"Ein Sommerausflug nach Wales"

Name of traveller

Wilhelm Heine (1827-1885)

Reason for travel

  • leisurely travel, holidaying

Date of travel

undated; ca. late 1860s to early 1870s, early October

Mögen die Fremden, welche England besuchen, sich nicht nur mit dem Aufenthalte in den kalten, rauchigen Städten begnügen, sondern auch die sonnigen, malerischen Höhen und Thäler Wales durchstreifen und sie werden die angenehmsten Rückerinnerungen an England heimbringen. (Heine 161)

Content

  • architecture: detailed description of the Britannia Bridge
  • art:
    • contains a great number of copperplate etchings of landscapes and castles
    • references to artists' colony around Betws-y-Coed
  • history: summary of waves of invasion since the Romans
  • industry: visits slate quarries
  • language:
    • differentiates between the Welsh and English languages, but conflates all speakers as English
    • notes on particularities of the Welsh language
    • contains a few mispelled and mistranslated phrases
    • author does not speak English and cannot make use of his English dictionary in Welsh surroundings; compares his situation with British tourists travelling to Switzerland with a Baedecker phrase book
  • recreation:
    • Wales as main destination for tourists from Liverpool
    • Llandudno as weekend destination for merchants commuting from Liverpool
    • description of huts on Snowdon and services offered to mountaineers even at night
    • travels out of season, around start of October
    • notes that tourism in Wales encourages strangers to engage with each other more freely than in English cities
    • recommends a number of interesting sites for future tourists
  • terrain:
    • frequent conflation with England
    • mountainous land as place of refuge and resisting to conquest
    • romantic, barren and picturesque wilderness of Welsh mountains
    • comparison with Bavaria
  • transport:
    • modes of travel: steam boat; train; on foot
    • recommends best types of transport for different sections in Wales
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Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

German

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

serialised travelogue

Citation

Heine, W[ilhelm]. "Ein Sommerausflug nach Wales." Westermanns Jahrbuch der illustrierten deutschen Monatshefte 30.175, 30.176 (Apr.-Sep. 1871): 31-40, 155-61. Print.

Entry created: 13 January 2015
Entry last updated: 8 August 2017