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336. The general cemetery at Munich is surrounded by a border of trees and
shrubs, -ivith tbe exception of one end, in which is placed a semicircular building
composed of an open colonnade in front, with vaults underneath. In the centre of this
semicircnlar building is a projection behind, called the Leichenhaus, containing three
large rooms, in two of which (one for males, and the other for females,) the dead, as
shi-ouded and deposited in their coffins by their relations, are exposed to view for forty-
eight hours before they are committed to the earth. Tho other room is for suicides and
unowned bodies. The prmcipal monuments in this cemeteiy are placed niider the colonnade
of the Leichenhaus, and against the bouudaiy walls; and they are seen to gi'eat
advantage from tho surrounding walk. Tho compartments in the central p a it ai-o
hordered by shrubs, flowers, and tombs; and the space in the interior is devoted to
gi-avcs without tombs, or to graves -with monuments, for those who do not choose to go
to the expense of placing them in the borders. Where interments take place without
tombstones, the ground is not re-opcned for seven y e a rs ; and the relations of the
deceased, if they come foinvard when that period is expired, can defer it for any longer
time, according to tho payment that they may choose to make. This cemetery, on All
Saints’-day (Nov. L), presents one of the most extraordinary spectacles that is to bo
seen in Em-ope. The tombs and graves arc decorated in a most remarkable manner
■nith flowers, natm-al and artiflcial, pictures, sculptures, craciflxes, vessels with meat,
corn, seeds, water, oil, bread, &c., crape, feathers, drapery, canopies, branches of trees,
dried moss, and, in short, with every conceivable object that can be applied to the
purpose of ornament or decoration. The labour bestowed on some tombs requires so
much time, that it is commenced two or thi-ee days beforehand, and protected while
going on by a temporary roof. Dming the whole of the night preceding the 1st of
November, the relations of the dead are occupied in completing the decorations of the
tombs ; and, dm-ing the whole of All Saints’-day and the day following, the cemetery
is visited by the entire population of Munich, inclnding the king and queen, who go
there on foot, and many strangers fl-om all pai-ts of the country. In 1828, when we
were present, it was estimated that 50,000 persons had walked romid the cemetery in
one d a y ; the w-hole, -with very few exceptions, dressed in black. On Nov. 3., about
mid-day, the more valuable decorations are removed, and the remainder left to decay
ft-om tbe effects of time and the weather.
Division iv. Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste, in Saxony,
337. Saxony, though one of the most beautiM countries in Germany, is very deficient
in magnificent gardens. Tho cause is to be found in the general absence of landed
monopolists, and in the personal character of the electors and kings. Granville calls
Dresden the German Florence, and describes its magnificent promenade, the Briihl.
This consists of a terrace, ascended by a grand flight of forty steps, fifty feet -wide,
and follows the winding bank of the Elbe to a certain extent. On tbe other side,
it sm-rounds a palace and garden, which foi-merly belonged to the Count de Briihl,
hut which are now converted to different purposes, among which may be mentioned the
annual exhibition of pictm-es, &c., and the Academy of Arts. In one part of this
succession of walks, gardens, and plantations, a Belvedere has been erected, which
would be considered as a fine specimen of Doric architecture, bad it not been spoiled by
the subsequent addition of wooden sheds, for the purpose of affording accommodation to
a restaurateur. (Travels, &c. p. 697.) TIio pai-k, or Grosser Garten, at Pilnitz, lias
been considerably improved under the direction of a general officer, who has introduced
tbe English style of gardening, and parklike plantations. (Ibid., p. 646.)
Division V. Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste, in Hanover.
338. Hanover is still more deficient tli.-in Saxony in flue gai-dens, and it has the
additional disadvantage of au unvaried sm-face, and a miserable sandy soil. Till lately
Hanover may be considered to have been half a century behind the rest of Gei-many to
nu-al matters, and in every description of knowledge. Ti-avcllers mention the garden
of the palace, wliich was situated in the capital, and marked by a few lime trees
The garden of Hen-nhausen has long been celebrated for its double alley of hme trees,
and for its jet d’eau of three feet in ou-cumferenoe, at the opening fi-om which thé
water issues, and rises to the height of eighty feet. The garden of Wallinodcn, hke
the others mentioned, is open to the public ; but contains little worthy of particular
notice. The garden of Hinüber, in which the English style of laying out gi-ouuds was
first exhibited ia the electorate, no longer exists.
Division vi. Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste, in Wirtemberg.
