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 360 ALTDORF ALTENSTEIN which occurs only in one or two occasional offices. In the early church the tombs of the martyrs, especially in the catacombs, were fre- quently used as altars, whence the present form is evidently derived. The earliest Christian writers use the words mensa sacra, mensa Domini, dvaiaartipiov, and altare, indiscrimi- nately as convertible terms. In the small early churches the altar stood on the floor of the sanctuary ; in the churches of the 4th century, which were larger, it was elevated on a plat- form ; and it was subsequently elevated still more, so as to be reached by an ascent of sev- eral steps. Until the 13th century it stood in the middle of the sanctuary, and the priest stood behind it, facing the people, as is still the case in the Lateran basilica. Afterward the altar was placed against the wall, or a screen, which occasioned the change in the posture of the priest. This seems to have been peculiar to Rome, however, as elsewhere there is no record of a change in this respect. ALTDORF, or Altorf, a town of Bavaria, in the circle of Middle Franconia, 13 in. S. E. of Nu- remberg, on the Schwarzach ; pop. about 3,000. It contains an old palace, and manufactories of wooden toys and breweries. The principal trade is in hops. It was an imperial city be- fore the 13th century, and again rose to impor- tance in the 17th, through its university, which in 1809 was merged in that of Erlangen. The university buildings have since been occupied by a normal school for Protestant teachers. ALTDORFER, Albreeht, a German painter and engraver, born at Altdorf, Bavaria, in 1488, died at Ratisbon in 1538. He is supposed to have been a pupil of Albert Durer, and is dis- tinguished in Germany for the romantic charac- ter of his conceptions. His principal painting, "The Victory of Alexander over Darius," is in the gallery of Schleissheim, near Munich, and his "Birth of our Saviour" in the imperial gallery of Vienna. His engravings are on both copper and wood. ALTENA, a town of Westphalia, Prussia, on the Ruhr and Sieg railroad, in the district and 17m.W.S. W.ofArnsberg; pop. in 1871, 7,122. It is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded on all sides by high mountains. The town has for centuries been the seat of a flourishing in- dustry, comprising numerous manufactories of iron and steel wares. Near by on a high cliff, is the castle of the old counts of Altena (later counts of the Mark), which now belongs to the order of St. John. ALTENBIRC. I. Or Swe-Altenbor?, a sovereign duchy of the German empire, bounded by Prus- sia, Saxony, Weimar, Meiningen, Rudolstadt, and Reuss-Gera, the last of which divides it into two parts, the E. division constituting Alten- burg proper and the W. Saal-Eisenberg ; area, 510 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 142,122. It is trav- ersed by spurs of the Erzgebirge, and in the west by ridges of the Thuringian Forest. The principal rivers are the Pleisse and the Saale. The duchy contains several large lakes and mineral springs, extensive forests in the west, and coal mines in the east. It is among the richest in Germany in agricultural products, especially in rye and wheat ; a great many cattle are raised, and the horse and sheep are of supe- rior breed. Wild boars and deer abound. The manufactures are leather, woollen cloths, ho- siery, linen goods, wooden wares, and brandy. The duchy joined the North German confed- eration in 1866, where it had one vote, which it also has in the empire. The local legisla- ture or diet consists of one chamber with 30 members. The present duke, Ernest, who succeeded his father in 1853, is a general in the Prussian and a major general in the Saxon army. In former times the duchy belonged to the Osterland, and was ruled by the margraves of Pleissen. In 1803 it was divided into two principalities. In 1826 it assumed its present territorial form. The inhabitants are chiefly Wends by descent, and many in the rural dis- tricts retain the antique costumes. II. A city, capital of the preceding duchy, situated on the Pleisse, 24 m. by railway S. of Leipsic ; pop. in 1871, 19,966. It is well built, and contains many churches, a museum of painting and statuary, a gymnasium, and a great number of educational and literary institutions. The most celebrated public building is the palace, situated on an escarped rock. Altenburg has manufac- tories of cigars, gloves, brushes, and haber- dashery, and an important book trade. It was for some time an imperial city. In 1430 it was almost destroyed by the Hussites. ALTEN-OETTING, or Alt-Oettlnj? (the Aulinga Villa of the middle ages), a small town in one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys of Upper Bavaria, 50 m. E. N. E. of Munich, and 2 m. S. of Neu-Oetting on the Inn ; pop. about 2,500. It is annually frequented, on account of its famed picture of the Virgin, by many thousand pilgrims from Austria, Bavaria, and Swabia. The Jesuits had a college here, which was suppressed in 1773. In its place the Redemptorists founded a college in 1841, which 1 is the principal house of the order in Germany. 1 Alten-Oetting WHS in the 9th century long the residence of Carloman, the eldest son of Louis 1 the German. Several German emperors, among whom are Henry III. and Henry IV., held their court here. Tilly is here buried with other members of his family, and the chapel which contains his tomb bears his name. Since Maximilian I. many princes and princesses of the Bavarian house have been entombed here. ALTENSTEIN, a mountain castle in Saxe- Meiningen, not far from Eisenach, on the S. W. slope of the Thuringian Forest. It was the residence of Boniface, the apostle to the Ger- mans, in the 8th century, and just behind it is the place where Luther was secreted by the elector Frederick the Wise in 1521. The names of " Luther's beech " and " Luther's spring " perpetuate the memory of the reformer's re- tirement in this place. The tree stood till 1841, when it was shattered by a tempest, and