ii. Gardening as an Art of Design and Taste, in Prussia
316. The parks and landscape-gardens of Prussia are situated chiefly in the neighbourhood of Berlin; and, like those of Austria, are, for the most part, the property of the king. Frederick II. accumulated immense wealth, and displayed it principally in building and gardening, in Berlin, Potsdam, and their environs. Though the landscape-gardens in the Prussian dominions chiefly belong to the royal family, there are still a few belonging to private individuals deserving of notice, in the neighbourhood of some of the principal towns. There are many in the neighbourhood of Dantzic; some in the suburbs of Konigsburg, Memel, and Stettin. Hirschberg, a handsome town in Silesia, has near it several gardens. A gentleman in that neighbourhood has a garden, to the different parts of which he has given poetical and mythological names. On the hill called the Hansberg many of the citizens have formed shady bowers, and built pavilions with fireplaces in them for tea-parties. The banks of the Oder, near Frankfort, are, on one side, bordered by small hills, upon which, at short distances, are little summer-houses with vineyards; and in these, in summer, many of the inhabitants reside. (Adams's Tour through Silesia, 1800, 8vo, 1804.)
[Editor's Note: Prussia was an independent kingdom from 1701 to 1867. It then became part of the German Empire until 1918]
