Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

III.
Fig. 3: View through the
entrance pavilion and courtyard
towards the main building
(Photo: Förderer).
Fig. 4: William Chambers,
view of the mosque at Kew,
1763 (Plans, elevations, and perspective
views of the gardens
and buildings at Kew in Surrey,
London 1763).
44
III. Architectural Features
and description by Fischer von Erlach is
striking. Pigage’s layout has two gatehouses
modeled on the corner pavilions at Mecca,
and four domed pavilions to accentuate the
corners of his own cloister. The assumption
that Pigage used Fischer von Erlach’s book
as a model is thus not too far-fetched. The
entry under “Q” in Fischer von Erlach’s
captions for the covered walk depicted reads:
“Many of the domes are lit with thousands
of lamps like a cloister.” 10 And in fact the
covered walk at Schwetzingen is described
in the building documents as a cloître or
cloister. Even today, numerous hooks and
devices for the fitting of lanterns can be seen.
Without referring to Fischer von Erlach’s
depiction of Mecca specifically, Heber, too,
assumes that at Schwetzingen Pigage had
used his architect’s imagination to create
a “historical architecture” in keeping with
Fischer von Erlach’s ideas. 11 It is thus not
surprising that this part of the garden should
have been described as a “Mecca” in Cay
Lorenz Hirschfeld’s Theorie der Gartenkunst
published in 1785: “Consider, for example,
the scene known as Mecca, consisting of a
number of Turkish buildings connected by
walks or arcades. These are so narrow that
just two people can walk side by side.” 12
Apparently he used what had become the
popular name for that area. There is another
indication that the courtyard was intended as
an imitation of the holy sites of Mecca. The
Palatine court calendar of 1799, explicitly
connects the courtyard of the mosque and the
tombs of prophets: “entourés d’une arcade,
aux environs de laquelle on observe les
oratoires et les logements des prêtres turcs”. 13
Without being an exact imitation of the
Prophet’s tomb ,the courtyard was apparently
meant to be associated with Mecca.
Planning for this area had started in 1773,
long before any mosque building had been
designed; it is unclear whether a mosque was
even planned at that time. Quite possibly the
area was designed independently and with a
significance of its own.
There are more indications that this was the
case. Pigage did not integrate the mosque
with the cloister but instead kept the two
separate. The mosque’s front and main
gate face west, away from the cloister. 14 The
10 Keller 1978, p. 91.
11 Heber 1986, p. 653.
12 Hans Foramitti (ed.), Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld: Theorie
der Gartenkunst, vol. 5, Leipzig 1785, reprint, Hildesheim 1973,
p. 344.
13 Quoted after Kurt Martin, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Amtsbezirkes
Mannheim. Stadt Schwetzingen, Karlsruhe 1933, p. 298.
14 The reasons were not aesthetic as Martin Gaier believes. Gaier
2002, p. 52.