3. - Schlösser-Magazin

3. Outside
104
3. Justification for Inscription
Germany
In Český Krumlov in Bohemia Duke Johann
Christian of Eggenberg had a theatre built in
1680 as an extension to his mountain-spur
castle. In 1765/66 one of his heirs, Prince
Josef Adam of Schwarzenberg, commissioned
the Viennese architect Andreas Altomonte
to refurbish and redesign the old “Comedia
Haus”. On the level floor the benches increase
in height towards the back to allow for a
better view of the stage. The sole balcony
is open, with no subdivisions except for
the central ruler’s box. The ČeskČ Krumlov
refurbishment thus adopted the very latest
developments in theatre design. The theatre
is also unique in the wealth of surviving
sets, costumes, props and everything else
pertaining to a working theatre of its time. 73
A further development of the concept
underlying the Schwetzingen Rococo theatre
is represented by the palace theatre built in
1766 by Carl Friedrich Adelcrantz for Queen
Ulrica Louisa of Sweden at Drottningholm.
The auditorium realizes the idea postulated by
the architectural theoreticians – that of a “hall
theatre” entirely without galleries and boxes.
The area at the front is oval in shape and was
originally designated the royal box. There are
three entrances on the side, all surmounted
by balconies, two of which are furnished
with grilles to serve as incognito boxes. The
auditorium is enlarged by a rectangular room
with benches rising towards the back. The
Baroque stage machinery is the best-preserved
in all of Europe. 74
Despite being an intimate court theatre the
“Teatro di Corte” of Caserta Palace near Naples
was built according to the tradition of the
tiered box theatre in a corner of the western
courtyard from plans by the architect Luigi
Vanvitelli, and completed in 1767. It boasts
five galleries of boxes separated by colossal
alabaster columns taken from the temple of
Serapis at Pozzuoli. 75
73 Slavko, Pavel: Das Schlosstheater in ČeskČ Krumlov. ČeskČ
Krumlov 2001.
74 Reus, Klaus-Dieter, p. 75 sqq.
75 Ciaparelli, Pierluigi: Il Teatro Di Corte Di Caserta. Storia e
restauro. Neapel 1995.
Progress within 18th-century theatre-building
was represented by the theatre of Gripsholm
Castle, built 1781 by Erik Palmsted for King
Gustav III of Sweden to replace an earlier,
smaller theatre on the third floor of one of
the towers. The redesign owed something
to the “Teatro Olympico”; the semicircular
auditorium was laid out on the model of the
Classical amphitheatre with ionic columns
and benches rising towards the back. The
royal box has been inserted into the base of
the columns, and surmounting it is a balcony
for the royal entourage while the so-called
lorgnettes, allowing servants to attend, are
hidden in the ornamentation of the coffered
ceiling. 76
Later 18th-century theatre buildings
usually remained true to the traditional
type featuring tiers of boxes, among them
the theatre in Hanau-Wilhelmsbad (1781)
or that of the St. Petersburg “Hermitage”
(1763) that was redesigned by the architect
Giacomo Quarenghi in 1783 to become a
modern amphitheatre 77 . As late as 1793
the “San Carlos” opera house in Lisbon,
commissioned by King Charles IV, was built
as a conventional box theatre in the Italian
tradition, and when the Princes Waldstein
commissioned a new theatre in LitomyČl in
Bohemia the building, completed in 1796/97,
featured a horseshoe-shaped auditorium
with a level floor, and a single balcony with a
central ruler’s box. It was only at the very end
of the 18th-century that the modern theatre
was more generally accepted. 78
In summary it can be stated that of all the
court theatres discussed, Schwetzingen is the
earliest to have met the demands identified
by contemporary architectural theory. Public
theatres in cities were quick to follow: as
76 Reus, Klaus-Dieter, p. 101 sqq.
77 The palace theatre of Ostankino near Moscow, built 1790-97
for Count Nicolai Scheremetjev, is an interesting and unique
oddity. The theatre takes up the very centre of the palace
compound. Corinthian columns encircle an open, horseshoeshaped
auditorium with benches arranged in an amphitheatrelike
pattern. The benches could be dismantled easily, and
with the aid of machinery hidden beneath the floor the entire
auditorium could be raised to the level of the stage, creating
a grand ballroom (Denisova, Y.: The Hermitage Theatre.
St.Petersburg 2004).
78 Reus, Klaus-Dieter, p. 111 sqq.