II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

III.
142
Fig. 12: Carl Kuntz, c.1795,
Temple of Apollo, coloured
aquatint.
III. Schwetzingen – Historical Context
sphinxes in the theatre auditorium, it is a
work by Verschaffelt.
B.8. Menagerie to ar boretum
In 1763-1767, a menagerie was built north of
the orangery and the bosquet with the natural
theatre. It had a central basin surrounded
by cages, and an enclosing wall. 82 The cages
held mainly birds; an attempt to keep chamois
failed. 83 Towards the end of the 1760s, a
pheasant house was added on the west side. 84
After 1784, part of the former menagerie was
used as a nursery for rare plants. 85 On what remained
of the area, Zeyher established an arboretum
in 1804. He created a landscaped gar-
den and planted numerous trees and shrubs.
Zeyher’s inventory of 1809 lists 827 different
species and varieties for the arboretum alone.
86 In addition, Zeyher displayed a collection
of alpine plants along the southern wall.
B.9. The Bathhouse Garden
The bathhouse was built on a narrow strip of
ground west of the menagerie and close to the
Temple of Apollo. Documents fi rst mention it
82 Heber 1986, p. 428.
83 Mannheimer Geschichtsblätter, Year XXVIII Sept. 1927 No. 9.
84 GLA 213/110 of 24.7.1764, Heber 1992, p. 14.
85 GLA 221/45 of 1784, Heber 1986, p. 469.
86 Zeyher 1809, Verzeichnis sämmtlicher Bäume, Glas- und
Treibhauspfl anzen des Schwezinger-Gartens.
in October 1770. 87 It is the centre of an enfi lade
of garden rooms. At the southern end, a grotto
serves as “point de vue” of a narrowing arbour
walk. Towards the north, the axis continues
through the bathhouse and another arbour
walk to the “water-spouting birds”, and then via
yet another arbour to the diorama, known as
the End of the World, a concave wall painted
with a trompe-l’oeil landscape.
At the “water-spouting birds” the arbour walk
opens to reveal an oval basin. A number of
metal birds are perched on the curving trellis
walls, busily spitting water at an owl sitting in
the basin.
The bird sculptures are probably from the garden
of Malgrange Castle in Lorraine, part of
the estate of Stanisław Leszczyński. Four aviaries
and two small cabinets lined with minerals
have been built into the exterior walls of
the trellis structure. The whole area was intended
as a “giardino segreto” (private garden) for
the Elector, and accordingly, it was sheltered
and hidden from view by trellises, shrubs,
screens and walls, and closed off by gates. The
bathhouse’s western forecourt, shaped like a
basket of fl owers, likewise served to keep strollers
at a distance.
The “boulingrin” east of the bathhouse in front
of the porcelain cabinet received another water
feature in 1776, a “champignon d’eau”
(bell fountain) 88 fed by the overfl ow from the
natural theatre’s artifi cial waterfall. Nearby,
two sculptures of cherubs playing with goats
bought by Linck were put up. 89 The bathhouse,
its kitchen, the aviaries, the cabinets and the diorama
were completed by 1776 at the latest. 90
B.10. The Seahorse Garden
At the back of the southern quarter-circle pavilion
is the seahorse garden. It fi rst appears
in Pigage’s execution plan of 1767 (cp. Fig.
4). The group of seahorses it is named for,
probably belonged to a large monument by
87 GLA 221/ 440, “Specifi cation” by Johann Wilhelm Sckell dated
26.10.1770.
88 GLA 221/39 of 16.5.1775 and GLA 231/111 of 16.5.1775, Heber
1986 pp. 505-506.
89 GLA 221/18 of 9.8.1775 and 14.8.1775, Martin 1933, p. 353;
and Heber 1986, p. 467.
90 GLA 221/39 of 8.5.1776.