Hellbrunn trick fountains

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The theater of the Hellbrunn trick fountains

The Hellbrunn trick fountains are located in the Hellbrunn Palace Park on the southern outskirts of the city of Salzburg . They are the world's best-preserved water features from the late Renaissance and Mannerist periods . They were commissioned by Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems around 1613 .

As in Hellbrunn, grottos and ponds from the Renaissance period were generally modeled on Roman palace complexes and subsequently further developed. It was especially the palace of Emperor Nero , the " Domus aurea ", the design of which was a model for Renaissance artists at the time. Parts of this palace, the "grottoes", were decorated with gems and shells and there were large geometric ponds in the park. The Villa d'Este in Tivoli and other parks in Rome and northern Italy were also a model for Hellbrunn. The highlight of the artistic water gardens was also the (only partially preserved) garden of Pratolino , built by Francesco de Medici . The technically ever more complex Renaissance games with and through the water should represent a divine culmination of the imitation of nature.

In the style of an urbana villa with Italian characteristics, the builder Markus Sittikus had his elaborate water features built in 1613 in the Hellbrunn Palace Park, alongside other buildings, based on various Italian water features. Soon after they were built, these fountains were to gain fame far beyond Salzburg and were often compared with the famous structures in Italy.

Today, the magic that once emanated from the water dispenser can often not be understood to the same extent as it was when it was first created. But they remain a much admired historical attraction of Salzburg, which enchants visitors to Salzburg in its originality.

From the theater to the star pond

Theatrum and Princely Table
Pond with tritons, in the background Theatrum
The Orpheus Grotto
  • Theatrum (Roman theater). Towards the end of the 16th century, the “Teatro delle acque” type, which consisted of marginal display walls and artificial ponds, became increasingly popular in Italy. Such a system was also built in Hellbrunn. The arched wall structure is adorned with pebble mosaic and structured by figural niches. In the middle of the theater, the "Roma victrix", the Roman goddess of victory, sits enthroned above the splendid coat of arms of Markus Sittikus. Below is a figure of the emperor in the middle of a niche. This figure as well as the Roma victrix most likely come from the famous Salzburg sculptor Hans Waldburger . All six statues in the Theatrum were made after Giovanni Battista Cavalieri's Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae Primus Et Secundus Liber (Rome 1585). [1] The emperor's statue in the middle does not correspond to the depictions of emperors in Roman antiquity. While the Roman emperors are without exception depicted with curly hair or with hair falling over the forehead, the hair of this figure is combed back strictly. While in the ancient imperial statues the clearly recognizable breast armor completely covers the upper body, the upper body of this figure with the fine representation of the individual muscles looks as if there were no armor here. This figure represents Emperor Nero or Alexander the Elder. Big ones, but with a head that is strongly reminiscent of Markus Sittikus' dearly loved nephew Jakob Hannibal II (1595–1646). Even as a child, he had combed his hair strictly back. A painting by 22-year-old Jakob Hannibal still shows him with the same eye-catching hairstyle. While the face is reminiscent of Jakob Hannibal II, the pose of the statue is probably based on the figure “ Adonidis signum integerimum omniumque reperiuntur excellenti arteficis opus è marmore Romae in aedibus Episcopi Aquinatis ” (fol. 95) from Cavalieri's book from 1585. The Roma vinctrix is