Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/253

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BREI8GAU BREMEN 247 pop. in 1867, 3,272. It is well fortified, and was formerly a bulwark of Germany on the upper Rhine. It has a fine old cathedral, and the inhabitants are engaged in shipping and in the cultivation of tobacco. The town was captured by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar in 1638 after a long siege, ceded to France in 1648, and restored to Germany in 1697. The French again held it from 1703 to 1715. II. Men (Fr. Neuf-Brisach), a town of Germany, in Alsace, opposite the preceding, about 2 m. W. of the Rhine, on the Rhone and Rhine canal; pop. in 1866, 1,981. After Alt Breisach had been restored to the German empire, Neu Breisach was, by order of Louis XIV., strongly fortified by Vauban. Fort Mortier, 2 m. N. E. of Neu Breisach, capitulated to the German army on Nov. 7, 1870, and three days later the fortress itself surrendered, when 100 officers, 5,000 men, and 100 pieces of ordnance fell into the hands of the victors. BREISGAU, or Brisgan, an old division of Ger- many, in the S. W. of Swabia. For a long time it was under the authority of the counts of Breisach, and subsequently under the dukes of Zahringen. It was afterward added to the Austrian dominions, and by the treaty of Pres- burg in 1805 it was ceded to the elector of Baden, excepting a small portion assigned to Wiirtemberg, and subsequently acquired by Baden. It contains 17 towns, among them Alt Breisach and Freiburg (Freiburg im Breis- gau). Iron, copper, and lead are extensively worked in Breisgau, and the forest districts are fatuous for the manufacture of clocks and other articles in wood. IfKKIsi.lk. Stipione, an Italian geologist, of German parentage, born in Rome in 1748, died in Milan, Feb. 15, 1826. He has been called abbe from having been destined for the church, though he never became a priest. He early filled a scientific chair at Ragusa, subsequently became professor at the collegia Nazareno in Rome, made considerable researches in the volcanic regions of Italy and France, spent some time in Paris with Cuvier, and was ap- pointed by Napoleon director of the powder and saltpetre works in Italy. His works, in which he opposed the system of the Neptunists without indiscriminately accepting that of the Vulcanists, include Topografia faica della Campania (Florence, 1798) ; Instittizioni geo- logiche (Milan, 1818) ; Descrizione geologica della Lombardia, (1822) ; and Sopra i terreni tra il Logo Maggiore e quello di Lugano (1838). His rich geological collections he bequeathed to the Borromeo family. BREITHAITT, Joachim Jnstns, a German cler- gyman, born at Nordheim, Hanover, in 1658, died March 16, 1732. He was professor at Halle from 1691 to 1705, and published Insti- tutiones Theological (1694), De Credendis et Agendis (1716-'32), and several hymns which were translated into English by John Wesley. BREITKOPF, Johann Goltlob Immannel, a Ger- man printer, born in Leipsic, Nov. 23, 1719, died there, Jan. 28, 1 794. His father was a book- seller, printer, and type founder, and brought up his son as such. The latter changed the form of the types then in general use, improved the composition of type metal and the mecha- nism of printing presses, and endeavored, un- successfully, to print music, geographical maps, and portraits with movable type. He wrote an essay on the history of printing, and la- bored for several years on a more elaborate work on the same subject, which he did not live to complete ; but he published several other works, including one on bibliography and bibliophily (1793). His establishment was continued by his son, Ohristoph Gottlob, in partnership with Gottfried Christoph Hartel, under the firm name of Breitkopf and Hartel. BKEJIEN, one of the three free cities of Ger- many, forming with its territory a state of the empire, situated on the Weser, 30 m. from its. mouth, and 57 m. S. W. of Hamburg ; area of the state, 99 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 122,565, of whom 82,950 resided in the city of Bremen, 10,594 in the town of Bremerhafen, 3,554 itt Statue of Kolancl. the town of Vegesack, and 25,467 in the rural districts. More than 97 per cent, of the inhabi- tants are Protestants. The new and the old town, on opposite banks'of the river, are con- nected by handsome bridges. No dredging be- ing used to deepen the channel, the bed of the river continually rises by the deposits brought down, and the dike is consequently raised year by year, so that in time the bottom of the river will be on a level with the streets. Among the noteworthy buildings are the cathedral, built in 1050 by Archbishop Adalbert, with a tower 324 ft. high, having one of the finest organs in Germany, and a vault (Bleikeller) which has the property of preserving free from decomposition, after the lapse of ages, bodies interred in it ; the church of St. Anscarius; the council house, with the celebrated wine cellar