Schloss
Schwetzingen Castle and Gardens
Summer Residence of the 18th Century Palatine Electors
Schwetzingen Palace
The 180 Acres of Formal Gardens
The gracefully curved orangeries on both sides of the central building were built starting in 1747.
Tropical Plants are held in the Orangery during the winter and placed in the gardens during the summer.
There are four statues in the garden, allegories of the four elements. This one with the peacock represents "air".
A statue of a satyr above one of the artesian springs in the grounds of Schwetzingen
The artificial ruins of a Roman aquaduct
Statue of Diana Goddess of the Hunt
The Schwetzingen Gardens are home to a flock of wild feral parrots that have acclimated themselves to German winters.
Putti from a Detail on Minerva's Temple
Minerva's Temple
The Interior of Minerva's Temple
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The spirit of the River Acis at the feet of Galatea, the sea nymph.
She
returned his love, but thereby enraged the jealousy of a cyclops who
came upon them together and killed Acis.
A family of muskrats lives in the lake between the mosque and the Temple of Mercury
A family of muskrats lives in the lake between the mosque and the Temple of Mercury
Chinese Bridge at Schwetzingen Palace
Schwetzingen Palace, in the small town of the same name, was the summer residence of the palatine Prince Electors Karl Phillipp and Karl Theodor (Carl Theodor) and lay between the electoral royal residence cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg.
The
eventful history of Schwetzingen Castle is
reflected by the
individual buildings as much as by the castle garden. Originally built
in the 1300's as a lowland fortress for defensive purposes, the
fortress was
converted into a fishing and hunting lodge in the 1500's, and two
hundred years
later it was Prince Elector Carl Theodor, eminent patron of sciences
and works of art, who had the
castle extended into a summer residence. "In the summer season the great
lords generally take to their pleasure palaces and hunting lodges,
seeking diversion in the hunt in all manner of pleasantries"
(Julius
Bernhard von Rohr, 1729). Like their 18th-century peers, the
Electors of the Palatinate withdrew to the delightful fresh air of
Schwetzingen during the warmer months, along with a large proportion of
their entourage from Mannheim. They had extensions built to
the old hunting lodge and magnificent gardens of 
180
acres laid out. A
central tract of solid stone, a castle-like structure, was converted
for the greater comfort of the Elector, his wife, and their courtiers,
and the rooms were lavishly furnished. With Carl Theodor
supervising, accomplished architects and landscape architects like
Nicolas de Pigage or Friedrich Ludwig Sckell, created a total artwork
of
exceptional beauty within the space of a few decades. The
Prince
Elector gave the castle the outline it has preserved until today.
Further, the
garden was enlarged and waterworks, fountains, the mosque ,
pavilions, and classical temples
were built The
pleasure gardens and parterres, perfectly regular and symmetrical,
followed clear mathematical principles. Creating a continuum
with the palace architecture, the gardens were a an outdoor extension
of the living quarters, a fit setting for glittering courtly occasions
and princely amusements. On the garden side of the central
building a boulevard of trees stretches away to the town of Heidelburg
just distant on the horizon six miles away. A terribly beautiful
example of the power of an autocratic prince to bend the landscape to
his will. Events such as young Mozart’s concerts in
1763 or
Voltaire’s visits only added to the
palace's ‘golden
age’
The Temple of Apollo - God of the Sun, Health, and Music
The Prince Elector
Karl Theodor’s hereditary succession to
the Kingdom of Bavaria in
1777
and the transfer of
the court residence to Munich led to the
decline of
the Palatinate state as a ruling territory, Schwetzingen
Palace also
lost its significance. In 1803 the Electorate was abolished. From that
time on Schwetzingen was governed by the Margraves of Baden.
The Temple of Minerva (Greek: Athena) completed in 1769.
The Temple of Minerva (Greek: Athena) completed in 1769.
