Vi to
p : i
: l i
miglit be expected fi*om the inhabitants of tbe metropolis of Germany. The cause is to
be found in the want of commerce, and the consequent poverty of the middle classes.
In public matters, money is the soul of grief, as avcU £is of joy.
315. In Hungary, Hirsclifeld, in 1783, says, there were only the gardens of Esterhazy,
a seat of Prince Esterhazy, Avorthy of notice, and that they were chiefly indebted to the
beauty o fth e palace for their attractions. Dr. Toaatisou, in 1793, mentions Count Vetzy
as laying out his grounds in the English style, aided by a gardener Avho had been some
time iu England. The gai’dens of Count Esterhazy of Galantha, at Dotis, he considers
very fine ; and those of the Bishop of Erlau, at Eëlcho-Tiu’kan, as romantic. Dr. Bright
(Travels, 1815) mentions Kormond, the property of Prince Bathiani, as “ containing a
very handsome garden in the Fi-ench taste, Avith considerable hothouses and conservatories.”
Count BrunSAvick, of M aiton Vassar, had passed some time in England, and
his gai-dcn Avas laid out in the English style. The favourite mansion of Prince Esterhazy
is Eiscnstadt ; the palace has lately been improved, and the gardens, which were
laid out, in 1754, in the Ei’ench taste, were, in 1814, transforming into tho English
manner. (Travels in Hungary, p. 346.)
Division ii. Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste, in Prussia.
316. The par/is and landscape-gardens o f Prussia ai’c situated chiefly in the neighbourhood
of Berlin ; and, lilvc those of Austria, are, for the most part, the property of
the king. Frederick II. accumulated immense wealth, and displayed it principally in
building and gardening, in Berlin, Potsdam, and their environs. Though the hmdscape-
gardcns in the Prussian dominions chiefly belong to the royal ñmiily, there arc still a ícav
belonging to private individuals deserving of notice, in the neighbom’hood of some of tho
principal toAvns. There are many in the neighbourhood of Dantzic ; some in tlie subm-bs
of Konigsbm-g, Mcmel, and Stettin. Hirschberg, a handsome toAvn in Silesia, has near
it sevcriS gardens. A gentleman in that neighbourhood has a garden, to the different
parts of which he has given poetical and mythological names. On the hill called the
Ilausberg many of the citizens have formed shady boAvers, and built pavilions Avith fireplaces
in them for tca-paities. The banks of the Oder, neai* Fi’ankfort, are, on one side,
bordered by small hills, upon Avhich, at short distances, are little summer-houses Avith
vineyards ; and in these, in suinincr, many of the inhabitants reside. (Adams’s Tour
through Silesia, 1800, 8a'0, 1804.)
317. The ancient gardens o f Sans Souci, at Potsdam, ai'e in the mixed style of SAvitzer,
Avith eveiy appendage and ornament of the French, Italian, and Dutch taste. Various
aitists, but chiefly Manger, a German ai’chitcct, and Salzmann, the royal gardener (each
of whom has published a voluminous description of his Avorks there), Avere employed in
their design and execution ; and a detailed topographical Iiistory of the Avhole, accompanied
by plans, elevations, and vicAvs, has been published by the late celebrated Nicolai,
of Berlin, at once an author, printer, bookbinder, and bookseller. Tbe gai-dens consist
of, 1. The hill, on the summit of Avhich Sans Souci is placed. The slope in front of
this palace is laid out in six ten-aces, each ten feet high, and its supporting Avail is
covered with glass, for peaches and A'iiies. 2. A hill to the east, devoted to hothouses,
culinary vegetables, and slopes or terraces for fruit trees. 3. A plain at the bottom of the
slope, laid out in SAvitzer’s manner, leading to the ncAv palace ; and, 4. A reserve of hothouses,
chiefly large orangeries, and pits for pines, to the west, near the celebrated Avind-
raill, of wliich Frederick could not get possession.
