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That was the claim made by a friend who was fiercely holding on to a position of faith. It is generally true, that at a certain point we just must take a position, subjectively, willingly or not. However, what when these various subjective absolutisms collide with each other? The Talibans are "subjective absolutists" for example. Then, my friend says, we need to exercise our individual absolutism with tolerance and kindness. Sounds good. But where do tolerance and kindness come from? Neither Christianity nor Islam have a convincing record when it comes to the treatment of others or of people thinking differently. According to the logic of both religions, only God is absolute - man is relative. This basic principle makes a 'tolerant' exercise of subjective absolutism really difficult. In other words, the profound problem here is not subjectivity, we all have got that, the problem is "absolutism". We all hold positions - absolute they are not.
Seit Ende der letzten Eiszeit in Mitteleuropa ausgestorben, führten die Römer vor ca 2.000 Jahren Damwild als kultisches Opfertier nach Mitteleuropa ein. Im Hochmittelalter war ein Damwildgehege am Burggarten eine begehrte Kostbarkeit und die Herrscher des Absolutismus bejagten Damwild als nur dem Adel vorbehaltenes Hochwild in groß angelegten Wildgattern.
Since the end of the last ice age in Central Europe, the Romans introduced fallow deer to central Europe around 2,000 years ago as a cultic sacrificial animal. In the High Middle Ages, a fallow deer enclosure on the castle garden was a coveted treasure and the rulers of absolutism hunted fallow deer as a large game reserve reserved for the nobility.
Seit Ende der letzten Eiszeit in Mitteleuropa ausgestorben, führten die Römer vor ca 2.000 Jahren Damwild als kultisches Opfertier nach Mitteleuropa ein. Im Hochmittelalter war ein Damwildgehege am Burggarten eine begehrte Kostbarkeit und die Herrscher des Absolutismus bejagten Damwild als nur dem Adel vorbehaltenes Hochwild in groß angelegten Wildgattern - so wie hier zu sehen im Tiergarten Hannover.
Extinct in Central Europe since the end of the last ice age, the Romans introduced fallow deer to Central Europe about 2,000 years ago as a cult sacrificial animal. In the High Middle Ages a fallow deer enclosure at the castle garden was a coveted treasure and the rulers of absolutism hunted fallow deer as big game in large game gates reserved only for the nobility - as you can see here in the Tiergarten Hannover.
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Seit Ende der letzten Eiszeit in Mitteleuropa ausgestorben, führten die Römer vor ca 2.000 Jahren Damwild als kultisches Opfertier nach Mitteleuropa ein. Im Hochmittelalter war ein Damwildgehege am Burggarten eine begehrte Kostbarkeit und die Herrscher des Absolutismus bejagten Damwild als nur dem Adel vorbehaltenes Hochwild in groß angelegten Wildgattern.
Since the end of the last ice age in Central Europe, the Romans introduced fallow deer to central Europe around 2,000 years ago as a cultic sacrificial animal. In the High Middle Ages, a fallow deer enclosure on the castle garden was a coveted treasure and the rulers of absolutism hunted fallow deer as a large game reserve reserved for the nobility.
Palace of Versailles, former French royal residence and centre of government, now a national landmark. It is located in the city of Versailles, Yvelines département, Île-de-France région, northern France, 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest of Paris. As the centre of the French court, Versailles was one of the grandest theatres of European absolutism.
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Palace of Versailles, former French royal residence and centre of government, now a national landmark. It is located in the city of Versailles, Yvelines département, Île-de-France région, northern France, 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest of Paris. As the centre of the French court, Versailles was one of the grandest theatres of European absolutism.
Thanks to everyone that views and comments on my images - very much appreciated.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. On all my images, Use without permission is illegal.
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Palace of Versailles, former French royal residence and centre of government, now a national landmark. It is located in the city of Versailles, Yvelines département, Île-de-France région, northern France, 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest of Paris. As the centre of the French court, Versailles was one of the grandest theatres of European absolutism.
zoom in to appreciate
Thanks to everyone that views and comments on my images - very much appreciated.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. On all my images, Use without permission is illegal.
Only the side wings of the Palace, which are connected by an underground corridor with one another, are open to visitors to the gardens. Here in Herrenhausen Palace Museum, Hannover's Historical Museum provides information on the era of Baroque absolutism, on the importance of Hannover around 1700 and beyond. It also looks at the polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and the legendary Electress Sophie and the period of personal union with England. From 1714 to 1837 the electorate of Hanover and Great Britain was ruled by kings from Hannover. The 300-year anniversary was celebrated in 2014.
Hannover (Lower Saxony) Germany Europe
Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg 1711 - 1794 was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg Monarchy.
A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of State Chancellor for about four decades and was responsible for the foreign policies during the reigns of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II.
In 1764, he was elevated to the noble rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.
The recall notice wasn’t a surprise, she knew more difficulties were arising back in Home System, but still, to stand on the command deck of HDF Ioria and read the actual text, to peel away the layers of arcane formality in directives sent from the Curiate Assembly, and to realize that she was going back, left her conflicted. She wanted, so very much, to return to her world, but she knew it was not at all as she remembered.
It had been over five standard years since she had stood on the surface of her beautiful world, a world of tranquil jungles, vast warm seas, and with three cities that steered their growth up into vast spires. Her last look at the surface was fleeting, as she taxied her Dart and rocketed into a suborbital trajectory to intersect with HDF Elliptic Harmony. It bothered her immensely that she was no longer sure what she saw as she departed Home. Of course, at the time, there was no indication that the growing violence in the cities would explode into the worst civil war in Home’s history. For her, the Infection War was three years of tenacious attrition periodically flaring into brief and violent combat between capital ships. And it ended when their leader, now known disparagingly as the Last Consul, had ordered a full bombardment of Home from space. The traitors were destroyed. The cost: a beautiful world in ruins.
Almost as soon as the war was over, but before the full magnitude of the Bombardment became clear enough that the Last Consul was deposed, Lt. Commander Kyle was sent on a mission into deep space. The change from the crowded, war damaged HDF Elliptic Harmony to the isolation of the cobbled together ship was a shock she never truly got over. HDF ships are designed to be tightly knit social units, made all the closer by three years of war. Being alone, and being so far from Home System, it was a terrible punishment whether or not that was the official reason for her mission. But even more than the isolation, was the time she had to think. She had done many things in the Infection War which she wished she had not done, although she could not regret these things, not at first, since she was following the dictates of duty, the traditions of the HDF and the True Path of Dua Nera. Now, two years later, it wasn’t so simple. Regrets. Duty. She no longer knew if she had done the right things, especially at the end of the war.
She was different now, that was clear, in ways which would have appalled her just a few years before. Time among the Outsiders had changed her manner, softened it in some ways. First, soon after reaching the Botany Bay Station she realized she would need to soften her manner because the chaotic Outsiders were difficult to deal with otherwise. But now it was more than that. She respected them. Some of them. She even respected aspects of their civilizations. It was all too obvious that things needed to change in Home System, and, perhaps, there were elements of other cultures that should be considered. The thought made her laugh. Before arriving on Botany Bay Station she would have shot an HDF officer who made such a statement.
Individuals had mattered to her, another surprise. On the Botany Bay Station there had been much to learn from Jubilynn and Shyaa. She didn’t agree with everything they believed, and she had grave doubts about the Bastet. But they were worth defending, and she would do so again if she was needed. There was a mix of absolutism and tolerance in how Jubilynn ran her station, and later, the successive Botany Bay Colonies on Al Raquis and now Gaia. For a long time she couldn’t understand how those attitudes meshed, and then she realized that, for herself, this might have been the point. Not everything had to always fit into a set scheme, and not everything had to even make sense. Perhaps that was how she needed to look at her own actions in the Infection War. Regrets vs. Duty: it wasn’t a clear choice, and it never could be.
There were others, Outsiders who she brought aboard her ship HDF Glisette. There was Mei (poor Mei), and Mint (now off and prospering), and more. And, of course, Julia. Pretty Julia. There were also those she had encountered and interacted with, from piratical traders from 34 Tauri to leaders on Al Raquis. So many, and all so different. Not like Home, where conformity was woven deeply into social fabric of society.
She thought of all this as she prepared her latest ship, HDF Ioria, for the return to Home System. HDF Ioria had been designed for science, but it would be turned into a warship. Her mission to obtain technologies from other cultures had been partially successful, but not enough to continue in deep space. Home System was in the Sagittarius Rift, the only developed garden world between the Sag and Orion arms. Home was like an island between two land masses, each of which held a powerful potential enemy. Home was the strategic key to controlling access from one arm to the other. For three centuries Home had used subversion, rapid military strikes, and diplomacy to keep the two enemies sufficiently occupied that they would not look on the conquest of Home as a desirable goal. That was difficult before the Infection War but now, with the industrial centers largely destroyed and the Home Defense Fleet at one quarter effective strength, these enemies were probing closer and closer.
Commander Kyle smiled, not at the prospect of another war, but because her mission had found something more powerful than a new ftl drive core. She had found Julia. A beautiful woman from 34 Tauri, brought aboard HDF Glisette, a perfect companion, and ‘adopted’ into the culture of Home. Julia the café owner was now Lt. Julia, an officer of HDF. There would be one more war with the old HDF, with those single mindedly concerned with duty and the traditions of Home, ready – often too ready – to sacrifice themselves. Soldiers like herself. The rebuilding of Home was going to require more than material reconstruction, Home now needed those like Julia, those who had perspectives that reached across to other societies. Julia and those like her would not dilute the culture of Home, they would evolve it, push it forward so that no longer would Home be an isolated island, but part of the Galactic community with allies and trading partners.
Commander Kyle Inniatzo di Synthica of the Home Defense Fleet -- formerly second-in-command of the 1st Squadron/Suborbital Strike of HDF Elliptic Harmony of the 2nd Response Force; formerly commander of HDF Glisette; currently in command of HDF Destiny and HDF Ioria; awarded Commendation of the Fleet Commander three times; awarded Commendation of the Curiate; awarded other Commendations and Citations with combat honors in the Chian Spires engagement, Midway Dawn engagement, Fractal Bloom engagement, and other engagements, of the Infection War -- was going Home with the greatest gift she could bring her people. The future.
Designed by James Gibbs in 1741 and completed about 1748, this is the only building in the Gardens built from ironstone, all the others use a creamy-yellow limestone. The building is triangular in plan of two storeys with a pentagonal shaped tower at each corner, one of which rises two floors higher than the main building, while the other two towers have lanterns on their roofs. Above the door is a quote from Pierre Corneille's play Horace: Je rends grace aux Dieux de n'estre pas Roman (I thank the gods I am not a Roman).
The interior includes a circular room of two storeys covered by a shallow dome that is painted to mimic mosaic work including shields representing the Heptarchy. Dedicated 'To the Liberty of our Ancestors'. To quote John Martin Robinson: 'to the Whigs, Saxon and Gothic were interchangeably associated with freedom and ancient English liberties: trial by jury (erroneously thought to have been founded by King Alfred at a moot on Salisbury Plain), Magna Carta, parliamentary representation, all the things which the Civil War and Glorious Revolution had protected from the wiles of Stuart would-be absolutism, and to the preservation of which Lord Cobham and his 'Patriots' were seriously devoted.
Park of Versailles / Versailles / Île-de-France / France
Album of France (the north): www.flickr.com/photos/tabliniumcarlson/albums/72157713208...
This new tolerance sees the specks of intolerance in the eyes of others, but can’t see its own logs of intolerance, dogmatism, pride, absolutism, discrimination, authoritarianism, and lack of love. - Alevander Strauch
Palace of Versailles / Versailles / Île-de-France / France
Album of France (the north): www.flickr.com/photos/tabliniumcarlson/albums/72157713208...
Victor-Marie Hugo (French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo] (listen); 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time.
His most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). In France, Hugo is renowned for his poetry collections, such as Les Contemplations (The Contemplations) and La Légende des siècles (The Legend of the Ages). Hugo was at the forefront of the Romantic literary movement with his play Cromwell and drama Hernani. Many of his works have inspired music, both during his lifetime and after his death, including the opera Rigoletto and the musicals Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.
Though he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His opposition to absolutism and his literary stature established him as a national hero. He was honoured by interment in the Panthéon.
The Temple Church in London is said to be the mother Church of the Common Law. There is a special Magna Carta Exhibition in the Round Church, which many visitors are clearly enjoying.
It is an active Church in the Church of England, and has one of the finest choirs in England; the choir is broadcast regularly on the radio.
The Church is closely linked to Magna Carta and its legacy ever since 1214.
The Temple was King John’s London headquarters, 1214-5. From here he issued two vital preliminary charters, and here in January 1215 the barons confronted him for the first time with the demand that he subject himself to the rule of a charter.
