Weikersheim Castle Dwarf Gallery
The Dwarf gallery Weikersheim or Gnome Gallery Weikersheim is a series of sixteen caricature carved into stone statues in the park of Schloss Weikersheim that the court of a baroque duodecimo - Residence represent.
These figures are considered to be the only completely preserved ensemble of a baroque dwarf garden, especially in this size. The inspiration for such dwarf figures, which were very popular in southern Germany , Austria and Bohemia in the early 18th century , ultimately mostly went back in general to Jacques Callot's etchings , namely his series of works, The Gobbi , although very few referred to them directly . The Weikersheim dwarfs can even be viewed as completely independent creations. Just like the approx. 100 other sculptures in the Weikersheimer Hofgarten, they are carved from the yellowish-green sandstone of the Keuper quarries in the nearby towns of Freudenbach near Creglingen and Mangoldsall near Kupferzell . All of the figures were created by the Künzelsau sculptor and carver Johann Jacob Sommer (1645–1715) and his sons Johann Friedrich, Georg Christoph and Philipp Jakob from the Sommer family of artists . Their fee consisted of one third each of money, fruit (grain) and “mediocre and partially opened wine” . Johann Jacob Sommer delivered fourteen of these dwarfs in 1711 and 1712. The "Cammer-Cassa bills" noted: "Before 14 pieces of bilter in garden were designed as dwarfs, each with 8 Rh (single) Daller Thut 168 fl ". It is not known when the remaining two figures were delivered.
A mythologization and scholarly reference of the portrayed to antiquity , as occurs with the other statues in the court garden, does not exist here. The portrayal is folksy, coarse and humorous. Posing from the so-called rifle house to the gardener's house : the court hunter, the court jester, the shepherdess, the cellar master (swinging a mug with a veritable ham), the court gardener in love with a coquettishly bared knee and a bouquet of roses, the lazy man, the housekeeper, the drummer, the sergeant, the Court lady with mask, the court councilor, the pug-plagued chambermaid, the cashier with a half-empty bag, the court cook, the bearded court Jew (banker) Lämle Seeligmann and the master brewer. The names of the figures probably come from the 19th century.
The dialect poet Heinz Sausele , born in Weikersheim, dedicated a cycle of poems to the ensemble. He wrote about the Hofjägermeister: “You can see on this picture / Hofjägermeister Hans von Wildt / A grim gentleman, strong in Latin / devoted to the tasting wine. / Is he fond of femininity? / Oh no! He was a hunter. ” .
Literature and Sources
- Carlheinz Gräter : Hohenlohe rarities. History and stories. Silberburg-Verlag , Tübingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-87407-901-3 .
- Rosemarie Müntenmayer and Alfons Elfgang: The Weikersheim Palace Gardens. Published by State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg in collaboration with the State Gazette for Baden-Württemberg GmbH. Brausdruck, Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-932-489-10-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 28 ′ 48.5 " N , 9 ° 53 ′ 43.7" E