"Besuch in einer englischen Kohlen- und Eisenstadt"

Name of traveller

Anonymous

Reason for travel

• interest in industrial production

Date of travel

undated, ca. early 1850s

Der Werth des Bodens um Merthyr-Tydfil ist durch Eisen und Kohlen so bedeutend gestiegen, daß ein Grundstück, welches unter Karl ll. für 27 Pfund verkauft wurde, jetzt tausend Pfund jährlich Rente bringt; aber der Werth der Menschen ist gefallen. (Anonymous 532)

Content

• anonymous author possibly the German political refugee Johann Heinrich Bettziech (1813-1876), regular contributor to Die Gartenlaube, who also wrote about salmon fishing in Wales
• history:
  • Wales as historically, culturally and ethnically distinct nation despite conflation with England in headline
  • highlights importance of German Celticists for recognition and appreciation of Wales within Britain
  • roots Welsh history in antiquity
• industry:
  • contains statistics regarding annual production of individual factories and works
  • detailed eyewitness account of Dowlais iron works
• people:
  
  • notices absence of women in factories; cutting remarks about English factory owners
  • interaction with English-speaking owner of a tearoom in Caerleon who informs author of the Rebecca Riots
• politics: mention of Chartist movement in Wales
• terrain: dramatic description of Merthyr Tydfil and its industrial features as a place resembling hell; rapid expansion of the population and the great poverty of the labouring classes
• compare with article by same author about the coal mines in south Wales
• click here to read the full account

Nationality of traveller

unidentified

Language of publication

German

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

essay; travelogue

Citation

Anonymous. "Besuch in einer englischen Kohlen- und Eisenstadt." Die Gartenlaube 3.40 (1855): 530-3. Print.