influence on subsequent developments of Judaism. He was also a liturgical poet of considerable merit. One of his finest elegies is translated into English in Nina Davis’s Songs of Exile.
See L. Ginzberg, Jewish Encyclopedia, viii. 437—440. (I. A.)
MEIRINGEN, the principal village on the Hasle (or the upper
Aar) valley in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is built at a height
of 1969 ft. on the right bank of the Aar and on the level floor of
the valley, but is much exposed to the south wind (or Föhn),
and has several times been in great part destroyed by fire (1632,
1879 and 1891). It has 3077 inhabitants, all German-speaking
and Protestants. The parish church is ancient, and above
it are the ruins of the medieval castle of Resti. Meiringen
is frequented by travellers in summer, as it is the meeting-point
of many routes: from Interlaken by the lake of Brienz and
Brienz, from Lucerne by the Brünig railway (28 m.), from
Engelberg by the Joch Pass (7267 ft.), from the upper Valais
by the Grimsel Pass (7100 ft.), and from Grindelwald by the
Great Scheidegg Pass (6434 ft.). Many waterfalls descend
the hill-sides, the best known being the Reichenbach and the
Alpbach, while the great gorge pierced by the Aar through
the limestone barrier of the Kirchet is remarkable. The village
and valley belonged of old to the emperor, who in 1234 gave
the advowson to the Knights of St Lazarus, by whom it was
sold in 1272 to the Austin Canons of Interlaken, on the suppression
of whom in 1528 it passed to the state. In 1310 the
emperor mortgaged the valley to the lords of Weissenburg,
who sold it in 1334 to the town of Bern. (W. A. B. C.)
MEISSEN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, on both banks of the Elbe, 15 m. N.W. from Dresden, on the
railway to Leipzig via Döbeln. Pop. (1905), 32,336. The old
town lies on the left bank of the river, between the streams
Meisse and Triebisch, and its irregular hilly site and numerous
fine old buildings make it picturesque. Most of its streets
are narrow and uneven. The cathedral, one of the finest early
Gothic buildings in Germany, stands on the Schlossberg, 160 ft.
above the town. It is said to have been founded by the emperor
Otto the Great, but the present building was begun in the 13th
century and was completed about 1450. Here are tombs of
several rulers and princes of Saxony, including those of Albert
and Ernest, the founders of the two existing branches of the
Saxon house. The cathedral also contains works by Peter
Vischer and Lucas Cranach and several other interesting monuments.
A restoration, including the rebuilding of the two
towers, was carried out in 1903–1908. Adjoining the cathedral
is the castle, dating from 1471–1483, but restored and named
the Albrechtsburg about 1676. Another restoration was
undertaken after 1860, when a series of historical frescoes was
painted upon its walls. A stone building of the 13th century
connects the Schlossberg with the Afraberg, which owes its
name to the old convent of St Afra. The convent was suppressed
by Duke Maurice in 1543, and was by him converted into
a school (the Fürsten Schule), one of the most renowned
classical schools in Germany, which counts Lessing and
Gellert among its former pupils. Other public buildings of
interest are the town-hall, built in 1479 and restored in
1875; the fine town church, called the Frauenkirche or
Marienkirche; the Nikolaikirche and the Afrakirche. The
Franciscan church is now used as a museum of objects
connected with the history of Meissen. Since 1710 Meissen
has been the seat of the manufacture of Dresden china. Till
1860 the royal porcelain factory was in the Albrechtsburg,
but in that year it was transferred to a large new building in
the Triebischtal, near the town. Meissen also contains iron
foundries, factories for making earthenware stoves and pottery,
sugar refineries, breweries and tanneries. A considerable trade
is carried on in the wine produced in the surrounding vineyards,
and other industries are spinning and weaving.
