of the emperor Maximilian I., who was born here in 1459. The parish church, with its two lofty towers, is substantially a Romanesque building of the 13th century, but the choir and transepts are Gothic additions of a later date. The late Gothic church of the old Cistercian abbey contains a handsome monument in memory of Leonora of Portugal (d. 1467), consort of the emperor Frederick III., and possesses a rich library and an interesting museum. The town-house is also a noteworthy building and contains large and important archives. The chief industrial establishments are a large ammunition factory and an engine factory; but manufactures of cotton, silk, velvet, pottery and paper, sugar-refining and tanning are also extensively carried on. Trade is also brisk, and is facilitated by a canal connecting the town with Vienna, and used chiefly for the transport of coal and timber.
Neustadt was founded in 1192, and was a favourite residence of numerous Austrian sovereigns, acquiring the title of the “ever-faithful town” (die allzeit getreue Stadt) from its unfailing loyalty. In 1246 it was the scene of a victory of the Hungarians over the Austrians; and in 1486 it was taken by Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, who, however, restored it to Maximilian I. four years later. In 1529 and 1683 it was besieged by the Turks. It was at Neustadt that the emperor Rudolf II. granted to the Bohemian Protestants, in 1609, the “Majestätsbrief,” or patent of equal rights, the revocation of which helped to precipitate the Thirty Years' War.
See Hinner, Wandelbilder aus der Geschichte Wiener-Neustadts (Wiener-Neustadt, 1892).
WIENIAWSKI, HENRI (1835-1880), Polish violinist and composer, was born at Lublin, in Poland, on the 10th of July 1835. He was a pupil of the Paris Conservatoire from 1843 to 1846, and again in 1849-1850. Meanwhile he had given concerts
in his native country and in Russia, and in 1850 entered upon the career of a travelling virtuoso, together with his brother Joseph, a distinguished pianist. He was appointed solo violinist to the tsar in 1860, and taught in the Conservatoire of St Petersburg from 1862 to 1867. He went on tour again in 1872 with Rubinstein in America, and on his return in 1874 was appointed to succeed Vieuxtemps as professor in the Brussels Conservatoire; but, like his predecessor, he was compelled through ill-health
to give up the post after three years, returning to a public career in spite of his illness, until his death, which occurred in a hospital in Moscow, on the 31st of March 1880. He was a wonderfully sympathetic solo player, and a good if not a great quartet player. His Légende, the fantasias on Faust and on
Russian airs, his two concertos and some other pieces, have retained their high place in the violin repertory.
WIEPRECHT, WILHELM FRIEDRICH (1802-1872), German
musical conductor, composer and inventor, was born on the 10th of August 1802, at Aschersleben, where his father was town musician. According to his autobiography, Wieprecht early learned from his father to play on nearly all wind instruments. It was in violin-playing, however, that his father particularly wished him to excel; and in 1819 he went to Dresden, where he studied composition and the violin to such good purpose that a year later he was given a position in the city orchestra of Leipzig, playing also in those of the opera and the famous Gewandhaus. At this time, besides playing the violin and clarinet in the orchestra, he also gave solo performances on the trombone. In 1824 he went to Berlin, where he became a member of the royal orchestra, and was in the same year appointed chamber musician to the king. His residence at Berlin gave Wieprecht ample opportunity for the exercise of his genius for military music, on which his fame mainly rests. Several of his marches were early adopted by the regimental bands, and a more ambitious military composition attracted the attention of Gasparo Spontini, at whose house he became an intimate guest. It was now that he began to study acoustics, in order to correct the deficiencies in military musical instruments. As the result, he improved the valves of the brass instruments, and succeeded, by constructing them on sounder acoustic principles, in greatly increasing the volume and purity of their tone. He also invented
the bass tuba or bombardon in order to give greater richness and power to the bass parts. In recognition of these inventions he was, in 1835, honoured by the Royal Academy of Berlin. In 1838 he was appointed by the Prussian government director-general of all the guards' bands, and in recognition of the magnificent performance by massed bands on the occasion of the emperor Nicholas I.'s visit the same year, was awarded a special uniform. In 1843 he became director-general of the bands of the 10th Confederate army corps, and from this time exercised a profound influence on the development of military music throughout Germany, and beyond. He was the first to arrange the symphonies and overtures of the classical masters for military instruments, and to organize those outdoor performances of concert pieces by military bands which have done so much to popularize good music in Germany and elsewhere. The performance arranged by him of Beethoven's “Battle of Vittoria,” in which the bugle calls were given by trumpeters stationed in various parts of the garden and the cannon shots wore those of real guns, created immense sensation. Besides the great work he accomplished in Germany, Wieprecht, in 1847, reorganized the military music in Turkey and, in 1852, in Guatemala. He composed military songs as well as numerous marches, and contributed frequently on his favourite subject to the Berlin musical papers. He died on the 4th of August 1872. Wieprecht was a man of genial, kindly and generous nature, and was associated with many charitable foundations established for the benefit of poor musicians.
WIESBADEN, a town and watering-place of Germany, in the
Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. Pop. (1905) 100,953. It
is delightfully situated in a basin under the well-wooded south-western
spurs of the Taunus range, 5 m. N. of Mainz, 3 m. from
the right bank of the Rhine (at Biebrich), and 25 m. W. of
Frankfort-on-Main by rail. The town is on the whole sumptuously
built, with broad and regular streets. Villas and gardens
engirdle it on the north and east sides and extend up the hills
behind. Its prosperity is mainly due to its hot springs and mild
climate, which have rendered it a favourite winter as well as
summer resort. The general character of the place, with its
numerous hotels, pensions, bathing establishments, villas and
places of entertainment, is largely determined by the requirements
of visitors, who in 1907 numbered 180,000. The principal
buildings are the royal palace, built in 1837-1840 as a residence
for the dukes of Nassau, and now a residence of the king of
Prussia; the Court Theatre (erected 1892-1894); the new
Kurhaus, a large and handsome establishment, with colonnades,
adjoining a beautiful and shady park; the town-hall, in the
German Renaissance style (1884-1888); the government offices
and the museum, with a picture gallery, a collection of antiquities,
and a library of 150,000 vols. Among the churches, which are all
modern, are the Protestant Marktkirche, in the Gothic style
with five towers, built 1853-1862; the Bergkirche; the Roman
Catholic church of St Boniface; the Anglican church and the
Russian church on the Neroberg. There are two synagogues.
Wiesbaden contains numerous scientific and educational institutions,
including a chemical laboratory, an agricultural college
and two musical conservatoria.
The alkaline thermal springs contain 2/3% of common salt, and smaller quantities of other chlorides; and a great deal of their efficacy is due to their high temperature, which varies from 156° to 104° Fahr. The water is generally cooled to 93° F. for bathing. The principal spring is the Kochbrunnen (156° F.), the water of which is drunk by sufferers from chronic dyspepsia and obesity. There are twenty-eight other springs of nearly identical composition, many of which are used for bathing, and are efficacious in cases of rheumatism, gout, nervous and female disorders and skin diseases. The season lasts from April to October, but the springs are open the whole year through and are also largely attended in winter.
Two miles north-west of the town lies the Neroberg (800 ft.), whence a fine view of the surrounding country is obtained, and which is reached by a funicular railway from Beausite, and 6 m. to the west lies the Hohe Wurzel (2025 ft.) with an outlook tower.
