Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/426

Rh 406 HAMBURG does to a height of 473 feet, about 19 feet lower than St Ouen s at &quot;Rouen. The actual church dates from 1845-1874, the former St Nicholas having perished in the great fire. It was opened for public worship in 1863. The architect, the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott, selected the rich Gothic style of the 13th century; and both the exterior and interior are elaborately adorned with sculptures. Sandstone from Osterwald near Hildesheim was used for the outside, and for the inner work a softer variety from Postelwitz near Dresden. The roof is wholly constructed of wood. A large part of the cost, which altogether amounted to 204,220, was defrayed by weekly shilling subscriptions. Sb Michael s has a tower which almost rivals that of St Nicholas, as with its height of 428 feet it ranks ninth in the list of loftiest buildings in the world. It was erected by Ernst G. Sonnin between 1750 and 17C2, on the site of the older building of the 17th century destroyed by light ning ; and it not only surpasses all the other churches of Hamburg in size, being 229 feet long and 179 feet broad, but produces a fine effect by the colossal proportions of its four principal pillars. St Peter s church, originally con secrated in 1352, fell a prey to the great conflagration, but it was rebuilt by Chateauneuf in 1844-1849. The ring oa tha door of the tower (which dates from 1342) is con sidered the oldest artistic relic HI Hamburg ; and the granite columns of the old cathedral, the stained glass windows by Kellner of Nuremberg, and Schubert s Entomb ment of Christ are worthy of notice. St Catharine s and St James s are the only churches of Hamburg that have been preserved from the Middle Ages, but other wise neither is of special interest. Of the other churches it is sufficient to mention St George s, built in 1743, St Paul s in the suburb of that name, the lesser St Michael s occupied by the Roman Catholics since 1824, and the English Episcopal church dating from 1838. The new synagogue was built by Rosengarten between 1857 and 1859, and to the same architect is due the sepulchral chapel of John Henry Schroder in the churchyard of St Peter s. The beautiful Gertrude s chapel was unfortunately dostroyedin 1842. Though Hamburg has comparatively few secular buildings that are of high architectural interest, its list of public institutions is one of which any city might be proud, and several of these are accommodated in spacious structures not unworthy of their destina tion. The exchange is one of the most important. It was erected on the site of the Mary Magdalen convent in 1836-41, and escaped the catastrophe of 1842. At the business hours between 1 and 3 o clock as many as from 3000 to 5000 merchants and brokers con gregate within its walls. The commercial library in the new wing added in 1873 has upwards of 4,0,000 vols. In the same neigh bourhood are the Hamburg bank and the site of the old rathhaus, which had to be blown up in the great fire. The town-house, built by Gb rtz, minister of finance to Charles XII. of Sweden, was purchased by the town in 1722. The academic gymnasium, founded on 16th August 1610 as a preparatory school for the uni versities, has since 1873 surrendered its teaching functions, though it still maintains public lectures to which all have access, and is in more or less close connexion with the botanic gardens, the natural history museum, the observatory, the chemical laboratory, and the museum of Culturgeschichte. The present botanical gardens, which L.il been preceded by Veit Scharp s (1547-1782) and Flugge s (1810-1813), were laid out by Dr Lehmann on the glacis of the for tifications, and contain about 11 acres. The natural history museum was founded in 1843, and in 1875 the sum of 1,200,000 marks from th ; Hamburg share of the French indemnity was assigned for the purpose of supplying better accommodation for its valuable collec tions, amongst which may be mentioned that from Heligoland and that of Griesbach from South Africa. The observatory, dating from abjut 1826-1828, is a noteworthy institution. It possesses a great equatorial telescope made by Repsold & Sons in I860, the object glass of which has an aperture of 9 6 Paris inches, with a focal dis tance of only 9 &quot;6 feet ; and among its contributions to science are II &quot;hnert s observations on the constellation of Sobieski s Shield (1374), and the determination of all the stars down to 9 5 magnitude iu the zone between 80 and 81 of N. declination. In connexion ith the observatory a time-ball on the tower of the Kaiserquai is used to fall at 12 o clock of Greenwich time ; there is a similar wi caused ball at Cuxhaven, ana another at Bremerhaven. The chemical laboratory was built in 1841. It was not till 1866 that the ethno graphical collections were put under special curators ; and the name CulturgeschicMliche Museum only dates from 1872. The principal medical institution in the city is the college of surgeons, founded in 1771 as a general school for doctors and midwives ; it received its present constitution in 1833, and was furnished with new buildings in 