FREYTAG

freytag, gustav (1816-1895), german novelist, was born at kreuzburg, in silesia, on the 13th of july 1816. after attending the gymnasium at ols, he studied philology at the universities of breslau and berlin, and in 1838 took the degree with a remarkable dissertation, _de initiis poeseos scenicae apud germanos_. in 1839 he settled at breslau, as _privatdocent_ in german language and literature, but devoted his principal attention to writing for the stage, and achieved considerable success with the comedy _die brautfahrt, oder kunz von der rosen_ (1844). this was followed by a volume of unimportant poems, _in breslau_ (1845) and the dramas _die valentine_ (1846) and _graf waldemar_ (1847). he at last attained a prominent position by his comedy, _die journalisten_ (1853), one of the best german comedies of the 19th century. in 1847 he migrated to berlin, and in the following year took over, in conjunction with julian schmidt, the editorship of _die grenzboten_, a weekly journal which, founded in 1841, now became the leading organ of german and austrian liberalism. freytag helped to conduct it until 1861, and again from 1867 till 1870, when for a short time he edited a new periodical, _im neuen reich_. his literary fame was made universal by the publication in 1855 of his novel, _soll und haben_, which was translated into almost all the languages of europe. it was certainly the best german novel of its day, impressive by its sturdy but unexaggerated realism, and in many parts highly humorous. its main purpose is the recommendation of the german middle class as the soundest element in the nation, but it also has a more directly patriotic intention in the contrast which it draws between the homely virtues of the teuton and the shiftlessness of the pole and the rapacity of the jew. as a silesian, freytag had no great love for his slavonic neighbours, and being a native of a province which owed everything to prussia, he was naturally an earnest champion of prussian hegemony over germany. his powerful advocacy of this idea in his _grenzboten_ gained him the friendship of the duke of saxe-coburg-gotha, whose neighbour he had become, on acquiring the estate of siebleben near gotha. at the duke's request freytag was attached to the staff of the crown prince of prussia in the campaign of 1870, and was present at the battles of worth and sedan. before this he had published another novel, _die verlorene handschrift_ (1864), in which he endeavoured to do for german university life what in _soll und haben_ he had done for commercial life. the hero is a young german professor, who is so wrapt up in his search for a manuscript by tacitus that he is oblivious to an impending tragedy in his domestic life. the book was, however, less successful than its predecessor. between 1859 and 1867 freytag published in five volumes _bilder aus der deutschen vergangenheit_, a most valuable work on popular lines, illustrating the history and manners of germany. in 1872 he began a work with a similar patriotic purpose, _die ahnen_, a series of historical romances in which he unfolds the history of a german family from the earliest times to the middle of the 19th century. the series comprises the following novels, none of which, however, reaches the level of freytag's earlier books. (1) _ingo und ingraban_ (1872), (2) _das nest der zaunkonige_ (1874), (3) _die bruder vom deutschen hause_ (1875), (4) _marcus konig_ (1876), (5) _die geschwister_ (1878), and (6) in conclusion, _aus einer kleinen stadt_ (1880). among freytag's other works may be noticed _die technik des dramas_ (1863); an excellent biography of the baden statesman _karl mathy_ (1869); an autobiography (_erinnerungen aus meinen leben_, 1887); his _gesammelte aufsatze_, chiefly reprinted from the _grenzboten_ (1888); _der kronprinz und die deutsche kaiserkrone_; _erinnerungsblatter_ (1889). he died at wiesbaden on the 30th of april 1895. freytag's _gesammelte werke_ were published in 22 vols. at leipzig (1886-1888); his _vermischte aufsatze_ have been edited by e. elster, 2 vols. (leipzig, 1901-1903). on freytag's life see, besides his autobiography mentioned above, the lives by c. alberti (leipzig, 1890) and f. seiler (leipzig, 1898). friar (from the lat. _frater_, through the fr. _frere_), the english generic name for members of the mendicant religious orders. formerly it was the title given to individual members of these orders, as friar laurence (in _romeo and juliet_), but this is not now common. in england the chief orders of friars