based on the figure “ Romae Colossus celebris in hortis Car. Cesis cui Dacia opta subest “(fol. 19). The two figures represent the outside left a captured Parthian " Parthorum Rex capitvus " (fol. 30) and to the right a captured Armenians King " Rex Armeniae capitvus " (fol. 31). Both countries were of d Alexander. Great taken militarily. The two seated figures represent Flora on the left (" Florae deae simulacrum e marmore in Vaticano viridario Romae " (fol. 16)) and on the right a vesta (" Vestae deae, signum, ut conijcerelicer, e marmore in Vaticano Viridario Romae " (fol. 9 )), whose ancient models stood in the Vatican Gardens .
  • Princely table: The marble table is decorated with the heraldic animals lion and ibex as well as a purr relief with fruits. The heraldic animals hugging each other refer to the motto “Numen vel dissita iungit” (“Divine will also unites opposites”) written in the ballroom. The same heraldic animals hugging each other can also be found on the facade of Salzburg Cathedral . The seats and the table itself are part of playful water jokes that only kept the host dry. The fleeing guests were made more difficult by a rising wall of water made of floor jets. In the middle of the table is a basin with running water for cooling drinks.
  • Two rectangular ponds with a long oval in between lie south of the Roman Theater. Four Triton sculptures cavort in the ponds , each spewing water from a Triton snail . A half-lying river god rests in the north of the ponds. The figure is made after Giovanni Battista Cavalieris Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae Primus Et Secundus Liber (Rome 1585) and shows " Tiberis Fluvij simulacrum e marmore excellentis artificis opus, in Vaticano Pontificum viridario Romae " (fol. 2). On a rectangular island in In the middle of the complex sits a water goddess who holds a slender clam in her raised left hand. In the south stands the statue of Bacchus on a high pedestal . The figure is based on the " Bacchus In aedibus Farnesianis " (fol. 77) from GB Cavalieris Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae Tertius Et Quartus Liber (Rome 1593).
  • The wine cellar was built in 1659 by Guidobald von Thun . The inside of the cellar vault is made of raw limestone. It has a wrought iron gate with the splendid coat of arms of the builder Guidobald von Thun and two seated dog sculptures to the side of the entrance. The dog sculptures are reminiscent of the figure " Adonidis signum integerimum omniumque reperiuntur excellenti arteficis opus è marmore Romae in aedibus Episcopi Aquinatis " (fol. 95) from Cavalieri's book of 1585. Adonis is accompanied by a dog and supports his hand on the severed one Skull of a hunted wild boar, which is also available as a sculpture with three freshlings in Hellbrunn.
  • The Orpheus Grotto is a stone building with various marble sculptures, almost completely clad in stalactite-like tuff. The portal of the grotto house is made of conglomerate. Orpheus plays Eurydice sleeping in the grotto on the violin and frees her with the sounds of the underworld. The wild animals surrounding them, including the lion as a symbol of the state of Salzburg and the ibex as the archbishop's heraldic animal, listen tame to the sound of the violin. The grotto is free of water features to maintain the meditative mood. Only the steady rushing of the water from the spring in the grotto can be heard. Eurydice wears the portrait of Markus Sittikus as a medallion around her neck. The rumor that this character alludes to the archbishop's alleged lover, Baroness Katharina von Mabon, has no relation to reality. This grotto with its artistically crafted sculptures is an independent work in which models are clearly further developed and refined.
  • Next to the Orpheus Grotto there is a small raised area with two kneeling statues of jesters, whose original design (with a child of fools and a dog) has only been partially preserved.

