Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

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VI. Schwetzingen – Historical Context
Elector Ott-Heinrich, 21 himself a man whose
personality would shape both Heidelberg
and the Palatinate, comments repeatedly
on the pleasant stays at Schwetzingen,
and his successors appear to have agreed
wholeheartedly.
For Schwetzingen the 16th century was a
predominantly peaceful time. Several wars
were fought in southern Germany, but
only once, in 1546, is there mention of the
repercussions of the War of the Schmalkaldic
League. Count Eberhard von Erbach was
lodged at the palace with a small contingent.
There is no mention of damage or harm,
however. Thus, the Schwetzingen palace
with its new Renaissance garb, created by
Ludwig V, was left undisturbed up to the
Thirty Years’ War.
Not even the marriage of Friedrich V 22 to
Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of the English
king James I, who introduced a royal court
and lifestyle to the Palatinate, changed things
for the Schwetzingen hunting lodge. In his
description of the newlyweds’ arrival at
Heidelberg in May 1613, Gotthard Vögelin
specifically mentions this property belonging
to the young Elector: “His Grace the Elector
also owns a fair castle called Schwetzingen, a
mile from Heidelberg, with a fine stock of deer
in its forests, which extend for two miles.“ 23
Evidently the hunting-mad couple were quite
satisfied with the lodge – which by that time
may well have looked a little old-fashioned,
having last been modernized seventy years
before. But like the small hunting lodge of
Wolfsbrunnen 24 in the vicinity of Heidelberg
Castle, another hunting ground, Schwetzingen
was not required to provide the luxuries of
a residence; the “simple life” was considered
21 Otto Heinrich, b. 10th April 1502 in Neuburg, elder son of
Count Palatine Ruprecht “der Tugendhafte” (the Virtuous)
and Elisabeth von Bayern-Landshut; d. without issue on 12th
February 1559 in Heidelberg. Count Palatine of Pfalz-Neuburg
1505-1559, Elector Palatine 1556-1559.
22 Elector Friedrich V (1596-1632), in 1613 married the daughter
of the King of England, Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), both
aged sixteen at the time; elected King of Bohemia in 1619. He
initiated the magnificent rebuilding of Heidelberg Castle and
the laying out of the Hortus Palatinus.
23 Martin 1933, p. 7, note 1.
24 „Jagdgelage am Wolfsbrunnen”, copperplate engraving by
Matthäus Merian the Elder., Kurpfälzisches Museum,
Heidelberg, inventory no. S. 2278.
adequate. If Friedrich and Elizabeth had
wished for display at Schwetzingen, they
would not have hesitated to convert the estate
accordingly.
His quest for importance and political power
led Friedrich to make a bid for the crown
of Bohemia in 1619; he was crowned on
4th November 1619, at St. Vitus Cathedral
in Prague. 25 The Prague Defenestration of
1618 sparked the Thirty Years’ War, bringing
peace at Schwetzingen to an end. In 1621,
Tilly’s troops marched through the Palatinate,
pillaging and burning as they went, and
the old hunting lodge was not spared. 26 The
documents record an amount of damage,
although the building was evidently still
habitable – in 1633, Swedish troops moved
in to use it as an outpost against Heidelberg.
Two years later the history of the Renaissance
castle came to an abrupt end. Imperial troops
led by General Gallas, Count of Campo and
Duke of Lucca, wreaked enough havoc to
render the buildings uninhabitable for years
to come. 27
25 Rosalind K. Marshall, “Elizabeth Stuart – die Winterkönigin”,
in: Der Winterkönig – Friedrich von der Pfalz, exhibition
catalogue Augsburg 2003, Stuttgart 2003, p. 40.
26 Sillib 1907, p. 4.
27 Kayser, Schauplatz der Stadt Heidelberg, 1733, pp. 351, 364,
400.