were distinguished by the colour of their habit: thus the franciscans or minors were the grey friars; the dominicans or preachers were the black friars (from their black mantle over a white habit), and the carmelites were the white friars (from their white mantle over a brown habit): these, together with the austin friars or hermits, formed the four great mendicant orders--chaucer's "alle the ordres foure." besides the four great orders of friars, the trinitarians (q.v.), though really canons, were in england called trinity friars or red friars; the crutched or crossed friars were often identified with them, but were really a distinct order; there were also a number of lesser orders of friars, many of which were suppressed by the second council of lyons in 1274. detailed information on these orders and on their position in england is given in separate articles. the difference between friars and monks is explained in article monasticism. though the usage is not accurate, friars, and also canons regular, are often spoken of as monks and included among the monastic orders. see fr. cuthbert, _the friars and how they came to england_, pp. 11-32 (1903); also f. a. gasquet, _english monastic life_, pp. 234-249 (1904), where special information on all the english friars is conveniently brought together. (e. c. b.) fribourg [ger. _freiburg_], one of the swiss cantons, in the western portion of the country, and taking its name from the town around which the various districts that compose it gradually gathered. its area is 646.3 sq. m., of which 568 sq. m. are classed as "productive" (forests covering 119 sq. m. and vineyards .8 sq. m.); it boasts of no glaciers or eternal snow. it is a hilly, not mountainous, region, the highest summits (of which the vanil noir, 7858 ft., is the loftiest) rising in the gruyere district at its south-eastern extremity, the best known being probably the moleson (6582 ft.) and the berra (5653 ft.). but it is the heart of pastoral switzerland, is famed for its cheese and cattle, and is the original home of the "_ranz des vaches_," the melody by which the herdsmen call their cattle home at milking time. it is watered by the sarine or saane river (with its tributaries the singine or sense and the glane) that flows through the canton from north to south, and traverses its capital town. the upper course of the broye (like the sarine, a tributary of the aar) and that of the veveyse (flowing to the lake of geneva) are in the southern portion of the canton. a small share of the lakes of neuchatel and of morat belongs to the canton, wherein the largest sheet of water is the lac noir or schwarzsee. a sulphur spring rises near the last-named lake, and there are other such springs in the canton at montbarry and at bonn, near the capital. there are about 150 m. of railways in the canton, the main line from lausanne to bern past fribourg running through it; there are also lines from fribourg to morat and to estavayer, while from romont (on the main line) a line runs to bulle, and in 1904 was extended to gessenay or saanen near the head of the sarine or saane valley. the population of the canton amounted in 1900 to 127,951 souls, of whom 108,440 were romanists, 19,305 protestants, and 167 jews. the canton is on the linguistic frontier in switzerland, the line of division running nearly due north and south through it, and even right through its capital. in 1900 there were 78,353 french-speaking inhabitants, and 38,738 german-speaking, the latter being found chiefly in the north-western (morat region) and north-eastern (singine valley) portions, as well as in the upper valley of the jogne or jaun in the south-east. besides the capital, fribourg (q.v.), the only towns of any importance are bulle (3330 inhabitants), chatel st denis (2509 inhabitants), morat (q.v.) or murten (2263 inhabitants), romont (2110 inhabitants), and estavayer le lac or staffis am see (1636 inhabitants). the canton is pre-eminently a pastoral and agricultural region, tobacco, cheese and timber being its chief products. its industries are comparatively few: straw-plaiting, watch-making (semsales), paper-making (marly), lime-kilns, and, above all, the huge cailler chocolate factory at broc. it forms part of the diocese of lausanne and geneva, the bishop living since 1663 at fribourg. it is a stronghold of the romanists, and still contains many monasteries and nunneries, such as the carthusian monks at valsainte, and the cistercian nuns at la fille dieu and at maigrauge. the canton is divided into 7 