ZABERN (the Roman tavern) is the 'name of three German towtis on the w. side of the Upper Rhine, one of which was French till 1870. The first two are in the palatinate (Rhenish I3avaria)—viz., Berg-Zabern, a town of about 3,000 inhabitants, on the Erlenbach, occupied chiefly with agricultnre and some small manufactures; and Ilhein-Zabern, about 4 m. further e.., on the same stream, with little more than 2,000 inhabitants, noted for the two battles fought there and at the village of Jokgrin, about m. further s., between the Austrians and the French, June 29 and Aug. 20, 1793.
The other, which, to distinguish it from these, is called Alsaee-Zabern (French Saverne), till the war of 1870 in the French department Bas Rhin, is now capital of a circle in the German imperial territory Alsace-Lorraine. It is situated on the Zorn, which flows into the Rhine, on the Paris and Strasburg railway and highway, and also on the Marne and Rhine canal. The town contains a palace and college, and had in 1875, 5,174 inhabitants, employed in making cloth, pottery, lea;:her, and hardware, and in the trnsport of wood, from the Vosges mountains. It belonged in the 12th c. to the
bishops of _Metz, and afterward to those of Strasbourg. There are still some Roman antiquities in the college. In 169G the fortifications were razed. The stately palace was rebuilt by cardinal Louis de Hoban, famous in the story of the Diamond Necklace (q.v.); it served in 1S17 and 1818 as barracks for the Austrian army of occupation; in ° 1832 it became a home for the widows and daughters of the members of the legion of honor; and now it is again a barrack. The surrounding scenery is rich in ruins and pic turesque effects. A spiral walk, called the Zabern path, about 9 m. long, leads, with many windings and 17 covered bridges, to the top of the Vosges, from which the spec tator looks clown on Alsace as a garden. The pass of Zaberu, or Saverne, which divides the Upper and Lower Vosges, is only 1325 ft. high. The railway, the canal, the Zorn, and highway, all run side by side along the charming valley; and there is a constant succes sion of bridges, embankments, viaducts, and tunnels throughout the 45 minutes' journey from Zabern to Saarbourg.