II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

III.
144
Fig. 14: Carl Kuntz, c.1795,
Temple of Botany, coloured
aquatint.
III. Schwetzingen – Historical Context
of the kitchen gardens had espaliers; the
vegetable garden featured additional free-standing
trellises.
B.13. The Nurseries
As early as 1763, decorative and fruit trees
were ordered from Holland to be raised in
the nursery. 100 The exact position of this
early nursery is unknown. In 1768/69, land
on the northwestern border of the garden
was expropriated for another nursery. 101 The
Etrennes Palatines of 1769 report this to have
been planted with many select fruit trees. 102 In
1774, the nurseries of Heidelberg and Mannheim
were merged with that of Schwetzingen.
Consequently, the available area at Schwetzingen
had to be enlarged. In October 1774,
the Elector issued an order that avenues and
main roads should be lined with fruit-bearing
or otherwise useful trees. To this end, Court
Gardener Johann Wilhelm Sckell drew up
an inventory of the Schwetzingen nurseries
that was published in December 1774, in an
edition of 1600 copies. 103
In 1784, Pigage mentions two nurseries 104 that
are in Sckell’s plan of 1783 as well (cp. Fig. 5).
The second one, on the southwestern border
100 GLA 221/39 of 3.10.1763.
101 Heber 1986, pp 460/461.
102 Etrennes Palatines pour l’année 1769, quoted in Heber 1986, p.
461-462.
103 in GLA 77/3959 of 21.12.1774.
104 GLA 221/45 of 1784, Heber 1986 pp. 469, 471.
of the garden, was probably dissolved again
when the vicinity of the Temple of Mercury
was laid out around 1786 (see below). In the
remaining one, Zeyher grew trees and shrubs
for the creation and maintenance of every
one of the Grand Duke’s gardens in Baden.
Ordinary citizens, too, could choose from a
large range of reasonably priced fruit trees
for planting on roads or in private gardens.
In 1809, Zeyher listed 303 types of apple, 193
types of pear, 19 types of apricot, 38 types of
peach, 62 types of cherry, 53 types of plum
and 40 types of grape.
B.14. The Arborium Theodoricum
The Arborium Theodoricum was the fi rst
garden laid out by young Friedrich Ludwig
Sckell. It is an arboretum, a collection of trees
and shrubs intended for research purposes.
Pigage describes it as “La nouvelle Isle qui
sera appellée le Lexicon vivant des arbres et
arbustes des jardins”. 105 It is situated on the
long island at the northern boundary of the
garden. The island was created in 1774, by
diverting part of the Leimbach into an outer
channel. Soon after, work appears to have
come to a standstill. On his return from his
study trip to England in 1777, Sckell converted
the narrow strip of ground into a grassy,
undulating valley enclosed by woodland. The
scenery is structured by solitary trees or small
groups on the slope. The whole constitues a
landscape painting that can be entered, and
is experienced from a number of carefully
selected positions. These are reached by a footpath
that encircles the entire area, carefully
concealed and fi tted into the vegetation and
the terrain. This so-called belt walk is one of
the core elements of English landscape gardens.
Two garden buildings grace the western
end of the Arborium Theodoricum, a Temple
of Botany (Fig. 14) and the ruin of a Roman
water tower 106 (Fig. 15). The Temple of Botany
is a circular structure covered with imitation
oak bark. It was erected in 1778, and the
decoration was completed in 1780. The statue
105 GLA 221/39 of 10.11.1774.
106 Leger 1829, p. 364.