339. Landscape-gardening has been as much patronised in Wirtemberg as in Bavaria ;
but, as in that countiy, it is almost exclusively confined to the gai-dens of the sovereign,
and those of the members of his family. The extravagance of some of these, in laying
out gardens in the ancient style, excites siu-prise, when we consider the smallness of the
state which supplied the wealth thus laAushed ; and contempt, when we look at the taste
of the designs, even estimating them, in good faith, according to the times in which
they were produced. The ruins of the numerous royal palaces and gardens in Wiitem-
berg, and the yet continued creation of such works, say little for the energies of the
people, blessed as they are by nature, but blighted by man. We shall first notice the
ancient gardens, and gradually proceed to those most recently laid out.
340. T h e p a h c e o f Ludwigsburg consists of three immense quadrangles, about 300
years old, in a good style of Italian architecture, with tiled roofs, high, but not vulgar.
The apartments within are numerous, and some of them very lai-ge ; but they ai-e badly
finished, and vrretchedly furnished. There are two chapels, and a lai-ge hall, devoted
to the meetings of the order of the Golden Eagle. There are innumerable pictures,
many of them going to decay, but no catalogue. The wliole interior conveys the idea
of a mural desert.
The gardens and grounds oj Ludwigsburg occupy 300 or 400 acres ; they are principally laid out in the
geometric style ; but a part is in th eE n g lish manner. This part lies in a hollow, surrounded bv high
banks ; and, m one place, bounded by a perpendicular rock of red sandstone. In this hollow, a grelit
number of objects are crowded together ; a small piece of water, surrounded by weeping willows ; horses,
dogs, and stags, carved out of wood, m imitation of life ; swings, up-and-downs, roundabouts, two places
tor playing at_ skittles, a billiard-room, a bowling-green, a trellised arcade, a marble vase, from the
summit of which issues a spring of water, a rose-garden, a flower-garden, a rock-garden, an aquarium, a
vmeyard, a circular tower, a grotto. and other objects. In all this assemblage there is only one part
worth recollecting, and that is, the perpendicular rocky side, which is crowned with wood. The hollow
appears to have been a stone <marry ; and deserted stone quarries, in all countries, and in all ages,
from that of the gardens of the Hesperides to the present, form the finest situations for highly enriched
gardens.
, The p a rk is laid out in avenues, with lime trees, acacias, and fruit trees ; and there are some thickets
in masses, the remains of natural forest scenery.
The queen's garden is a small spot, about 100 feet by 60 feet, full of irregular walks among grass and
trees, with summer-houses overlooking a public road a t two of the corners. In one or other of these
houses the late queen,_ the eldest daughter of George III. of England, and remarkable for her corpulence,
used to spend six or eight hours every day looking a t th e passengers.
_ The king’s garden is situated at the opposite extremity of the same quadrangle ; it is about the same
size as that of the queen ; and, like it, has two summer-houses, overlooking a public road. T h e wails
of these summer-houses within are covered with English prints. The late king, the heaviest man of
lus day, IS said to have spent as much time in his summer-houses as the queen did in hers. In the interior
ol this garden are th e remains of an aviary and of a greenhouse.
The gardens o f Ludwigsburg, aa.Fng\\shviTiter, “ are among th e most celebrated in G e rm an y
but, mixed with some unspoilt natural beauties, they have much trumpery and baby-house taste Bv
ff in to fb e in gm a d e o n a la rg e s c a le , the ruins, the summer-houses, th e rocks, &c., are preserved'from
th e striking insignificance common to such ornaments ; b u t they only approach a littlen e are r to n a tu re like
the young lady’s wax doll, which is made as large as life, and ye tis but a doll after a ll.” (A n A utumn
near the Rhine, p. 309.) '
The kitchen-garden contains the ruins of immense ranges o f glass, in which the grape, the pine and
the peach were cultivated to a great extent ; and there are still three large orangeries, one of which is filled
with trees as large as those a t Versailles, and estimated to be between 300 and 400 years old. All the
gardens here are now open to the public ; though, in the late king’s time, no one could enter them without
a ticket of admission signed by his own hand.
341. Solitude is, or rather -tvas, another extravagant absurdity of the Ludwigsbui-g
school ; and, that we may not be accused of misrepresentation when speaking of it, -we
shall devote ample space to an engraving of the plan ( fg . 87. p. 132, 133.). It
may do good as a warning ; and we think -wiU cure any who may have a lingering
hankering after tho antiquated royal gardens. This palace was built in a great hui-i-y,
K 2