Sternweiher and Altemsbrunnen

Star pond, in the background: Exedra
  • The exedra : This wing wall made of conglomerate stones at the edge, which surrounds the star pond in a semicircle, has a slightly deep grotto in the middle with a statue of a youthful hero or a Roman youth with armor. Above the grotto, behind a conglomerate balustrade and its seated stone vases, stands the statue of Perseus . On the edge of the wing wall, which is ever lower towards the outside, the personified statues of the four seasons stand as symbols of transience.
  • The Sternweiher is a shallow water basin with seven star-like spikes, from the tips of which the water from the “Sternweiherquelle” gushes into the water basin. From there it flows over a step cascade clad with stone mosaic first into a rectangular basin and then over a higher mosaic step and four further steps into a large square basin in which two tritons wrestle with each other, spouting water. A jet of water lifts a ball here. The upper water cascade is guarded by two ibexes holding the archbishop's coat of arms, the lower cascade by two water-spouting lions. Originally there were two figures slowly turning in a circle in the lower pond, a triton who made a muffled sound through the blowing mussel and a turtle.

The grottoes in the basement of the castle

The ruin grotto
The mirror grotto
The Vogelsang grotto
  • The Neptune Grotto (also known as the Rain Grotto) is the largest and highest grotto in the palace. It shows Neptune on two seahorses, wearing a trident, on the front side. On the side of the grotto there are winged Triton putto reliefs and two Nereid sculptures . A special feature of the grotto is the "Germaul", a bizarre, copper-chased grimace with oversized ears that keeps rolling its eyes and sticking out its tongue. The decoration of the grotto is rich. In addition to various stucco work, elaborately designed shell-adorned ornaments can be seen. The name “rain grotto” is derived from the water nozzles in the ceiling, which can spray water like rain. The antlers of the deer above the entrance portal of the grotto can also spray the visitors fleeing from the grotto from the sudden rain. Mannerist figures are attached to the facade on both sides of the entrance to Neptune's grotto, of which only the feet and the head are clearly visible, the very elongated body is only indicated by protruding conglomerate stones. The shell grotto and the ruin grotto in the north and the mirror grotto and the Vogelsang grotto in the south are symmetrically arranged and lower in shape.
  • The shell grotto continues the motif of Neptune's Grotto with their shells and Steinchendekor in its stucco design. Fields with tendrils, ibex heads and fruit decorations alternate with tuff areas. The ceiling frescoes have suffered from moisture throughout its long history and are only partially visible today.
  • The ruin grotto , like the nearby mirror grotto , does without water arts. The grotto seems to collapse at any moment, bronze ivy tendrils, originally painted close to nature, seem to penetrate the masonry. The ceiling fresco, illusionistically implied behind the "crumbling" brick vault, is a view of the sky. In the Renaissance, the depiction of ruins was a recourse to well-known Roman building remains, but also a playful reminder of the transience of things.
  • In the mirror grotto , many convex mirrors are inserted into the diverse wall ornaments, which playfully continue the optical effects that were widespread in the Mannerist era. Figures making music can be seen in the ceiling frescoes.
  • The Vogelsang grotto is also lined with stalactite-like tuff. Twelve different bird songs (general bird song, eagle owl, owl, quail, cuckoo, cuckoo, ortolan, general bird song, nightingale (?), Greenfinch, greenfinch, general bird song) can be heard, which are played on twelve different birds by means of a water-powered roller and a bellows Places in the grotto tones are produced by hydraulic arts. The mirror grotto is entirely geared towards seeing, in contrast to this, the Vogelsang grotto is a space for hearing. Therefore, in contrast to models from Italy (Villa d'Este Tivoli and Pratolino), there is no pictorial representation of the birds. Once there was a dragon moved by water power in this grotto, today painted ceramic figures (dragon, dolphin, triton and naiad ) rotate in the water until they disappear again in their tiny cave.

From Neptune's grotto to the mechanical theater

The Venus Grotto
The boar niche
The Diana fountain

After the grottoes in the castle and the Venus grotto, there are five small water machines on the way south, which show different scenes on the other side of the stream. Once two turtles and two snails splashed water under the machines; but these figures are lost today.

The five small tuff graves represent:

  • A master potter in his workshop
  • Perseus frees Andromeda by defeating the sea dragon,
  • A master miller in the work room,
  • Apollo flies the Marsyas (originally there was a trumpet-playing fama here next to an owl)
  • A scissors grinder at work.

The Venus Grotto shows a sculpture of Venus in an antique robe in an obelisk-adorned, tuff-lined grotto. She supports herself with her hand on a dolphin, which shoots a bow of water from its mouth, which in turn completely encloses a bouquet of flowers underneath. A small cupid stands in a small basin in front of the grotto (see picture opposite). Right next to the path, two turtles meet with their sharp water jets.

Diana statue : Not far from the Merkurbrunnen there is a statue of the hunting goddess Diana on a high column, which together with the distant Goldenstein Castle on the other bank of the Salzach forms the axis of the Hellbrunn palace gardens. Today the statue refers to the large hunting garden behind the ornate garden of the water parterre. There is a crescent moon on the head of the goddess. The earlier bow in the left hand of the goddess of the hunt has not survived.

The wild boar niche shows an artistically designed and obviously happy mother pig (brook) with her two youngsters.

The low "ibex" grotto is not only lined with tuff inside, but also on the front. It houses a water-spouting meerbock with front fins and a dolphin tail with an ibex head. The water flows here in troughs over a marble floor that reproduce a chain ornament.

Diana fountain : The statue behind the fountain originally stood in the middle of the pheasant garden. Today Diana stands in a wall niche in front of a small water basin that is framed by wing walls. She has a hunting dog as a companion.