The hero of Magna Carta was William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. He mediated between John and the barons, secured the agreement embodied in Magna Carta and was one of the King’s advisors at Runnymede.
When John died the Marshal became guardian of the boy-king Henry III and of the kingdom. He re-issued Magna Carta under his own seal in 1216 and 1217, and so ensured its survival. He was buried in the Temple’s Round Church, where his effigy still lies.
William’s heir, William Marshal the second Earl, was one of the Surety Barons at Runnymede. He then fought alongside his father at the Battle of Lincoln to save the kingdom for Henry III. He married Henry’s sister. He too was buried in the Round, next to his father, where his effigy still lies.
The Temple’s Chancel was built, 1135-40, to be the funerary chapel of Henry III and his queen. With Henry’s re-issue of Magna Carta in 1225 the Charter was secure.
The Temple’s Common Law lawyers led the resistance in the 17th century against the Stuart kings’ absolutism. The lawyers – such as Coke and Selden – repeatedly invoked Magna Carta.
We are but a small part of the vast universe and the Temple is a good place to understand this
A Pietrasanta in provincia di Lucca, in Piazza Duomo, il monumento al Granduca di Toscana Leopoldo II di Lorena, opera dello scultore locale Vincenzo Santini.eopoldo, succeduto al fratello Giuseppe II, fu un moderato proponente dell'assolutismo illuminato e propugnatore del Codice leopoldino, legge che portò il Granducato di Toscana ad essere il primo Stato nella storia ad abolire formalmente la pena di morte.
In Pietrasanta in the province of Lucca, in Piazza Duomo, the monument to the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopoldo II of Lorraine, the work of the local sculptor Vincenzo Santini. Leopoldo, succeeded by his brother Joseph II, was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism and proponent of the Leopoldine Code , law that led the Grand Duchy of Tuscany to be the first state in history to formally abolish the death penalty.
France, Alsace, Colmar, the wine bar "Winstub Unterlinden & Restaurant Pfeffel" next to the Dominican Convent are named after Colmar born Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel, June 1736 – May 1809, a French-German writer & translator, whose texts were put to music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn & Franz Schubert. In 1754, he went to Dresden for treatment of an eye problem, but his eye condition deteriorated, in 1758 after an operation, he became completely blind & had to abandon his studies, he devoted his life to literature & to the study of military tactics.
Poet most of all, he used fables as a way of political, social criticism & showed himself as an engaged author, destroyer of the absolutism of the princes, anticlerical & close to underprivileged persons. 1773, he founded a military academy in Colmar, originally reserved for young Protestants nobles who intended to make a career in the army, the school enlarged its recruitment & its functions so it would become a "suitable academy for every State & every Country", Pfeffel deceased 1809 in his native town.
Colmar, the “jewellery box” among Alsatian cities founded by Franconian, a mix of cultures with all of its history & its architecture is the most visible symbol of Rhenish art. The first documentary evidence of the town goes back to the year 823 AD Despite the wars, Colmar remained virtually unscathed & today offers a stroll through the centuries. Many monuments dating from the Middle-Ages to Renaissance have been finely restored & are on the historical monuments list.
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13 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
Katharina II., genannt Katharina die Große, war ab dem 9. Juli 1762 Kaiserin von Russland und ab 1793 Herrin von Jever. Sie ist die einzige Herrscherin, der in der Geschichtsschreibung der Beiname die Große verliehen wurde. Katharina II. war eine Repräsentantin des aufgeklärten Absolutismus.
Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great, was Empress of Russia from July 9, 1762, and Lady of Jever from 1793. She is the only female ruler to be given the nickname "the Great" in historiography. Catherine II was a representative of enlightened absolutism.
She's representing the power by making all the guys and ghouls serve her. She's treated just like a tradicional queen. Frankie's offering her food, Clawdeen's brushing her hair, Ghoulia is giving her an expensive gemstone, Holt is giving her flowers and Duece is letting Katia put her legs on him. As you can see, on the plate which is on the pillow, she's cutted off the hands of the ones who are not serving her. That's showing that she's got the power and if someone refuses, they'll be on problems. Draculaura's hand has just been cutted off, so she's freaking out. While Cleo is super jealous no one is paying attention to her, when she's supposed to be the only ruler. She better starts serving Katia whether she wants to keep her hands.
No offense to anyone with this picture. I love MH dolls, but on this challenge they had to look as servants. Either way, I had such a great time playing with them. It's been one of the greatest photoshoots I've done so far.
I based on Absolutism in France on 1700-1800's. Kings and queens had absolute power for ruling its country, the difference is that Katia's trying to rule a creepatoria!
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy mainly as visible light, ultraviolet light, and infrared radiation. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 1.39 million kilometres (864,000 miles), or 109 times that of Earth. Its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth; it accounts for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. Roughly three quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen (~73%); the rest is mostly helium (~25%), with much smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in history. Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe. The King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures, such as Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, the Grand Condé, Turenne, Vauban, Boulle, Molière, Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, Lully, Charpentier, Marais, Le Brun, Rigaud, Bossuet, Le Vau, Mansart, Charles Perrault, Claude Perrault, and Le Nôtre.
WHAT A LAUGH ...!
A hero of mine, Napoléon. A rich character through and through, he had a habit of pinching the cheeks of those he was close with, and adored music with every fiber of his being, but couldn’t hold a tune. He held strong beliefs and a strong position, but he was fair to his people and honorable in combat. He held the fate of Europe in his hands for many years until it was taken from him at the Battle of Waterloo. He spent the rest of his life in exile, allowed to be the Governor of the island he was forced to reside in. But to a man once inches away from ruling Europe, such a life was worse than death. To him, there were no compromises - either you were grand or you were nothing, and while such absolutism has obvious flaws, I will always admire his resoluteness.
"Oporto" redirects here. For other uses of Porto and Oporto, see Porto (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 41°9′43.71″N 8°37′19.03″W
Porto
Municipality (Concelho)
Porto collage.png
From the top left corner clockwise: Avenida dos Aliados; Casa da Música; Igreja do Carmo; Old town at night with Luiz I Bridge; Estádio do Dragão; Panoramic view from Vila Nova de Gaia; Arrábida Bridge; Casa de Serralves; Clérigos Tower
Flag
Coat of arms
Official name: Concelho do Porto
Name origin: Portuguese: "port" (or O porto "the port")
Nickname: A Cidade Invicta (The Unvanquished City)
Country
Portugal
Region
Norte
Subregion
Grande Porto
District
Porto
Civil parishes
7
River
Douro
Center
Cedofeita
- elevation 104 m (341 ft)
- coordinates 41°9′43.71″N 8°37′19.03″W
Highest point
Monte Tadeu
- elevation 149 m (489 ft)
- coordinates 41°9′22″N 8°36′4″W
Lowest point
Sea level
- location Atlantic Ocean, Foz do Douro, Porto
- elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Length
11.57 km (7 mi), Northwest-Southeast
Width
5.31 km (3 mi), North-South
Area
41.42 km2 (16 sq mi)
- urban 389 km2 (150 sq mi)
- metro 1,883.61 km2 (727 sq mi)
Population
237,584 (2011)
- urban 1,401,805
- metro 1,762,524
Density
5,736 / km2 (14,856 / sq mi)
Settlement
275 BC
- Municipality 868
LAU
Concelho/Câmara Municipal
- location Praça General Humberto Delgado, Santo Ildefonso, Porto
- elevation 120 m (394 ft)
- coordinates 41°9′0″N 8°36′39″W
Mayor
Rui Moreira (Independent, supported by CDS-PP)
Municipal Chair
Miguel Pereira Leite (CDS-PP)
Timezone
WET (UTC0)
- summer (DST) WEST (UTC+1)
ISO 3166-2 code
PT-
Postal Zone
4000-286 Porto
Area Code & Prefix
(+351) 22[1]
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name
Historic Centre of Porto
Year
1996 (#20)
Number
755
Region
Europe and North America
Criteria
iv
Demonym
Portuense
Patron Saint
Nossa Senhora de Vandoma
Municipal Holidays
24 June (São João)
Location of the municipality of Porto in continental Portugal
Wikimedia Commons: Porto
Statistics: Instituto Nacional de Estatística[2]
Website: www.cm-porto.pt
Geographic detail from CAOP (2010)[3] produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP)
Porto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoɾtu]), also known as Oporto in English,[4] is the second-largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, and one of the major urban areas in Southwestern Europe. The urban area of Porto, which extends beyond the administrative limits of the city, has a population of 1,4 million (2011)[5] in an area of 389 km2 (150 sq mi),[6] making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal. Porto Metropolitan Area, on the other hand, includes an estimated 1,8 million people.[7][8][9] It is recognized as a Gamma-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group,[10] being one of five cities in the Iberian Peninsula with global city status, along with Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Valencia.
Located along the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and its historical core was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its Latin name, Portus Cale,[11] has been referred to as the origin of the name "Portugal", based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese the name of the city is spelled with a definite article ("o Porto"; English: the port). Consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and referred to as Oporto in modern literature and by many speakers.
One of Portugal's internationally famous exports, port wine, is named for Porto, since the metropolitan area, and in particular the adegas of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the production and export of the fortified wine.[12]
The history of Porto dates back to the 4th century, to the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. Celtic and Proto-Celtic ruins have been discovered in several areas, and their occupation has been dated to about 275 BC. During the Roman occupation, the city developed as an important commercial port, primarily in the trade between Olissipona (the modern Lisbon) and Bracara Augusta (the modern Braga).[13]
Porto fell under the control of the Moors during the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711. In 868, Vímara Peres, a Christian warlord from Gallaecia, and a vassal of the King of Asturias, Léon and Galicia, Alfonso III, was sent to reconquer and secure the lands from the Moors. This included the area from the Minho to the Douro River: the settlement of Portus Cale and the area that is known as Vila Nova de Gaia. Portus Cale, later[when?] referred to as Portucale, was the origin for the modern name of Portugal. In 868, Count Vímara Peres established the County of Portugal, or (Portuguese: Condado de Portucale), usually known as Condado Portucalense after reconquering the region north of Douro.[13]
In 1387, Porto was the site of the marriage of John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt; this symbolized a long-standing military alliance between Portugal and England. The Portuguese-English alliance, (see the Treaty of Windsor) is the world's oldest recorded military alliance.
In the 14th and the 15th centuries, Porto's shipyards contributed to the development of Portuguese shipbuilding. It was also from the port of Porto that, in 1415, Prince Henry the Navigator (son of John I of Portugal) embarked on the conquest of the Moorish port of Ceuta, in northern Morocco. This expedition by the King and his fleet, which counted among others Prince Henry, was followed by navigation and exploration along the western coast of Africa, initiating the Portuguese Age of Discovery. The nickname given to the people of Porto began in those days; Portuenses are to this day, colloquially, referred to as tripeiros (English: tripe peoples), referring to this period of history, when higher-quality cuts of meat were shipped from Porto with their sailors, while off-cuts and by-products, such as tripe, were left behind for the citizens of Porto: tripe remains a culturally important dish in modern day Porto.
18th century[edit]
The invasion of the Napoleonic troops in Portugal under Marshal Soult also brought war to the city of Porto. On 29 March 1809, as the population fled from the advancing French troops and tried to cross the river Douro over the Ponte das Barcas (a pontoon bridge), the bridge collapsed under the weight. This event is still remembered by a plate at the Ponte D. Luis I. The French army was rooted out of Porto by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, when his Anglo-Portuguese Army crossed the Douro river from the Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar (a former convent) in a brilliant daylight coup de main, using wine barges to transport the troops, so outflanking the French Army.
In 24 August 1820, a liberal revolution occurred, quickly spreading without resistance to the rest of the country. In 1822, a liberal constitution was accepted, partly through the efforts of the liberal assembly of Porto (Junta do Porto). When Miguel I of Portugal took the Portuguese throne in 1828, he rejected this constitution and reigned as an absolutist monarch. A Civil War was then fought from 1828 to 1834 between those supporting Constitutionalism, and those opposed to this change, keen on near-absolutism and led by D. Miguel. Porto rebelled again and had to undergo a siege of eighteen months between 1832 and 1833 by the absolutist army. Porto is also called "Cidade Invicta" (English: Unvanquished City) after successfully resisting the Miguelist siege. After the abdication of King Miguel, the liberal constitution was re-established.
Known as the city of bridges, Porto built its first permanent bridge, the Ponte das Barcas (a pontoon bridge), in 1806. Three years later, it collapsed under the weight of thousands of fugitives from the French Invasions during the Peninsular War, causing thousands of deaths.[14] It was replaced by the Ponte D. Maria II, popularised under the name Ponte Pênsil (suspended bridge) and built between 1841–43; only its supporting pylons have remained.