Meissen was founded about 920 by Henry the Fowler (see Meissen, Margraviate). From 968 to 1581 Meissen was the seat of a line of bishops, who ranked as princes of the empire. During the 15th century the town suffered greatly from the Hussites, and it was captured by the imperial troops during the war of the league of Schmalkalden, and again in the Thirty Years’ War. In 1637 it suffered much from the Swedes, and in 1745 it fell into the hands of the Prussians. The bridge over the Elbe was destroyed by the French in 1813, and again by the Saxons in June 1866 in order to impede the march of the Prussians on Dresden. Cölln on the right bank of the Elbe was incorporated with Meissen in 1901.
See Reinhard, Die Stadt Meissen, ihre Merkwürdigkeiten (Meissen, 1829); Loose, Alt-Meissen in Bildern (Meissen, 1889); Jäschke, Meissen und seine Kirchen (Leipzig, 1902); and Gersdorf, Urkundenbuch der Stadt Meissen (Leipzig, 1873).
MEISSEN, a German margraviate now merged in the kingdom of Saxony. The mark of Meissen was originally a district centring round the castle of Meissen or Misnia on the Middle Elbe, which was built about 920 by the German king Henry I., the Fowler, as a defence against the Slavs. After the death of Gero, margrave of the Saxon east mark, in 965, his territory was divided into five marks, one of which was called Meissen. In 985 the emperor Otto III. bestowed the office of margrave upon Ekkard I., margrave of Merseburg, and the district comprising the marks of Meissen, Merseburg and Zeitz was generally known as the mark of Meissen. In 1002 Ekkard was succeeded by his brother Gunzelin, and then by his sons Hermann I. and Ekkard II. Under these margraves the area of the mark was further increased, but when Ekkard II. died in 1046 it was divided, and Meissen proper was given successively to William and Otto, counts of Weimar, and Egbert II., count of Brunswick. Egbert was a rival of the emperor Henry IV. and died under the imperial ban in 1089, when Meissen was bestowed upon Henry I., count of Wettin, whose mother was a sister of the margrave Ekkard II. Henry, who already ruled lower Lusatia and the new and smaller Saxon east mark, was succeeded in 1103 by his cousin Thimo, and in 1104 by his son Henry II., whose claim on the mark was contested by Thimo’s son Conrad. When Henry died without issue in 1123 Meissen was given by the emperor Henry V. to Hermann II., count of Wintzenburg; but, renewing his claim, Conrad won the support of Lothair, duke of Saxony, afterwards the emperor Lothair II., and obtained possession in 1130. Conrad, called the Great, extended the boundaries of Meissen before abdicating in 1156 in favour of his son Otto, known as the Rich. Otto appointed his younger son Dietrich as his successor and was attacked and taken prisoner by his elder son Albert; but, after obtaining his release by order of the emperor Frederick I., he had only just renewed the war when he died in 1190. During his reign silver mines were opened in the Harz Mountains, towns were founded, roads were made, and the general condition of the country was improved. Otto was succeeded by his son Albert, called the Proud, who was engaged in warfare with his brother Dietrich until his death in 1195. As Albert left no children, Meissen was seized by the emperor Henry VI. as a vacant fief of the empire; but Dietrich, called the Oppressed, secured the mark after Henry’s death in 1197. Dietrich married Jutta, daughter of Hermann I., landgrave of Thuringia, and was succeeded in 1221 by his infant son Henry, surnamed the Illustrious; who on arriving at maturity obtained as reward for supporting the emperor Frederick II. against the pope a promise to succeed his uncle, Henry Raspe IV., as landgrave of Thuringia. In 1243 Henry’s son Albert was betrothed to Margaret, daughter of Frederick II.; and Pleissnerland, a district west of Meissen, was added to his possessions. Having gained Thuringia and the Saxon palatinate on his uncle’s death in 1247, he granted sections of his lands to his three sons in 1265, but retained Meissen. A series of family feuds followed. His second son Dietrich died in 1285, and on Henry’s own death in 1288 Meissen was divided between his two remaining sons, Albert (called the Degenerate) and Frederick, and his grandson Frederick Tutta, the son of Dietrich. Albert was engaged in struggles with his three sons, who took him prisoner in 1288; but he was released the following year by order of the German king Rudolph I. About this time he sold his portion of Meissen to his nephew Frederick Tutta, who held the title