1861. It was not till 1867, however, that the guild of barbers, with its right of surgical practice, was abolished. The medical union established by H. de Chaufepie about 1S15-1816 has published several periodical works, and possesses a library of 12,000 vol.s. A mathematical society was founded by Hcinrich Meissner as early as 1690, the Hamburg- Altona Society for natural science dates from 1837, the Hamburg-Altona branch of the German Anthropological Society from 1870, and the Hamburg branch of the German and Austrian Alpine Club from 1875. A geographical society, which publishes a journal, was founded in 1873; and the firm of GodeflYoy, which trades so extensively in the Pacific, lias instituted a museum, and sent out scientific explorers and collectors, Dr E. Graife, Amalio Dietrich, Johann Kubary, Andrew Garrett, Franz Hiibner, &c., the results of whose labours are registered in the Journal dcs Museum Godeffroy (1871, &c.). Zoological gardens were founded in 1860-1 by a joint-stock company, and an aquarium has since been added under the superintendence of Alfred Lloyd of the Sydenham Crystal Palace. Two of the old monasteries of the town the St Johannisklostor and the St Maria Magdalenenkloster are still main tained as foundations for the daughters and widows of Hamburg citizens, and the former has funds beyond its requirements. The general infirmary (allyemcinc Krankcnhaus) dates originally from 1606, but the present building was erected in 1825- 27, and has since received several additions. The annual number of patients increased between 1825 and 1875 from 2398 to 8206. The subvention from the state rose in the same period from 8400 to 23,182, and the average daily cost of each patient from 9d. to Is. 9d. A lunatic asylum (Friedrichsberg) was founded in 1841 at Barmbeck at a cost of 2540 for the site and 66,086 for the building. Its patients numbered 212 in 1865 and 492 in 1875. Among minor establishments of a similar class are the sailors infirmary (1863), the St Mary s hospital founded by the Roman Catholic community on the occasion of the Danish war in 1864, but open to patients of every creed, the infirmary of the German Jews built by Solomon Heine in 1840, the infirmary of the freemasons, the children s hospital dating from 1846-7, the polyclinicum of the patriotic association for the assistance of- women (1872), the deaf and dumb institution (1827), and the blind asylum (1830). The orphanage originated in 160C by Gillis de Greve and Simon vou Petkum, admits about 64 children every year. In the beginning of July the orphans, in their bright blue out-door dress, make a procession through the city and the suburb of St George, and the day, known as the Waisengriin, is considered a popular holiday. In the suburban village of Horn is the famous Ranhe Hans, and at Alsterdorf there is a home founded in I860 for idiots and children suffering from incurable diseases. It had 273 inmates in 1875. The workhouse, which dates from the beginning of the 17th century, has been situated since 1853 in the village of Barmbeck, and since 1869 has had a branch establishment at Fuhlsbiittel. In 1875 it had 1342 inmates, and its revenues were 17,332, besides a state subvention of 20,417. The annual cost per head is 14, 15s. About 200 free dwellings and a number of pensions are provided by the Schroder foundation for res} ectable families and individuals in reduced circumstances. Hamburg is well supplied with places of amusements, esj; ecially of the more popular kind. Its town theatre, rebuilt in 1874, has room for 1750 spectators ; the Thalia theatre dates from 1841, and con- tains 1700 to 1800 ; and there are some 7 or 8 minor establish ments. Theatrical performances were introduced into the city in the 17th century, and 1678 is the date of the first opera, which was played in a house in the Gansemarkt. Under Schroder and Lessing the Hamburg stage rose into importance. 1 Though contributing few names of the highest rank to German literature, the city has been intimately associated with the literary movement. Lappen- ber# and Hagcdorn were born in Hamburg; and not only Lessing, but Heine and Klopstock lived there for some time. In Schroder and Klotze s Lexicon do- Hamburg. ScJiriftstdler there are no fewer than 3536 names up to Schroff ; and the library of the society for the encouragement of art and science contains 5000 volumes deal ing with Hamburg aifairs. The inhabitants of Hamburg used formerly to have _ no small variety of distinctive costumes ; but it is only the public officials in their robes of state or the peasantry from the villages that preserve the more grotesque peculiarities. 2 1 See Uhdc, I)as Stadttheater in ifnmbury, Stuttgart, 1879. 2 Details and coloured de-signs will be found in Sulir and Ilubbe s Hamburger A nsrvf (which gives 1807 styles) ami in Buck s Album llan burr/when Coftiime (Hnmb. 1843-47). Of the local dialect nknowlcdge may be obtained from Michael Richey s Idiotikon Hamlurgente, oiler Wiirterbuch zur ErVarwig d,r tigenen in vndum Hamburg gebriiitcliliclicn ffieder-SSehtttehen Mund-Art (1743 and 17S5), and Geftckcn, Die Hamburgischen Niedertdchtitchen GetangbScherdei 1G&amp;lt; Juhrh* (Hamb. 1857).