The Ponte D. Maria, a railway bridge, was inaugurated on 4 November of that same year; it was considered a feat of wrought iron engineering and was designed by Gustave Eiffel, notable for his Parisian tower. The later Ponte Dom Luís I replaced the aforementioned Ponte Pênsil. This last bridge was made by Teophile Seyrig, a former partner of Eiffel. Seyrig won a governmental competition that took place in 1879. Building began in 1881 and the bridge was opened to the public on 31 October 1886.[citation needed]
A higher learning institution in nautical sciences (Aula de Náutica, 1762) and a stock exchange (Bolsa do Porto, 1834) were established in the city, but were discontinued later.[when?]
Unrest by Republicans led to the first revolt against the monarchy in Porto on 31 January 1891. This resulted ultimately in the overthrow of the monarchy and proclamation of the republic by the 5 October 1910 revolution.
20th century[edit]
On 19 January 1919, forces favorable to the restoration of the Monarchy launched in Porto a counter-revolution known as Monarchy of the North. During this time, Porto was the capital of the restored kingdom, as the movement was contained to the north. The monarchy was deposed less than a month later and no other monarchist revolution in Portugal happened again.
In 1958 and 1960, Porto's streets hosted the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix.[citation needed]
The historic centre of Porto was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The World Heritage site is defined in two concentric zones; the "Protected area", and within it the "Classified area". The Classified area comprises the medieval borough located inside the 14th-century Romanesque wall
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(Redirected from Oporto)
Jingili Water Bug
From behind a sacred figurehead
Return from objectivity
Return from functionalism
Return from disciplinary power
Move towards subjectivity and genuine ideas
To find states of mind within the disorders
Of fidelity
Of passion
Of paganism
Of earthliness
This internal world
Of no plot
Of no absolutism
Nothing that is incontrovertibly true
Unpretentious
Mutual interest
Mutual understanding
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Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Royal Swedish Opera (Swedish: Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden.
The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side of Gustav Adolfs torg across from the former Arvfurstens Palats, now Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It lies on the north side of the Norrström River and is connected to the Royal Palace through the Norrbro bridge.
Further historically as well as architecturally important buildings in the close neighborhood are the Sager House, official residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden, and the Riksdag building.
The opera company was founded by King Gustav III and its first performance, Thetis and Phelée with Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin, was given on 18 January 1773; this was the first native speaking opera performed in Sweden.
But the first opera house was not opened until 1782 and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses are officially called the "Royal Opera", however the terms "The Gustavian Opera" and "The Oscarian Opera", or the "Old" and "New" Opera are used when distinction is needed.
The original Stockholm Opera House, the work of architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz was commissioned by King Gustav III, a strong adherent of the ideal of an enlightened absolutism and as such was a great patron of the arts. The Swedish Opera company had first been located in Bollhuset, but there was a need to separate the Opera from the theatre and give them separate buildings. Construction began in 1775 and the theatre was inaugurated on 30 September 1782 with a performance of the German composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann's Cora och Alonzo. It was also the place for public masquerade balls, events inspired from the famous opera-balls in Paris, which was open for everyone wearing a mask at a cheap cost and somewhat ill-reputed.
The building was very imposing with its centre Corinthian tetrastyle portico supporting four statues and topped by the royal crown. The four-tiered auditorium was oval in shape, had excellent acoustics and sight lines. The sumptuous foyer contained neoclassic medallions and pilasters.
It was in the foyer of the opera house where the king met his fate: during a masquerade on 16 March 1792, he was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström, and died 7 days later. (In turn, this event inspired the operas Gustave III by Daniel Auber and Un ballo in maschera by Verdi.) Following the assassination, the opera house was closed until 1 November 1792, when it was opened again, which by some was considered shocking. The son of Gustav III, King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, did not like the Opera, possibly because of the murder of his father, and disliked the fact that the scene of his father's murder was used as a place of amusement and leisure, and when a frivolous play was performed for his queen Frederica of Baden in 1806, he decided to close it down. It remained closed until 1809, and when the king was deposed, it took until May 1812, before it was organised enough to be fully opened again.
The old opera was demolished in 1892 to give way to the construction of a new Opera drawn by Axel Johan Anderberg, which was finished seven years later and inaugurated by King Oscar II with a production of a Swedish opera (that tradition having been quite firmly established during the 19th century), Franz Berwald's Estrella de Soria.
The new house had the letters Kungl. Teatern, literally "Royal Theatre" (which caused the later-founded Royal Dramatic Theatre to add the distinction "dramatic" to its name). The building is now simply called Operan ("The Opera"), written in golden letters above the middle arch on the front facade. It is a majestic neo-classical building with a magnificent gold foyer (Guldfoajén) and elegant marble grand staircase leading to a three-tiered auditorium somewhat smaller than the old theatre. It presently seats 1,200. Most productions are now sung in the original language (with Swedish subtitles), with only a few in Swedish.
The Royal Swedish Family of King Carl XVI Gustaf keeps the Royal Box reserved, located in the first tier in the auditorium above the orchestra pit.
Hercules monument / Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe / Kassel / Hesse / Germany
Album of Germany: www.flickr.com/photos/tabliniumcarlson/albums/72157626068...
© Saúl Tuñón Loureda
twitter.com/Woody_Twitt
El Teatro Nacional (en checo, Národní divadlo) de Praga es conocido como el alma máter de la ópera checa y como el monumento nacional de la historia y el arte checos.
El Teatro Nacional es una de las instituciones culturales checas más importantes, con una tradición artística muy rica que fue creada y mantenida por las personalidades más distinguidas de la sociedad checa. Esta tradición ayudó a preservar y desarrollar las características más importantes de la nación: el idioma checo y un sentido para la manera de pensar musical y dramática checa.
Hoy en día el Teatro Nacional consta de tres conjuntos artísticos (ópera, ballet y drama) que alternan sus actuaciones en los edificios históricos del Teatro Nacional, el Teatro Estatal, la Ópera Estatal y el Teatro Karlín, además del anexo (Nová scéna) construido en 1983 para alojar la Lanterna magika. Estos tres conjuntos artísticos eligen su repertorio no solo de la herencia clásica checa, sino además de centrarse en autores locales también lo hacen en la producción mundial moderna.
La idea de la construcción de un gran teatro en Praga que sirviera de sede a la naciente ópera nacional checa se remonta a 1844, cuando el político checo Frantisek Palacký elevó una propuesta en este sentido al Parlamento Regional. Seis años después se constituiría una sociedad encargada de recaudar fondos, mediante una suscripción popular. Un año después se determinó la localización de la parcela, a orillas del río Vltava, encarando la vista del Castillo de Praga. En la parte sur de esta parcela se erigió en 1862 el edificio del Teatro Checo Provisional (České prozatímní divadlo). Posteriormente, un grupo de jóvenes escritores e intelectuales checos (Miroslav Tyrš, Jan Neruda y Vítězslav Hálek) comenzaron una campaña para la construcción del teatro definitivo, que culminó con el encargo del proyecto al arquitecto Josef Zítek. La primera piedra se colocó el 16 de mayo de 1868 y la construcción se completó en 1877. Desde 1873 se convocaron diversos concursos para la decoración interior del edificio, en la que se combinan el estilo neo-renacentista del edificio con los temas inspirados por la mitología eslava, en auge en aquellos tiempos.
La apertura del Teatro se produjo el 11 de junio de 1881, coincidiendo con la visita a Praga del Príncipe Coronado Rodolfo, con el estreno de la ópera Libuše, de Bedřich Smetana, quien la había compuesto nueve años antes para esta ocasión. Tras once representaciones el teatro cerró de nuevo sus puertas para completar los trabajos de construcción, pero el 12 de agosto se declaró un incendio que destruyó la cubierta, el auditorio y el escenario. El incendio se consideró una tragedia nacional, y provocó un nuevo movimiento de recaudación de fondos, que condujo al encargo al arquitecto Josef Schulz, que aprovechó la ocasión para ampliarlo, incorporando el edificio del Teatro Provisional, y mejorando la visibilidad en el auditorio, al tiempo que mantenía el estilo original del proyecto de Zítek. El teatro reconstruido se reabrió el 18 de noviembre de 1883, de nuevo con Libuše.
En 1977, tras casi un siglo de funcionamiento, el teatro se cerró para acometer una importante obra de remodelación y restauración que culminó con la reapertura, el día del centenario de la inauguración, el 18 de noviembre de 1983, de nuevo con una representación de Libuše.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_Nacional_(Praga)
The National Theatre (Czech: Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.
The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition, which helped to preserve and develop the most important features of the nation–the Czech language and a sense for a Czech musical and dramatic way of thinking.
Today the National Theatre consists of three artistic ensembles: opera, ballet and drama. They alternate in their performances in the historic building of the National Theatre, in the Theatre of the Estates and in the Kolowrat Theatre. All three artistic ensembles select their repertoire both from classical heritage, and modern authors.
The cornerstone of the National Theatre was laid on 16 May 1868, but the idea of building a theatre dates back to the autumn of 1844 at the gatherings of patriots in Prague. An application was submitted by František Palacký to the Provincial Committee of the Czech Assembly on 29 January 1845, requesting "the privilege of constructing, furnishing, maintaining and managing" of an independent Czech theatre. The application was granted in April 1845, but it was not until six years later – in April 1851 – that the founding Society for the Establishment of a Czech National Theatre in Prague made the first public appeal to start a collection. A year later the proceeds went toward the purchase of land belonging to a former salt works covering an area of not quite 28 acres (11 ha) which determined the magnificent site of the theatre on the banks of the river Vltava facing the panorama of Prague Castle, but at the same time the cramped area and trapezium shape posed challenging problems for the designers of the building.
The era of von Bach absolutism brought to a halt preparations for the envisaged theatre and supported the concept of a modest provisional building, which was erected on the south side of the theatre parcel by architect Ignac Ullmann and opened on 18 November 1862. The building of the Provisional Theatre then became a constituent part of the final version of the National Theatre; its outside cladding is visible to this day in the elevated section of the rear part of the building, and the interior layout was only obliterated following the latest reconstruction of the National Theatre in 1977 – 1983. Simultaneously with the realization of this minimal programme asserted by F.L. Rieger and the Provincial Committee, the young progressive advocates of the original ambitious concept of the building (Sladkovský, Tyrš, Neruda, Hálek) launched an offensive. In 1865 these men attained leading positions in the Society and requested the 33-year-old professor of civil engineering at the Prague Technical College, architect Josef Zítek, to draft a design for the National Theatre. He then came out on top in a later-declared open competition, and in 1867 construction work began. On 16 May 1868, the foundation stone was laid, and in November the foundations were completed. In 1875 the new building reached its full height and in 1877 the theatre was roofed over. As of 1873 there was an ongoing competition for the interior decoration of the building, the scenario of which had been elaborated by a special commission under the leadership of Sladkovský. On the one hand, the themes were in the spirit of the Neo-Renaissance concept of a classic building. On the other hand, they were inspired by the current enthusiasm for Slavonic mythology and the stories of the Manuscripts; both of these concepts were based on Josef Mánes' paintings and connected with the contemporary style of romantic landscape painting (also linked to Czech history). They provided the fundamental ideology guiding artistic expression, which today is described as the art of the generation of the National Theatre.
The theatre includes a triga (a three-horse quadriga) and 10 exterior allegorical sculptures by Bohuslav Schnirch, 10 more exterior pieces by Antonín Wagner, the stone pieces by Max Verich and an interior sculpted pediment group over the proscenium arch by Schnirch.
Grand opening
The National Theatre was opened for the first time on 11 June 1881, to honour the visit of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. Bedřich Smetana's opera Libuše was given its world premiere, conducted by Adolf Čech. Another 11 performances were presented after that. Then the theatre was closed down to enable the completion of the finishing touches. While this work was under way a fire broke out on 12 August 1881, which destroyed the copper dome, the auditorium and the stage of the theatre.
The fire was seen as a national catastrophe and was met with a mighty wave of determination to take up a new collection: Within 47 days a million guldens were collected. This national enthusiasm, however, did not correspond to the behind-the-scenes battles that flared up following the catastrophe. Architect Josef Zítek was no longer in the running, and his pupil architect Josef Schulz was summoned to work on the reconstruction. He was the one to assert the expansion of the edifice to include the block of flats belonging to Dr. Polák that was situated behind the building of the Provisional Theatre. He made this building a part of the National Theatre and simultaneously changed somewhat the area of the auditorium to improve visibility. He did, however, take into account with utmost sensitivity the style of Zítek's design, and so he managed to merge three buildings by various architects to form an absolute unity of style.
acrylic on canvas, 2015, 70 x 100 cm
-- la culture de l'enthousiasme moutonnier --
- the culture of sheep enthusiasm
Censorship is about submission !!
