Tiled wall (Wilhelma)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 48 ° 48 ′ 22.65 "  N , 9 ° 12 ′ 22.58"  E

Tile star in the inner walkway of Wilhelma

The walkway in the Moorish Garden in the Stuttgart Wilhelma is adorned by a tiled wall with large-format mauresque tiled stars that were made and installed according to the designs of the Stuttgart architect Karl Ludwig von Zanth 1847–1848.

Brief description

Work title Tiled wall
Artist Karl Ludwig von Zanth
Art Tiles
motive geometric and plant ornaments
material Ceramics
Dimensions 74 panels over a length of approx. 200 m
Year of origin 1847-1848
Location Stuttgart, Wilhelma, inner Moorish garden

Dimensions

Number of panels 74
Width of a panel straight corridor: 2.12 m or 1.90 m, arched corridor: 1.79 m
clear height of the walkway 2.84 m
Width of the walkway 2.90 m
Height of the base 0.76 m
Diameter of a tile star 0.72 m

Location

Wilhelma plan from 1855

The historic Wilhelma, as it was planned and built in the first half of the 19th century, lies on an approximately rectangular area that extends from the Neckar in the southeast to the Belvedere (B) in the west. On the two long sides, the area is bounded by Pragstrasse in the northeast and the greenhouse corridor (GG) in the southwest, which connects the main entrance (HE) with the inner walkway (red line) in the Moorish Garden.

A diagonal of the rectangle forms the almost west-east aligned longitudinal axis, which extends from the Belvedere (B) to the Damascus Hall (DH). The inner Moorish garden is located in the north-south oriented transverse axis between the Moorish country house (ML) and the former Moorish ballroom (MF). It is bounded by the Moorish country house (ML) with its two greenhouse wings and the adjoining arcades that merge into the oval, hippodrome-shaped inner arcade.

The arcades, which are now open on both sides and are only partially covered, extend from the corner pavilions of the greenhouse wings ( 10/11) through a small corner kiosk (8/9), bend at right angles and lead into the southern and northern pavilions (SP / NP), the two endpoints of the inner walkway.

Red line = inner gallery with the tiled wall , B = Belvedere, DH = Damaszenerhalle, GB = large basin (water lily pond), GG = greenhouse corridor , HE = main entrance, HS = half moon lake, LS = long lake, MF = Moorish ballroom (today aquarium Terrarium), ML = Moorish country house, NP = northern pavilion, SP = southern pavilion, TW = outer walkway with terracotta wall, WG = winter garden, WT = Wilhelma theater

1 = main pavilion of the inner walkway, 2/3 = side pavilions, axially to the corner pavilions of the greenhouse wings, 4/5 = side pavilions, axially to the pavilions SP and NP, 6/7 = arched pavilions, 8/9 = corner kiosks of the arcades, 10 / 11 = corner pavilions of the greenhouse wings

Walkway

  • View of two tile star panels in the south wing

  • View into the straight part of the south wing with tiled stars, blind windows and blind door

  • View into the southern archway with tiled stars

  • View of the back of the north archway with side pavilion (5)

There are two walkways in Wilhelma: the inner walkway with the tiled wall, which is treated here, and the outer walkway with the terracotta wall that delimits the Wilhelma on the Neckar side. The covered walkway, open to the inner Moorish garden, begins with the main pavilion (1). Before it was destroyed in the Second World War, behind it stood the Moorish Festsaal (MF), of which only the rear portal zone has been preserved and in its place the aquarium-terrarium with its hexagonal central structure was built in 1963. This is where the two wings of the walkway exit: the south wing between pavilion (1), (2), (4), (6) and (SP) and the north wing between pavilion (1), (3), (5) , (7) and (NP).

This view of Wilhelma by Ludwig von Zanth from 1855 shows the Moorish Festsaal (MF) in the center in front and the gallery on both sides with the greenhouses in the straight part of the corridor.

At first they run in a straight line and then enclose the inner Moorish Garden in a semicircular arc. The straight part of the corridors is interrupted twice by identical side pavilions, which are opposite the corner pavilions of the greenhouse wings (10/11) and opposite the southern and northern pavilions (SP / NP) and used to serve as passageways between the outer and inner garden. Greenhouses were originally built behind the back wall of the straight corridors, but they were destroyed in the Second World War. The side wings of the aquarium-terrarium now extend in their place.

In the middle of the two arches there are two identical side pavilions: the southern one (6), which is in front of the former kitchen building, and the northern one (7) with a passage towards Pragstrasse. The southern archway is interrupted at two other places: between pavilions (4) and (6) by the transition to the greenhouse corridor (GG) and between pavilion (6) and the southern pavilion (SP) by a toilet wing .

