Excursion to Schmalkalden and Waltershausen
19.06.2018
Schmalkalden palace and the newly reconstructed garden terraces
The conference excursion took us up into the Thuringian Forest. They had hired a large coach for us, which took us across the main ridge through large forest areas. Autumn leaves were everywhere, but the dull greyish weather dampened the colours.
Schmalkalden is a small town in the western part of the Thuringian Forest. Its history is particular: This town and a few villages in the surroundings belonged as an exclave to the Landgraviate of Hessen (Hessen-Kassel). Until 1583 they had shared the possession with the Counts of Henneberg, then they became the sole owners.
Landgrave Wilhelm, the founder
Landgrave Wilhelm IV immediately decided to establish this town as one of his secondary residences. A palace had to be built as a symbol of his government, a modern palace in the then ‘en vogue’ renaissance style. Its completion took no more than five years. In 1590 the new palace was already completed. Some interiors and the gardens took a bit longer, though. After its founder and owner, it received the name “Wilhelmsburg”.
Landgrave Wilhelm and then his son and successor Moritz stayed here often. Later generations of the princely house rarely visited any more, though, hence later times never modernized the palace. Its renaissance architecture and interior have been preserved in their original shape. There is hardly another renaissance palace in Germany in such extraordinary authenticity.
The ground plan is a perfect square. Four more or less identical wings enclose the inner courtyard. The small octagonal towers in the corners contain spiral staircases.
Two portals, big enough for horse-drawn carts and carriages, lead into the courtyard from opposite sides and allow a straight passage in and out.
There is one larger tower on the outside. It marks the location of the palace chapel.
There were renovation works going on, thus the strange ‘box’ on top of the roof.
The interior from the late 16th century is almost completely preserved. Most rooms and halls are decorated with frescoes.
Giant guardsmen keep watch by the doors.
The White Hall, devorated with
modern gobelins showing abstract landscape views
Two rooms, however, differ from all others. Their walls and ceiling received a more special and surely more expensive coat. All surfaces are covered in “white work”: three-dimensional stucco.
A skilled Dutch artisan, the sculptor Wilhelm Vernukken, was engaged to create this elaborate decorum which must have been the ultimate fashion in those times.
The two interiors thus distinguished are the palace chapel and the adjacent White Hall, from there the princely family entered their box on the upper gallery of the chapel.
The palace chapel
The palace chapel of Schmalkalden is an incunable in the history of protestant church architecture. It is not unusual to see the pulpit behind the altar and the organ above them both, forming one vertical axis, and a princely box on the opposite side – but here in Schmalkalden, this design was employed for the very first time. And even more - the baptismal font is integrated in the altar. Schmalkalden is one of the most important Lutheran churches of the reformation era.
A visit to the town centre was not included in our schedule, unfortunately.
Waltershausen
Stadtkirche Waltershausen
The group re-boarded the bus after a tour of the palace, guided by our conference experts, and many discussions about details. Lunch was booked at a restaurant in Friedrichroda. We were in Thuringia, hence it necessarily involved Thuringian dumplings together with a beef roast and red cabbage. I will never be over-enthusiastic about Thuringian dumplings – give me honest boiled and salted potatoes any time. But they belong to this area.
Then we continued to the other side of Thüringer Wald ridge to the small town of Waltershausen. This place would hardly be remarkable if it wasn’t for their parish church, a large and beautiful baroque building which proves the widespread assumption false that there is no evangelical baroque style.
The structure is the same as in Schmalkalden, here in perfection, 150 years later, but the basic idea is the same: altar and pulpit form the liturgic centre, the organ is placed above them, while the gallery on the opposite side is occupied by the box for the Duke and his court. The Duke occasionally came to Waltershausen for hunting and took great interest in the building of the church.
Built in the years 1719 to 1723, it was designed on an oval ground plan. The high inner hall is surrounded by galleries in three storeys. They let us climb all the galleries, and we all took loads of photos from many different perspectives.
The ceiling fresco shows the Holy Trinity, surrounded by allegories of the virtues.
The church’s treasure is the huge organ, they claim it is the largest in Thuringia, built in 1730. After some changes throughout the centuries, it has in recent years been restored to its original state and sound. The organist of the church gave us a little concert and explained the instrument and its special features.
Market square, gate tower and town hall
I took the chance and ran off for five minutes between our tour of the church and the beginning of the concert to see what the town is like.
I did not get far, imaginably, but I discovered the wide market square and the pretty half-timbered town hall.
In the distance I spotted an old gate tower, somehow forlorn in the middle of the main street since the town walls are gone.
Posted by Kathrin_E 23:19 Archived in Germany Tagged churches castles thuringia thüringen Comments (0)