Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/369

Rh S A X S A X 349 (1782-1803), and also under these princes themselves. George, who had introduced the principle of primogeniture, was succeeded by his infant sou Bernhard Erich Freund, born in 1800. The war with France at the beginning of the present century, with its attendant quartering of troops, conscription, and levies of money, joined with cattle-disease and scanty harvests in once more plunging the country into distress, from which it but slowly re- covered. Bernhard had already spontaneously granted a liberal constitution to his subjects in 1824, when large additions (530 square miles) consequent upon the redistribution of the Saxon lands in 1826 more than doubled his possessions and rendered re- organization necessary. Among the additions to Saxe-Meiningen were the duchy of llildburghausen (whence the full title of the present duchy is Suxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen), which had been founded in 1680 by Ernest, the sixth son of Ernest the Pious ; the principality of Saalfeld, which, founded by John Ernest, Ernest's seventh son, in 1680, had been united to Coburg in 1735 ; and the districts of Themar, Kranichfeld, Kamburg, and other smaller territories. Saxe-Meiningen, like the other Saxon duchies, entered the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 ; but in 1866, unlike its neighbours, it declared for Austria in the war against Prussia. The land was at once occupied by Prussian troops, and Bernhard abdicated (September 1866) in favour of his son George, who made peace with Prussia and entered the North German Confederation. In 1871 the dispute which had lasted since 1826 between the duke and the diet as to the respective rights of each to the state-lands was terminated by a compromise. See SAXE-WEIMAR-EISENACH (Germ. Sachsen- Weimar- Plate V. Eisenach), the largest of the Thuringian states, is a grand- duchy and a member of the German empire. It consists of the three chief detached districts of Weimar, Eisenach, and Neustadt, and twenty-four scattered exclaves, of which Allstedt, Oldisleben, and Ilmenau belonging to Weimar, and Ostheim belonging to Eisenach, are the chief. The first and last named of these exclaves are 70 miles apart; and the most easterly of the other exclaves is 100 miles from the most westerly. The total area of the grand-duchy is 1387 square miles (or slightly larger than Wiltshire in England), of which 678 are in Weimar, 465 in Eisenach, and 244 in Neustadt. The district of Weimar, which is at once the largest division and the geographical and historical kernel of the grand-duchy, is a roughly circular territory, situated on the plateau to the north-east of the Thuringian Forest. It is bounded on the N. and E. by Prussia, on the S. and W. .by the Schwarzburg Oberherrschaft and detached portions of Saxe-Altenburg, and lies 23 miles east of the nearest part of Eisenach, and 7 miles north-west of the nearest part of Neustadt. The exclaves of Allstedt and Oldisleben lie in Prussian territory 10 miles to the north and north-west respectively ; Ilmenau as far to the south- west. The surface is undulating and destitute of any striking natural features, although the valleys of the Saale and Ilm are picturesque. The Kickelhahn (2825 feet) and the Hohe Tanne (2641 feet) rise in Ilmenau; but the Grosser Kalm (1814) near Remda, in the extreme south, is the highest point in the main part of Weimar. The broad-based Ettersburg (1519 feet), a part of which is known as " Herder's Hill " after the poet, rises on the Ilm plateau, near Ettersburg, where Schiller finished his Maria Stuart. The Saale flows through the east of the district, but, although the chief river hydrographically, it yields in fame to its tributary the Ilm. The Unstrut joins the Saale from Oldisleben and Allstedt. The chief towns are Weimar, the capital, on the Ilm ; Jena, with the common university of the Thuringian states, on the Saale ; and Apolda, the " Manchester of Weimar," to the west. Eisenach, the second district in size, and the first in point of natural beauty, stretches in a narrow strip from north to south on the extreme western boundary of Thuringia, and includes parts of the church lauds of Fulda, of Hesse, and of the former countship of Henneberg. It is bounded on the N. and W. by Prussia, on the S. by Bavaria (which also surrounds the exclave of Ostheim), and on the E. by Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Gotha. The north is occupied by the rounded hills of the Thuringian Forest, while the Rhon Mountains extend into the southern part. The chief