The Sans Souci scenci-y is more curious and varied than simple and grand. The hill of glazed terraces
crowned by Sans Souci'has, indeed, a singular appearance; but th e woods, cabinets, and innumerable
statues in the grounds below, are on too small a scale for the effect intended to be produced ; and, on the
whole, distract and divide the attention on the first view. Potsdam, with its environs, forms a crowded
scene of architectural and gardening efforts ; a sort of royal magazine, in which an immense number of
expensive articles, pillared scenery, screens of columns, empty palaces, churches, and public buildings,
as Eustace and Wilson observe, crowd on our eyes, and distract our attention. Hirschfeld, who does
not appear to have been a great admirer of Frederick,5and who, as the Prince de Ligne has remarked, was
touched with the Anglomania in gardening, says, in 1785, “ according to the last news from Prussia, the
tgste for gardens is not yet perfect in th a t country. A recent author vaunts a palace champêtre, which
presents as many windows as there are days in the year (f e - 77.): he praises the high hedges, mountains
of periwinkle, regular parterres of flowers, ponds, artificial grottoes, jots d ’eau, and designs traced on a
plain.” (Theorie, &c.,tom. v. p. 366.) Hodgskin,who visited Prussia in 1817, says, “ I merely looked at
the gardens, and th e outsides of th e palaces at Potsdam. Truly, the lodgings which are here provided
for one family m ight almost serve a nation. There arc not less than eight spacious palaces in Potsdam
and its vicinity belonging to the sovereign. I doubt if the profusion of the sovereigns of France, whatever
their splendour might be, ever equalled the profusion of the sovereigns of Prussia. The extensive
gardens of these palaces are ornamented with a number of statues and busts. Many of them are mutilated,
and most of them are covered with moss. T h e climates of Greece and Rome, from which countries
we have borrowed the custom of placing statues in gardens, were much more suitable to it than the
cold and wet climate of the North. The Greeks, and th e Romans, also, lived much more in th e open
air, in th eir public places, in their gardens, and amongst their statues, than we do or can. We live,
principally, in our houses ; and it is our houses, therefore, which we ought to render convenient, and to
adorn. Statues in our gardens accord neither Avith our climates, with our habits of life, nor with the
best mode of laying out our grounds. The great expense of so many carved pieces of marble is a mere
absurd imitation of an ancient custom ; it is unsanctioned by reason, and is equally condemned by good
taste and sage economy.” {Travels in Germany, vol. i. p. 76.) Bramsen, speaking of the same gardens
in 1818, says, “ they are very spacious, and tastefully laid out. Near the staircase of the pavilion of Sans
Souci are th e tombs of some of th e favourite dogs of Frederick II. The concert-room is adorned with
no less than ninety-six lamps, and vases in the shape of pine-apples. T h e kitchen represents a Roman
ruin. T h e grotto is elegant. The garden lies on the borders o fth e lake called theHeiligen See, and on
the banks of th e river Hovel. It commands an extensive prospect, and can boast of some very picturesque
scenery.” {L e tta s o f aPrussian Traveller, p. 51.) “ The charming and sylvan retreat of Sans Souci,”
says the courtly physician Granville, “ is approached through the Brandenburg Gate. On a small hill,
disposed in terraces, stands the château, to which the ascent is by a flight of steps, with quickset hedges on
eacn side. T h e terraces, and the well-arranged shrubberies, by the side of the palace, are ornamented
with flowers and fru it trees, vases and busts. At the foot of the hill, the gardens are decorated with
single statues and groups of figures in marble, and with two large marble reservoirs of water. A little
to the right of the pavilion a handsome edifice, containing a gallery of pictures, forms, together with the
principal buildings, an exceedingly pleasing landscape, which we viewed with pleasure from the western
extremity of Potsdam.” {Granville's Travels, Sec., vol. i. p. 266.)
318. The principal examples o f the English style in Prussia are tlie royal gai'dens at the
summer residence of Chai-lottenbnrg, near Berlin, begun by Frederick the Great, bnt
cliiefly laid out during tlie reign of Fi-ederick William II. They are not extensive, and
ai-e situated on a dull sandy flat, Avashed by tbe Spree ; under Avhicb unfavourable circumstances
it would be Avoudcrful if they were very attractive. In one p ait of these
gardens, a Doric mausoleum of great beauty contains the ashes of tbe much-lamented
queen. A dark avenue of Scotch pines leads to a cfrcle of tbe same frees, 150 feet in
diameter. Interior cfrcles are formed of cypresses and Aveeping-willoAvs ; and Avithin
these is a border of white roses and white lilies (Xilium candidum X.). The foi-m of
tbe mausolcimi is oblong, and its end projects from this interior circle, dfrectly opposite
the covered avenue. A few steps descend from the entrance to a platfoi-m, upon which,
on a sarcophagus, is a reclining figure of the queen ; a stab- at one side leads to the door
of a vault containing her remains.
319. The garden o f the palace ofthe Heiligen See ( fg . 78.) is avoAvedly English, and
is in much better taste than that at Chariottenbiirg. The palace is cased externally Avith
ma rble; it is in a chaste style of Grecian ai-chitccture, and is praised by Wilson ( Tour
on the Continent, 1820), as one of the best pieces of architecture in Prassia. It is built
close to the lake, and the kitchen is placed in an island, disguised as a temple, and connected
by a subaquarian passage. Those sumptuous works Avere tlic joint productions
of the counsellor Langhaus, professor Hh-schfeld, and the architect Gontard, during
Fi'ederick William II.’s reign.
320. A taste fo r landscape-gardening, in 1827, Avas gaining gi-oimd in Prussia ; “ the
Island of Peacocks” (Pfauen Insel) was so much beautified, that it may be pronounced
the most perfect garden scene of its kind in P ru ssia ; the gardens of Sans Souci