II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

Lent) served to please and divert courtiers,
visitors and, in many cases, the inhabitants of
Mannheim and the neighbouring countryside,
who could see the fi reworks, listen to the
music and follow the electoral barges on the
Rhine from a distance – and, as many observers
stated, were extremely keen on these
pleasures. The entertainments also emphasized
the “august” position of the Elector
Palatine. Thus the celebrations for birth- and
namedays of both the Elector and the Electress
in November, December and January
lasted for more than six days each time in the
1750s, including opera, theatre, gala-dinners
and receptions, fi reworks, balls, and often
incredibly expensive hunts both ”seated” and
”par force”. Every May, after holding reviews
of the Palatine troops in the Rhine plain near
Mannheim, that were of more ornamental
than practical value, the Elector and his court
moved to Schwetzingen which served as the
summer-residence until September. After
the de-facto-breakdown of his marriage in
the 1760s, Carl Theodor gave the palace of
Oggersheim which had been the property of a
relative of the electoral couple, to the Electress.
From then on, Elisabeth Augusta chose
to spend her summers there. Thus the Palatine
court had in fact two summer-residences
which both saw accomplished entertainments
staged by the Mannheim orchestra and opera,
the French theatre company and the ballet.
“The Spirit of our Century” Transforms the
Court3 From the early 1760s, the Elector wanted
his court and reign not only to shine with
the gold of architectural ornaments and the
glitter of perfect entertainments; he aspired
to be admired as a ruler who knew about and
appreciated the “spirit of the age” – of the Age
of Enlightenment. Well-read and intelligent,
3 Wolfgang von Hippel: “Die Kurpfalz zur Zeit Carl Theodors
(1742-1799) – wirtschaftliche Lage und wirtschaftspolitische
Bemühungen”, in: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins,
N.F. 109/2000, pp. 177-244.
Mörz 1991, as above; Mörz 1998, as above; Stefan Mörz,
“Das Ende der alten Zeit: Der Raum Ludwigshafen im 18.
Jahrhundert”, in: Geschichte der Stadt Ludwigshafen, vol. 1,
Ludwigshafen 2003, pp. 133-197.
II. Schwetzingen – A Prince Elector’s Eighteenth-Century Summer Residence
he proved quite accessible to modern ideas.
Twice he received Voltaire, the ”wise man of
Ferney”, at Schwetzingen.
Carl Theodor also began to emancipate
himself from personal ties that had previously
often restricted him. In 1758 his old Jesuit
confessor died. In 1761, after almost twenty
years of marriage, the Electress gave birth
to a son that died in the same night. It was
now clear that she would never have children
again. From then on, the electoral couple
began to drift apart. Carl Theodor was tired of
his wife’s tantrums and her open display of
affection for her lovers. He now took to several
mistresses himself and fathered at least a
dozen illegitimate children whom he provided
well for. Moreover, Carl Theodor and Elisabeth
Augusta had never had much in common,
and the world of the enlightenment remained
largely alien to the Electress. Even in their
shared appreciation of music and theatre great
divergencies began to appear: While Elisabeth
Augusta retained her love for the Italian opera
II.
Fig. 3: Mannheim, copperplate
by J. A. Baertels, 1758 (From:
Walter, Stadtgeschichte
Mannheim, Mannheim 1907,
vol. 1).
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