The almost three-meter-high and wide inner walkway is basically constructed in the same way, with the exception of the interrupted places. The gently sloping gable roof is supported on the open front of the corridor by cast-iron columns and on the rear side by a wall with dark and light red glazed tiles . The rectangular panels made of light red bricks, with a tiled star in their center (except in the northern archway), are framed by dark red bricks, horizontally by a knee-high plinth zone and a narrow ceiling zone and vertically by narrow, pilaster-like ribbons. In the area of ​​the straight corridors, the panels with windows and doors alternate, while the panels in the southern arcade, except for the interrupted areas, follow one another continuously. The windows and doors are bricked up today. Originally, they allowed a view or passage to the greenhouses behind the straight part of the walkway.

Tiled wall

74 panels of the gallery carry a large-format tiled star with a diameter of 72 cm in their center. The tiled stars are missing in the northern archway because they were left out during the restoration. The tile stars imitate, on a larger scale, the star tiles popular in oriental art. The star shape of an eight-pointed star tile or an eight-pointed star tile is created by placing two squares on top of each other rotated by 45 °.

from left to right: Scheme drawing of a tiled star, tiled star type 1–5

Within this basic shape, Zanth created five types of tile stars, which are numbered here from 1 to 5 (see details ). Starting at the main pavilion (1), the tiled stars spread to the left (north wing) and to the right (south wing) in the order of the type number:

... 2-1-5-4-3-2-1-main pavilion-1-2-3-4-5-1-2 ...

The tile stars are rotationally symmetrical , which means that two identical stars can be brought into congruence again after rotating through a certain angle. Types 1 and 2 are rotationally symmetrical in four directions, ie they are congruent after a rotation of 90 ° and you need 4 rotations for a full circle rotation. Types 3, 4 and 5 are 8-way rotationally symmetrical with a rotation angle of 45 °.

Zanth, Karl Ludwig von, ceramic tile samples, type 1, Wilhelma.jpg
Paw cross
The four-part rotationally symmetrical tile stars of type 1 " paw cross" consist of a red and a blue paw cross , which are slightly rotated against each other and whose ends are pointed.
The stars are composed of three motifs: the octagonal central medallion with an eight-pointed leaf rosette and dragon squares with a yellow arabesque, four each on a red and blue background.
The octagon and the dragon squares are framed by black bands with red and yellow dots.
Zanth, Karl Ludwig von, ceramic tile pattern, type 2, Wilhelma.jpg
Arrow cross
The tile stars of type 2 "arrow cross" are like type 1 4-way and consist of two identical arrow crosses that are slightly rotated against each other.
The stars are composed of three motifs: the diamond-shaped central medallion with a rotationally symmetrical arabesque, eight identical arrow shapes with an inner arabesque and four identical, yellow angular surfaces that fill the space between the medallion and arrow shapes.
All surfaces are framed by bands, which consist of square and hexagons lined up. These are outlined in black and have one or two red squares on a yellow background. The ribbons form an artful wickerwork by crossing one another, a popular stylistic device of Moorish ornamentation.
Zanth, Karl Ludwig von, ceramic tile samples, type 3, Wilhelma.jpg
The 8-fold rotationally symmetrical tile stars of type 3 "double star" imitate the outer star shape through a smaller inner star of the same shape.
The double stars are composed of three motifs: the central round medallion with a rosette, eight pairs of axially symmetrical , irregular hexagons with a green arabesque on a yellow background and eight identical arrow shapes with a blue arabesque on a white background. The medallion rosette consists of a blue inner rosette, which encloses a wreath with eight blue and yellow, oppositely alternating lotus blossoms. A red-framed, circular ribbon with blue dots on a yellow background is looped around the medallion. The ribbon forms round knots that end in a lotus blossom and nestle in the eight prongs of the inner star.
The hexagons and arrow shapes are framed by black ribbons with red-yellow dots, which form an artistic wickerwork with one another.
Zanth, Karl Ludwig von, ceramic tile samples, type 4, Wilhelma.jpg
The tiled stars of type 4 “spoke wheel” are 8-way like type 3 and resemble a spoke wheel (with the medallion as a hub and the eight ribbons radiating from it as spokes).
The stars are made up of three motifs: the central round medallion with a 16-pointed rosette of leaves, eight pairs of axially symmetrical, pointed diamonds with a blue-red arabesque on a yellow background and eight identical squares with an 8-pointed, white-framed lotus flower rosette on a red background.
Medallions, diamonds and squares are framed by ribbons, which consist of squares lined up. These are outlined in black and covered with a red square on a yellow background.
Zanth, Karl Ludwig von, ceramic tile samples, type 5, Wilhelma.jpg
The 8-fold rotationally symmetrical tile stars of type 5 "rose window" resemble the rose window Romanesque or Gothic domes.
The stars are made up of five motifs. Eight arrow shapes with two alternating arabesques in light blue, red and yellow on a white background radiate from the central round medallion with a 16-rayed flower . The gussets between the arrow shapes fill eight pairs of axially symmetrical, irregular octagons with a red-green, bouquet-like arabesque on a yellow background. The eight points of the star are set with red and yellow, light blue framed palmettes on a white background.
All partial areas are framed by black bands with red and yellow dots, which form an artistic wickerwork with one another.