As a crowning achievement of baroque garden architecture, Schwetzingen is a cultural monument of European significance. The rococo theatre, Orangerie, baths, temples, mosque, water works and artificial ruins constitute a world of their own. The formal geometry of
baroque
and rococo yields to a three-dimensional
landscape painting
with model surfaces, silent waters, meandering walks and a judicious
wrinkling of architecture and art. The beauty and diversity
of flowers, plants, trees, structures and sculptures is
impressive.
At the beginning of the 20th century castle and castle garden were
opened to the public, and are owned by the state of
Baden-Württemberg
now. Since 1970 successive reconstructions of the garden were made
according to a park conservation plan.
Finally extensive renovation works between 1976 and 1991 gave back to
the castle its splendid and lovely appearance As in the days
of
the "great lords", all manner
of divergence still take place in the palace and its gardens, from
playful games and colorful spectacles to concerts and dramas, from
lighthearted garden festivals and historical dress to thematic tours,
lectures and exhibitions.The Mosque
The Mosque Built as a Garden Folly by the Prince Elector
The Lapidarium
Aristocratic
houses of the eighteenth century often had collections of plaster casts
of works
of art from classical antiquity, as well as actual archaelogical
fragments collected when family members were on the Grand Tour in
Italy. These collections were open to the family's guests,
scholars, and people of good standing in an effort by the court to
propogate the virtues and good taste of classicism in Germany.
The well-known author Goethe, for example, recorded several
visits he made to such court collections as a young man.
Today the Lapidarium, which is open to the public, also holds
many of the original statues displayed in the garden, while they have
been replaced by copies outside which are actually exposed to the
elements.The Temple of Mercury
The
Temple of Mercury was built to imitate a ancient roman grave in ruins.
The layout of the garden paths mean that the ruins can only
be
viewed from a distance over water, in which it is then eerily
reflected. It is approachable by foot, but the paths curve,
so
that the visitor will only see the ruins at the last moment.
Beneath base of the ruins is a small cave, a
grotto, in
which a poor homeless man was actually paid to live for months at a
time by the Prince Elector. This man was to represent a
wise hermit who had withdrawn from the world or the long
forgotten
priest of a long forgotten pagan temple. He was dressed in a
worn
roman toga, and was told to make himself visible when visitors
approached from a distance, adding atmosphere to the ruins, but to hide
himself away in his cave as the guests drew near. There is a
frieze in relief on the temple: it illustrates the myth in which
Mercury is sent to rescue the maiden Io,
having been loved by Jupiter and enraged Juno, has been turned into a
cow. She is watched over by Argos of the Hundred Eyes - a
herdsman who is never said to sleep. But Mercury plays to him
on
his lyre and the music does put Argos to sleep so Mercury can rescue
the maiden. The Temple of Forest Botany
This
small building was built to resemble a tree trunk in shape and texture.
Inside the marble floor is laid out in rings just as a tree
would
have rings. There are frescoes with sylvan themes, and a
statue
of Ceres with her scythe removed and replaced with a book of botanical
taxonomy.
In the Palace: The Swiss Room
The Swiss Mountain world portrayed in the Swiss
room at Schloss
Schwetzingen reflects the idealization of Switzerland known as
"Philhelvetism" that was triggered by a series of travel journals at
the dawn of the 19th century. The original panoramic
wallpaper made in 1804 and entitled Vues de Suisse (View of
Switzerland) encompasses the space in frame sections depicting into
that alpine landscapes and groups of figures embedded in a mountain
environment of waterfalls and lakes. It is an idealized
picture of the world which stylize his sublime nature in peaceful
coexistence with man and beast, apparently untouched by
civilization. This new Arcadia finds material form in
Switzerland.
The popular and widely sold series was made by
Zuber, an Alsatian
company based in Rixheim near Mulhouse, from designs by the French
painter Pierre Antoine Mongin, whose work can also be admired in the
Grand Trianon at Versailles. He wallpapered museum in Kassel,
Germany also has a complete room with its patterned
wallpaper. However here in Schwetzingen we have the rare
privilege of enjoying the wallpaper in its original setting.
