EISENACH

eisenach, a town of germany, second capital of the grand-duchy of saxe-weimar-eisenach, lies at the north-west foot of the thuringian forest, at the confluence of the nesse and horsel, 32 m. by rail w. from erfurt. pop. (1905) 35,123. the town mainly consists of a long street, running from east to west. off this are the market square, containing the grand-ducal palace, built in 1742, where the duchess helene of orleans long resided, the town-hall, and the late gothic st georgenkirche; and the square on which stands the nikolaikirche, a fine romanesque building, built about 1150 and restored in 1887. noteworthy are also the klemda, a small castle dating from 1260; the lutherhaus, in which the reformer stayed with the cotta family in 1498; the house in which sebastian bach was born, and that (now a museum) in which fritz reuter lived (1863-1874). there are monuments to the two former in the town, while the resting-place of the latter in the cemetery is marked by a less pretentious memorial. eisenach has a school of forestry, a school of design, a classical school (_gymnasium_) and modern school (_realgymnasium_), a deaf and dumb school, a teachers' seminary, a theatre and a wagner museum. the most important industries of the town are worsted-spinning, carriage and wagon building, and the making of colours and pottery. among others are the manufacture of cigars, cement pipes, iron-ware and machines, alabaster ware, shoes, leather, &c., cabinet-making, brewing, granite quarrying and working, tile-making, and saw- and corn-milling. the natural beauty of its surroundings and the extensive forests of the district have of late years attracted many summer residents. magnificently situated on a precipitous hill, 600 ft. above the town to the south, is the historic wartburg (q.v.), the ancient castle of the landgraves of thuringia, famous as the scene of the contest of minnesingers immortalized in wagner's tannhauser, and as the place where luther, on his return from the diet of worms in 1521, was kept in hiding and made his translation of the bible. on a high rock adjacent to the wartburg are the ruins of the castle of madelstein. eisenach (_isenacum_) was founded in 1070 by louis ii. the springer, landgrave of thuringia, and its history during the middle ages was closely bound up with that of the wartburg, the seat of the landgraves. the klemda, mentioned above, was built by sophia (d. 1284), daughter of the landgrave louis iv., and wife of duke henry ii. of brabant, to defend the town against henry iii., margrave of meissen, during the succession contest that followed the extinction of the male line of the thuringian landgraves in 1247. the principality of eisenach fell to the saxon house of wettin in 1440, and in the partition of 1485 formed part of the territories given to the ernestine line. it was a separate saxon duchy from 1596 to 1638, from 1640 to 1644, and again from 1662 to 1741, when it finally fell to saxe-weimar. the town of eisenach, by reason of its associations, has been a favourite centre for the religious propaganda of evangelical germany, and since 1852 it has been the scene of the annual conference of the german evangelical church, known as the eisenach conference. see trinius, _eisenach und umgebung_ (minden, 1900); and h.a. daniel, _deutschland_ (leipzig, 1895), and further references in u. chevalier, "repertoire des sources," &c., _topo-bibliogr._ (montbeliard, 1894-1899), s.v. eisenberg (_isenberg_), a town of germany, in the duchy of saxe-altenburg, on a plateau between the rivers saale and elster, 20 m. s.w. from zeitz, and connected with the railway leipzig-gera by a branch to crossen. pop. (1905) 8824. it possesses an old castle, several churches and monuments to duke christian of saxe-eisenberg (d. 1707), bismarck, and the philosopher karl christian friedrich krause (q.v.). its principal industries are weaving, and the manufacture of machines, ovens, furniture, pianos, porcelain and sausages. see back, _chronik der sladt und des amtes eisenberg_ (eisenb., 1843). eisenerz ("iron ore"), a market-place and old mining town in styria, austria, 68 m. n.w. of graz by rail. pop. (1900) 6494. it is situated in a deep valley, dominated on the east by the pfaffenstein (6140 ft.), on the west by the kaiserschild (6830 ft.), and on the south by the erzberg (5030 ft.). it has an interesting example of a medieval fortified church, a gothic edifice founded by rudolph of habsburg in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 16th. the erzberg or ore mountain furnishes such rich ore that it is quarried in the open air like stone, in the summer months. there is documentary evidence of the mines having been worked as far back as the 12th century. they afford employment to two or three thousand hands in summer and about half as many in winter, and yield some 800,000 tons of iron per annum. eisenerz is connected with the mines by the erzberg railway, a bold piece of engineering work, 14 m. long, constructed on the abt's rack-and-pinion system. it passes through some beautiful scenery, and descends to vordernberg (pop. 3111), an important centre of the iron trade situated on the south side of the erzberg. eisenerz possesses, in addition, twenty-five furnaces, which produce iron, and particularly steel, of exceptional excellence. a