North Tower - Schloss Drachenburg

Four Paintings from
the Rhine Romanticism Collection
The four large-format paintings on the walls of the Reception Room are on loan from the
Bonn Rhine Romanticism Collection which, with its approx. 500 paintings and drawings, is
the most comprehensive private collection in Germany dedicated to the Rhine and its history.
The pictures by Eduard Boettcher displayed here were completed at the time Schloss Drachenburg
was built and thus refl ect authentically the spirit of the times. Christian Eduard Boettcher
(born 1811 in Imgenbroich, died 1889 in Düsseldorf) belonged to the later generation of
Düsseldorf painters. He was appointed professor at the Academy of Art there in 1872. For his
pictures, he favoured a traditional approach to landscape art still indebted to Romanticism,
the composition and colourfulness of which coincided with the taste of the bourgeois public.
The Rhine at Rolandseck with a View of Nonnenwerth and the Siebengebirge, 1882
In this painting, Christian Eduard Boettcher chose a typically traditional view of Rolandseck
across to the Siebengebirge foothills on the other side of the river. Any reference to a specifi c
timeframe is avoided so that, even in 1882, a typical English tourist with peaked cap and
botanist’s specimen container can sit there on a small canal wall and watch the fi shermen
landing their boats in the light of the late afternoon sun.
Crossing the River at the Loreley, 1886
In this perfectly balanced composition, set against the backdrop of the Loreley, Boettcher
draws on the old theme of crossing the Rhine. The mountain scenery on both sides ranges
high while the virtually central opening to the river middle guides the beholder’s eyes via
the main motif of the boats into the depths. The painter succeeds in lending his portrayal a
statutory tranquillity – the subdued evening mood, the river fl ow almost at a standstill and
indeed the very passivity of the people in the boats. Elements which combine to convey an
impression of timelessness.
View of Oberwesel, 1888
This painting shows the Rhine side of Oberwesel from the north with the Werner Chapel in
the centre and, to the right, the northern City Tower (the Ox Tower). On the right-hand side
of the picture, you can still see the Church of St Martin whereas on the left-hand side the
south view of the Rhine Valley opens up to Pfalzgrafenstein Castle. However, the artist has
compressed Oberwesel’s characteristic buildings in such a way that an idealised picture of
a Rhenish town with all the important set pieces – castle, city wall, church, half-timbered
houses, vineyards and genre life – emerges while the place as such still remains tangible.
View of Friesdorf and the Rhine Valley, 1877
Set out as a broad panorama, this painting shows an unusual outlook to the south of Bonn,
namely, a view of Friesdorf and of the Siebengebirge on the opposite side. The wide plain, in
the middle of which you can just discern Friesdorf Station, is limited on the right by the hill
to the north of Godesberg that almost reaches the Rhine. The foreground is enlivened by its
genre-typical family scene. It would appear that they are admiring the extensive view over
to the Siebengebirge and the prominent Drachenfels. In the centre of the picture, this being
1877, the site of today’s Schloss Drachenburg has not yet been built on.