In de Nazi-periode moesten de vrijheid en uniciteit van het individu plaats maken voor conformisme, dienstbaarheid en ondergeschiktheid. De verpulvering van de mens tot een ding was zonder twijfel het grootste drama van de twintigste eeuw. Hiermee werd de Kantiaanse stelling dat we de mens steeds als een doel moeten zien en niet als een middel, brutaal en meedogenloos opzij geschoven. De wreedheden die in de kampen gebeurden waren zo erg dat menige overlevende zich bewust was dat anderen hen niet zouden geloven.
www.liberales.be/teksten/2017/12/2/over-kampliteratuur-ja...
In Islamic cultures, for instance, the community prevails over the individual - Prof. Chantal Mouffe, 4 november 2013
Albert Jacquard 1994 Noms de dieux
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9updAv018&feature=youtu.be
Jan Theuninck is a Belgian painter
www.boekgrrls.nl/BgDiversen/Onderwerpen/gedichten_over_sc...
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.be/wiki/index.php/Yperite-Jan...
www.graphiste-webdesigner.fr/blog/2013/04/la-peinture-bel...
www.eutrio.be/expo-west-meets-east
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shut up !
don't try to be
who you are
shut up !
some more discipline
and a cheerful face
shut up !
your duty is sacred
work yourself to death
shut up !
your only way
is "their" way
shut up !
© by Jan Theuninck
The garden façade of Château du Champ-de-Bataille, Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, Normandy, France
Some background information:
The Château du Champ-de-Bataille (in English: "Palace on the battlefield") is a palace in the French department of Eure within the region of Normandy in Northern France. Before the regions of Upper and Lower Normandy were merged in 2016 becoming one region, the stately home belonged to the region of Upper Normandy (in French: "Haute-Normandie"). The palace lies between the little town of Le Neubourg and the village of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc on the municipal territory of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc. The landscape where it is located, is named "Campagne du Neubourg", a level country bordered by the rivers Iton to the east and Risle to the west.
The Château du Champ-de-Bataille is also situated about 35 km (22 miles) to the southwest of the city of Rouen, about 55 km (34 miles) to the southeast of the city of Le Havre and about 130 km (81 miles) to the northwest of the French capital Paris. in 1952, parts of the estate were listed as a French national historic monument ("monument historique"), in 1971, even more parts were added and since 1995, the whole site has landmark status.
Some sources claim that the palace was named after the Battle of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, in which the troops of William Longsword, then ruler of the Normandy, allegedly fought against the army of Robert II (also known as "Robert the Dane"), archbishop of Rouen and Earl of Évreux. However, as the battle is dated to the year 935 and Robert the Dane died not before 1037, others believe that the Battle of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc is just a legend. Instead they assume that the first owner of this site was a nobleman named Bataille.
Historically confirmed is the year of the château’s start of construction, 1653. Two years before, Alexandre, Earl of Créquy-Bernieulle, was sentenced to exile in the countryside. He was lucky not to have been sentenced to death, as he was a member of the rebels during the so-called Fronde. The Fronde was a series of civil wars that took place between 1648 and 1653. During the Fronde, Alexandre de Créquy was imprisoned and banned, while the insurrection against the royal absolutism the young king Louis XIV and his loyal chief minister Cardinal Mazarin was defeated.
De Créquy had no other chance but to resign to his fate and hence, decided to erect a palace in his rural exile, which reminded him of the splendour of the royal court and also allowed him to demonstrate his power. Construction started in 1653 and was finished in 1665. To realise his dream, he engaged the renowned architect Louis le Vau, who was also involved in the construction of the royal Château de Versailles. The palace’s impressive inner courtyard as well as its classic lines and perfect proportions make it a unique example of the baroque architecture of its day.
After de Créquy’s death, his nephew Gabriel-René, Marquis of Mailloc, inherited the mansion. In 1720, he married Claude-Lydie d’Harcourt, but already died four years later. After his death, the Château du Champ-de-Bataille came into possession of his wife’s family. Soon afterwards, it was inhabited by Anne-François d’Harcourt, Duke of Beuvron.
During the French Revolution, the palace was plundered. In 1802, it was still in possession of the family d’Harcourt, but when it was offered the British merchant Thomas Thornton, he answered that despite the Château du Champ-de-Bataille is still beautiful, it has no central water supply and that’s why he has to decline with thanks. In 1805, it was sold anyway, but rebought by the Earl of Harcourt in 1903.
In 1936, it was sold again and utilised as an orphanage. During World War II, it was first occupied by British troops and then by German troops. After the liberation of France the palace served as a prisoner of war camp. In 1948, the family d’Harcourt rebought the château once again and in 1966, the family celebrated its millenary anniversary in its stately home.
1992 was another important year in the history of the Château du Champ-de-Bataille, because in that year the palace was bought by the French architect, interior and garden designer Jacques Garcia. He carried out large-scale renovations and restored its former 18th century splendour. But he also attended to the meanwhile ragged gardens and recreated the large French formal gardens in all their glory.
Garcia was inspired by sketches of the original gardens, long vanished, which showed the placement of the great terrace, the broderies and bosquets, and the proportions of the squares of Apollo and Diana. These features were scrupulously reproduced, while the new features of the garden took their "measure and tone" from the original model. Today, the garden is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the Notable Gardens of France ("Jardin remarquable"). Both gardens and palace can be visited (if current corona regulations allow it).
The main wing of the Château de Brézé in the village of Brézé, Loire Valley, France
Some background information:
The Château de Brézé is located in the community of Brézé in the French department of Maine-et-Loire, just about ten kilometres (6.2 miles) south of the town of Saumur. The city of Angers is situated about 50 km (31 miles) to the northwest, while the city of Tours lies about 60 km (37 miles) to the northeast. It is considered one of the most intriguing castles of the Loire, partly due to its underground fortress, and partly because of its rich history.
The Château de Brézé was built between the 11th and 19th centuries in the heart of a vineyard with an area of several dozen hectares. In 1060, it was first mentioned in a document. But today’s structure dates primarily from the 16th to 19th centuries. However, the oldest parts of today’s building are the towers framing the main wing. They were erected in the 13th century, but were later modified to match the Renaissance appearance, which was contemporary almost 600 years ago. Their current architectural design is believed to date back to the rebuilding of the fortifications by Gilles de Maillé-Brézé in 1448.
Around 1515, the castle was again heavily modified. Additional alterations, carried out by Arthur de Maillé-Brézé around 1560, included the construction of the east side of the Renaissance wing. One of the castle’s most interesting parts is the moat. It’s a dry and very deep ditch, which was created by the quarrying of the tuff, on which the Château de Brézé stands. But it did not only have the purpose of a defensive work, as it was also used for economic reasons. In caves quarried into the tuff of the outer walls of the moat, visitors can still see the castle’s outbuildings such as a bakery, a press house, a wine cellar and a room for silkworm breeding.
Over the centuries, Château de Brézé has been home to several families. Just like the Brézé lordship and in the 17th century also the title of Marquis de Brézé, it belonged to the House of Maillé-Brézé, which had already acquired the village of Brézé in the 14th century. It was also this family, which carried out the first extensive renovations in the 15th century. After Gilles de Maillé-Brézé had received permission from René I, Duke of Anjou, to fortify the castle, he had the ten to twelve meter deep ditches dug around the building. In 1558, his descendant Arthur de Maillé-Brézé added the Renaissance wing. In 1615, the estate was made a marquisate by the French King Louis XIII and Urbain de Maillé-Brézé became the first marquis. He married Nicole du Plessis, the sister of Cardinal Richelieu, and their son Armand became an Admiral of France.
In 1650, Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, sole heiress, married Louis II de Bourbon, prince of Condé, and passed the estate on to his family. In the same year, the "Great Condé" (that was his nickname) joined the Fronde. The Fronde was an alliance of the French nobility, the high judiciary of the Parlements, above all the Parlement of Paris, and parts of the people, also mainly in Paris, which was directed against the increasing absolutism in France in the 17th century. Subsequently, a series of civil wars took place between 1648 and 1653. In 1653, the Château de Brézé was occupied by royal troops for one year.
In 1682, Louis II de Bourbon exchanged the Château de Brézé for the Château de la Galissonnière near Nantes. The new owner of the estate, Thomas de Dreux, advisor to the Parliament in Paris, not only acquired the estate, but also received the title of Marquis under King Louis XIV. In 1701, the title of "Master of Ceremonies" was also bestowed on the family Dreux- Brézé, which they retained until 1830.
Henrio Evrard de Dreux-Brézé, King Louis XVI's Master of Ceremonies, expanded the Renaissance part of the castle. His son Pierre, Bishop of Moulins, and his grandson Henry Simon began remodeling the château, giving it the neo-Gothic style elements that are still in evidence today. After Charlotte de Dreux-Brézé had married Count Bernard de Colbert in 1959, the estate came into the possession of the Colbert family, who still live there today.
The current owners operate Brézé Castle mainly as a winery with around 30 hectares of cultivation area. Since the year 2000,parts of the cave's basement and the castle are open to the public. Since 2000, the Château de Brézé belongs to the UNESCO Word Heritage Site "The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes" with its many breathtaking châteaux. Altogether there are more than 400 of them in the Loire region.
The Château du Champ-de-Bataille, seen from its extensive gardens, Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, Normandy, France
Some background information:
The Château du Champ-de-Bataille (in English: "Palace on the battlefield") is a palace in the French department of Eure within the region of Normandy in Northern France. Before the regions of Upper and Lower Normandy were merged in 2016 becoming one region, the stately home belonged to the region of Upper Normandy (in French: "Haute-Normandie"). The palace lies between the little town of Le Neubourg and the village of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc on the municipal territory of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc. The landscape where it is located, is named "Campagne du Neubourg", a level country bordered by the rivers Iton to the east and Risle to the west.
The Château du Champ-de-Bataille is also situated about 35 km (22 miles) to the southwest of the city of Rouen, about 55 km (34 miles) to the southeast of the city of Le Havre and about 130 km (81 miles) to the northwest of the French capital Paris. in 1952, parts of the estate were listed as a French national historic monument ("monument historique"), in 1971, even more parts were added and since 1995, the whole site has landmark status.
Some sources claim that the palace was named after the Battle of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, in which the troops of William Longsword, then ruler of the Normandy, allegedly fought against the army of Robert II (also known as "Robert the Dane"), archbishop of Rouen and Earl of Évreux. However, as the battle is dated to the year 935 and Robert the Dane died not before 1037, others believe that the Battle of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc is just a legend. Instead they assume that the first owner of this site was a nobleman named Bataille.
Historically confirmed is the year of the château’s start of construction, 1653. Two years before, Alexandre, Earl of Créquy-Bernieulle, was sentenced to exile in the countryside. He was lucky not to have been sentenced to death, as he was a member of the rebels during the so-called Fronde. The Fronde was a series of civil wars that took place between 1648 and 1653. During the Fronde, Alexandre de Créquy was imprisoned and banned, while the insurrection against the royal absolutism the young king Louis XIV and his loyal chief minister Cardinal Mazarin was defeated.
De Créquy had no other chance but to resign to his fate and hence, decided to erect a palace in his rural exile, which reminded him of the splendour of the royal court and also allowed him to demonstrate his power. Construction started in 1653 and was finished in 1665. To realise his dream, he engaged the renowned architect Louis le Vau, who was also involved in the construction of the royal Château de Versailles. The palace’s impressive inner courtyard as well as its classic lines and perfect proportions make it a unique example of the baroque architecture of its day.
After de Créquy’s death, his nephew Gabriel-René, Marquis of Mailloc, inherited the mansion. In 1720, he married Claude-Lydie d’Harcourt, but already died four years later. After his death, the Château du Champ-de-Bataille came into possession of his wife’s family. Soon afterwards, it was inhabited by Anne-François d’Harcourt, Duke of Beuvron.
During the French Revolution, the palace was plundered. In 1802, it was still in possession of the family d’Harcourt, but when it was offered the British merchant Thomas Thornton, he answered that despite the Château du Champ-de-Bataille is still beautiful, it has no central water supply and that’s why he has to decline with thanks. In 1805, it was sold anyway, but rebought by the Earl of Harcourt in 1903.
In 1936, it was sold again and utilised as an orphanage. During World War II, it was first occupied by British troops and then by German troops. After the liberation of France the palace served as a prisoner of war camp. In 1948, the family d’Harcourt rebought the château once again and in 1966, the family celebrated its millenary anniversary in its stately home.
1992 was another important year in the history of the Château du Champ-de-Bataille, because in that year the palace was bought by the French architect, interior and garden designer Jacques Garcia. He carried out large-scale renovations and restored its former 18th century splendour. But he also attended to the meanwhile ragged gardens and recreated the large French formal gardens in all their glory.
Garcia was inspired by sketches of the original gardens, long vanished, which showed the placement of the great terrace, the broderies and bosquets, and the proportions of the squares of Apollo and Diana. These features were scrupulously reproduced, while the new features of the garden took their "measure and tone" from the original model. Today, the garden is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the Notable Gardens of France ("Jardin remarquable"). Both gardens and palace can be visited (if current corona regulations allow it).
