PRINCIPAL TOWNS.-VIENNA, on the Danube, the capital of the empire, holds a high rank among the cities of Europe for science, literature, and refinement. Population, 1,104,000. Prague, on the Moldau (162,000), is the capital of Bohemia, and the second city in Austria. Brunn (82,000), the capital of Moravia, is noted for its extensive woollen and other manufactures. Troppau (20,000), on the Oppa, a tributary of the Oder, and Olmütz (20,000), on the March, are important fortresses. Linz (41,000), on the south bank of the Danube, is the principal city in Upper Austria. Gratz (97,000), on the Mur, is the seat of an university, and is noted for its flourishing manufactures and extensive iron trade. Salsburg (23,000), a well-built town on the River Salza, an affluent of the Inn, is famous for its saltworks, from which it derives its name. Innsbrück (20,000), on the Inn, is the capital of the Tyrol. It is the seat of an university, and has considerable trade and manufactures. Trent (14,000), on the Adige, is celebrated as the scene of the famous ecclesiastical Council held 1545–1563. Trieste (145,000), on the Illyrian coast, has a spacious harbour and an extensive commerce; and for a long period was the only port of the Austrian Empire. Pola, at the southern extremity of the peninsula of Istria, is a great naval depôt, and the chief station of the Austrian navy. Lemberg (109,000), is the capital of Galicia in Austrian Poland, and the centre of its trade. Cracow (66,000), on the Vistula, was formerly the ecclesiastical capital of Poland. It possesses a magnificent cathedral, in which the kings were crowned, and many of them buried. Wieliczka and Bochnia, S.E. of Cracow, are remarkable for being the richest salt mines in the world. Presburg (48,000), on the Danube, was the ancient capital, and Buda or Ofen on the Danube, is the modern capital of Hungary. Pesth and Buda (360,000), which are merely separated by the Danube, may be regarded as forming one city. Tokay (6,000), on the Theiss, is famous for its wine; and Kremnitz and Schemnitz, for their gold and silver mines. Klausenburg (30,000), Hermanstadt (19,000), and Kronstadt (29,000), are important towns in Transylvania. MOUNTAINS.-The Carpathian, and Sudetic Mountains, the Rhætian or Tyrolese, the Carnic, the Noric, the Julian, and the Dinaric Alps. See pages 129, 134, and 135. RIVERS. The great river of Austria is the Danube, which flows through the whole country, first in an easterly, next in a southerly, and finally in a south-eastern direction. From the Alps it receives the Enns, the Raab, the Drave, with its tributary the Mur, and the Save; and from the northern mountains, the March, the Waag, and the Theiss. The Elbe, the Oder, the Vistula, and the Dniester are only Austrian in the upper portions of their course. LAKES.-Zirknitz in Carniola; Balaton Lake or Platten See, and Neusiedler See, in Hungary. See page 148. The CLIMATE of Austria is, generally speaking, mild and salubrious; and the SOIL, for the most part, fertile but badly cultivated. Few countries can vie with it in the number and richness of its mines; as the gold and silver of Transylvania and Hungary; the iron of Carinthia and Styria; the copper, iron, and lead, of Galicia; the quicksilver of Carniola; and the celebrated salt mines near Cracow.a A great part of the SURFACE is mountainous, particularly in Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola; but in Hungary and Austrian Poland there are immense plains.b AGRICULTURE is in a backward state; and cOMMERCE, owing to the small extent of the sea-coast, is necessarily limited; and the MANUFACTURES are neither numerous nor important. The predominant and established RELIGION is Roman Catholic, but all others have complete toleration. The present Emperor, in 1868, conferred equal religious liberty upon all classes of his subjects; and he also seems disposed to place Austria among the constitutional monarchies of Europe. Of the entire population of Austria-Hungary two-thirds are Roman Catholics; nearly one-fifth of the Greek Church; and one-tenth Protestants. The Protestants are chiefly in Hungary and Transylvania. The MILITARY force of the empire is about 283,125, and can be greatly increased in the event of a war; but the NAVAL force of Austria is, as we should expect, very small. The annual REVENUE is estimated at about £56,000,000; and the public DEBT is about £346,000,000. The manners of the Austrians differ little from those of their German neighbours; but in literature, and general information, they are inferior to most of the German states. The Hungarians are a brave and high-spirited people. HISTORICAL SKETCH. The Archduchy of Austria formed a part of the ancient Pannonia, the Vindobona of the Romans being the Modern Vienna. Noricum, and the country of the Quaai, were the Roman names of the other parts of Austria. It was called Austria, that is, the eastern kingdom, with reference to France, under Charlemagne, who was crowned, in the year 800, Emperor of the West. Germany was ruled by French a See the general observations on the minerals of Europe, page 231. b See Chapter VIII., and note, page 141. c According to an official statement, there were in the Austrian em pire in 1869, 23,954,233 Roman Catholics; 7,002,759 Greeks; 3,570,989 Protestants; and 1,375,861 Jews. princes till 912, when Conrad, Count of Franconia, was elected king. Otho the Great conquered Bohemia and Italy, and in 962 assumed the title of Emperor of Germany and King of Italy. In 1273, Rodolph, Count of Hapsburg, the founder of the house of Austria, was