Over a year ago, I wrote a piece on The Glories of Rococo in South Germany, particularly describing the three wonderful pilgrimage churches at Ottobeuren, Die Wies and Vierzehnheiligen. I now revisit this beautiful area to share with you my delight in four secular Rococo buildings, the Residenz at Wurzburg, the Amalienburg at Nymphenburg, the Cuvillies Theatre in Munich and Linderhof Palace near Ettal Abbey in Bavaria.
In Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, there is a chapter on the Rococo called The Pursuit of Happiness. I cannot better his words; “Serious-minded people used to call [Rococo] shallow and corrupt, chiefly because it was intended to give pleasure; well, the founders of the American Constitution, who were far from frivolous, thought fit to mention the pursuit of happiness as a proper aim for mankind, and if ever this aim has been given visible form it is in Rococo architecture – the pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of love.”
Staircase at the Residenz, Wurzburg
First stop is the Residenz at Wurzburg, the seat of the Prince-Bishop within the Holy Roman Empire. The imposing baroque palace was built between 1720 and 1743 and the spectacular interior was designed primarily by the eminent architect Balthasar Neumann and decorated by the finest fresco painter in Europe, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The Hofkirche is extremely impressive, but pride of place goes to Neumann’s majestic staircases and to the Imperial Hall (Kaisersaal), all displaying the beauty and delicacy of the Rococo spirit. It is not a democratic style, it is one developed by a discriminating elite for its own enjoyment.
The Kaisersaal at the Residenz, Wurzburg
Further South, a few miles outside Munich lies Nymphenburg Palace, where the Wittelsbach Bavarian dynasty held court. It is a lovely building but to my eyes the finest part is the separate hunting-lodge, the Rococo masterpiece known as the Amalienburg. It was built in the 1730s to the designs of Francois de Cuvillies, originally the court dwarf, whose youthful architectural genius was generously encouraged by the Elector. The Hall of Mirrors is as elaborate a Rococo room as any lover of the style would wish, swirling deliciously in silver and gilt. It inspired millionaire MP and diarist Chips Channon in 1935 to decorate his dining room at 5 Belgrave Square, London, now sadly lost, in this supremely ornate fashion.
The Hall of Mirrors at the Amalienburg
Taking the short hop into central Munich brings you to our third site, the splendid Cuvillies Theatre, built for the court in 1753 and now in a rebuilt wing of the former Munich Residenz. A theatre and opera house is a wholly appropriate place for the playful and life-enhancing Rococo style and this lovely place of entertainment would enhance the enjoyment of any opera-goer. The theatre hosted the premiere of Mozart’s Idomeneo in 1781 and one could not imagine a better venue.
The Cuvillies Theatre, Munich
Our final visit is to Linderhof Palace near Ettal in Bavaria. Linderhof was built between 1863 and 1886 by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The dates betray that it is not strictly “the real thing” as it post-dates the Rococo era by about a century. But it is still a wonderful Rococo building in the same way that Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral is a wonderful Gothic building even if it were commissioned as late as 1910.
Small by some palace standards, Linderhof has exquisite proportions, lovely fountain-dotted gardens and a verdant park. Ludwig II was a believer in absolute monarchy and not only was Linderhof associated by Ludwig with Louis XV, and is a miniature Versailles, but Sun King symbols abound. Inevitably Linderhof has a Hall of Mirrors, but there are other very fine rooms and the whole place is a monument to the airy delights of Rococo
Linderhof Palace
Nearby is baroque Ettal Abbey, whose Rococo internal decoration perhaps confirms that Rococo, in a curious antithesis, is most effective in its religious form and that fine as the above secular buildings are, Rococo inspires most when it at its most ecstatic and transcendent in the Pursuit of Happiness.
Ettal Abbey
SMD
28.01.12
Text copyright Sidney Donald 2012
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