Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

part also that thereby the places, which they
wish to be built up, are peopled and provided
with nourishment and custom. … When they
are at their country manors, a great part of
ceremony is set aside, and a freer style of life
is chosen.” 5
More recently, historians have tended to
assume that the expressions “court” and
“residence” are interchangeable. “Court” can be
characterized by three elements:
1. the presence of an aristocratic courtly
society,
2. the expression of grandeur and material
splendour,
3. the refinement and exemplary conduct
court society compared with social groups
not present at court. 6
The residence is the place where the court is
located regularly for extended periods and
which then serves as the seat of government.
Hence, residences also have properties that
enable them at any given time to fulfil the
requirements expected of the exercise and
exhibition of power.
An important criterion of exercising power
is access to communication. A ruler at his
residence must be able to receive messages
from anywhere swiftly and reliably and
communicate his decisions equally quickly
to as many places and people in his realm
as possible. Residences must, therefore, be
located conveniently for transport, such as by
important roads or rivers. 7
The Electoral summer residence at
Schwetzingen
This important aspect also applies to the
summer residence at Schwetzingen. During
the reign of Prince-Elector Carl Theodor von
der Pfalz (*1724; reigned 1743-1799), the road
to the Palatinate capital Mannheim, the
5 Julius Bernhard von Rohr: Einleitung zur Ceremoniel-Wissenschaft
der Grossen Herren. Berlin 1733. Edited by Monika
Schlechte. Leipzig 1990, p. 83 f.
6 Aloys Winterling: Der Hof der Kurfürsten von Köln 1688-1794.
Eine Fallstudie zur Bedeutung “absolutistischer” Hofhaltung.
Bonn 1986, p. 2.
7 Egon Johannes Greipl: Macht und Pracht. Die Geschichte der
Residenzen in Franken, Schwaben und Altbayern. Regensburg
1991, p. 9.
II. Schwetzingen – Elector Carl Theodor’s Summer Residence
principle seat of residence, was developed
into a highway, and a stage-post for changing
horses was installed in Rheinau, today a
suburb of Mannheim. This causeway is the
continuation of the northern transverse axis
through the circular parterre in the palace
gardens at Schwetzingen. The road to the
Palatinate’s old capital at Heidelberg, which
had been built in the 17th century during
the reign of Elector Carl Ludwig (*1617;
reigned 1649-1680), was upgraded in the 18th
century and mulberry trees were planted
alongside to support the silk industry. This
axis between the Königstuhl, an elevation
outside Heidelberg, and the Kalmit, a
peak in the highlands of the Pfälzer Wald,
provided a key fundamental constant for
court astronomer Johann Christian Mayer
(*1719; †1783) as he surveyed the Palatinate.
It was honoured in both of Mayer’s Palatine
maps, which are among the most exact in
the 18th century. Parts of this axis still form
Carl-Theodor-Strasse and Kurfürstenstrasse
in Schwetzingen and also the bed of the
former railway link between Heidelberg and
Schwetzingen. Finally, the axis survives as a
path for ramblers and in the form of a runway
used by the US armed forces.
Following an extended visit by Elector
Carl Theodor to his possessions on the
Lower Rhine, the Duchies of Jülich and
Berg with their residence at Düsseldorf, the
Palatine rulers established a permanent
residence. It was not until the court’s return
from Düsseldorf in September 1747 that
Mannheim was chosen for this role. The
event found expression in an extension of the
Mannheim palace and of the palace gardens at
Schwetzingen, and the printing of a Palatine
court calendar. 8
8 Stefan Mörz: Haupt- und Residenzstadt – Carl Theodor, sein
Hof und Mannheim. Mannheim 1998, p. 44 ff.
II.
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