En la imagen destacar: la fachada del Ayuntamiento y el monumento a los mártires de la libertad " Lo Coloraos" . Defendías la Constitución de 1812, las de Cádiz, frente al absolutismo de Fernando VII.
The image highlights the façade of the Town Hall and the monument to the martyrs of liberty, "Lo Coloraos." You defended the 1812 Constitution, that of Cadiz, against the absolutism of Ferdinand VII.
The summer residence of the Royal House of Hanover was destroyed in the Second World War. Now it has been rebuilt on the original site to the original plans and filled with life for modern times.
The opening of the Palace on 18 January 2013 ended decades of debate about whether to rebuild it. The magnificent, but by no means ostentatious new building, creates a bridge between tradition and modernism. The outside features the neoclassical façade, built according to historical plans by court architect Georg Ludwig Laves from 1819. The interior is characterised by clearly defined shapes and state-of-the-art equipment. According to the wishes of the Palace project's sponsor, Volkswagen Foundation in Hannover, an advanced congress centre and meeting place for business, culture and academia was created.
Hannover (Lower Saxony) Germany Europe
Frederik's Church, popularly known as The Marble Church (Marmorkirken) for its rococo architecture, is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Copenhagen, Denmark. The church forms the focal point of the Frederiksstaden district; it is located due west of Amalienborg Palace. The church was designed by the architect Nicolai Eigtved in 1740 and was along with the rest of Frederiksstaden, a district of Copenhagen, intended to commemorate the 300 years jubilee of the first coronation of a member of the House of Oldenburg.
Frederick's Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The dome rests on 12 columns. The inspiration was probably St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The foundation stone was set by king Frederick V on October 31, 1749, but the construction was slowed by budget cuts and the death of Eigtved in 1754. In 1770, the original plans for the church were abandoned by Johann Friedrich Struensee. The church was left incomplete and, in spite of several initiatives to complete it, stood as a ruin for nearly 150 years.
The equestrian statue of King Frederik V was commissioned by Moltke, as Director for the Danish Asiatic Company, and it was made by French sculptor Jacques-Francois-Joseph Saly. Work began in 1753, and the foundation stone was laid in place in 1760 at the 100-year celebration of political absolutism in Denmark. The statue was finally unveiled in 1771, five years after King Frederik V's death in 1766.
Unfortunately, the English language contains so few words of reprobation and invective that I cannot satisfactorily describe Mr. Brown Pelican's feckless convictions. At least our language's lexicon is sufficiently voluminous for me to explain that if you were to tell Mr. Pelican that I condemn his carnival-barker gimmicks, he'd just pull his security blanket a little tighter around himself and refuse to come out and deal with the real world. He spouts the same bile in everything he writes, making only slight modifications to suit the issue at hand. The issue Mr. Pelican's excited about this week is absolutism, which says to me that one of the goals of totalitarianism is to render meaningless the words "best" and "worst". Mr. Pelican admires that philosophy because, by annihilating human perceptions of quality, Mr. Pelican's own mediocrity can flourish.
НИКОЛАЙ ФЕШИН - Портрет мадемуазель Подбельской
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Location: Cyril & Yulia Naumov collection, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Christie's London, Important Russian Art, November 2012.
Sources: www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5630186
www.theartnewspaper.ru/posts/6863/
en.rusmuseum.ru/benois-wing/exhibitions/three-petersburg-...
Auction's catalogue entry by Dr Galina Tuluzakova
Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin is widely regarded as one of the most distinguished artists of the first half of the 20th century whose oeuvre is marked with the interlacing of traditional values of both European and Russian schools of art. Being a versatile artist, Fechin was, first and foremost, an outstanding master of portraiture. As a result of forced emigration in 1923, the artist's legacy equally belongs to Russia and the United States of America. A number of significant works were created in America and yet his 'Russian period', especially those last years spent at the Imperial Academy of Art (1901-1909) and the 'Kazan period' (1910-1923) are rightfully considered to be the most significant periods of the artist's career.
The art of Nicolai Fechin belongs to the modernist style, with its openly expressed duality of the real and the perceived in which the artist's vision of nature plays on the available resources, fusing into one single organic whole elements of diverse stylistic systems (from Academism and Realism to Impressionism and Expressionism), the absolutism of Beauty (the understanding of which has become extraordinarily complicated) and exceptional technical mastery.
Fechin's return to his native Kazan to teach at the Kazan Art School in 1910, launched his 'Kazan period', during which his maturity as an artist was revealed in genre scenes as well as in portraits. The vast majority of portraits from that time are characterized by their sketch-like quality. In his portraiture, Fechin tried to preserve the freshness and spontaneity of an impression by his deliberate use of fluid strokes and seemingly unfinished appearance of his works. Such a technique was aimed at recreating a time when everyday life seems joyful, the senses are prevailing and everything is full of vitality and beauty. The artist's standpoint at that period is best revealed in his depictions of women. For Fechin, amiable and intelligent women embody all the best and most graceful of what life has to offer. Women are tranquil and cheerful creatures made of flesh and blood, not fragile ethereal beings. Even their poses and gestures do not interfere with the feeling of their vibrant youth. In his depictions, he was not looking for psychological depth, but rather their inner essence was essential in his choice of models, most of whom during that period were students of the Kazan Art School. A frequent desire to reveal the nature of the individual in greater detail, and at the same time to solve a variety of plastic problems, led to several representations of the same model (portraits of A. N. Belkovich, N. M. Sapozhnikova, E. F. Oshustovich, T. A. Popova). Within the framework of his artistic concept, Fechin's works are exceptionally various. In each work the artist sets a new compositional, coloristic or textural dilemma and then resolves it masterfully.
Natalia Alexandrovna Podbelskaya (?-1921; a student of the Kazan Art School, circa 1910-1916) was a sitter for four of Fechin's paintings. The artist completed two plein-air studies of her (in the collections of the Bashkir Art Museum named after M. V. Nesterov and the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg) and a 1912 portrait called Lady in Pink considered by many to be a masterpiece.
Portrait of Mademoiselle Podbelskaya (1912) is the fourth known work featuring the young model. It brilliantly exemplifies all the signature features of Fechin's body of work, employing a wide range of techniques, combining smooth painting with rapid brush strokes and heavy impasto. He often used a palette knife with wet paint to unify colours and create texture. This technique enabled him to create a contrast between such elaborate elements as a face or a hand and the spontaneous interplay of a charcoal under-drawing, with coloured areas and rhymes and textures of garments in the background. As a result, the portrait is devoid of static rigidity and the dynamic ripple of the paint layer conveys the flow of a vital energy and the impulsive emotional state. This effect is compounded by the diagonal structure of the portrait's composition. The seemingly random groups of lines and splashes of colour are strictly organized; there is a precisely defined internal structure behind the chaos of colour and all the anatomical and spatial relationships are accurately maintained. The three-dimensional figure and flat background do not contradict each other as pictorial and decorative elements co-exist with ease. Ranging from ochre-grey to deep black, the painting's overall palette reveals exquisite restraint with accents of bright red, pink, and blue. The sitter's dress features a particularly complex array of colour combinations. Technically, the execution of Mademoiselle Podbelskaya's portrait refers back to earlier portraits of N. M. Sapozhnikova (fig. 2) and is amongst other examples of the artist's masterpieces such as Young woman (1912, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington) and a portrait of Mademoiselle Zhirmont, (1917, private collection, USA).
In 1913 the portrait was exhibited at the XI Internationale Kunstausstellung in Munich. The portrait was apparently acquired by a private collector from the exhibition and to this date its existence was only known from publications of the 1920s and 1930s. This portrait of Mademoiselle Podbelskaya, is not only a rather distinctive work by Fechin, but also an outstanding piece of art of museum quality. It bears testimony to the bright and exceptional artistic talent of Fechin, who naturally combined his academic skills with the cutting-edge ideas of the early 20th century. It demonstrates spontaneity of emotion, exploding into rapid, energetic, and free art with a rigid internal logic of composition, superlative draftsmanship with subtleties and colourist constructions. This work is one of the striking examples of Art Nouveau portraiture and one of Fechin's undeniable masterpieces.
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Linderhof Palace (German: Schloss Linderhof) is in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.
Ludwig already knew the area around Linderhof from his youth when he had accompanied his father King Maximilian II of Bavaria on his hunting trips in the Bavarian Alps. When Ludwig II became king in 1864 he inherited the so-called Königshäuschen from his father, and in 1869 began enlarging the building. In 1874 he decided to tear down the Königshäuschen and rebuild it on its present-day location in the park. At the same time three new rooms and the staircase were added to the remaining U-shaped complex, and the previous wooden exterior was clad with stone façades. The building was designed in the style of the second rococo-period. Between 1863 and 1886 a total of 8,460,937 marks was spent constructing Linderhof.
Although Linderhof is much smaller than Versailles, it is evident that the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV (who was an idol for Ludwig) was its inspiration. The staircase, for example, is a reduction of the famous Ambassador's staircase in Versailles, which would be copied in full in Herrenchiemsee. Stylistically, however, the building and its decor take their cues from the mid-18th century Rococo of Louis XV, and the small palace in the Graswang was more directly based on that king's Petit Trianon on the Versailles grounds. The symbol of the sun that can be found everywhere in the decoration of the rooms represents the French notion of absolutism that, for Ludwig, was the perfect incorporation of his ideal of a God-given monarchy with total royal power. Such a monarchy could no longer be realised in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. The bedroom was important to the ceremonial life of an absolute monarch; Louis XIV of France used to give his first (lever) and last audience (coucher) of the day in his bedchamber. In imitation of Versailles, the bedroom is the largest chamber of Linderhof Palace. By facing north, however, the Linderhof bedroom inverts the symbolism of its Versailles counterpart, showing Ludwig's self-image as a "Night-King."
The location of the palace near Ettal Abbey again presents another interesting point. Because of its architecture Ludwig saw the church of the monastery as the room where the holy grail was preserved. This fact connects the idea of a baroque palace to the one of a "medieval" castle such as Neuschwanstein and reminds of the operas of Richard Wagner whose patron Ludwig was.
Alliance - The Digital Militias In Social Media by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)
The false "lack of freedom of expression" that the "New Order" initially complained about, because democratic institutions and large international media companies still held the power over information and regulation, was now transformed by the new social networks into a gigantic propaganda weapon, supported by veritable digital militias that hijacked comments while promoting conspiracy and ideological alienation on a daily and systematic basis.
In the end, it would be the New Order that imposed censorship and regulation of speech out of fear and the need to control the so-called radicals responsible for the Chaos, considered a danger to the hegemony of the leader's One and Unquestionable Thought.
And anyone could be denounced or persecuted for what they wrote or commented on social media. The great achievement of Freedom of Expression was now nothing more than an immense thought-shaping machine and the tool of oppression of the new dictators elected in a democracy.
The New Oligarchic Absolutism of modern times was nothing more than a new contemporary Fascism, or in truth, a Neo-Nazism disguised as Patriotic Ultranationalism.
- Open Your Eyes !
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A falsa "falta de liberdade de expressão" que a "Nova Ordem" se queixava de inicio, pois as instituições democráticas e as grandes empresas de media institucionais ainda tinham o poder da informação e da regulação, era agora transformada com as novas redes sociais numa arma de propaganda gigantesca com o apoio de verdadeiras milícias digitais que tomavam de assalto os comentários enquanto promoviam a conspiração e a alienação ideológica diária e sistemática.
No fim seria a Nova Ordem a impor a censura e a regulação do discurso pelo medo e pela necessidade de controlar os chamados radicais responsáveis pelo Caos, considerados um perigo para a hegemonia do Pensamento Único e incontestável do líder.
E qualquer um podia ser denunciado ou perseguido pelo que escrevia ou comentava nas redes sociais.
A grande conquista da Liberdade de Expressão não passava agora numa imensa maquina de modelação do pensamento e a ferramenta de Opressão dos novos Ditadores eleitos em Democracia.
O Novo Absolutismo Oligárquico dos tempos modernos não era mais do que um novo Fascismo contemporâneo ou a bem da verdade um Neonazismo disfarçado de Ultranacionalismo Patriota.
- Abram Os Olhos !
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Portuguese
A Praça de D. Pedro IV, mais conhecida por Rossio (na grafia antiga Rocio), é uma praça da Baixa de Lisboa, tem constituído um dos centros nevrálgicos da cidade.
No período romano aqui existiu um hipódromo.
Esta zona baixa da cidade, antes do século XII, era navegável. Era chamada Valverde, devido a um afluente do rio Tejo. O imundo caneiro do Rossio foi coberto ainda na Lisboa de quatrocentos. Era uma praça irregularmente esguelhada mas foi sempre um espaço amplo onde se realizavam feiras e mercados.