history

King Wilhelm I commissioned Zanth to build the walkway in 1843, but the repeatedly changed plans were not approved until 1846. Construction began in 1847 and was finally completed in the revolutionary year of 1848 . Nothing is known about the planning and execution of the tile stars.

After the destruction of World War II, the walkway was restored in 1987. The restoration of the tile stars was carried out by the company Villeroy & Boch .

iconography

Like many other applications in the Zanthschen Wilhelma buildings, the tile stars are part of the Moorish staffage of the "Swabian Alhambra ". Tiles are a popular ornament in Moorish architecture, and so it is no wonder that Zanth decided to use ceramic tiles to decorate the inner gallery, just as he had already chosen terracotta tiles for the outer gallery .

Zanth chose the star motif popular in Moorish ornamentation as the basic form of his walkway decorations, which was also particularly reflected in star tiles. However, he enlarged the format of these star tiles into tile mosaics, which are composed of a large number of individual tiles.

Zanth did not make use of any oriental models, rather he composed the stars from ornaments according to his own design, which he adopted from the common occidental and Moorish treasure trove of forms. This is particularly true of the frequently used arabesque stylized lotus blossoms and palmettes . The individual motifs of the stars are framed with partly artistically interwoven ribbons, which are reminiscent of Moorish wickerwork. He also used the Moorish basic colors blue, red and yellow when coloring the tiles.

literature

The following references only deal with the inner walkway without dealing with the tiled stars. "Ceramic ornaments" are only mentioned in Herzog 1990.

  • Herbert Fecker: Stuttgart, the palaces and their gardens. The development of palaces and gardens from the count's residence to the international horticultural exhibition. Stuttgart 1992, especially pages 93-101, 159-169.
  • Oskar Gerhardt: The Wilhelma . In: Stuttgart's gem. The history of the castle garden, Rosenstein and Wilhelma. An entertaining chat based on extensive official source material , Stuttgart [approx. 1936], pp. 76-103.
  • Rainer Herzog: Wilhelma Stuttgart. Documentation of the historical and creative development of the Wilhelma gardens , Stuttgart 1990, especially pages 29–65 (Inner Moorish Garden), 43–44 (Inner walkway).
  • Susanne Smile: South Pavilion and Walkway in the Moorish Garden (1987) . In: Ministry of Finance Baden-Württemberg: The Wilhelma. Your structural development until 1996 , [Stuttgart] 1996, page 46.
  • Christian Friedrich von Leins: The court camps and country seats of the Württemberg regent house. Stuttgart [approx. 1889], especially pages 85–86.
  • Frank Scholze: Karl Ludwig Wilhelm von Zanth and Wilhelma. A brief introduction to the architect's 200th birthday , Stuttgart 1996, especially pages 18–19 [1] .
  • Elke von Schulz: The Wilhelma in Stuttgart. An example of orientalizing architecture in the 19th century and its architect Karl Ludwig Zanth , Tübingen 1976, especially pages 58–62.
  • Michael Wenger: Karl Ludwig von Zanth (1796–1857) and Wilhelma. A "very modern style with Moorish-oriental decorations". In: Schlösser Baden-Württemberg 1996, issue 3, pages 2-6.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Including the pilaster-like strips that frame the panel on the sides.
  2. ↑ To the lower edge of the panel.
  3. ↑ Zanth used similar square fillings for the rosette tiles of the terracotta wall of the outer gallery.
  4. ↑ “The back of the corridor was designed as masonry made of glazed bricks, which showed a color-contrasting subdivision into fields, the centers of which were decorated with colored ceramic ornaments. Within the straight aisle section, these ornaments alternated with window openings, through which a view of the greenhouses adjoining the rear with their citrus trellises was possible. ”(Herzog 1990, page 43).

Web links

Commons : Wilhelma Zoo  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files