Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/890

BERKSHIRE. 1891. 238,700; in 1901, 2.i.5,000. Consult Graves, The Wai/ About Berkshire (London, 1898).

BERKSHIRE HILLS. The name applied to the hill country of western Massachusetts ( Map : Massachusetts, A 3 ). The region is famed for the beauty of its scenery and is a favorite outing-place in summer. The mountains, which are a continuation of the Green Mountains of Vermont, are intersected by rivers and valleys, which give variety to the scenery. The chief rivers on the west are the Hoosac and the Housatonic, and on the east the Deerfield and the ^'estfield. Few of the summits are over 2000 feet above sea-level : but Greyloek in the north rises to 353.5 feet, and Mount Everett at the south rises to 2G35 feet.

BERLAD, ber-lad'. A town of Rumania, situated on the river of the same name and on the Tecuci-Basliii Railway. It is regularly built, and contains a number of institutions for secon- dary education and a theatre. It has also a con- siderable trade in grain and a number of dis- tilleries. Population, in 1899, 24,484.

BERLEBURG, berle-boorK, or BERLEBURGER (ber'le-boork'er) BIBLE. A translation of the Bible published by unknown editors at Berleburg, in Germany, 25 miles northwest of Marburg {1726-42, 8 vols,). It is an original translation, with a running exposition, giving the literal, spiritual, and hidden or mystical interpretation. It has the characteristic excellences and defects of pietism.

BERLICHINGEN, bĕr'lĭ K -ĭng ' en, or (1480-1562). A German feudal knight and soldier of fortune. He was born at Jagsthausen, Württemberg, and was initiated into feudal warfare at an early age. He first served the Elector Frederick of Brandenburg, but soon took up the cause of Albert of Bavaria, In 1504, at the siege of Landshut, he lost his right hand, and having had it replaced by an iron one, he was thenceforth known as Götz of the Iron Hand. He lived in constant feuds with his neighbors and waylaid passing merchants, varying these pastimes with deeds of chivalry. His disregard for the edict against private warfare caused Götz to be twice put under the ban of the Empire, first in 1512 and again in 1518. He was a stanch supporter of Luther. In 1525 the revolted peasants, according to his story, came to the castle of Berlichingen and insisted forcibly on his assuming command over them. The revolt was soon put down and Götz taken prisoner, and only released after two years' captivity, and on promise of abstaining from further warfare. After a long period of inactivity he reappeared on the scene in 1542, and took part in the campaign in Hungary against the Turks, and in 1544 fought for Charles V. against Francis I. Götz died at his castle, July 23, 1562. While living in retirement he wrote his famous autobiography, which first appeared in 1731 and has since been edited by Schönhuth (Heilbronn, 1859), and by Müller (Leipzig, 1882), Goethe chose the famous knight as the hero of one of his best-known dramas, Götz von Berlichingen, which Sir Walter Scott translated, and in the eyes of historians generally Götz represents the typical feudal knight. The best biographies of him are: Götz, Graf van Berlichingen-Rossach, Geschichte des Ritters Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand (Leipzig, 1861); Buesching, Leben

des Götz von Berlichingen (Berlin, 1810). The family of Berlichingen-Rossach are descendants of the famous knight.

BERLIN, ber-lin' or ber'lln; Ger. pron. berlen' (commonly explained as a word of the 'endish Slavs, w hieh meant 'free or open space'). The capital of the German Empire, of the Kingdom of Prussia, and of the Province of Brandenburg (JNIap: Prussia, E. 2). It is one of the finest and most important cities of Europe, the largest after London and Paris, and is situated on the river Spree, in latitude 52° 30' N., longitude 13° 24' E. The Spree.at this place about 200 feet wide, with a sluggish current, flows through the city in a northwesterly direction, dividing it into two nearly equal parts: and it is connected with the Oder and the Baltic by canals.

. The divisions of Berlin are marked by the course of the natural waterways intersecting the city. Three of the older parts of the city — viz., Old Kolln, with its royal castle; Old Berlin, with the city hall; and Frieclriehswerder and New Kiilln, with the Arsenal and State Bank — form the first circle around the centre which constituted the original city. Next follows a second concentric circle of seven parts, viz., Dorotheenstadt, Friedrichstadt, Friedrich - Wilhelmstadt, Konigstadt, Spandauer Viertel, Stralauer Viertel, and Luisenstadt. A third circle is formed around the famous Thiergarten as a centre, and includes Jloabit, Wedding, and the Oranienburg and Rosenthal suburbs on the north, and the Friedrich, Schiineberg, and Tempelhof suburbs on the south, Berlin is distinguished by a large number of imposing modern public edifices and by numerous splendid public monuments. Its most celebrated street is Unter den Linden (so called from its double avenue of linden-trees), one of the finest and most spacious streets in Europe. It is entered from the Thiergarten through the celebrated Brandenburg Gate, the only one of the city gates left since the demolition of the city walls, erected in 1789-93 by Langhans, in imitation of the Propyltea at Athens. It consists of a double portico of 12 Doric columns, forming five passageways for carriages, and is surmounted by a Quadriga of Victory. After Unter den Linden, the principal thoroughfares are the Friedrichstrasse, Leipziger Strasse, Potsdamer Strasse, Wilhelmstrasse, Konigstrasse, and Kaiser - Wilhelm- strasse. Among the church edifices the new cathedral in Italian Renaissance, founded in 1894 on the site of the old cathedral, is the largest and most imposing. Its cost was 10,000,000 marks. The Gothic Klosterkirche, built by the Franciscans at the end of the Thirteenth Century, is one of the best preserved specimens of medifeval architecture. Of modern churches, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, in late Romanesque, erected in 1891-95, with its main tower 370 feet high, is the loftiest structure in Berlin. Two other noteworthy ecclesiastical buildings are the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Michael, erected in 1853-56 as a garrison church, and the New Synagogue of Moorish architecture, built in 1859-66, with a seating capacity of 3000, and distinguished for its interior decorations.

The most notable secular building is the Royal Palace, during the reign of Frederick the Great, and since the accession of William II, the Im-