North Tower - Schloss Drachenburg

The Uhland-Heine Lancet Window
In 2003, an Uhland glass window turned up on the Drachenfels somewhat unexpectedly. Due
to its shape, colour design and inscription, it was possible to assign the origin of the glazing
to the Art Gallery at Schloss Drachenburg. The foundling also had lacunae which must have
been fi lled with simple glass at an earlier stage. The irregular lead strips in the blue surface
of the medallions and in the face area were the result of repairs made to damage incurred
during the Second World War.
With the “homecoming” of the Uhland window, the idea of reconstructing a lancet window
was born. Staff at the Mayer´sche Hofkunstanstalt Munich, an institute for the promotion
of arts and crafts, greeted the project with great enthusiasm. The main glass fragment and
other cullets helped researchers make a number of deductions as to glass colouring and
painting technique. And the photo of the Uhland portrait in the institute archives was a good
indication of how the complete medallion must have once looked.
A castle brochure dating from 1904 also indicated that Heine and Uhland had been placed
together in the one window. Likewise, a study of the template books in the Munich company
archives unearthed a “Heine” pencil sketch as well as sketches of the coats-of-arms of
Düsseldorf and Tübingen which could be assigned to the respective birthplaces of the two
German poets. Furthermore, various historical postcards divulged information as to the
overall composition and confi guration of the portrait medallions in the window. The historical
brochure quoted characteristic texts from the oeuvre of the two poets, quotations which
could also be read on the windows, as well as their biographical data (with Heinrich Heine’s
birth stated erroneously as 1799 instead of 1797). Either way, all preconditions for a full
reconstruction were now in place.
Königlich Bayerische Hofglasmalerei F. X. Zettler / Mayer’sche Hofkunstanstalt
Wilhelm Hoffmann was originally responsible for the designs of the glass paintings while the
Royal Court Stained Glass Manufactory of Franz Xavier Zettler in Munich was responsible
for the actual production of the costly windows. Founded by Josef Gabriel Mayer in 1847,
the Mayer’sche Institute of Court Art ranked in the 19th century as one of the most famous
glass-painting fi rms and today it still enjoys great renown as a glass-painting workshop. F. X.
Zettler, Joseph Gabriel Mayer’s son-in-law, was the commercial manager of the Mayer’sche
Institute from 1863 to 1870. He then started up his own manufactory which similarly went on
to achieve national fame.