Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

and humour as the European one, and added
maxims taken from the collections published
by Erpenius and Golius. 25 He is also the
translator of the edition of the Arabian Nights,
which appeared in twelve volumes in 1704-17;
translations into German and English soon
followed, and in this way a wider audience
came to regard the East as a world of colourful
adventure and vivid imagination.
Among scholars and educated amateurs
interested in the Orient, the realization had
spread, that the intellectual achievements of the
Eastern civilizations would have to be valued
just as highly as the European heritage, if only
they were known and understood. The age of
Enlightenment freed language and cultural
studies from their theological trappings, and
postulated an unbiased approach to foreign
civilizations and their cultural manifestations. 26
The Significance of the Inscriptions as Part
of the Mosque
The unusual combination of architectural
styles in the mosque has drawn much
comment. 27 The portico is reminiscent of a
temple, the dome of a Baroque church, the
inscriptions and minarets of a mosque. 28
25 Cp. Fück 1955, p. 101. The first edition of d‘Herbelots book,
a 1060-page volume, was published in Paris in 1697, under
the title Bibliothèque orientale, ou dictionaire universel
contenant généralement tout ce qui regarde la connoissance
des Peuples de l’Orient, Leurs Histoires et Traditions véritables
ou fabuleuses... It was extended in 1776 and 1780. 1785-1790 a
four-volume German translation by J. CH. F. Schulz appeared in
Halle, with useful additions by Reiske and others.
26 For all that, it must be remembered that for a long time
afterwards, the image of the Orient was shaped more by
European tastes and preconceived ideas about culture than
actual contacts. Cp. Karl Ulrich Syndram, “Der erfundene
Orient in der europäischen Literatur vom 18. bis zum Beginn
des 20. Jahrhunderts”, in: G. Sievernich/H. Budde, Europa und
der Orient 800-1900, Berlin 1989, pp. 324-342.
On the other hand, German versions of the Koran were around
as early as the 17th century, even if the earliest of them were
translations of translations: Schweigger 1616, 1623, 1659; Lange
1688; Nerreter 1703; Arnold 1746; Megerlin 1772; Boysen
1773, 1775; Wahl 1823. Similarly in other European languages,
e.g. French: Du Ryer 1647, 1775; Savary 1751; English: Ross
1649, 1688, 1719; Sale 1734 et al.; Dutch: Glazemaker 1658,
1721, 1734 &c.
27 According to Stefan Koppelkamm, Exotische Architekturen im
18. und 19. Jahrhundert, p. 38, Baroque and Chinese elements
have been combined with ideas that made up the image of a
“mosque”. The tent-shaped roofs of the “priests’ cabinets” might
as well belong to a Chinese garden house.
28 The minarets were designed to evoke the towers of the
Karlskirche at Vienna, built after the victory over the Turks and
in turn reminiscent of Trajan’s Column in Rome. Cp. Fuchs/
Reisinger 2001, p. 171. They may also evoke the columns of
Jakin und Boas in front of the Temple of Solomon in Masonic
imagery. Cp. Béresniak 1998, pp. 61-62.
III. Architectural Features
The “pattern” of a mosque, however, is the
Ottoman domed building with at least one,
frequently two or even four minarets. The
minaret is considered the belltower of the
Orient, the most obvious symbol of the
building’s sacral dedication. For the very
reason that the minaret is considered such an
unmistakable symbol of Islam, its building
in non-Islamic parts is often met with fierce
opposition – much more than the building
of a mosque without minarets. However,
the number of minarets is not fixed; strictly
speaking they are not even necessary. The
minimal requirements of an Islamic place
of worship are minimal indeed – the only
indispensable elements are cleanliness
and proper orientation for prayer. The
Schwetzingen mosque, however, lacks a
clearly identified mihrâb niche indicating the
direction of Mecca. This is usually situated
opposite the main entrance so that the room
is properly oriented, even when the mihrâb is
not specifically identified by architectural or
other means. In the Schwetzingen mosque,
what is opposite the main entrance is the
passage leading to the courtyard and cloister.
There are no ablution facilities either,
Fig. 4: Mosque interior
(Photo: Förderer).
III.
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