English
Rossio Square is the popular name of the Pedro IV Square (Portuguese: Praça de D. Pedro IV) in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages. It has been the setting of popular revolts and celebrations, bullfights and executions, and is now a preferred meeting place of Lisbon natives and tourists alike.
The current name of the Rossio pays homage to Pedro IV, King of Portugal as well as first Emperor of Brasil (as Pedro I). The Column of Pedro IV is in the middle of the square.
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Portuguese
Other information about Dom Pedro IV
Dom Pedro I (do Brasil) ou Dom Pedro IV (de Portugal) (Queluz, 12 de outubro de 1798 — Queluz, 24 de setembro de 1834), alcunhado o Libertador, foi o fundador e primeiro soberano do Império do Brasil. Como rei D. Pedro IV, reinou em Portugal, onde também ficou conhecido como o Libertador, o Liberal e o Rei Soldado. Nascido em Lisboa, D. Pedro foi a quarta criança do rei Dom João VI de Portugal e da rainha Carlota Joaquina, e assim membro da Casa de Bragança. Quando seu país foi invadido por tropas francesas em 1807, foi com sua família para o Brasil.
A deflagração da Revolução Liberal de 1820 no Porto, com a rápida adesão de Lisboa e do resto do país, obrigou o pai de D. Pedro a retornar a Portugal em abril de 1821, deixando-o para governar o Brasil como regente. Teve de lidar com as ameaças de revolucionários e com a insubordinação de tropas portuguesas, as quais foram, no entanto, todas subjugadas. A tentativa do governo português de retirar a autonomia política que o Brasil gozava desde 1808 e tornar o país que havia sido elevado à condição de reino unido a Portugal novamente em uma colônia ultramarina foi recebida com descontentamento geral. Pedro I escolheu o lado brasileiro e declarou a Independência do Brasil de Portugal em 7 de setembro de 1822. Em 12 de outubro foi aclamado imperador brasileiro e, em março de 1824, já havia derrotado todos os exércitos leais a Portugal. Poucos meses depois, Pedro I esmagou a Confederação do Equador, principal reação contra a tendência absolutista e a política centralizadora de seu governo.
Uma rebelião separatista na província sulista da Cisplatina no início de 1826, e a tentativa subsequente de sua anexação pela Províncias Unidas do Rio da Prata (futura Argentina) levaram o império à Guerra da Cisplatina. Em março de 1826, Pedro I se tornou brevemente rei de Portugal com o título de Pedro IV antes de abdicar em favor de sua filha mais velha, Maria II. A situação piorou em 1828 quando a guerra do sul resultou na perda da Cisplatina. Nesse mesmo ano, em Lisboa, o trono de Maria II foi usurpado pelo príncipe Dom Miguel I, irmão mais novo de Pedro I. O relacionamento sexual escandaloso e concorrente com uma cortesã maculou a reputação do imperador. Outras dificuldades surgiram no parlamento brasileiro, onde o conflito sobre se o governo e suas políticas seriam escolhidos pelo monarca ou pela legislatura dominaram os debates políticos de 1826 a 1831. Incapaz de lidar com os problemas do Brasil e de Portugal ao mesmo tempo, em 7 de abril de 1831, Pedro I abdicou em favor de seu filho Dom Pedro II e partiu para a Europa.
Dom Pedro invadiu Portugal à frente de um exército em julho de 1834. Frente ao que parecia inicialmente uma guerra civil nacional, logo se envolveu num conflito em escala muito maior que abrangeu toda a península Ibérica numa luta entre os defensores do liberalismo e aqueles que procuravam o retorno ao absolutismo. Dom Pedro morreu de tuberculose em 24 de setembro de 1834, apenas poucos meses após ele e os liberais terem emergido vitoriosos.
English
Other information about Dom Pedro IV
Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I; 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he reigned briefly over Portugal, where he also became known as "the Liberator" as well as "the Soldier King". Born in Lisbon, Pedro I was the fourth child of King Dom João VI of Portugal and Queen Carlota Joaquina, and thus a member of the House of Braganza. When their country was invaded by French troops in 1807, he and his family fled to Portugal's largest and wealthiest colony, Brazil.
The outbreak of the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Lisbon compelled Pedro I's father to return to Portugal in April 1821, leaving him to rule Brazil as regent. He had to deal with threats from revolutionaries and insubordination by Portuguese troops, all of which he subdued. The Portuguese government's threat to revoke the political autonomy that Brazil had enjoyed since 1808 was met with widespread discontent in Brazil. Pedro I chose the Brazilian side and declared Brazil's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822. On 12 October, he was acclaimed Brazilian emperor and by March 1824 had defeated all armies loyal to Portugal. A few months later, Pedro I crushed the short-lived Confederation of the Equator, a failed secession attempt by provincial rebels in Brazil's northeast.
A secessionist rebellion in the southern province of Cisplatina in early 1825, and the subsequent attempt by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata to annex it, led the Empire into the Cisplatine War. In March 1826, Pedro I briefly became king of Portugal before abdicating in favor of his eldest daughter, Dona Maria II. The situation worsened in 1828 when the war in the south resulted in Brazil's loss of Cisplatina. During the same year in Lisbon, Maria II's throne was usurped by Prince Dom Miguel, Pedro I's younger brother. The Emperor's concurrent and scandalous sexual affair with a female courtier tarnished his reputation. Other difficulties arose in the Brazilian parliament, where a struggle over whether the government would be chosen by the monarch or by the legislature dominated political debates from 1826 to 1831. Unable to deal with problems in both Brazil and Portugal simultaneously, on 7 April 1831 Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son Dom Pedro II, and sailed for Europe.
Pedro I invaded Portugal at the head of an army in July 1832. Faced at first with what seemed a national civil war, he soon became involved in a wider conflict that enveloped the Iberian Peninsula in a struggle between proponents of Liberalism and those seeking a return to Absolutism. Pedro I died of tuberculosis on 24 September 1834, just a few months after he and the liberals had emerged victorious. He was hailed by contemporaries and by posterity as a key figure who helped spread the liberal ideals that allowed Brazil and Portugal to move from Absolutist regimes to representative forms of government.
Wikipedia
June 15: King John puts his seal on Magna Carta
Following a revolt by the English nobility against his rule, King John puts his royal seal on Magna Carta, or “the Great Charter,” on June 15, 1215. The document, essentially a peace treaty between John and his barons, guaranteed that the king would respect feudal rights and privileges, uphold the freedom of the church, and maintain the nation’s laws. Although more a reactionary than a progressive document in its day, Magna Carta was seen as a cornerstone in the development of democratic England by later generations.
John was enthroned as king of England following the death of his brother, King Richard the Lion-Hearted, in 1199. King John’s reign was characterized by failure. He lost the duchy of Normandy to the French king and taxed the English nobility heavily to pay for his foreign misadventures. He quarreled with Pope Innocent III and sold church offices to build up the depleted royal coffers. Following the defeat of a campaign to regain Normandy in 1214, Stephen Langton, the archbishop of Canterbury, called on the disgruntled barons to demand a charter of liberties from the king.
In 1215, the barons rose up in rebellion against the king’s abuse of feudal law and custom. John, faced with a superior force, had no choice but to give in to their demands. Earlier kings of England had granted concessions to their feudal barons, but these charters were vaguely worded and issued voluntarily. The document drawn up for John in June 1215, however, forced the king to make specific guarantees of the rights and privileges of his barons and the freedom of the church. On June 15, 1215, John met the barons at Runnymede on the Thames and set his seal to the Articles of the Barons, which after minor revision was formally issued as Magna Carta.
The charter consisted of a preamble and 63 clauses and dealt mainly with feudal concerns that had little impact outside 13th century England. However, the document was remarkable in that it implied there were laws the king was bound to observe, thus precluding any future claim to absolutism by the English monarch.
Of greatest interest to later generations was clause 39, which stated that “no free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised [dispossessed] or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimised…except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” This clause has been celebrated as an early guarantee of trial by jury and of habeas corpus and inspired England’s Petition of Right (1628) and the Habeas Corpus Act (1679).
In immediate terms, Magna Carta was a failure—civil war broke out the same year, and John ignored his obligations under the charter. Upon his death in 1216, however, Magna Carta was reissued with some changes by his son, King Henry III, and then reissued again in 1217. That year, the rebellious barons were defeated by the king’s forces. In 1225, Henry III voluntarily reissued Magna Carta a third time, and it formally entered English statute law.
Magna Carta has been subject to a great deal of historical exaggeration; it did not establish Parliament, as some have claimed, nor more than vaguely allude to the liberal democratic ideals of later centuries. However, as a symbol of the sovereignty of the rule of law, it was of fundamental importance to the constitutional development of England. Four original copies of Magna Carta of 1215 exist today: one in Lincoln Cathedral, one in Salisbury Cathedral, and two in the British Museum.
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After the abolishment of Absolutism in 1849, the Royal castles and palaces became state property. In 1854 Frederik VII agreed with the state that the collection was to become entailed property passed on from king to king.
After the reign of Frederik IV, Rosenborg was only used as a Royal residence twice; both times were emergencies: after Christiansborg Palace burned down in 1794 and during the British attack on Copenhagen in 1801.
The libretto of Tannhäuser combines mythological elements characteristic of German Romantische Oper (Romantic opera) and the medieval setting typical of many French Grand Operas. Wagner brings these two together by constructing a plot involving the 14th-century Minnesingers and the myth of Venus and her subterranean realm of Venusberg. Both the historical and the mythological are united in Tannhäuser's personality; although he is a historical poet composer, little is known about him other than myths that surround him.
Wagner wove a variety of sources into the opera narrative. According to his autobiography, he was inspired by finding the story in "a Volksbuch (popular book) about the Venusberg", which he claimed "fell into his hands", although he admits knowing of the story from the Phantasus of Ludwig Tieck and E. T. A. Hoffmann's story, Der Kampf der Sänger (The Singers' Contest). Tieck's tale, which names the hero "Tannenhäuser", tells of the minnesinger-knight's amorous adventures in the Venusberg, his travels to Rome as a Pilgrim, and his repudiation by the pope. To this Wagner added material from Hoffmann's story, from Serapions-Brüder (1819), describing a song contest at the Wartburg castle,[1] a castle which featured prominently in Thuringian history. Heinrich Heine had provided Wagner with the inspiration for Der fliegende Holländer and Wagner again drew on Heine for Tannhäuser. In Heine's sardonic essay Elementargeister (Elemental spirits), there appears a poem about Tannhäuser and the lure of the grotto of Venus, published in 1837 in the third volume of Der Salon.[1] Other possible sources include Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's play Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg and Eichendorff's Das Marmorbild (The Marble Statue, 1819).[1][2]
The legend of Tannhäuser, the amorous crusading Franconian knight, and that of the song contest on the Wartburg (which did not involve Tannhäuser, but the semi-mythical minnesinger Heinrich von Ofterdingen), came from quite separate traditions. Ludwig Bechstein wove together the two legends in the first volume of his collection of Thuringian legends, Der Sagenschatz und die Sagenkreise des Thüringerlandes (A treasury of the tales of Thuringian legends and legend cycles, 1835), which was probably the Volksbuch to which Wagner refers to in his autobiography.[3][1] Wagner also knew of the work of another contemporary, Christian Theodor Ludwig Lucas, whose Über den Krieg von Wartburg of 1838 also conflated the two legends.[4][5] This confusion (which explains why Tannhäuser is referred to as 'Heinrich' in the opera) does not fit with the historical timeline of the events in the opera, since the Singers' Contest involving von Ofterdingen is said to have taken place around 1207, while Tannhäuser's poetry appeared much later (1245–1265). The sources used by Wagner therefore reflected a nineteenth century romantic view of the medieval period, with concerns about artistic freedom and the constraints of organised religion typical of the period of Romanticism.[6]
During Wagner's first stay in Paris (1839–1842) he read a paper by Ludwig Lucas on the Sängerkrieg which sparked his imagination, and encouraged him to return to Germany, which he reached on 7 April 1842.[7] Having crossed the Rhine, the Wagners drove towards Thuringia, and saw the early rays of sun striking the Wartburg; Wagner immediately began to sketch the scenery that would become the stage sets.[8] Wagner wrote the prose draft of Tannhäuser between June and July 1842 and the libretto in April 1843.[9]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannhäuser_(opera)
Neuschwanstein Castle (German: Schloss Neuschwanstein, pronounced [ˈʃlɔs nɔʏˈʃvaːnʃtaɪn], Southern Bavarian: Schloss Neischwanstoa) is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and in honour of Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.
