Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/352

 340 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE enlarges on the beauty of the German gardens, not only of those that belonged to the wealthy, but also to those of moderate means, particularly in the Ehenish pro- vinces. The poets also sing of the lovely blossoms of the almond trees. Sebastian Miinster says in his Geography: ' Between Spires and the western mountains there were almond trees enough to supply the whole of Germany. The country round the little town of Deidesheim is like one field of almond trees.' Eysengrein in his Chronicles writes : ' The excellent wine made in the Spires dis- trict is exported to Switzerland, Suabia, Bavaria, Lorraine, and to Southern Germany, sometimes even to England.' In the latter part of the Middle Ages the vine was the object* of very special attention. It grew in places in which it is at present unknown. In Erfurt sixty thousand pailsful of wine used to be gathered in good years. In Hesse the vine was cultivated with such success by the monasteries, the nobles, the citizens, and the knights of the Teutonic order at Marburg, and even by the peasants, that the wine equalled that of the Ehine and of Burgundy. Fulda, Marburg, Witzen- haufen, and Cassel were the centres of the vine culture, and were completely surrounded by vineyards and vine villages. In the province of Brandenburg many vine- yards were to be found around the cities of Kathenow, Brandenburg, Cologne-on-the-Spree, Oderburg, Guben, Ltibben, and other places. In Mecklenburg, besides the principal vineyards of Schwerin and Plauen, there were in 1508 many vineyards in full bearing which extended as far as Llibeck. Owing to the universal use of wine in the fifteenth