raised to the Imperial throne. In 1477, the Emperor Maximilian having married Mary, heiress of Charles Duke of Burgundy, the Netherlands became subject to the Austrian empire; and by the marriage of his son, Philip, with Jane, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, in 1496, the crown of Spain became attached to the house of Austria. In 1516, Charles V., grandson of Maximilian, succeeded to the throne of Spain, and in three years after to the Imperial crown. On his resignation, Spain and the Netherlands devolved to his son, Philip II.; and Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary, to his brother, Ferdinand, who was shortly after elected Emperor of Germany. In 1740, the male branch of the house of Austria became extinct by the death of Charles VI., and the right of his daughter, Maria Theresa, to the crown, under the "Pragmatic Sanction," was disputed, in a war in which most of the powers of Europe were involved. This was terminated in 1748, in the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, when the right of Maria Theresa was acknowledged, and her husband, the Duke of Lorraine, was raised to the Imperial throne under the title of Francis J. In 1806, Francis II. was obliged by Napoleon, who conquered the greater part of his dominions, to resign the title of Emperor of Germany, and to take in its stead that of Emperor of Austria. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 restored to Austria the possession of Venetia and Lombardy, which she had obtained by the peace of Utrecht (1713). The latter province was ceded to Italy after the peace of Villafranca (1859), and the former in 1866. See Historical Sketch of Germany. GERMAN EMPIRE. BOUNDARIES.-The German Empire is bounded on the north by the German Ocean, Denmark, and the Baltic; on the west by France, Belgium, and Holland; on the south by Switzerland and Austria; and on the east by Russia. It extends from 47° 20′ to 55° 50′ N. L., and from 5° 50′ to 23° E. L. Its AREA is about 212,000 square miles; and its POPULATION exceeds 45,000,000. Germany was formerly divided into 39 distinct and independent states, but since the close of the Franco-Prussian war, in 1871, all the German States (reduced to 26 in number), with the exception of the little Principality of Lichtenstein, have been united under the name of the German Empire, the King of Prussia being elected Emperor of Germany. In the following table the area and population of each State are given : BOUNDARIES.-Prussia comprises a large portion of Northern Germany. It is bounded on the north by the Baltic, MecklenburgSchwerin, Denmark, and the North Sea; on the west by France Belgium, and Holland; on the South by Austria, Saxony, and the Minor German States; and on the east by Russia and Russian Poland. It extends from about 49° to 55° 50′ N. L., and from 6° to 23° E. L Its greatest length from E. to W. is 715 miles; and its breadth from N. to S. varies from 80 to 350 miles. Prussia is very irregular in shape. sian Saxony are detached from the German States. Several small portions of Prusrest, and in the heart of other Prussia was divided into eight provinces, which were subdivided into twenty-five regencies or governments, prior to the war of 1866. It now comprises eleven provinces and three districts, which, with their chief towns, are as follow: Brandenburg, : Pomerania, Prussian Saxony, Westphalia, Rhenish Prussia, Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Chief Towns. Königsberg, Memel, Tilsit, Dantzic, Elbing, Thorn. Posen, Bromberg. BERLIN, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Frank- Stettin, Stralsund, Kolberg, Stargard. Hesse, Nassau, and Frank- (Cassel, Fulda, Marburg, Hanau, Wies- Lauenburg (Duchy), . Lauenburg. Jahde territory, a district of five square miles, at the mouth of the Weser, purchased from Oldenburg in 1854, which contains the port and arsenal of Wilhelmshaven, the principal Prussian naval station. PRINCIPAL TOWNS.-Berlin (1,122,000), on the Spree, the capital of Prussia and the German Empire, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Potsdam (48,000), a few miles from Berlin, is noted for the royal palace of Sans-Souci, the favourite residence of Frederick the Great. It is the head-quarters of the Prussian army. Breslau (273,000), on the Oder, is the second city in Prussia in point of population; and it is also noted for its extensive trade and great wool fair. Königsberga (141,000), at the mouth of the Pregel, is the capital of Prussia Proper. It has a great trade in corn and timber. It was here Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg,crowned himself King of Prussia (1701). Dantzic (108,000), near the mouth of the Vistula, is the chief seat of the foreign commerce of Prussia. It is strongly fortified. Magdeburg (97,000), on the Elbe, is one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. It has extensive manufactures of cottons, woollens, porcelain, &c. Frankfort-on-the-Oder (51,000) has important manufactures, and extensive commerce. Cologne (145,000) is the principal seat of commerce on the Rhine, and is celebrated for its cathedral. It is here that the famous "Eau de Cologne" is made. Aachen or Aix-la-Chapelle (85,000), 30 miles west from Cologne, is noted for two important treaties of peace concluded there, and also for its baths. Coblenz (30,000) is situated at the confluence Königsberg means King's town. b Dantzic means • Coblenz or Coblentz owes its name to its situation. tion of the Latin word Confluentes (flowing together) Danish town. It is a corrup |