l.vK»
so as almost to form a part of, as well as a picturesque ai)pemlagc to it, stands tlic summer
cottage of Goethe, one of the last of tho many heroes of literature, ¡loets, ¡ihilo-
sophcrs, and historians, who, for more than fifty years, shed a lustre on the court of
Wciinar. Thcrcis in one part ofthe garden, suiToundcd hy plantations pleasingly arranged,
a vciy handsome building, called tho Rbmischliaus, in the best stylo of architecture,
fronted by an Ionic portico, and containing some beautiful iirabcsquc paintings, and a
portrait of the mother of the Grand Duchess, by Angelica Kautfmaiin. An excellent
band of musicians assemble in some part of the park once a week ; and I listened with
great delight to their performances, which arc of a very superior description. T f t
whole establishment is kept in the highest order, and the principal walks in it arc daily
frequented by the fashionables after dinner ; while many Avell-drcsscd, happy-looking,
and mciTy-iaccd people of tho industrious classes may be seen on a Sunday sauntering
up and down its groves, wandering through the woods, or talcing refreshment in front
of the Schiesskaus, where formerly tho men used to ¡iractiso shooting and archery. To
an observer placed in the centre of tlic valley of the 11m, which ibrms a great portion of
the park, the country residence of the hereditary Grand Duke, called the Belvedere,
forms a most pleasing as well as a striking object. The intervening gi'onnd, planted
in every possible variety, rises very gradually, until it forms the lol'ty terrace / n
which that building stands. Tho si)ot commands a magnificent view of the surrounding
ccmntry. A royal residence thus situated docs not need to bon-OAV any adventitious
interest from private pleasure-grounds, when Nature lias embellished it on every side
with such beautiful and pictm'csquo sccnciy. The building itself docs not call for
much commendation. I t is small, and rather in a baroque style of architecture. In
each of the wings there is a wide and open gateway, which would give to tlic house the
ai)]3carance of a large farm, did not the main body of the edifice, with it.s great
flight of steps in front, its pilasters, and the surmounting cupola, forbid such an impression.
The centre of the lawn opposite the house is occujftd by a piece of water with a
handsome fountain. The gi-ounds £irc very tastefully laid out ; and tho orangciy and
hothoAisc for tropical plants arc richly and prettily arranged. A good and broml road
leads from Weimar to this agreeable summer residence of the ducal family.” ('Travels,
&c., p. 218.)
Division viii. Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste, in the State o f Sigmaringen.
350. The gardens o f Prince Hohcnzoll-Sigmaringen arc laid out in the English manner
of Sckcll, and possess considerable beauty. In October, 1828, wc found the lawns
green and smooth, and the walks not too numerous, and brim-full of a sandy gravel.
The groups of trees on the low grounds were composed each of a prevailing species, and
so were the larger masses, with a thin sprinkling of other and contrasted kinds, which
served admirably to give effect to the prcA'ailing expression, and which, it must be confessed,
arc often wanting in some of M. Sckcll’s other productions ; for example, in the
English park at Munich. There is a steep, irregular bank here, planted in wliat the
gardener called the Swiss manner ; that is, in successive zones of diflercnt species ; beginning
with the broad-leaved trees of plains, and ending with the nccdlc-lcavcd trees of
mountains ; for example, the larch. Along the walks, ono tree of each species is distinctly
named on wooden tallies about two feet high, for the benefit, as wc were informed,
of the Prince’s children. The house is an Italian building, lately erected, but s])oilcd
in effect by the inattention paid to the chimney-tops. The whole, when wc saw it,
was in cxceUent order.
Division ix. Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste, in Baden.
351. The higher departments o f gardening have long been patronised by tlic Grand
Dukes of Baden ; and, as far as avowed a rt is conccnicd, Baden may be said to contain
some of tho finest gardens in tho south of Germany. Wc shall notice them in the
order of their creation.
352. The castle o f Heidelberg is celebrated for the beauty of its situation, on a hill
rising almost abruptly from the Neckar ; and, in gardening, for the orangeries mid
other garden structures that were created here, in the beginning of the seventeenth
century, by the celebrated Solomon dc Caus, architect and engineer to tho Elector
Palatine, and author of Hortus Palaiinus Heidelbergoe e.vstructus, Praac., 1G20. The
greater part of the rains is in a mongrel Roman style, only interesting from its
antiquity and from its situation : some other parts, and especially what is caUcd tho
octagon tower ( f g . 95.), arc better. The walks through the grounds and among fto
ruins, though of vciy limited extent, are romantic, and display varied and extensive
prospects o fth e vale of the Neckar and its bordering hills, covered lyitli vineyards or
woods along the ¡>rincipal walks, which are open to tlie public at aU times. There is a
collection of hardy trees and shrubs, named after Linnæus, and in German ; and, in a
K . fil 'T
95
space called tho agricultural ground, there is a collection of European Cerealia, made
by the distinguished botanist and curator of tho botanic garden, (Metzger, the author
of Europäische Cerealen, 1824, Heidelberg, folio,) who lives in a habitable part of the
The. gardens q f Heidelberg in 1G19. As a curiosity
transirttion of tlie whole of the letterpress of the
1.1 the history of gardening, we shall here give a
tnn siiitio n O! tn e wiiuie oi uiu iiaiu.i-G»» U* L..U work of Caus above rclerrcd to, and illustrate it with a
few of the thirty figures given in the o rig in al:—“ At tho re turn of his majesty from f tg la n d , from
whonco ho brought his queen, it was his pTousure to have all the parts of his castle ol Ilejdclbcrg put m
order (’iutending to make it his usual abode), as well as a garden adorned with every possible variety.
B ut L á t i S are subject to change, it has pleased God to raise this prince to the sovereignty of Bo-
hcmiii whiVh has caused a delay in the works of the said garden. However, this has not prevented me
from miblishing the drawings of the said garden ; those that arc finished, as well as those th a t are still
to be clone Now, this said castlcis situated about 3()0 feet perpcmdicular above the city ; and, on accouft
of the mountains, which ascend much higher still, a plain of only 200 loot square can be found near to
th e said castle : for this reason, the preceding electors had had their garden made below, m the suburb
S th e c S which was very iuconicnient. Ills majesty, then, having rcsolvoxl to have some pbu:c
levelled, lit for making a new and spacious garden, it was his pleasure to do me the honour of giving me