Deutschbrod to Znaim
"Here in Znaim I had to drink wine for the first time, because beer was no longer to be found."
"Here in Znaim I had to drink wine for the first time, because beer was no longer to be found."
In Iglau(1), on my passage, I saw nothing but the large, handsome, bright market square, whose houses, however, look far better at a distance than up close. Roughly in the middle of the square stands a magnificent Trinity monument, by Leopold the First(2) and Joseph the First(3), as devoutly Christian as possible, but gloomy in character. Several fine details were split and smeared, but the conceptio immaculata and the sponsa spiritus sancti still stood firm beneath the Ave Maria. A good wine is said to grow near Iglau; but it cannot be in abundance, for I saw few vineyards in the area.
Half an hour this side of Iglau, at the frontier, stand two pyramids not far from one another, erected in 1750 under Maria Theresa(4) by the Bohemian and Moravian estates.(5) The inscriptions are in contemporary diplomatic Latin and already considerably faded, though they were erected “for eternal remembrance.” In Moravia, it seems to me, there is altogether more liberality and bonhomie than in Bohemia.
In the little town of Stannern(6) there must be considerable wool manufactures; for all the windows are hung with such wares, and caps, stockings, gloves, and the like are hawked about at extraordinarily low prices. A good, comfortable inn — the first we had encountered since leaving Prague — immediately raised the town in our esteem. Whoever does not travel by post-chaise but stubbornly tramps on foot must very often make do in Huron fashion. My greatest fear, however, is of the quartering of certain small white creatures with black saddles, which thrive particularly well in Poland and are said not to be rare in Italy either. Otherwise, it is much the same to me whether I roll myself in eiderdown or bean straw. Sed quam misere ista animalcula excruciare possint, apud nautas expertus sum;(7) hence the Greeks presumably gave them their destructive name.
Here in Znaim(8) I had to drink wine for the first time, because beer was no longer to be found. The wine — one measure for twenty-four kreuzers(9) — was very good, as Schnorr assured me;(10) for I understand nothing of it and drink the best Burgundy with water just as I do the worst Potsdam stuff. I could well live here; so lovely and friendly is the whole region, even under snow. On one side the town abuts respectable heights, and on the other — especially toward Austria — the surroundings become very picturesque through the multitude of vineyards planted on gentle slopes.
The two monasteries at the two ends of the town are impressive. One of them, on the Austrian side, was confiscated by Joseph the Second.(11) During the war they served as magazines and as quarters for prisoners; now they stand empty.
The Roman ruin shown here lies two hours before the town, down to the right. A local canon has explained it, as I hear. Soil with such extensive vineyards could be better used for grain. The poor must have bread before the rich have wine.
At the Moravian–Austrian border I found no marker; only the roads immediately become worse. I judge the matter as a philanthropist, not as a drinker or investor.
How common good coin — especially gold — is here, I will show you with two examples. I paid for my midday meal in good ten-kreuzer pieces, which in Saxony are not especially good; a trinket-seller noticed this, pointed out how much I was losing, and exchanged them for inferior twelve-kreuzer pieces for the landlord in my absence. Another time, in an inn where cleanliness, prosperity, and even abundance prevailed, and where we had been well fed, I asked how ducats were standing, since I lacked small change. The landlord replied that he could not say, for he had not seen gold for many years, only bad money and paper, and did not wish to cheat me with an outdated rate.