GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1918, Page 7

GERMANY.

RHINE STRONGhvLDS. CITIES TO BE OCCUPIED COLOGNE, COBLEUTZ AND MAINZ Cologne, the capital of the government of Cologne, is situated on the west bank of the Rhine, 45 miles in a north-wester-ley direction from Coblentz. It is at the junction of several railways, and is opposite Deutz, to which two bridges extend. Its great cathedral, one of tibe finest Gothic buildings in the world, is the chief object of interest. The city is a fortress of the first class. Cologne carried on a large foreign trade, and also a domestic trado by rail and iver Cologne was a town of some importance even before the Roman conquest, and many of its buildings are of great historical interest. Its narrow and crooked I streets and it 3 quaint and irregular architecture give it more of the mediaeval character tlhan most German cities possess. It i 3 'the seat of important literature and educational institutions.

Coblentz, the capital of Rhenish Prussia, is on tho Rhine at the influx of the Moselle, and is forty-nine miles s.s.e. of Cologne, ft is .fell built, and is at the junction of several, railways. It has a noble palace of tf.re former Electors of Treves, and ha 3 many fma churches and public buildings. Tho Church of St. Castor, situated precisely at the confluence of the fivers, is remarkable for its antiquity, having Ibeen founded in the year 836. Here the grandsons of Charlemagne met in 843 to divide his vast empire into Germany. France and Italy At Ehrenbreitstein, on the opposite side of tho Rhine, there Is a strong fortress, containing vast arched cisterns, capable of holding three years' bupply of water. It was said a few years ago that t'iie fortifications were capable of accommodating 100,000 men, while the magazines were large enough to contain provisions for 8000 men for ten years. These extensive fortifications rendered Coblentz the strongest place in the Prussian dominions.

Mainz, W ai uJ sometimes called Mentz and, in French Mayence, is the capital of and is situated on tiho left bank of the Rhine opposite tho mouth of tho Main and twenty miles in a south - westerly direction from Frankfort, ./ith which it u connected by raiL The town is a fortress. The city, situated partly on the flat and partly on an activity, rises up gradually from -till© Rhine in the form of an amphitheatre. It is walled, flanked with bastions, and defended besides by a citadel and several forts and outworks. A bridge of boats 1000 feet long connects it with its suburb of Castel, The houses are generally lofty and many have a venerable and noble appearance, but as many of the streets axe narrow, they exclude both air and light, and give several quarters of Uh'o town a dark and confined look. Tho principle edifices are the cathedral, a vast building of red sandstone, finished in the eleventh century, the merchants' hall, the old collegiate of St. Stephen, the Church of St. Peter, the Deutsche Haus (now the Governor's palace), and the Dalbcrgische Palais, now used as a court of jugtico. One of the objects of interest in the town is the site of the house of Gutenberg, tfc'e inventor of movable typos. Tho trade of the city, particularly transit is extensive, being greatly facilitated both by >atcr communication and by railway Mainz owes its foundation to ia Roman camp which was converted into a permanent bulwark and became the most important of a line of forts built along the Rhine. On the decline of the power of Rome it was afterwards restored aad 'became #'e first

desiasticai city ;f the German Empire.