administrative districts, and contains 283 communes. it sends 2 members (named by the cantonal legislature) to the federal _standerath_, and 6 members to the federal _nationalrath_. the cantonal constitution has scarcely been altered since 1857, and is remarkable as containing none of the modern devices (referendum, initiative, proportional representation) save the right of "initiative" enjoyed by 6000 citizens to claim the revision of the cantonal constitution. the executive council of 7 members is named for 5 years by the cantonal legislature, which consists of members (holding office for 5 years) elected in the proportion of one to every 1200 (or fraction over 800) of the population. (w. a. b. c.) fribourg [ger. _freiburg_], the capital of the swiss canton of that name. it is built almost entirely on the left bank of the sarine, the oldest bit (the bourg) of the town being just above the river bank, flanked by the neuveville and auge quarters, these last (with the planche quarter on the right bank of the river) forming the _ville basse_. on the steeply rising ground to the west of the bourg is the quartier des places, beyond which, to the west and south-west, is the still newer perolles quarter, where are the railway station and the new university; all these (with the bourg) constituting the _ville haute_. in 1900 the population of the town was 15,794, of whom 13,270 were romanists and 109 jews, while 9701 were french-speaking, and 5595 german-speaking, these last being mainly in the ville basse. its linguistic history is curious. founded as a german town, the french tongue became the official language during the greater part of the 14th and 15th centuries, but when it joined the swiss confederation in 1481 the german influence came to the fore, and german was the official language from 1483 to 1798, becoming thus associated with the rule of the patricians. from 1798 to 1814, and again from 1830 onwards, french prevailed, as at present, though the new university is a centre of german influence. fribourg is on the main line of railway from bern (20 m.) to lausanne (41 m.). the principal building in the town is the collegiate church of st nicholas, of which the nave dates from the 13th-14th centuries, while the choir was rebuilt in the 17th century. it is a fine building, remarkable in itself, as well as for its lofty, late 15th century, bell-tower (249 ft. high), with a fine peal of bells; its famous organ was built between 1824 and 1834 by aloys mooser (a native of the town), has 7800 pipes, and is played daily in summer for the edification of tourists. the numerous monasteries in and around the town, its old-fashioned aspect, its steep and narrow streets, give it a most striking appearance. one of the most conspicuous buildings in the town is the college of st michael, while in front of the 16th century town hall is an ancient lime tree stated (but this is very doubtful) to have been planted on the day of the victory of morat (june 22, 1476). in the lycee is the cantonal museum of fine arts, wherein, besides many interesting objects, is the collection of paintings and statuary bequeathed to the town in 1879 by duchess adela colonna (a member of the d'affry family of fribourg), by whom many were executed under the name of "marcello." the deep ravine of the sarine is crossed by a very fine suspension bridge, constructed 1832-1834 by m. chaley, of lyons, which is 167 ft. above the sarine, has a span of 808 ft., and consists of 6 huge cables composed of 3294 strands. a loftier suspension bridge is thrown over the gotteron stream just before it joins the sarine: it is 590 ft. long and 246 ft. in height, and was built in 1840. about 3 m. north of the town is the great railway viaduct or girder bridge of grandfey, constructed in 1862 (1092 ft. in length, 249 ft. high) at a cost of 2-3/4 million francs. immediately above the town a vast dam (591 ft. long) was constructed across the sarine by the engineer ritter in 1870-1872, the fall thus obtained yielding a water-power of 2600 to 4000 horse-power, and forming a sheet of water known as the lac de perolles. a motive force of 600 horse-power, secured by turbines in the stream, is conveyed to the plateau of perolles by "telodynamic" cables of 2510 ft. in length, for whose passage a tunnel has been pierced in the rock. on the perolles plateau is the international catholic university founded in 1889. _history._--in 1178 the foundation of the town (meant to hold in check the turbulent nobles of the neighbourhood) was completed by berchthold