summits of the former group, which is more remarkable for its fine forests and pictur- esque scenery than for its height, are the Wartburg Hill (1355 feet), the north-western termination of the system, Ottowald (2103 feet), Wachstein (1801 feet), Eingberg (2106 feet), Hohe Vogelheid (2378 feet), and the Glockner (2211 feet). Among the Rhon Mountains in Eisenach the loftiest summits are the Elnbogen (2677 feet), Bayer- berg (2359 feet), Hohe Rain (2375), and the Glaserberg (2231 feet). The chief river is the Werra, which flows across the centre of the district from east to west, and then bending suddenly northwards, re-enters from Prussia, and traverses the north-eastern parts in an irregular course. Its chief tributaries in Eisenach are the Horsel and the Ulster. Eisenach is the only town of importance in this division of the grand-duchy. Neustadt, the third of the larger divisions, is distin- guished neither by picturesque scenery nor historical interest. It forms an oblong territory, about 24 miles long by 16 broad, and belongs rather to the hilly district of the Voigtlaud than to Thuringia. It is bounded on the N. by Reuss (junior line) and Saxe-Altenburg, on the W. by Saxe-Meiuingen and a Prussian exclave, on the S. by the two Reuss principalities, and on the E. by the kingdom of Saxony. The Kesselberg (1310 feet) near the town of Neustadt is the chief eminence. This district lies in the basin of the Saale, its chief streams being the White Elster, the Weida, and the Orla. Neustadt, Auma, and Weida are the principal towns. Agriculture forms the chief occupation of the inhabitants in all parts of the duchy, though in Eisenach and Ilmenau a large proportion of the area is covered with forests. According to the returns for 1883, 56 - 3 per cent, of the entire surface was occupied by arable land, 25 '8 per cent, by forests, 8'8 by pasture and meadow-land, and 4'1 per cent, by buildings, roads, and water. Only 5 per cent, was unproductive soil or moorland. These figures indicate that Saxe-Weiinar-Eisenach has nearly as large a percentage of arable land as Saxe-Altenburg, and, notwithstanding the extensive woods in Eisenach and Ilmenau, a lower proportion of forest than any other Thuringian state. In 1883 the chief grain crops were oats (80,682 acres, yielding 38,271 tons), barley (78,067 acres, 45,249 tons), rye (72,607 acres, 29,006 tons), and wheat (47,732 acres, 19,949 tons). About 50,000 acres were planted with potatoes, yielding 237,627 tons, or nearly 4 per cent, per acre less than the average of the five years immediately preceding. All the grain crops were slightly above the average of the same period. The 79,405 acres devoted to hay produced 98,910 tons. Among the other crops were beetroot for sugar (8602 acres), flax (1300 acres), and oil-yielding plants (4562 acres). Fruit grows in abund- ance, especially in the neighbourhood of Jena, in the valley of the Gleisse, and on the lower Ilm; 1070 acres, mostly on the banks of the Saale, were occupied with vines. Of the forests 38 '5 per cent, arc deciduous and 61 '5 per cent, coniferous trees ; fully a half of the former are beeches. The greater part of the forests belong to the Government. Cattle-raising is carried on to a considerable extent, especially in Eisenach and Neustadt, while the sheep- farming centres in Weimar. The grand-ducal stud-fann in Allstedt maintains the breed of horses. In 1883 the duchy contained 17,271 horses, 11 0,092 cattle, 145, 442 sheep, 101,443 pigs, and 41, 291 goats. Although iron, copper, cobalt, and lignite are worked, the mineral wealth is trifling. Salt is also worked at different places. The manufacturing industries in the grand-duchy are consider- able; they employ 37 '3 per cent, of the population. The most important is the textile industry, which centres in Apolda, and employs more than 20,000 hands throughout the country. The production of woollen goods (stockings, cloth, underclothing) forms the leading branch of the industry ; but cotton and linen weaving and yarn-spinning are also carried on. Large quantities of earthenware and crockery are made, especially at Ilmenau. The microscopes of Jena, the scientific instruments (thermometers, barometers, &c. ) of Ilmenau, and the pipes and cigar-holders of Ruhla (partly in Gotha) are well known. Leather, paper, glass, cork, and tobacco are among the less prominent manufactures. There are numerous breweries in the duchy. The volume of trade is not very great, although some of the productions (chiefly those first mentioned) are exported all over Europe, and in some cases to other continents as well. The chief imports, besides