ilders of the churches of the
Rhine country were no mere tyros or experimenters, but rather that they
were possessed of the best talents of the time.

There is much of interest awaiting the lover of churches who makes even
the conventional Rhine tour, though mostly the tourist in these parts
has heretofore reserved his sentiments and emotions for the admiration
of its theatrical-looking crags and castles, the memory of its legends
of the Lorelei, etc., a nodding acquaintance with the castle of
Heidelberg, and a proper or improper appreciation of the waterside
beer-gardens of Cologne. For the most part the real romance and history
of the Rhine, as it flows from its source in the Grisons to the North
Sea, has been neglected.

There are a large number of persons who are content to admire the
popular attractions of convention; sometimes they evoke an interest
somewhat out of the ordinary, but up to now apparently no one has gone
to the Rhine with the sole object of visiting its magnificent gallery of
ecclesiastical treasures.

No one glows with enthusiasm at the mention of these Rhenish churches as
they do for the Gothic marvels of France. It is, of course, impossible,
in spite of Cologne, Speyer, and Strasburg, that they should supplant
Reims, Amiens, Chartres, or Rouen in the popular fancy, to say nothing
of real excellence; for these four French examples represent nearly all
that is best in mediaeval church architecture.

The Reformation in Germany, with its attendant unrest, accounts for a
certain latitude and variety in the types of church fitments, as well
as--in many cases--an unconventional arrangement or disposition of the
fabric itself.

One thing is most apparent with regard to German churches in
general,--the fittings and paraphernalia, as distinct from the
constructive or decorative elements of the fabric, are far more ornate
and numerous than in churches of a similar rank elsewhere. It is true
that the Revolution played its part of destruction along the Rhine, but
in spite of this there is an abundance of sculpture and other ornament
still left.

Thus one almost always finds elaborate choir-stalls, screens, pulpits,
and altar-pieces, of a quantity and excellence that contrast strongly
with the severe outlines of the fabric which shelters them.

In connection with the architectural forms of the ecclesiastical
buildings of a country must invariably be considered such secular and
civic establishments as