I arose in good time and I was at the church at the opening of the session. Bishop Crauston welcomed me and introduced me to the Conference as the son of the founder of Methodism in Germany and Switzerland. I made a short address and took leave of the brethren. Back to the hotel and left for Dresden at 11:35.

Reached this city at 1 p.m. and went at once to look up a Pension with which I have been in correspondence. I looked at some rooms and returned to the depot to learn that I could not get a train for Mariaschein and make good connections until 5 o’clock, so I hired a one horse shay and drove around to other pensions and hotels and saw the different “Schenwirdigkeiten” and wound up with a drive through the Grosse Garten, a royal park laid out in 1676, which covers an area of 375 acres. In 1813, it was the scene of several sharp engagements between the French and the Prussians.

The park is intersected by two broad avenues at right angles to each other, and is embellished with marble groups. At the intersection of these stands the Lustschloss, a chateau built by Augustus the Strong in 1680. The landscape gardens surrounding this pretty palace are specially fine, and they are kept in excellent order. The lawns are kept clean of weeds by women who work on them on their knees all day. I shall not try to say more about Dresden as we will return next week.

The ride on the train from Dresden to Bodenbach along the Elbe and from Bodenbach to Aussig was very interesting. The scenery is grand.

We passed the Konigstein, a fortress which was formerly regarded as impregnable and, in time of war, the treasure and archives of Saxony were usually deposited there.

On the opposite bank is the Lilienstein. On the Elbe, as small as it is, there is a constant passing up and down of barges. They are pulled along by a chain. Along its banks are many factories, in fact, an uninterrupted chain of them, and it astonishes you to see this great extend of manufacture. You begin to understand where so many of the things “Made in Germany” find their origin. It is just wonderful.

At Aussig, I had time to sup, and at 8:30 p.m. I reached home, welcomed by Mama, Emily and Johann.

Editor’s note: Schenwirdigkeiten roughly translates to “economic difficulties.” Because Hermann puts this word within quotation marks, he may be making a joke about the cost of lodgings. 

Chemnitz. Carola Street, view of the new Theater & Petrikirche.