The mechanical theater

The mechanical theater
Overall view of the stage work
inscription

Archbishop Andreas Jakob placed the order to build a mechanical theater on October 26, 1748. The planning was very likely in the hands of Anton Danreiter. In the same place there had previously been a forge grotto, which well master Karl Wenzeisen had built. The “prince-archbishop's pleasure garden inspector ” Franz Anton Danreiter reported in 1741 that this grotto had become inaccessible. Instead, Lorenz Rosenegger was to install a mechanical theater from 1748 with over 100 characters and a horn [work] that should have been able to play ten pieces. The construction costs rose sharply, however, and Rosenegger had to continue working under military supervision and was only able to complete the work on October 28, 1752. At the time the work was put into operation, only three of the ten audio tracks were donated to the organ. The organ had 140 pipes (= 35 tones on four registers ) and could be played on a manual on the one hand and with the pin roller , the three pieces of which Johann Ernst Eberlin had set or composed on the other . Both the roller and the two bellows were driven by a water wheel. Rochus Egedacher , whom Rosenegger had to call in when the organ was erected, revised the work in 1770, replacing many pipes. Ludwig Mooser , who had already prepared the work in 1840, drafted a plan in 1850 to rebuild the roller organ. When he received the order, Mooser refurbished the instrument according to his ideas and installed, among other things, a new sliding drawer with 6 registers (Copel 8 ′, Principal 4 ′, Flute 4 ′, fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′, Octave 2 ′, trumpet 8 ′) he also changed the melodies on the reel. On August 8, 1853, several men approved his work, among them Matthias Kracher (1795–1858), Alois Taux , Dr. Hillebrandt , Franz Jelinek (1818–1880), and Father Peter Singer . In the final sentence, the approval commission noted that "the work carried out was found to be solid in technical terms [...] and carried out in accordance with the artistic requirements to be set".

In the course of the following time, the organ was changed and also damaged, so the palace administration decided in 2010 to have the instrument reconstructed and restored to the state of 1853; the work was carried out by master organ builder Wolfgang Bodem from Leopoldsdorf near Vienna until 2012. Since then, the barrel organ, which accompanies the movements of the mechanical theater around 40 times a day in the summer months, can be heard with the following melodies: "Old Choral", set by Eberlin , "Give me your hand, my life" from the opera Don Giovanni by Mozart and the craft song “Without rest, tackled”, from the opera Le maçon by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber .

The mechanical theater illustrates the diverse hustle and bustle of a small town. 107 rigid and 138 wooden figures moving on rotating discs, which also move arms and legs, represent various handicrafts, which are also indicated by the artistic guild signs. A small brass band plays in front of the townhouses, soldiers march up and down in lockstep and circus people dance with a trained bear. All these movements of the very finely crafted figures are carried out by an elaborate wooden gear train that is driven by the water of the stream. The small sculptures were created by the sculptors Bartholomäus Pföll, Josef Georg Frieß, Johann Georg Roß and Josef Strasser.

The Mydas Grotto (Crown Grotto)

Water feature in the crown grotto

The largest pavilion-like building of the fountains houses the Mydas grotto. The outside of the building is designed with four corner projections and pyramid-covered corner turrets with statue niches, the pavilion itself is covered with a shingle hipped roof. In front of the house, there are countless tubes embedded in the ground that can spray water up into the air like a trellis. The entrance gate, which leads into a tuff grotto, is also made of tuff. In the middle of the room has a marble pedestal decorated with amphibians and reptiles , which today serves as the base of a fountain. A light metal crown can be raised higher or lower by the jet of the fountain. Originally the crown was on an ancient Roman lion sculpture (a symbol of the crowned state of Salzburg), but it was brought to Vienna in 1816 and only returned to Hellbrunn a few years ago (but not yet in the crown grotto). The visitor walks around the central crown room in the shape of a horseshoe. Here, too, tuff predominates as a design element, into which rectangular wall panels with a cube pattern and multi-colored faience leaves are incorporated. In the middle of the north wall, in a niche on conglomerate rocks, there are two larger-than-life statues made of white Untersberg marble , a decorative and solid limestone that was and is quarried south of the city. Apollo , dressed in a short tunic, is about to peel off the skin of Marsyas who is tied to a tree .