The castle was intended as a home for the King, until he died in 1886. It was open to the public shortly after his death.[1] Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle.[2] More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer.[3]
Contents
1Location
2History
2.1Inspiration and design
2.2Construction
2.3Funding
2.4Simplified completion
2.5World War II
3Architecture
3.1Exterior
3.2Interior
4Tourism
5In culture, art, and science
5.1World Heritage candidature
6Panoramas
7Notes
8Citations
9General sources
10External links
Location[edit]
A northward view of Neuschwanstein Castle from Mount Säuling (2,047 m or 6,716 ft) on the border between Bavaria and Tyrol: Schwangau between large Forggensee reservoir (1952) and Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein palaces
The municipality of Schwangau lies at an elevation of 800 m (2,620 ft) at the southwest border of the German state of Bavaria. Its surroundings are characterised by the transition between the Alpine foothills in the south (toward the nearby Austrian border) and a hilly landscape in the north that appears flat by comparison.
In the Middle Ages, three castles overlooked the villages. One was called Schwanstein Castle.[nb 1] In 1832, Ludwig's father King Maximilian II of Bavaria bought its ruins to replace them with the comfortable neo-Gothic palace known as Hohenschwangau Castle. Finished in 1837, the palace became his family's summer residence, and his elder son Ludwig (born 1845) spent a large part of his childhood here.[4]
Vorderhohenschwangau Castle and Hinterhohenschwangau Castle[nb 2] sat on a rugged hill overlooking Schwanstein Castle, two nearby lakes (Alpsee and Schwansee), and the village. Separated by only a moat, they jointly consisted of a hall, a keep, and a fortified tower house.[5] In the nineteenth century only ruins remained of the twin medieval castles, but those of Hinterhohenschwangau served as a lookout place known as Sylphenturm.[6]
The ruins above the family palace were known to the crown prince from his excursions. He first sketched one of them in his diary in 1859.[7] When the young king came to power in 1864, the construction of a new palace in place of the two ruined castles became the first in his series of palace building projects.[8] Ludwig called the new palace New Hohenschwangau Castle; only after his death was it renamed Neuschwanstein.[9] The confusing result is that Hohenschwangau and Schwanstein have effectively swapped names: Hohenschwangau Castle replaced the ruins of Schwanstein Castle, and Neuschwanstein Castle replaced the ruins of the two Hohenschwangau Castles.
History[edit]
Inspiration and design[edit]
Neuschwanstein embodies both the contemporaneous architectural fashion known as castle romanticism (German: Burgenromantik), and King Ludwig II's enthusiasm for the operas of Richard Wagner.
In the 19th century, many castles were constructed or reconstructed, often with significant changes to make them more picturesque. Palace-building projects similar to Neuschwanstein had been undertaken earlier in several of the German states and included Hohenschwangau Castle, Lichtenstein Castle, Hohenzollern Castle, and numerous buildings on the River Rhine such as Stolzenfels Castle.[10] The inspiration for the construction of Neuschwanstein came from two journeys in 1867—one in May to the reconstructed Wartburg near Eisenach,[11] another in July to the Château de Pierrefonds, which Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was transforming from a ruined castle into a historistic palace.[12][nb 3]
Neuschwanstein project drawing (Christian Jank 1869)
The King saw both buildings as representatives of a romantic interpretation of the Middle Ages, as well as the musical mythology of his friend Wagner, whose operas Tannhäuser and Lohengrin had made a lasting impression on him.[13]
In February 1868, Ludwig's grandfather King Ludwig I died, freeing the considerable sums that were previously spent on the abdicated King's appanage.[8][nb 4] This allowed Ludwig II to start the architectural project of building a private refuge in the familiar landscape far from the capital Munich, so that he could live out his idea of the Middle Ages.
It is my intention to rebuild the old castle ruin of Hohenschwangau near the Pöllat Gorge in the authentic style of the old German knights' castles, and I must confess to you that I am looking forward very much to living there one day [...]; you know the revered guest I would like to accommodate there; the location is one of the most beautiful to be found, holy and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend who has brought salvation and true blessing to the world. It will also remind you of "Tannhäuser" (Singers' Hall with a view of the castle in the background), "Lohengrin'" (castle courtyard, open corridor, path to the chapel) ...
— Ludwig II, Letter to Richard Wagner, May 1868[14]
The building design was drafted by the stage designer Christian Jank and realised by the architect Eduard Riedel.[15] For technical reasons, the ruined castles could not be integrated into the plan. Initial ideas for the palace drew stylistically on Nuremberg Castle and envisaged a simple building in place of the old Vorderhohenschwangau Castle, but they were rejected and replaced by increasingly extensive drafts, culminating in a bigger palace modelled on the Wartburg.[16] The king insisted on a detailed plan and on personal approval of each and every draft.[17] Ludwig's control went so far that the palace has been regarded as his own creation, rather than that of the architects involved.[18]
Whereas contemporary architecture critics derided Neuschwanstein, one of the last big palace building projects of the nineteenth century, as kitsch, Neuschwanstein and Ludwig II's other buildings are now counted among the major works of European historicism.[19][20] For financial reasons, a project similar to Neuschwanstein – Falkenstein Castle – never left the planning stages.[21]
The palace can be regarded as typical for nineteenth-century architecture. The shapes of Romanesque (simple geometric figures such as cuboids and semicircular arches), Gothic (upward-pointing lines, slim towers, delicate embellishments) and Byzantine architecture and art (the Throne Hall décor) were mingled in an eclectic fashion and supplemented with 19th-century technical achievements. The Patrona Bavariae and Saint George on the court face of the Palas (main building) are depicted in the local Lüftlmalerei style, a fresco technique typical for Allgäu farmers' houses, while the unimplemented drafts for the Knights' House gallery foreshadow elements of Art Nouveau.[22] Characteristic of Neuschwanstein's design are theatre themes: Christian Jank drew on coulisse drafts from his time as a scenic painter.[23]
The basic style was originally planned to be neo-Gothic but the palace was primarily built in Romanesque style in the end. The operatic themes moved gradually from Tannhäuser and Lohengrin to Parsifal.[24]
Construction[edit]
Neuschwanstein under construction: Bower still missing, Rectangular Tower under construction (photograph c. 1882–85)
Neuschwanstein under construction: upper courtyard (photograph c. 1886)
In 1868, the ruins of the medieval twin castles were completely demolished; the remains of the old keep were blown up.[25] The foundation stone for the palace was laid on 5 September 1869; in 1872 its cellar was completed and in 1876, everything up to the first floor, the gatehouse being finished first. At the end of 1882 it was completed and fully furnished, allowing Ludwig to take provisional lodgings there and observe the ongoing construction work.[24] In 1874, management of the civil works passed from Eduard Riedel to Georg von Dollmann.[26] The topping out ceremony for the Palas was in 1880, and in 1884, the King was able to move in to the new building. In the same year, the direction of the project passed to Julius Hofmann, after Dollmann had fallen from the King's favour.
The palace was erected as a conventional brick construction and later encased in various types of rock. The white limestone used for the fronts came from a nearby quarry.[27]
The sandstone bricks for the portals and bay windows came from Schlaitdorf in Württemberg. Marble from Untersberg near Salzburg was used for the windows, the arch ribs, the columns and the capitals. The Throne Hall was a later addition to the plans and required a steel framework.
The transport of building materials was facilitated by scaffolding and a steam crane that lifted the material to the construction site. Another crane was used at the construction site. The recently founded Dampfkessel-Revisionsverein (Steam Boiler Inspection Association) regularly inspected both boilers.
For about two decades the construction site was the principal employer in the region.[28] In 1880, about 200 craftsmen were occupied at the site,[29] not counting suppliers and other persons indirectly involved in the construction. At times when the King insisted on particularly close deadlines and urgent changes, reportedly up to 300 workers per day were active, sometimes working at night by the light of oil lamps. Statistics from the years 1879/1880 support an immense amount of building materials: 465 tonnes (513 short tons) of Salzburg marble, 1,550 t (1,710 short tons) of sandstone, 400,000 bricks and 2,050 cubic metres (2,680 cu yd) of wood for the scaffolding.
In 1870, a society was founded for insuring the workers, for a low monthly fee, augmented by the King. The heirs of construction casualties (30 cases are mentioned in the statistics) received a small pension.
In 1884, the King was able to move into the (still unfinished) Palas,[30] and in 1885, he invited his mother Marie to Neuschwanstein on the occasion of her 60th birthday.[nb 5] By 1886, the external structure of the Palas (hall) was mostly finished.[30] In the same year, Ludwig had the first, wooden Marienbrücke over the Pöllat Gorge replaced by a steel construction.
Despite its size, Neuschwanstein did not have space for the royal court, but contained only the King's private lodging and servants' rooms. The court buildings served decorative, rather than residential purposes:[9] The palace was intended to serve King Ludwig II as a kind of inhabitable theatrical setting.[30] As a temple of friendship it was also dedicated to the life and work of Richard Wagner, who died in 1883 before he had set foot in the building.[31] In the end, Ludwig II lived in the palace for a total of only 172 days.[32]
Funding[edit]
Neuschwanstein in 1886
The King's wishes and demands expanded during the construction of Neuschwanstein, and so did the expenses. Drafts and estimated costs were revised repeatedly.[33] Initially a modest study was planned instead of the great throne hall, and projected guest rooms were struck from the drafts to make place for a Moorish Hall, which could not be realised due to lack of resources. Completion was originally projected for 1872, but deferred repeatedly.[33]
Neuschwanstein, the symbolic medieval knight's castle, was not King Ludwig II's only huge construction project. It was followed by the rococo style Lustschloss of Linderhof Palace and the baroque palace of Herrenchiemsee, a monument to the era of absolutism.[8] Linderhof, the smallest of the projects, was finished in 1886, and the other two remain incomplete. All three projects together drained his resources. The King paid for his construction projects by private means and from his civil list income. Contrary to frequent claims, the Bavarian treasury was not directly burdened by his buildings.[30][34] From 1871, Ludwig had an additional secret income in return for a political favour given to Otto von Bismarck.[nb 6]
The construction costs of Neuschwanstein in the King's lifetime amounted to 6.2 million marks (equivalent to 40 million 2009 €),[35] almost twice the initial cost estimate of 3.2 million marks.[34] As his private means were insufficient for his increasingly escalating construction projects, the King continuously opened new lines of credit.[36] In 1876, a court counselor was replaced after pointing out the danger of insolvency.[37] By 1883 he already owed 7 million marks,[38] and in spring 1884 and August 1885 debt conversions of 7.5 million marks and 6.5 million marks, respectively, became necessary.[36]
Even after his debts had reached 14 million marks, King Ludwig II insisted on continuation of his architectural projects; he threatened suicide if his creditors seized his palaces.[37] In early 1886, Ludwig asked his cabinet for a credit of 6 million marks, which was denied. In April, he followed Bismarck's advice to apply for the money to his parliament. In June the Bavarian government decided to depose the King, who was living at Neuschwanstein at the time. On 9 June he was incapacitated, and on 10 June he had the deposition commission arrested in the gatehouse.[39] In expectation of the commission, he alerted the gendarmerie and fire brigades of surrounding places for his protection.[36] A second commission headed by Bernhard von Gudden arrived on the next day, and the King was forced to leave the palace that night. Ludwig was put under the supervision of von Gudden. On 13 June, both died under mysterious circumstances in the shallow shore water of Lake Starnberg near Berg Castle.
Simplified completion[edit]
Neuschwanstein front façade and surroundings (photochrom print, c. 1900)
A 1901 postcard of Berg Castle
At the time of King Ludwig's death the palace was far from complete. He slept only 11 nights in the castle. The external structures of the Gatehouse and the Palas were mostly finished but the Rectangular Tower was still scaffolded. Work on the Bower had not started, but was completed in a simplified form by 1892 without the planned figures of the female saints. The Knights' House was also simplified. In King Ludwig's plans the columns in the Knights' House gallery were held as tree trunks and the capitals as the corresponding crowns. Only the foundations existed for the core piece of the palace complex: a keep of 90 metres (300 ft) height planned in the upper courtyard, resting on a three-nave chapel. This was not realised,[17] and a connection wing between the Gatehouse and the Bower saw the same fate.[40] Plans for a castle garden with terraces and a fountain west of the Palas were also abandoned after the King's death.
The interior of the royal living space in the palace was mostly completed in 1886; the lobbies and corridors were painted in a simpler style by 1888.[41] The Moorish Hall desired by the King (and planned below the Throne Hall) was not realised any more than the so-called Knights' Bath, which, modelled after the Knights' Bath in the Wartburg, was intended to render homage to the knights' cult as a medieval baptism bath. A Bride Chamber in the Bower (after a location in Lohengrin),[23] guest rooms in the first and second floor of the Palas and a great banquet hall were further abandoned projects.[33] In fact, a complete development of Neuschwanstein had never even been planned, and at the time of the King's death there was not a utilisation concept for numerous rooms.[29]
Neuschwanstein was still incomplete when Ludwig II died in 1886. The King never intended to make the palace accessible to the public.[30] No more than six weeks after the King's death, however, the Prince-Regent Luitpold ordered the palace opened to paying visitors. The administrators of King Ludwig's estate managed to balance the construction debts by 1899.[42] From then until World War I, Neuschwanstein was a stable and lucrative source of revenue for the House of Wittelsbach, indeed King Ludwig's castles were probably the single largest income source earned by the Bavarian royal family in the last years prior to 1914. To guarantee a smooth course of visits, some rooms and the court buildings were finished first. Initially the visitors were allowed to move freely in the palace, causing the furniture to wear quickly.
