Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

c)
The Waterworks and Carl
Theodor’s Scientific
Experiments – Technical
Monuments of the Highest Order
In the time of Elector Carl Theodor (1742-
1799) the summer residence of the Electors
Palatine, Schwetzingen Palace, was a centre of
scientific endeavours and institutions, among
them a physics cabinet, a meteorological
station and a small amateur observatory on
the palace roof. The great central axis running
the length of the palace gardens was part of
the baseline for a survey of the Palatinate and
the site of the observation of the transit of
Venus in 1761. The two waterworks supplying
the garden are magnificent testimonies to
18th-century water and pumping technology.
“Water Art”: The Pumping Stations in the
Schwetzingen Grounds
Supplying the water features of the gardens of
Schwetzingen Palace – the basins, fountains,
cascades and artificial streams – required an
elaborate system of pipes, pumping stations
and waterworks. Two pumping stations
in the vicinity of the grounds have been
preserved, both dating from the 1770s. They
are remarkable technological achievements
and among the oldest surviving works of their
kind in the modern age. 1
Once the palace and garden had been
enlarged and improved by Alessandro Galli
da Bibiena (1687-1748) und Nicolas de Pigage
(1723-1796) in Elector Carl Theodor’s time,
the Schwetzingen well expert Thomas Breuer,
and the sculptor Peter Anton Verschaffelt
(1710-1793), travelled to France to study the
pumping machine at Marly near Versailles,
and the layout of the Versailles park. The
purpose of the trip was to gather information
that could be used for a new waterworks
in the Schwetzingen grounds, that would
supply the garden’s water features. Once the
1 Rainer Slotta, Technische Denkmäler in der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland, vol. 2, Bochum 1977, p. 308.
V. Science and Technology
travellers returned, a detailed model of the
planned Schwetzingen waterworks 2 was built.
The old waterworks, a simple water wheel,
no longer met the requirements. The wheel’s
tubs scooped water from the Leimbach
stream and poured it into a large container,
installed 25 feet above ground. The unfiltered
water tended to clog up the pipes, and the
rotting organic particles contained in it,
caused unpleasant smells in the park. A more
efficient pump drawing water from a deep
well was required. An installation consisting
2 Slotta 1977, p. 307. A very detailed description of the machinery
of the two Schwetzingen waterworks is on pp. 308-312.
V.
Fig. 1: Upper Waterworks,
exterior (Photo: Förderer).
Fig. 2: Upper Waterworks and
ice cellar, ground plan (From:
Barock in Baden-Württemberg,
exhibition catalogue, Bruchsal,
27.6.-25.10.1981, Karlsruhe
1981, p. 307).
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