DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16633#0061
42
History of Garden Art
side, to which the two steep stairways lead, has insignificant parterre beds, and above lies
the long narrow tennis path, which is cut off on the mountain side by a great alcove, still
to be seen, crowned with the portrait of Frederick V. A similar construction should mark
the end at the other side also. The intention of the architect was to carry on this road
FIG. 386. HEIDELBERG CASTLE—THE WATER PARTERRE
at right angles as far as the end of the great terrace. Opposite the entrance to the castle,
on an ascending terrace, more large grottoes were planned, wonderfully decorated on
the facades, and with fountains and statues inside, but this part was never quite finished.
The great terrace also, which stands opposite the castle on powerful arches above the
Friesenthal, has only in part kept its early form.
At first the famous old orange-trees had been brought out of the garden up the
mountain side with incredible pains and difficulty, and had been replanted in a long
narrow garden—a thing that rightly caused universal admiration. De Caus wanted to
replace the wooden winter-house with a stone one, whose roof and window could be
taken out in summer, so that the supports might act as a broken wall. Above this garden,
which was 280 feet in length, a labyrinth was to have been put, as a crown to the garden
and also a protection, but it was never finished. Behind lay the medicinal garden, in a pretty
part with pavilions at the corners, and lastly was to come a great square tower, with near
it a small room cut out of the hedge; the tower also was never made, except its foundations.
In the corner of this large middle terrace there was a three-sided stairway on a large scale,
but very clumsy, leading to the lowest of the gardens, which, as it was so small, was
treated as one whole. On both sides of the large basin adorned with figures which stood
in the centre, there were beds held together in fours by a statue, while steps in sets of two,
at the front dividing wall and with a slight edging of fountain-work, led to the higher
terrace. All this must have made a separate garden, pretty and characteristic.
It is curious that de Caus says nothing in his description about the special piece in
front of the new building which he made for his young mistress Elizabeth, and yet this
garden on the level on the terrace next to the town was no doubt actually laid out. The
decorative entrance-gate, which still stands, shows the same type of architecture that
de Caus proposed for his stone orangery. There is an inscription which says that the
Count Palatine erected this gate in honour of his wife. It was let into a wall, which had at
its other end an aviary against the wall of the terrace. There is no picture giving the
interior divisions of this garden, which was united by bridges with the new part of the
castle. It was remade after the ravages of the Thirty Years' War, and little alterations were
made here and there, before it came utterly to grief, castle buildings and all. At last in
1805 a terrace garden was laid out in the English style in a most unfortunate attempt to
accommodate the picturesque grouping of shrubs and trees to the mighty terrace skeleton.
History of Garden Art
side, to which the two steep stairways lead, has insignificant parterre beds, and above lies
the long narrow tennis path, which is cut off on the mountain side by a great alcove, still
to be seen, crowned with the portrait of Frederick V. A similar construction should mark
the end at the other side also. The intention of the architect was to carry on this road
FIG. 386. HEIDELBERG CASTLE—THE WATER PARTERRE
at right angles as far as the end of the great terrace. Opposite the entrance to the castle,
on an ascending terrace, more large grottoes were planned, wonderfully decorated on
the facades, and with fountains and statues inside, but this part was never quite finished.
The great terrace also, which stands opposite the castle on powerful arches above the
Friesenthal, has only in part kept its early form.
At first the famous old orange-trees had been brought out of the garden up the
mountain side with incredible pains and difficulty, and had been replanted in a long
narrow garden—a thing that rightly caused universal admiration. De Caus wanted to
replace the wooden winter-house with a stone one, whose roof and window could be
taken out in summer, so that the supports might act as a broken wall. Above this garden,
which was 280 feet in length, a labyrinth was to have been put, as a crown to the garden
and also a protection, but it was never finished. Behind lay the medicinal garden, in a pretty
part with pavilions at the corners, and lastly was to come a great square tower, with near
it a small room cut out of the hedge; the tower also was never made, except its foundations.
In the corner of this large middle terrace there was a three-sided stairway on a large scale,
but very clumsy, leading to the lowest of the gardens, which, as it was so small, was
treated as one whole. On both sides of the large basin adorned with figures which stood
in the centre, there were beds held together in fours by a statue, while steps in sets of two,
at the front dividing wall and with a slight edging of fountain-work, led to the higher
terrace. All this must have made a separate garden, pretty and characteristic.
It is curious that de Caus says nothing in his description about the special piece in
front of the new building which he made for his young mistress Elizabeth, and yet this
garden on the level on the terrace next to the town was no doubt actually laid out. The
decorative entrance-gate, which still stands, shows the same type of architecture that
de Caus proposed for his stone orangery. There is an inscription which says that the
Count Palatine erected this gate in honour of his wife. It was let into a wall, which had at
its other end an aviary against the wall of the terrace. There is no picture giving the
interior divisions of this garden, which was united by bridges with the new part of the
castle. It was remade after the ravages of the Thirty Years' War, and little alterations were
made here and there, before it came utterly to grief, castle buildings and all. At last in
1805 a terrace garden was laid out in the English style in a most unfortunate attempt to
accommodate the picturesque grouping of shrubs and trees to the mighty terrace skeleton.