few miles to the n.w. of eisenerz lies the castle of leopoldstein, and near it the beautiful leopoldsteiner lake. this lake, with its dark-green water, situated at an altitude of 2028 ft., and surrounded on all sides by high peaks, is not big, but is very deep, having a depth of 520 ft. eisleben (lat. _islebia_), a town of germany, in the prussian province of saxony, 24 m. w. by n. from halle, on the railway to nordhausen and cassel. pop. (1905) 23,898. it is divided into an old and a new town (altstadt and neustadt). among its principal buildings are the church of st andrew (andreaskirche), which contains numerous monuments of the counts of mansfeld; the church of st peter and st paul (peter-paulkirche), containing the font in which luther was baptized; the royal gymnasium (classical school), founded by luther shortly before his death in 1546; and the hospital. eisleben is celebrated as the place where luther was born and died. the house in which he was born was burned in 1689, but was rebuilt in 1693 as a free school for orphans. this school fell into decay under the regime of the kingdom of westphalia, but was restored in 1817 by king frederick william iii. of prussia, who, in 1819, transferred it to a new building behind the old house. the house in which luther died was restored towards the end of the 19th century, and his death chamber is still preserved. a bronze statue of luther by rudolf siemering (1835-1905) was unveiled in 1883. eisleben has long been the centre of an important mining district (luther was a miner's son), the principal products being silver and copper. it possesses smelting works and a school of mining. the earliest record of eisleben is dated 974. in 1045, at which time it belonged to the counts of mansfeld, it received the right to hold markets, coin money, and levy tolls. from 1531 to 1710 it was the seat of the cadet line of the counts of mansfeld-eisleben. after the extinction of the main line of the counts of mansfeld, eisleben fell to saxony, and, in the partition of saxony by the congress of vienna in 1815, was assigned to prussia. see g. grossler, _urkundliche gesch. eislebens bis zum ende des 12. jahrhunderts_ (halle, 1875); _chronicon islebiense; eisleben stadtchronik aus den jahren_ 1520-1738, edited from the original, with notes by grossler and sommer (eisleben, 1882). eisteddfod (plural eisteddfodau), the national bardic congress of wales, the objects of which are to encourage bardism and music and the general literature of the welsh, to maintain the welsh language and customs of the country, and to foster and cultivate a patriotic spirit amongst the people. this institution, so peculiar to wales, is of very ancient origin.[1] the term _eisteddfod_, however, which means "a session" or "sitting," was probably not applied to bardic congresses before the 12th century. the eisteddfod in its present character appears to have originated in the time of owain ap maxen wledig, who at the close of the 4th century was elected to the chief sovereignty of the britons on the departure of the romans. it was at this time, or soon afterwards, that the laws and usages of the gorsedd were codified and remodelled, and its motto of "y gwir yn erbyn y byd" (the truth against the world) given to it. "chairs" (with which the eisteddfod as a national institution is now inseparably connected) were also established, or rather perhaps resuscitated, about the same time. the chair was a kind of convention where disciples were trained, and bardic matters discussed preparatory to the great gorsedd, each chair having a distinctive motto. there are now existing four chairs in wales,--namely, the "royal" chair of powys, whose motto is "a laddo a leddir" (he that slayeth shall be slain); that of gwent and glamorgan, whose motto is "duw a phob daioni" (god and all goodness); that of dyfed, whose motto is "calon wrth galon" (heart with heart); and that of gwynedd, or north wales, whose motto is "iesu," or "o iesu! na'd gamwaith" (jesus, or oh jesus! suffer not iniquity). the first eisteddfod of which any account seems to have descended to us was one held on the banks of the conway in the 6th century, under the auspices of maelgwn gwynedd, prince of north wales. maelgwn on this occasion, in order to prove the superiority of vocal song over instrumental music, is recorded to have offered a reward to such bards and minstrels as should swim over the conway. there were several competitors, but on their arrival on the opposite shore the harpers found themselves unable to play owing to the injury their harps had sustained from the water, while the bards were in as good tune as ever. king cadwaladr also presided at an eisteddfod about the middle of the 7th century. griffith ap cynan, prince of north wales, who had been born in ireland, brought with him from that country many irish musicians, who greatly improved the music of wales. during his long reign of 56 years he offered great encouragement to bards, harpers and minstrels, and framed a code of laws for their better regulation. he held an eisteddfod about the beginning of the 12th century at caerwys in flintshire, "to which there repaired all the musicians of wales, and some also from england and scotland." for many years afterwards the eisteddfod appears to have been held triennially, and to have enforced