t as marking the transition between
the Romanesque and Gothic in a manner not usually associated with the
Rhine. One observes it notably in the porch, where the lower range of
round-headed arcades is surmounted by a colonnade of sloping angular
arches, which are certainly not Romanesque or classical, though, truth
to tell, they resemble the clearly defined Gothic of France but little.

To-day the church of Lorsch presents no remarkable architectural
features, and is simply an attractive and picturesquely environed
building containing a few monuments worthy of note.

In olden times the town was protected by a strong chateau, constructed
in 1348 by the Archbishop of Mayence, but no traces of it are left
to-day.

XV

FRANKFORT

There is a legend which connects the foundation of Frankfort with a
saying of Charlemagne's when he was warring against the Saxons.

Having fortunately escaped an attack from a superior force, by crossing
the river Main during a thick fog, Charlemagne thrust his lance into the
sand of the river-bank and exclaimed: "It is here that I will erect a
city, in memory of this fortunate event, and it shall be known as
'_Franken Furth_,'--'the Ford of the Franks.'"

The city owes its ancient celebrity, in part, to the crowning of the
emperors, which, before Frankfort became an opulent commercial city,
always took place here according to the laws promulgated in 1152 and
1356. Later the ceremony was transferred to Aix-la-Chapelle.

The first historical mention of the city was in 794, when Charlemagne
convoked a Diet and a council of the Church.

Frankfort suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War, in the War of
Succession, and in the Revolution in 1793. Napoleon made the city a
grand duchy in favour of the Prince-Primate Charles of Dalberg.

Of the ancient gateways of the city, but one remains to-day, that of
Eschenheim, a fine monument of characteristically German features of the
middle ages. It dates from the fourteenth century.

One of the principal attractions of Frankfort for strangers has ever
been the Juden Gasse,--the street of the Jews. It dates from 1662. As
one enters, on the left, at No. 148, is the _maison paternelle_ of the
celebrated Rothschilds.

The cathedral at Frankfort is consecrated to St. Bartholomew. It was
begun under the Carlovingians and was only completed in the fourteenth
century.

At the extreme western end is a colossal tower which ranks as one of the