Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

probably found in the available ground plans
and depictions of mosques on the one hand,
in European buildings inspired by Oriental
models, on the other.
The ground plan of the Schwetzingen
mosque is strikingly reminiscent of European
churches, especially of Fischer von Erlach’s
grand Karlskirche in Vienna. 26 There are the
church’s two equal-sized vestries, turned into
“cabinets” in the mosque; there are the four
niches in the main hall, and the front portico
with its four closely spaced columns and
the architrave that rounds the corners. 27 An
interesting feature is the placing of the two
monumental columns within the church front.
Sedlmayr has pointed out that in placing the
columns in front of the church, Fischer von
Erlach reflected the positioning of minarets
in front of mosques, a feature he knew very
well, having published numerous examples
in his great folio work. 28 In positioning his
minarets in front of the mosque, Pigage draws
on Fischer von Erlach once more – although
the massive columns have become slender
minarets again, more reminiscent of Fischer’s
depictions of the Sultan Suleiman or Sultan
Ahmed mosques, than the Karlskirche.
The gable points, on the other hand, are
probably derived from those decorating the
entrance of the Sultan Ahmed mosque, again
in a depiction by Fischer von Erlach. 29
It is safe to state therefore, that the design
of the mosque itself and the cloister was
influenced as much by Fischer von Erlach
as it was by Chambers, whose contribution
has been stressed much more frequently by
researchers.
26 For the Karlskirche ground plan cp. Keller 1978, p. 116. A
connection with the Karlskirche is established in Reisinger.
Reisinger 1987, p. 65.
27 Gaier sees more of a connection with Chambers’ Alhambra,
which is not unlikely given the pointed leaf ornaments. Gaier
2002, p. 55.
28 Hans Sedlmayr, “Die Schauseite der Karlskirche in Wien”, in:
Epochen und Werke, vol. II, Wien 1960, p. 117. The opinion is
shared by Heber. Heber 1986, p. 617.
29 Keller 1987, p. 86.
III. Architectural Features
The Historico-Cultural Context
The Schwetzingen mosque was never used
as a pheasant house 30 or as an exotic garden
house for the pursuit of amorous adventures 31
– even though other garden mosques were.
Those buildings, however, while imitating the
outer appearance of a mosque, retained the
characteristics of a Rococo turquerie – exoticlooking
structures serving as stage sets or
curiosities in gardens, frivolities dressed up as
sacral buildings. Garden architecture usually
having a purpose, decorative or otherwise,
the Schwetzingen buildings appear to have
baffled contemporary visitors. On 14th July
1780, the author Wilhelm Heinse wrote
to Friedrich Jacobi concerning the cloister,
work on which had just begun: “The Turkish
building they are working on seems silly to
me; I can see neither a point nor a use.” 32 The
30 For example Hohenheim. Berger-Fix/Merten 1981, p. 78.
31 The Steinfurt mosque of Prince Ludwig von Bentheim, built
1783.
32 Wilhelm Körte (ed.), Briefe zwischen Gleim, Wilhelm Heinse
und Johann von Müller. Aus Gleims literarischem Nachlasse, 2
vols., Zürich 1806, vol. 1, p. 418.
III.
Fig. 8: Hohenheim mosque.
Drawing by David Dillenius,
1780.
Fig. 9: Hohenheim mosque.
Drawing by David Dillenius,
1780 (From: Martin 1933, p.
292).
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