Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1879 — Sunday in Germany. [ARTICLE]

Sunday in Germany.

Prof. Von Schnlte, in Contemporary Review. The observance of Sunday and of holidays in Germany mast strike the Englishman very strangely. By sa w work is forbidden on these days, at least such work as would be disturbing to others. Till the year 1878, however in many places (for instance in the Catholic province of the Rhine)Sundays and holidays were the days on which the largest business was done in the shops. After the attack upon the life Ofvthe Emperor, the police regulations were paade more strict, and during the principal seryices of the day, from 9 to 11 a. m. and 2 to 3 p. m., all shops

everywhere were ordered to be shut* but there are only a few States ami towns where the shops are not allowed to be open at all. The postal service is limited to shorter hours; letters and parcels are not delivered so often as on other days; and there are similar restrictions on the telegraph service. On the other hand, the railway traffic is left quite free; and not only do the trains run as on other dayß, but by almost every line there are also extra trains for the convenience of the holiday makers. For example, the Rhine Railway runs every Sunday and holiday, lrorn May 15 to October, three extra trains in the afternoon; and other lines do the same. In many places, especially in Austria, companies choose Sundays and holidays for their great excursions; extra trains are put on

lar concerts, efc., are axed almost exclusively for these days. This is cspwfially the case in places where the population to chiefly dathoUe. la the prorlaoe of the Rhine, in Bavaria and Austria, the better class avoid making dxeurslons on Sundays or holidays, not because they wish to observe the days more strictly, but because the throng Is so great In fine weather at all the spots of beauty, and wherever refreshments can m had. Any one who wants to - see the light hearted nature of the Rhinelander, and Btill more of the Franconian, and the way in which the “old Bavarian” enjoys himself, must visit someplace of recreation on a Sunday or holiday. Hie church festivals, which are usually on Sundays, are opportunities for the clergy to meet at the house of the parish priest for high feeding and hard drinking till a late hour in the evening; the people amuse themselves with dancing, with rope dancers, carousals, eating, drinking, etc. Quarrels,which among the genuine Catholic old Bavarians often end with mortal blows or stabs with the knife, form the practical application of the specially fine sermon for the Saint’s Day. Triumphal arches, banners, shooting with little mortars, etc., attest the good Catholicity of the town. Of work, as a rule, there is none, unless there be here and there a poor tailor, seamstress or servant, who is glad to turn to account the Sunday rest. In this respect, however, many of the public offices set a bad example, for it is by no means an exceptional thing for woik to be carried on as usual in the Government and municipal offices, and this is not only in times of special pressure. Everywhere the inns ana taverns do moat business on Sundays and holidays, because the people have more leisure. The further west and south we get, the more do we find the above description verified, especially in the towns, and the places where the countrymen, after attending afternoon service, walks quietly out into the fields to rejoice in the blessing of a heaven, must be sought chiefly in Westphalia and the north. If, on the whole, the Protestants are more observant of Sunday rest than the Catholics, the reason is without doubt to he found in the fact: First, that the Protestant population belongs for the most part to the colder and quieter branches of the. German family; and second, that the Protestant worship is not at all exciting to the senses, and is peculiarly somber as compared with the Catholic ritual.