1936 On the Continent

spite of its relative youth, possesses an historically important quarter, the town is an example of the most modern German construction. The strictly geometrical lay-out of the streets in the inner town is interesting. They are to a certain extent numbered as in New York. On this journey I should have had the opportunity of visiting my first travelling acquaintance, the friendly jeweller of Pforzheim, in his home town, but I noticed anxiously that the time was passing all too swiftly, and I was getting ever further south, whilst central and north Germany had at least as much to offer me as the southern part of the Reich, if in quite a different form.
    I did not therefore leave the train till Baden-Baden, with the firm resolve to go no farther into the Black Forest. Triberg, Feldberg, Freudenstadt, winter sports and walking centres, Freiburg, the metropolis of the BlackForest, close to the Swiss frontier, in spite of being included in my travel programme, were no longer possible.
    The Black Forest, perhaps the most famous mountain and forest district in Germany, is an unbroken chain of hills and mountains reaching for about 100 miles. This mountainous district is rightly called forest, for from the beginning to the end one is never free of the glorious rich green trees. The highest mountains are 5,000 feet, but above 3,000 the vegetation, vigorous in the southern climate, becomes somewhat sparser, and the deciduous trees give way to pines. The isolation of the forest, the loneliness of the valleys far removed from the high roads, have preserved the original characteristics of the people in many ways. In many Black Forest villages may be seen the picturesque peasant dress of bygone days worn as a matter of course by men and women. Usually, even in Germany, the peasant dress is only preserved by artificial means, although in this connection there has lately been a change—the nationalist wave which has swept over the whole of Germany has promoted to a great extent a return to the peasant dress.
Baden-Baden
    Whilst Wiesbaden is an important town combined with a spa, Baden-Baden, equally famed, is simply a spa on a large scale. Its population of 30,000 is devoted first and foremost to the tourist traffic industry, which nowhere has such traditions as here. Every year about 100,000 visitors visit the world-famed baths, of which nearly 30,000 are foreigners. It has always been an international meeting place and as such played an important part in many well-known novels of the nineteenth century. The cures which Baden-Baden has to offer may be placed on an equality with those of Wiesbaden, but Baden-Baden has always been more dedicated to the mondaine life, to fashionable society, the aristocracy and the well-to-do bourgeoisie.
    There were times when more kings and princes were to be seen on the promenades of Baden-Baden than anywhere else in the world. It might be said that this was a meeting place for the crowned heads of Europe. Ofcourse, the great changes of this age have not passed over Baden-Baden without leaving their trace. The world-famed spa has had to sacrifice its costly exclusiveness to a certain extent, and to-day it offers to all who desire health and distraction the opportunity to enjoy its beauty and make use of its healing properties. The fashionable character of the place is, however, retained. The Kasino, in which the riches of the European aristocracy once changed hands, is to-day again a meeting place for people of all countries.
The Attractions of Baden-Baden
    The Iffizheim races, the various fixtures organised by the automobile industry, including the annual beauty competition for cars, are only some of the many attractions which Baden-Baden has to offer. The tea-terrace of the Merkur, on the highest hill in the neighbourhood of Baden-Baden, should not be missed, where fashionable life and the beautiful landscape may be enjoyed together. (A funicular took me there quite quickly.) The healing springs, twenty in all, have a strong radio-active effect and are used for baths and also for drinking and inhalation. They are especially useful in cases of gout, rheumatism, diseases of the respiratory organs, their natural heat reaching 150 deg. F. The grape cures also in spring and autumn are becoming increasingly known. In the Kasino roulette and baccarat are played. Pigeon shooting, bridge competitions, and a great international dance competition are amongst the annual events which reach their climax in the