The Danube: its history, scenery and topography / [William Beattie].

  • William Beattie
Date:
[1844?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Danube: its history, scenery and topography / [William Beattie]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ■ablien of 3t. lEmmcran ] tower is an inclined plane, so that, in its construction, the materials to be employed in the works coidd be canied up on the backs of mules or asses, and hence it retains the name of the Asses’ Tower. In one of the side-chapels, cai’efully preserred under glass, is an effigy of St. John de Nepomuc, confessor of the Queen of Bohe- mia, who refusing to divulge the secrets of the confessional to her husband, the tyrannic Wenceslaus, was thrown into prison by his order, tortured, and finally cast from the bridge of Prague into the Muldau, where he perished.^ In the nave of the church is an elegant effigy of a Duke of Bavaria, in bronze. The figiu'e occupies the top of an altar-tomb, and is represented in a kneeling posture before the crucifix, as one of the duces-episcopi of Ratisbon. The next object which awakens particu- lar interest in the traveller’s mind is the of i5min^ran» one of the most remarkable estabhshments of its kind in Em’ope. Like that of the Heiligen Ki'eutz at Donauworth, it is now the residence of one of the native grandees—the Prince of Thurn and Taxis; and .although its ABBEY or ST. EMMK.T.-W ' “ Tandis que I’empire murmure contre les affi euses debauches de Wenceslas, la Boheme gcinit sous le poids enoiTue des impots. L’iniperatrice se charge de porter aux pieds de son epoux les j)laintes et les pleurs de ses sujets. Wenceslas n’y a aucun egard. L’imperatrice, au desespoir, tombe dans la plus profonde melancolie. L’empereur veut connaitre la cause. II mande Jean Nepomucene, confos- seur de la princesse, et lui-ordonne de ne lui rien caoher de sa confession. Jean surpris, refuse de commettre line action aussi indigne ; et I’Einpereur outre de colere, lefait precipiter dans la JIol- dau.”—Such is the concise account given by a German historian of the martyrdom of St. John Nepomuc, whose statue is so frequently met with as the protector-saint on the bridges of the Con- tinent.
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