3. - Schlösser-Magazin

3.
Ground plan of Ludwigsburg
Palace and both its gardens,
after Donato Giuseppe Frisoni,
1721-24 (detail).
94
3. Justification for Inscription
Hampton Court, 1708. Fredensborg Palace, 1728.
(II) The semicircle: The palace sits midway
on the semicircle’s diameter, which is
often emphasized as an axis; from it paths
or avenues fan out into the grounds. The
orchestration is orientated, the layout
open towards the grounds, without a clear
architectural boundary; the transverse axis
and avenues lead away beyond the grounds.
Hampton Court is probably the most
prominent example of this type; the semicircle
was laid out at the end of the 17th-century (G.
London, D. Marot). William III commissioned
two large parterres, one of which was
within the semicircle. The palace garden of
Fredensborg (design 1718-19, by J. C. Krieger)
is another example. 20 It is a semicircular
garden with the points of the two segments, in
the shape of broderie beds, emphasizing the
ballroom; the rest of the segments are planted
with topiary shrubs.
20 Jens Hendeliowitz: The Royal Gardens of Denmark. Hillerod
2005, p. 105sqq.
Both examples share a feature very different
from Schwetzingen. The semicircle has no
architectural perimeter. The emphasis is on
the minor axes and garden areas, all clearly
orchestrated towards the palace.
(III) The conch shape: The pavilions sit at
the end of an axially orientated garden space,
embracing its entire width and serving as a
clear boundary of an area defined as part of a
semicircle. The palace on the diameter marks
the true axis.
The palace of Lustheim situated at the end
of the Schleißheim park (built 1684-89 by
E. Zucalli) was surrounded at the back by a
semicircle of galleries and orangeries, with
the semicircular space between laid out
as a parterre. Phenomenologically similar
to Schwetzingen (with regard to the circle
segments only) but with no connection
to neighbouring areas, it constitutes the
termination not the beginning of the garden,
and ultimately employs a semicircle, not a full
circle.
(IV) The circle as a garden room: Part of the
garden is defined as a circular ”room“, but the
feature does not determine the general layout.
The garden of Solitude palace (plans by
R.F.H. Fischer, 1767) provides an example of
a multitude of circular forms occurring in a
bosquet, characteristic of the Rococo style.
A curious example is the Italian palace of
Stupinigi (built 1729-34 by F. Juvara), which
features two variations of the circle – in the
shape of a semicircle near the stables in front