Wilhelm Benecke's Lebensskizze und Briefe

Name of traveller

Levin Anton Wilhelm Benecke (1776-1837)

Reason for travel

  • business trip to Ireland for a London trading firm

Date of travel

September 1816

In Shrewsbury nahm ich noch denselben Abend einen Platz nach Llangollen (sprich, wenn du kannst, Thwlängothlenn), weil mir dies der beste Reiseplan dünkte, und ich glaube sehr recht getan zu haben. (Benecke 120)

Content

  • architecture: moved to tears upon inspecting the ruins of Valle Crucis
  • history: mention of the destruction of Valle Crucis under Henry VIII (1491-1547)
  • industry: from the road observes the glowing of smelting furnaces in operation late in the evening
  • language:
    • attempts at transcribing the pronunciation of Welsh place names
    • some translations of place names
  • literature: references to Christian August Gottlieb Göde's (1774-1812) travel account
  • people: letters to his wife, Luise Benecke (1782-1876), and daughter, Emilie Benecke, at home in London
  • recreation:
    • undertakes hiking excursion around Llangollen with the help of a local guide
    • an attempt to climb Snowdon is spoiled by the bad weather
    • stays one night in a bad guest house in Bangor
  • terrain:
    • conflation of Wales and England
    • many romanticised and detailed descriptions of north Wales landscapes, predominantly as seen in transit from the horse carriage
    • compares the landscape to paintings
    • collects stones as souveniers from the sites of Dinas Bran and Valle Crucis
  • transport:
    • modes of travel: boat; horse carriage; on foot
    • spends the greater part of the journey through north Wales on an outside seat on the horse carriage
    • praises the good quality and safety of the main road from Llangollen to Corwen
    • mentiones the imminent opening of a new road over a mountain pass in Snowdonia
    • crosses to from Bangor to Anglesey via ferry
  • click here to read the full account

Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

German

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

letters

Citation

Benecke, [Levin Anton] Wilhelm. Wilhelm Benecke's Lebensskizze und Briefe. Ed. Anonymous. Vol. 1. Dresden: Druck der Teubner'schen Offizin, 1850. 120-29. Print.

Entry created: 24 June 2015
Entry last updated: 13 September 2016