TheHortus Palatinus, or Garden of the Palatinate, was aBaroque garden attached toHeidelberg Castle, Germany. The garden was commissioned byFrederick V, Elector Palatine in 1614 for his new wife,Elizabeth Stuart, and became famous across Europe during the 17th century for thelandscaping andhorticultural techniques involved in its design. At the time it was known as the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', and has since been termed 'Germany's greatest Renaissance garden.'
TheHortus Palatinus was commissioned byFrederick V, the ruler of thePalatinate, a leading member of theHoly Roman Empire and the head of theProtestant Union, with a martial family tradition stretching back several centuries.[1] Frederick had spent the winter of 1612 in England, where he marriedElizabeth Stuart, the daughter of KingJames I. Although the match had a political purpose – effectively uniting theProtestant lines of England, the Palatinate, the DutchHouse of Orange-Nassau and Denmark – the two were genuinely in love, and remained a romantic couple throughout the course of their marriage.[2] Frederick returned toHeidelberg, his capital, ahead of his bride and set about transforming hiscastle, creating an 'English wing' for her, amonkey-house, amenagerie – and the beginnings of a new garden in theItalian Renaissance style popular in England at the time.[3]
Frederick had met the English designerInigo Jones and the French engineerSalomon de Caus at King James' court. De Caus had been involved in constructing aBaroque garden for the Prince of Wales,Prince Henry atRichmond Palace, but this project had been halted following the prince's death in 1612.[4] De Caus was also a favourite of Elizabeth Stuart's, having been her tutor before her marriage.[5] From July 1614 onwards de Caus began work in Heidelberg on a new set of gardens.[6] Some writers suspect that de Caus transferred many of his potential ideas from the Richmond project to Heidelberg, applying them on a larger scale.[7]
One major challenge that the engineers faced was the uneven ground – the steep, mountainous terrain around the castle had to be flattened and levelled up into a huge multi-leveledterrace.[8] The result – a large 'L' shape around the castle – was then furnished between 1614 and 1619 with statues,grottos, plants, flowers and tall trees, surrounded in turn by the Heidelberg forest.[9] The lay-out of the various exotic plants, many from the then recently discoveredtropics, reflects their geographical origins and religious connotations.[10] De Caus was also particularly proud of theorange tree grove he created, populated with thirty sixty-year-old orange trees specially transferred using his own methods, a significant horticultural accomplishment during the period.[11] Other dramatic features included a waterorgan in imitation of the Roman writerVitruvius' design,[12]clockwork-driven musicalautomata birds who sang as nightingales and cuckoos,[13] mazes[14] and a recreation of the legendary animated statue of Memnon.[15] The result was a hugely impressive Baroque[16] garden in the Italian Renaissance style, dubbed by contemporaries the 'Eighth Wonder of the World'.[17]
The elaborate and ornateHortus Palatinus have been interpreted in various ways. The dominant modern interpretation of theHortus Palatinus is that is a 'magic' or 'hermetic' garden.[18] In this model, drawing on de Caus's allegedmysticalRosicrucian background, the complex gardens become an allegory of Rosicrucian thought, a 'botanicalcosmos',[19] containing a coded secret deep in their design.[20] In this interpretation, the gardens are intended to capture 'a universal vision, based on a union of the arts, science and religion', combined with 'an ancient tradition of secret wisdom handed down over the ages'.[21]
Another popular modern interpretation believes that the gardens were designed consciously to communicate a powerful, symbolic political message.[22] Frederick V had political ambitions beyond the Palatinate; as the head of theProtestant Union and the seniorelector within theHoly Roman Empire he had hopes for wider hegemony across Germany.[23] In 1619 Frederick would challenge EmperorFerdinand II for control ofBohemia. Frederick's gardens accordingly symbolised a hugely powerful ruler, mimicking the Roman emperors;[24] theiconography stresses the role of Frederick as a powerful ruler driving the creation of the gardens, 'toppling the peaks of the mountains' and dominating nature as he restructures the world around him.[25] Even the water in the garden, shown in the statues to be commanded byNeptune, is in turn surmounted by images of Frederick commanding Neptune himself.[26]
An alternative interpretation of the gardens argues that – although made in the English style – de Caus designed them with the broad European lateRenaissance style firmly in mind, drawing on his experiences of north Italian, and particularly Tuscan gardens.[27] In this minority interpretation, the political symbols and metaphors of the garden are of less importance than the underlyingtopoi of similar looking gardens across Europe – de Caus was building a garden emulating – and trying to exceed in size and scope – other popular gardens of the day.[28]
By 1619, theHortus Palatinate had become 'Germany's greatest Renaissance garden',[29] although it was still not fully completed. 1619, however, saw Frederick V's war with EmperorFerdinand II over theKingdom of Bohemia; soundly defeated at theBattle of White Mountain, Frederick and Elizabeth were forced to flee the empire for a life in exile inthe Hague. TheHortus Palatinate project was halted indefinitely,[30] with de Caus leaving forParis.
Heidelberg and the gardens suffered badly during the ensuingThirty Years War; the ornate gardens were used as an artillery base for attacking the city.[31] By the time that Frederick's sonCharles Louis was returned to the lower Palatinate in 1648, the principality was in dire economic straits – pleasure gardens were a low priority for the new ruler.[32] TheHortus Palatinate became ruins and today these are considered a popular, romantic tourist attraction.[33] The gardens, as represented in de Caus' original designs, were recreated digitally at the European Media Laboratory in Heidelberg in 2003.[34]
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