Functionally this room once served the Imperial Countess of Hochberg
(1768-1820), second wife of the Elector, and later served the Grand
Duke Karl Friedrich of Baden as a social room for retired
soldiers. It has been reconstructed with neo-Gothic seeking
by using items in the state furniture collection which date from around
1804. The design of the furniture seems to reflect a desire
to escape the here and now of everyday life.The Bathhouse Study
Schwetzingen was to become the favorite summer
residence of the
Palatine Electors a who held court in Mannheim. Shielded from
the rigid ceremonies of court, Elector Carl Theodor would retreat to
his private pavilion, built in 1775 and known as the bathhouse, within
the extensive palace gardens.
As
in Mannheim, Pigage took charge of the interior design.
But here we find tender tones of a neoclassical symbolism taking its
departure from heavily charged baroque and dainty rococo. The
Elector's a study derives its appeal from a strict formal organization
and choice materials. White marble columns in the style of
antiquity, with guilt bases, capitals and in tablature, frame the
canopied settee above its alcove where the Elector could rest from his
writing. The returns a stylistic features of bygone ages,
above all antiquity, is a hallmark of neoclassicism. The
decoration is full of contrasts. Retreat in islands
of repose conjured up by spatial means drawl the gaze with landscapes
by court painter Ferdinand Kobell in typically cool colors.
These bucolic shepherd scenes convey a yearning for Arcadian
idylls. An absolutist prince of enlightened spirit seeks open
spaces, nature and simplicity. The guiding principles of
English landscape gardens no doubt provided inspiration, and Dutch
influence is also felt reminiscent of van Ruisdael and Everdingen
ranked "among the best German landscapes of the transitional period to
neoclassicism" (Adoph Feulner, 1929). The exquisite
appointment is exemplified in furniture and wall paneling ingrained
rosewood by the Mannheim court ebeniste Jakob Kaiser. The
room today is faithful to records of the authentic ensemble.
The Rococco Theater
The Ticket and Tours Office at
Schwetzingen Castle
Guided Tours of the
PalaceApril -- October:
Tue -- Fri 11 a.m.
-- 4 p.m.
Sat, Sun, and Public
Holidays
11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3
p.m.
November - March:Friday 2 p.m.
Sat, Sun and Public Holidays
11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m.
Garden Open All Day All YearSat, Sun and Public Holidays
11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m.
Permanent Exhibition:
The history of the palace garden, the orangery and historical garden tools,
The statue collection in the Lapidarium with original sculptures and plaster casts.
The Garden Side of the
Central Entrance Building
The backside of the Mosque built as a Garden Folly by the Prince Elector
The Mosque Courtyard
at Schwetzingen Palace
The Sun, Sign of Apollo, at Apollo's Temple Schwetzingen Palace
Statue of Apollo in Apollo's Temple
Detail from a Plinth in Minerva's Temple
Doorway in the Mosque Garden Folly
The painted ceiling at the top of the mosque's dome depicts the night sky.
An Owl Stands at the Foot of Minerva (Athena) from a statue in the Lapidarium
The Entrance Portico to the Bathhouse
The Entry Hall in the Bath House
Griffons Supporting the Bast to a Statue in the Bath House at Schwetzingen Palace
The Prince Elector's Bath in the Bath House
The mirrored ceiling above the bath
Central Entrance Building
The backside of the Mosque built as a Garden Folly by the Prince Elector
The Mosque Courtyard
at Schwetzingen Palace
The Sun, Sign of Apollo, at Apollo's Temple Schwetzingen Palace
Statue of Apollo in Apollo's Temple
Detail from a Plinth in Minerva's Temple
Doorway in the Mosque Garden Folly
The painted ceiling at the top of the mosque's dome depicts the night sky.
An Owl Stands at the Foot of Minerva (Athena) from a statue in the Lapidarium
The Entrance Portico to the Bathhouse
The Entry Hall in the Bath House
Griffons Supporting the Bast to a Statue in the Bath House at Schwetzingen Palace
The Prince Elector's Bath in the Bath House
The mirrored ceiling above the bath