without any of the salient or re-entering angles
which form the characteristic features of our mod
ern artillery fortifications. At present it is used
simply as a promenade. It is about twenty-five to
thirty-five feet across the top, from fifteen to twen
ty feet high, and as it was long ago planted with a
row of Lindens on each side, whose branches now
meet overhead in a graceful arch, it forms a cool
shady avenue in summer, and a dry warm walk in
winter. Go when you will, in morning, afternoon or
evening, you will be sure of meeting promenaders
out for a stroll; grave baldheaded professors taking
a few moments relaxation from their dusty manu
scripts or mysterious laboratories; gay Corp-stu
denten in knots of three or four, gaudy in their
top boots and bright colored caps, each carrying
the inevitable cane and followed by the never
missing dog; this, by the way, may vary from the
most graceful grayhottnd to the most despicable
cur imaginable. The German maiden is also
there ; plain featured, but with a clear, fair com
plexion, erect and heart/ she walks briskly along,
looking neither to the right nor to the left. In
fact it is, in daylight, the Broadway, or Piccadilly
of Goettingen. Should one, however, take a stroll
along its summit on some pleasant summer evening,
he would, unless perfectly oblivious to the sweet
warbling of the nightingale, or the cooing of the
dies/ madchcn (serving-girl) and her favorite sol
dier, or the soft murmur of a student as he moves
along with the girl of his choice, certainly come
to the conclusion that the old Wall had become a
work for Love instead of for War.
The valley of the Leine has always been a great
thoroughfare between the seaports of north Ger
many, and the regions of central Germany, Fran
conia and Thuringia. Especially during the Mid
dle Ages was it the important highway used by the
caravans engaged in carrying the ever growing
commerce of Hamburg, Bremem etc. down into the
central Provinces. On this acccount the country,
both north and south ofGoettingen, soon became a
territory fruitful in its production of robber counts
who outranked each other only in the number and
THE FREE LANCE.
strength of retainers which each one was able to sup
port. The homes of these robber bands were the cas
tleswhich raised their frowning battlements along
the high hills that lines the valley ; these were so
placed that the approach of a caravan could be sig
nalled by lights from one great tower to the other.
The ruins of many of these robber strongholds in
terest the eye of the tourist as he passes up the
Leine on the Hanover-Cassel railway ; and espe
cially does one of interest come into view as he ap
proaches Goettingen. This ruin,called thePlesse,
rises out of a thick forest on a detached spur of the
eastern ridge, and overlooks the plains from an el
evation of several hundred feet. The outer walls
of the castle are, in most places still standing, and
the general grand plan can be easily recognized.
The two old towers are almost intact and offer
from their summits a magnificent view of the sun
ny valley below and the long high western ridge
directly opposite. In some part of almost each of
these ruins a restaurant is to be found where lun
cheon and a great mug of beer can be obtained, to
refresh the student or tourist who has left the beat
en path and climbed the rocky hillside to inspect
the landmarks of bygone days.. Pedestrian excur
sions to such places form a very pleasant feature of
student life at Goettingen.
The city itself may be divided into two parts:
the Alstadt or old town, which lies within the Wall,
and the Neustadt or portion which has in later
years grown up outside the old ramparts. The
streets of the older part are for the most crooked
and narrow, but the newer portions are spaciously
and regularly built. The population of about
18,000 people finds employment in the produc
tion of cotten and woolen goods, the manufacture
of fine physical and mathematical instruments,
and in catering to the wants of the many students
gathered within its bounds.
The Englishman or American who visits a Ger
man University town for the first time will scarce
ly realize the fact that it is the seat of a great insti
tution of learning. One sees no visible signs of the
University, no chapel, no large buildings, whether