From the Mydas grotto to the well room

The Eurydike Fountain
The forest devil
  • The statue of Minerva stands on a high pedestal and identifies itself with her helmet, her spear and her shield (including the Gorgon head).
  • the Mercury Fountain is right next to it. The white marble statue has typical characteristics of the god, the winged helmet and the wings on the feet. In front of the fountain is a small representation of an actaeon (deer man) surrounded by six dogs , spouting water .
  • The Eurydike Fountain was only built by Johann Ernst Graf Thun around 1700. Before that, there was a much more delicate Diana fountain here. Today's fountain with its wide wing walls takes up more space. The statue of Euridice itself used to stand in the former Dianagrotte , which was opposite the present mechanical theater.
  • The forest devil's grotto : A legend says that in 1531 a forest devil, i.e. a forest man, was caught in the forest of the Haunsberg. The statue in the water features is closely based on the model of the “monster” in Gesner's “Thierbuch” (1563) and shows a bearded forest man walking on knees and elbows with a bearded human head with a cock's comb, as well as lion-like forefeet and one bushy tail. The hind feet are designed in the manner of birds' feet.
  • The Neptune Fountain : The last sculpture of today's water features, the Fountain of Neptune, the sitting statue shows as the god Neptune on a dolphin that Hans Conrad Asper attributed. At the front of the rock is a grotesque marble mask with water running out of its mouth.
  • Today, the well room is no longer part of the historical guided water feature tours. It is an octagonal today roofless structure (which was once roofed at the edge), which almost entirely includes a fountain basin. Inside there are three wall niches. The Brunnstube portal is made of conglomerate stone and has a horizontal finish. Inside there is also the statue of a so-called "moss goddess" who, depending on the interpretation of the bundle carried in hand, is interpreted as a cattail or as grain, sometimes as the goddess Ceres.

The octagon once ended the continuous series of sculptures. This octagon was already torn down by Archbishop Hieronymus Coloredo. Today there is another statue there, namely the goddess Flora with a cornucopia.

literature

  • Wolfgang Bodem / Franz Eisenhut / Florian Leitner: The barrel organ of the Hellbrunn Mechanical Theater . Organ documentary contributions (restoration report by Orgelbau Bodem GmbH 2012), self-published, Leopoldsdorf near Vienna 2013.
  • Friedrich Breitinger: Report 31: The creator of princely fantasy. Lorenz Rosenegger's Mechanical Theater in Hellbrunn . In: Demokratisches Volksblatt , April 9, 1949. Quoted from: Friedrich Breitinger / Kurt Weinkammer / Gerda Dohle: craftsmen, brewers, landlords and traders . Salzburg's commercial economy during Mozart's time, ed. by the “Franz Triendl Foundation” of the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce and the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies , at the same time: Communications from the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies, 27th supplementary volume, Salzburg 2009.
  • Friedrich Breitinger / Kurt Weinkamer / Gerda Dohle: craftsmen, brewers, landlords and traders . Salzburg's commercial economy during Mozart's time, ed. by the “Franz Triendl Foundation” of the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce and the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies, at the same time: Communications from the Society for Salzburg Regional Studies, 27th supplementary volume, Salzburg 2009.
  • Wilfried Schaber: Hellbrunn - palace, park and trick fountains. Salzburg 2004, ISBN 3-200-00075-9 .
  • Bernd Euler, Ronald Gobiet, Horst Huber: Dehio Salzburg - City and Country . Schroll & Co, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-7031-0599-2 .
  • Robert R. Bigler: Hellbrunn Palace - cabinet of curiosities of garden architecture. Böhlau, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-205-98517-6 .
  • Wolfgang Bauer , Sergius Golowin , Clemens Zerling : Heilige Quellen Heilende Brunnen. Neue Erde, Saarbrücken 2009, ISBN 978-3-89060-275-2 , pp. 18–28.

Web links

Commons : Water games Hellbrunn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Wilfried Schaber: Hellbrunn . Castle, park and water features, Salzburg 2004, p. 96.
  2. ^ Friedrich Breitinger: Report 31: The creator of princely fantasy. Lorenz Rosenegger's Mechanisches Theater in Hellbrunn , Salzburg 1949. Quoted from: Breitinger / Weinkamer / Dohle: Handwerker, Brauer, Wirte und Händler , Salzburg 2009, p. 278.
  3. ↑ since 1832 cathedral organist at the Salzburg cathedral and organ teacher at the Mozarteum
  4. ^ Teacher at the Mozarteum for oboe and singing and founding member of the Salzburg Liedertafel
  5. ↑ Collaudirungs Protocoll 1853. Quoted from: Wolfgang Bodem: Die Walzenorgel des Mechanischen Theaters Hellbrunn , Leopoldsdorf bei Wien 2013, p. 15f.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Bodem: The barrel organ of the Mechanical Theater Hellbrunn , Leopoldsdorf near Vienna 2013.
  7. ↑ The old chorale is perhaps from the pen of Augustin Ebler; it was composed around 1502 for the Hornwerk Salzburger Stier at the fortress . See: Gerhard Walterskirchen: Das Hornwerk der fortress Hohensalzburg , accessed on November 16, 2014.

Coordinates: 47 ° 45 ′ 44 ″  N , 13 ° 3 ′ 39 ″  E