Hermitage (Arlesheim)

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Hermitage in Arlesheim
Hermitage

The Hermitage (official spelling: Ermitage ) in Arlesheim is the largest English landscape garden in Switzerland with an area of ​​around forty hectares .

history

Ermitage Arlesheim, panorama of the Gessner grotto and hermitage. In 1789 the figure of the hermit, who was formerly in today's Gessner grotto, is moved to its current domicile
Gessner grotto and hermitage
When the Hermitage opened in 1785 and then again from 1812 to around 1860, boats drove on the pond. The visitors were rowed across the pond by servants. The name lac de Tempé disappeared, the ponds were now called trout ponds (rear pond), carp pond (middle pond) and pike pond (lower pond).
Rear trout pond
Ermitage Arlesheim, Karusellplatz, At this prehistorically interesting place, where finds that are 17,000 years old have been discovered, a playground with a wooden carousel and various ball, ring and skill games was created. The inscription in the rock commemorates the owners Achilles Alioth and his wife Lucie Alioth-Frank (between 1871 and 1889)
Carousel area, and prehistoric cave
Ermitage Arlesheim, The mill was built in 1780, so it already existed before the garden was opened. However, it only became part of the Hermitage in 1814. The gardener's house, acquired in 1814 by Conrad von Andlau, which was then used as the gardener's apartment.
Mill and gardener's house
The middle pond used to be called “Lac du Tempé”, a name that refers to the Greek Tempé valley between Olympus and the Ossa mountains, an extraordinarily beautiful cut that played an important role in the Apollo cult. In the past, visitors could cross it by boat
Middle pond

The park was built on the initiative of Balbina von Andlau-Staal and her cousin, Canon Heinrich von Ligerz, and opened in 1785. Similarities with the Sanspareil landscape garden near Bayreuth are unmistakable.

The Hermitage became one of the main attractions for travelers from all over Europe who stopped here on their way to or from Basel . The visitors appreciated the beautiful nature with the rocky cliffs, caves and ponds. The oldest Neolithic burial in Switzerland was excavated in one of the caves . Numerous prominent names in the surviving guest books from the 18th and the first third of the 19th century attest to the fame and popularity of the garden.

There was, among other things, an artificial waterfall , a hermit cave, a Diana grotto, an artificial tower ruin (the Temple de l'amour ), an Apollo grotto, a suspension bridge and the Proserpina grotto , which was the main attraction of the garden. Here you could stroll around and discover an altar, monsters, dragons and even a crocodile in the cleverly lit corridors. The center of the garden was the Chalet des Alpes in 1787 , a real alpine hut, the hall of which was used for concerts, dancing and banquets.

At the end of 1792, the rural people, revolting against the aristocratic authorities and encouraged by the French Revolution , set parts of the Hermitage on fire. French troops marched into the Principality of Basel and almost completely destroyed the rest of the Hermitage in 1793. Balbina von Andlau-Staal went to Freiburg / Br. into exile and died there on November 15, 1798.

Heinrich von Ligerz returned from exile in 1812 and helped Balbina's son Conrad von Andlau to rebuild the Hermitage.

What can still be seen today dates from around 1812. However, blind destructiveness has irrevocably destroyed a lot since then. The tree population has recently been thinned out at great expense in order to restore the impression of the old gardens (although it is more presumed than has been properly documented in terms of art history). The two lower ponds were also renovated and the gardener's house and the forest house renovated. Further restoration work, including in the grottoes, and the future maintenance and use of the Hermitage is discussed.

The Hermitage is also of great importance in Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy , who had the Goetheanum built in nearby Dornach . In esoteric circles the Hermitage is considered a place of power with earth rays .

In September 1999 the Hermitage was added to the inventory of protected natural objects in the canton of Basel-Landschaft .

literature

  • Brigitte Frei-Heitz, Anne Nagel: Landscape gardens of the 19th century in Basel and the surrounding area = garden paths in Switzerland 1. Hier + Jetzt, Baden 2012. ISBN 978-3-03919-240-3 , pp. 22-29.
  • Hans-Rudolf Heyer: The Hermitage in Arlesheim. A walk and thought process. (Swiss art guide. No. 672, series 68). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History (GSK), Bern 2000. ISBN 978-3-85782-672-6
  • Vanja Hug: The Hermitage in Arlesheim. An English-Chinese landscape garden of the Late Enlightenment = Green Row. Sources and research on garden art 27. 2 volumes. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , Worms 2008, ISBN 978-3-88462-270-4 .
  • Erich Plattner: The Ermitage caves near Arlesheim. History, geology, archeology. Speleo Projects, 2014. ISBN 978-3-908495-22-2

Web links

Commons : Hermitage Arlesheim  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Official map of Arlesheim
  2. ↑ Switzerland: Ermitage Arlesheim. Retrieved October 19, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Switzerland from the Paleolithic to the Early Middle Ages. Swiss Society for Prehistory and Early History, Basel 1995, ISBN 3-908006-51-1 , p. 232.

Coordinates: 47 ° 29 '24.2 "  N , 7 ° 37' 46.6"  E ; CH1903:  614 394  /  259938