the rigid observance of the enactments of griffith ap cynan. the places at which it was generally held were aberffraw, formerly the royal seat of the princes of north wales; dynevor, the royal castle of the princes of south wales; and mathrafal, the royal palace of the princes of powys: and in later times caerwys in flintshire received that honourable distinction, it having been the princely residence of llewelyn the last. some of these eisteddfodau were conducted in a style of great magnificence, under the patronage of the native princes. at christmas 1107 cadwgan, the son of bleddyn ap cynfyn, prince of powys, held an eisteddfod in cardigan castle, to which he invited the bards, harpers and minstrels, "the best to be found in all wales"; and "he gave them chairs and subjects of emulation according to the custom of the feasts of king arthur." in 1176 rhys ab gruffydd, prince of south wales, held an eisteddfod in the same castle on a scale of still greater magnificence, it having been proclaimed, we are told, a year before it took place, "over wales, england, scotland, ireland and many other countries." on the annexation of wales to england, edward i. deemed it politic to sanction the bardic eisteddfod by his famous statute of rhuddlan. in the reign of edward iii. ifor hael, a south wales chieftain, held one at his mansion. another was held in 1451, with the permission of the king, by griffith ab nicholas at carmarthen, in princely style, where dafydd ab edmund, an eminent poet, signalized himself by his wonderful powers of versification in the welsh metres, and whence "he carried home on his shoulders the silver chair" which he had fairly won. several eisteddfodau, were held, one at least by royal mandate, in the reign of henry vii. in 1523 one was held at caerwys before the chamberlain of north wales and others, by virtue of a commission issued by henry viii. in the course of time, through relaxation of bardic discipline, the profession was assumed by unqualified persons, to the great detriment of the regular bards. accordingly in 1567 queen elizabeth issued a commission for holding an eisteddfod at caerwys in the following year, which was duly held, when degrees were conferred on 55 candidates, including 20 harpers. from the terms of the royal proclamation we find that it was then customary to bestow "a silver harp" on the chief of the faculty of musicians, as it had been usual to reward the chief bard with "a silver chair." this was the last eisteddfod appointed by royal commission, but several others of some importance were held during the 16th and 17th centuries, under the patronage of the earl of pembroke, sir richard neville, and other influential persons. amongst these the last of any particular note was one held in bewper castle, glamorgan, by sir richard basset in 1681. during the succeeding 130 years welsh nationality was at its lowest ebb, and no general eisteddfod on a large scale appears to have been held until 1819, though several small ones were held under the auspices of the gwyneddigion society, established in 1771,--the most important being those at corwen (1789), st asaph (1790) and caerwys (1798). at the close of the napoleonic wars, however, there was a general revival of welsh nationality, and numerous welsh literary societies were established throughout wales, and in the principal english towns. a large eisteddfod was held under distinguished patronage at carmarthen in 1819, and from that time to the present they have been held (together with numerous local eisteddfodau), almost without intermission, annually. the eisteddfod at llangollen in 1858 is memorable for its archaic character, and the attempts then made to revive the ancient ceremonies, and restore the ancient vestments of druids, bards and ovates. to constitute a provincial eisteddfod it is necessary that it should be proclaimed by a graduated bard of a gorsedd a year and a day before it takes place. a local one may be held without such a proclamation. a provincial eisteddfod generally lasts three, sometimes four days. a president and a conductor are appointed for each day. the proceedings commence with a gorsedd meeting, opened with sound of trumpet and other ceremonies, at which candidates come forward and receive bardic degrees after satisfying the presiding bard as to their fitness. at the subsequent meetings the president gives a brief address; the bards follow with poetical addresses; adjudications are made, and prizes and medals with suitable devices are given to the successful competitors for poetical, musical and prose compositions, for the best choral and solo singing, and singing with the harp or "pennillion singing"[2] as it is called, for the best playing on the harp or stringed or wind instruments, as well as occasionally for the best specimens of handicraft and art. in the evening of each day a concert is given, generally attended by very large numbers. the great day of the eisteddfod is the "chair" day--usually the third or last day--the grand event of the eisteddfod being the adjudication on the chair subject, and the chairing and investiture of the fortunate winner. this is the highest object of a welsh bard's ambition. the ceremony is an imposing one, and is performed with sound of trumpet. 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