2-798-706 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Illumination of the Rhine, from Stolzenfels, 1845. Firework dispay in Germany. '...the church tower of St. John and the village of Niederlahnstein burst into light, which was beautifully reflected on the water...and at the Castle of Rheneck a brilliant series of fireworks was discharged. The illumination of the villages had a beautiful effect, the lighting up being more like a conflagration of white and red flames than what an illumination is with us. The Castle of Rheneck was also in a blaze in the same manner...the rockets...throw a ball of fire, when they explode, of red, or green, or white, which floats in the air, without falling, for many minutes - sometimes appearing fixed like stars: they have been contrived to give duration to what is generally so evanescent. The length of time these starry fires burn, at an immense elevation, where they are suspended as if by magic, is extraordinary'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII.