Plane grove (Darmstadt)

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Plane grove

The plane tree grove in Darmstadt belongs to the ensemble of the Darmstadt artists' colony on Mathildenhöhe. It is a rectangular area approx. 125 m long and 40 m wide. Half-high plane trees are planted at regular intervals and are pruned regularly. The complex is designed with over 40 sculptures and reliefs by Bernhard Hoetger .

history

In 1833, today's Mathildenhöhe came into the possession of the grand duke couple Ludwig III and his wife Mathilde Karoline Friederike von Wittelsbach . There was a garden in the style of the English landscape park , named after the name of the wife. The plane grove was also laid out at this time, long before the artists' colony was founded in 1899.

The artistic design then took place during the times of the artist colony. Except for the fountain on the east side, the works of art were created between 1912 and 1914 for the fourth exhibition in 1914. The artist Bernhard Hoetger (1874–1949) was commissioned to do this. With the financial help of private donors, a sculpture park was created which, as an overarching theme, depicts the perpetual cycle of life with growth and decay.

The works of art in detail

Dying mother and child
  • Plastic dying mother and child
The monument at the western end is an enlarged copy of a sculpture that Hoetger made for the grave of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who died early, in Worpswede . The artist died shortly after giving birth to her daughter at the age of 31.
  • Inscriptions in the base of the figure

  • BORN - NEVER - NEVER - MORE - DIED

  • BEEN - NEVER - NEVER - STILL - TO - BE

  • PERMANENT - ETERNAL - UNCREENED - BY - EVER

  • DOESN'T DEGRAD - IF ALSO - THE BODY - FALLS

  • Relief groups
At the corners of the area are four allegorical groups in relief with the names spring, summer, sleep and resurrection. The inscriptions under the reliefs come from Indian mysticism.

  • Spring
    IT IS AN EEE THAT WALKS AND THAT REMAINS
    THAT REST AND RESTLESS IN ITSELVES
    (saying from the Indian epic Krischnas)

  • Summer
    SAME AS THE BODY IN LIFE ALREADY GENERATES
    AS THE YOUTH BLUETE AGE
    GENERATES THE BODY AGAIN
    (Second chant of the Bhagavadgita, 13th verse)

  • Sleeping
    DESIGN SAYS MAN DIE HIN
    stem from WAS NOT dies
    WHAT immeasurably never runs dry
    (second song of the Bhagavad Gita, the 18th verse)

  • Resurrection
    WHERE THEY COME DON'T
    NOTICE DON'T FIND OUT WHERE THEY
    ARE WALKING AT THE LUNCH, DO YOU NOTICE HERE
    WHAT MUGS SO DEEP YOU
    (second chant of the Bhagavadgita, 28th verse)

  • Jug bearers
In the niches of the ivy-covered trellis on the north side there are seven sculptures of women carrying jugs of water. These are cast stone figures that were originally painted in color.
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 1 1912-14.jpg
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 2 1912-14.jpg
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 3 1912-14.jpg
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 4 1912-14.jpg
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 5 1912-14.jpg
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 6 1912-14.jpg
  • Mathildenhöhe Hoetger Krugträgerin 7 1912-14.jpg
  • Fountain group
Also on the north side is a group of fountains with three female figures. The base bears a poem by Goethe as an inscription, which compares the water cycle with the cycle of life:

  • The group of fountains
    on the north side

  • Base of the group of fountains
    with the inscription:
    MAN'S SOUL LIKE WATER
    FROM HEAVEN IT COMES TO HEAVEN IT
    GOES AND DOWN TO EARTH IT HAS TO CHANGE ETERNALLY

  • Planter with jackals

  • Planter with lions

* Planter

Several stone planters are set up in the plane tree grove. They, too, were originally colored.
  • Entrance pillar
There are two pillars on either side of the southern entrance to the plane tree grove, each crowned with a bronze sculpture. On one pillar there is a silver lion with an awakening child, which symbolizes the day. On the other, a leopard with a sleeping child, symbolizing the night. The pillars bear the following inscriptions:

Leopard, wearing the night
YOU SWEET FOUNTAIN
FOR THE THIRSTY
IN THE DESERT IT
IS CLOSED TO WHOM
THE SPEAKS IT
IS OPEN TO WHOM
THE SILENCE
COMES THE SILENT
ONE HOW TO FIND THE WELL
( Well prayer from the Papyrus Sallier I, from Thebes
West, time of Pharaoh Merneptah 1225-1205 BC)

Silver Lion, the day supporting
you appear BEAUTIFUL
IN THE HORIZONS OF HEAVEN
YOU LIVE SUN THE FIRST LIVED
YOU GO ON THE EASTERN HORIZON
AND fill THE EARTH
WITH YOUR BEAUTY
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND LARGE and sparkling
AND HIGH ABOVE THE EARTH
YOUR JETS HUG THE COUNTRIES
AS MANY AS YOU CREATED
(Sun Song of Akhenaten. 1372-1354 BC)

  • Entrance pillar

  • Leopard, bearing the night

  • Silver lion bearing the day

  • Fountain on the east side (Bacchus Fountain)
The only design element that is not part of the Hoetgers figure program is the fountain on the east side of the grove. It was added to the retaining wall in 1904. The niche wall fountain is decorated with a mosaic of Rhine pebbles. It was designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich in collaboration with Ludwig Habich and Daniel Greiner . Habich designed the bronze Bacchus relief in the center of the fountain.

  • The Bacchus Fountain

  • Bacchus relief by Ludwig Habich

Web links

Commons : Sycamore grove  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Bernhard Hoetger  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • City of Darmstadt (ed.): The Darmstädter Mathildenhöhe. Architecture on the move to modernity (= contributions to monument protection in Darmstadt. Volume 7.) Darmstadt 1998.
  • City of Darmstadt (ed.): The Mathildenhöhe, a work of the century. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt. 100 years of planning and building for the city crown 1899–1999. Volume 1, Darmstadt 1999, ISBN 3-89552-063-2 .
  • Mathildenhöhe Institute (Ed.): Mathildenhöhe Artists' Colony Darmstadt 1899–1914. Darmstadt 1999, ISBN 3-9804553-6-X . (2nd edition 2007).

Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 36.1 ″  N , 8 ° 39 ′ 57.8 ″  E