straight to Italy, they made a detour to Kronthal near the Taunus Hills (now Kronberg im Taunus, Germany) to take advantage of the medicinal baths (as they did in Wiesbaden) and “a physician of excellent sense.” If you recall from Postcards from the Past #2, Catharine’s older brother, Robert, had had a paralyzing stroke in 1838 and hoped that the rest and change of scene on this trip “would prolong his life.”

⁣

While in Kronthal, Catharine visited the castle ruins in Konistein (Königstein), the castle in Falkenstein, and the village of Eppstein. In the images, you can see the village in 1890 and compare the 1890, 2011, and 2014 pictures of the Falkenstein Castle, which should not be confused with the Castle Falkenstein in Texas (see https://castlefalkensteintx.com/).

⁣
⁣In Frankfurt, Catharine purchased a “travelling carriage” for their trip south (with views of the Rhine River) to Basel, Switzerland. Before leaving Kronthal, Catharine documented her impressions of Germany and some of her more illuminating conversations with the locals. Check out her letter in the images comparing the relative rights (women’s right to property) and freedoms (to express political opinions) in Germany and the United States. Finally, see the map tracking Catharine’s travels.

1890 Eagle Tower and Niederwald, Rudesheim, the Rhine, Germany.jpg

1890 Castle Falkenstein, Ballenstedt, Hartz, Germany.jpg

Map of CMS Travels Through September 1839.JPG