When Bavaria became a republic in 1918, the government socialised the civil list. The resulting dispute with the House of Wittelsbach led to a split in 1923: King Ludwig's palaces including Neuschwanstein fell to the state and are now managed by the Bavarian Palace Department, a division of the Bavarian finance ministry. Nearby Hohenschwangau Castle fell to the Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds, whose revenues go to the House of Wittelsbach.[43] The visitor numbers continued to rise, reaching 200,000 in 1939.[43]
World War II[edit]
Due to its secluded location, the palace survived the destruction of two World Wars. Until 1944, it served as a depot for Nazi plunder that was taken from France by the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Institute for the Occupied Territories (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg für die besetzten Gebiete), a suborganisation of the Nazi Party.[44] The castle was used to catalogue the works of arts. (After World War II 39 photo albums were found in the palace documenting the scale of the art seizures. The albums are now stored in the United States National Archives.[45])
In April 1945, the SS considered blowing up the palace to prevent the building itself and the artwork it contained from falling to the enemy.[46] The plan was not realised by the SS-Gruppenführer who had been assigned the task, however, and at the end of the war the palace was surrendered undamaged to representatives of the Allied forces.[46] Thereafter the Bavarian archives used some of the rooms as a provisional store for salvaged archivalia, as the premises in Munich had been bombed.[47]
Architecture[edit]
The effect of the Neuschwanstein ensemble is highly stylistic, both externally and internally. The king's influence is apparent throughout, and he took a keen personal interest in the design and decoration. An example can be seen in his comments, or commands, regarding a mural depicting Lohengrin in the Palas; "His Majesty wishes that ... the ship be placed further from the shore, that Lohengrin's neck be less tilted, that the chain from the ship to the swan be of gold and not of roses, and finally that the style of the castle shall be kept medieval."[48]
The suite of rooms within the Palas contains the Throne Room, King Ludwig's suite, the Singers' Hall, and the Grotto. The interior and especially the throne room Byzantine-Arab construction resumes to the chapels and churches of the royal Sicilian Norman-Swabian period in Palermo related to the Kings of Germany House of Hohenstaufen. Throughout, the design pays homage to the German legends of Lohengrin, the Swan Knight. Hohenschwangau, where King Ludwig spent much of his youth, had decorations of these sagas. These themes were taken up in the operas of Richard Wagner. Many rooms bear a border depicting the various operas written by Wagner, including a theatre permanently featuring the set of one such play. Many of the interior rooms remain undecorated, with only 14 rooms finished before Ludwig's death. With the palace under construction at the King's death, one of the major features of the palace remained unbuilt. A massive keep, which would have formed the highest point and central focus of the ensemble, was planned for the middle of the upper courtyard but was never built, at the decision of the King's family. The foundation for the keep is visible in the upper courtyard.[49]
Neuschwanstein Castle consists of several individual structures which were erected over a length of 150 metres on the top of a cliff ridge. The elongate building is furnished with numerous towers, ornamental turrets, gables, balconies, pinnacles and sculptures. Following Romanesque style, most window openings are fashioned as bi- and triforia. Before the backdrop of the Tegelberg and the Pöllat Gorge in the south and the Alpine foothills with their lakes in the north, the ensemble of individual buildings provides varying picturesque views of the palace from all directions. It was designed as the romantic ideal of a knight's castle. Unlike "real" castles, whose building stock is in most cases the result of centuries of building activity, Neuschwanstein was planned from the inception as an intentionally asymmetric building, and erected in consecutive stages.[33] Typical attributes of a castle were included, but real fortifications – the most important feature of a medieval aristocratic estate – were dispensed with.
Exterior[edit]
Palace roof
Overview of palace complex; position of the planned chapel marked in yellow
View from location of unrealised chapel along upper courtyard level: Bower (left), palace front, and Knights' House (right)
The palace complex is entered through the symmetrical Gatehouse flanked by two stair towers. The eastward-pointing gate building is the only structure of the palace whose wall area is fashioned in high-contrast colours; the exterior walls are cased with red bricks, the court fronts with yellow limestone. The roof cornice is surrounded by pinnacles. The upper floor of the Gatehouse is surmounted by a crow-stepped gable and held King Ludwig II's first lodging at Neuschwanstein, from which he occasionally observed the building work before the hall was completed. The ground floors of the Gatehouse were intended to accommodate the stables.
The passage through the Gatehouse, crowned with the royal Bavarian coat of arms, leads directly into the courtyard. The courtyard has two levels, the lower one being defined to the east by the Gatehouse and to the north by the foundations of the so-called Rectangular Tower and by the gallery building. The southern end of the courtyard is open, imparting a view of the surrounding mountain scenery. At its western end, the courtyard is delimited by a bricked embankment, whose polygonally protracting bulge marks the choir of the originally projected chapel; this three-nave church, never built, was intended to form the base of a 90-metre (295-ft) keep, the planned centrepiece of the architectural ensemble. A flight of steps at the side gives access to the upper level.
Saint George
Gatehouse
Today, the foundation plan of the chapel-keep is marked out in the upper-courtyard pavement. The most striking structure of the upper court level is the so-called Rectangular Tower (45 metres or 148 feet). Like most of the court buildings, it mostly serves a decorative purpose as part of the ensemble. Its viewing platform provides a vast view over the Alpine foothills to the north. The northern end of the upper courtyard is defined by the so-called Knights' House. The three-storey building is connected to the Rectangular Tower and the Gatehouse by means of a continuous gallery fashioned with a blind arcade. From the point of view of castle romanticism the Knights' House was the abode of a stronghold's menfolk; at Neuschwanstein, estate and service rooms were envisioned here. The Bower, which complements the Knights' House as the "ladies' house" but was never used as such, defines the south side of the courtyard. Both structures together form the motif of the Antwerp Castle featuring in the first act of Lohengrin. Embedded in the pavement is the floor plan of the planned palace chapel.
The western end of the courtyard is delimited by the Palas (hall). It constitutes the real main and residential building of the castle and contains the King's stateroom and the servants' rooms. The Palas is a colossal five-story structure in the shape of two huge cuboids that are connected in a flat angle and covered by two adjacent high gable roofs. The building's shape follows the course of the ridge. In its angles there are two stair towers, the northern one surmounting the palace roof by several storeys with its height of 65 metres (213 ft). With their polymorphic roofs, both towers are reminiscent of the Château de Pierrefonds. The western Palas front supports a two-storey balcony with view on the Alpsee, while northwards a low chair tower and the conservatory protract from the main structure. The entire Palas is spangled with numerous decorative chimneys and ornamental turrets, the court front with colourful frescos. The court-side gable is crowned with a copper lion, the western (outward) gable with the likeness of a knight.
Interior[edit]
Floor plan of third floor, position of fourth-floor Hall of the Singers marked in red
Corridor
Throne Hall detail
Had it been completed, the palace would have had more than 200 interior rooms, including premises for guests and servants, as well as for service and logistics. Ultimately, no more than about 15 rooms and halls were finished.[50] In its lower stories the Palas accommodates administrative and servants' rooms and the rooms of today's palace administration. The King's staterooms are situated in the upper stories: The anterior structure accommodates the lodgings in the third floor, above them the Hall of the Singers. The upper floors of the west-facing posterior structure are filled almost completely by the Throne Hall. The total floor space of all floors amounts to nearly 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft).[50]
Neuschwanstein houses numerous significant interior rooms of German historicism. The palace was fitted with several of the latest technical innovations of the late 19th century.[22][51] Among other things it had a battery-powered bell system for the servants and telephone lines. The kitchen equipment included a Rumford oven that turned the skewer with its heat and so automatically adjusted the turning speed. The hot air was used for a calorifère central heating system.[52] Further novelties for the era were running warm water and toilets with automatic flushing.
The largest room of the palace by area is the Hall of the Singers, followed by the Throne Hall. The 27-by-10-metre (89 by 33 ft)[53] Hall of the Singers is located in the eastern, court-side wing of the Palas, in the fourth floor above the King's lodgings. It is designed as an amalgamation of two rooms of the Wartburg: The Hall of the Singers and the Ballroom. It was one of the King's favourite projects for his palace.[54] The rectangular room was decorated with themes from Lohengrin and Parzival. Its longer side is terminated by a gallery that is crowned by a tribune, modelled after the Wartburg. The eastern narrow side is terminated by a stage that is structured by arcades and known as the Sängerlaube. The Hall of the Singers was never designed for court festivities of the reclusive King.[citation needed] Rather, like the Throne Hall it served as a walkable monument in which the culture of knights and courtly love of the Middle Ages was represented. The first performance in this hall took place in 1933: A concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of Richard Wagner's death.[34]
The Throne Hall, 20 by 12 metres (66 by 39 ft),[55] is situated in the west wing of the Palas. With its height of 13 metres (43 ft)[55] it occupies the third and fourth floors. Julius Hofmann modelled it after the Allerheiligen-Hofkirche in the Munich Residenz. On three sides it is surrounded by colorful arcades, ending in an apse that was intended to hold King Ludwig's throne – which was never completed. The throne dais is surrounded by paintings of Jesus, the Twelve Apostles and six canonised kings. The mural paintings were created by Wilhelm Hauschild. The floor mosaic was completed after the king's death. The chandelier is fashioned after a Byzantine crown. The Throne Hall makes a sacral impression. Following the king's wish, it amalgamated the Grail Hall from Parzival with a symbol of the divine right of kings,[19] an incorporation of unrestricted sovereign power, which King Ludwig as the head of a constitutional monarchy no longer held. The union of the sacral and regal is emphasised by the portraits in the apse of six canonised Kings: Saint Louis of France, Saint Stephen of Hungary, Saint Edward the Confessor of England, Saint Wenceslaus of Bohemia, Saint Olaf of Norway and Saint Henry, Holy Roman Emperor.
Palace rooms (late 19th century Photochrom prints)
Hall of the Singers
Throne Hall
Drawing room
Study room
Dining room
Bedroom
Apart from the large ceremonial rooms several smaller rooms were created for use by King Ludwig II.[41] The royal lodging is on the third floor of the palace in the east wing of the Palas. It consists of eight rooms with living space and several smaller rooms. In spite of the gaudy décor, the living space with its moderate room size and its sofas and suites makes a relatively modern impression on today's visitors. King Ludwig II did not attach importance to representative requirements of former times, in which the life of a monarch was mostly public. The interior decoration with mural paintings, tapestry, furniture and other handicraft generally refers to the King's favourite themes: the grail legend, the works of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and their interpretation by Richard Wagner.
Grotto
The eastward drawing room is adorned with themes from the Lohengrin legend. The furniture – sofa, table, armchairs and seats in a northward alcove – is comfortable and homelike. Next to the drawing room is a little artificial grotto that forms the passage to the study. The unusual room, originally equipped with an artificial waterfall and a so-called rainbow machine, is connected to a little conservatory. Depicting the Hörselberg grotto, it relates to Wagner's Tannhäuser, as does the décor of the adjacent study. In the park of Linderhof Palace the King had installed a similar grotto of greater dimensions. Opposite the study follows the dining room, adorned with themes of courtly love. Since the kitchen in Neuschwanstein is situated three stories below the dining room, it was impossible to install a wishing table (dining table disappearing by means of a mechanism) as at Linderhof Palace and Herrenchiemsee. Instead, the dining room was connected with the kitchen by means of a service lift.
Kitchen
The bedroom adjacent to the dining room and the subsequent house chapel are the only rooms of the palace that remain in neo-Gothic style. The King's bedroom is dominated by a huge bed adorned with carvings. Fourteen carvers worked more than four years on the bed canopy with its numerous pinnacles and on the oaken panellings.[56] It was in this room that Ludwig was arrested in the night from 11 to 12 June 1886. The adjacent little house chapel is consecrated to Saint Louis, after whom the owner was named.
The servants' rooms in the basement of the Palas are quite scantily equipped with massive oak furniture. Besides one table and one cabinet there are two beds of 1.80 metres (5 ft 11 in) length each. Opaque glass windows separated the rooms from the corridor that connects the exterior stairs with the main stairs, so that the King could enter and leave unseen. The servants were not allowed to use the main stairs, but were restricted to the much narrower and steeper servants' stairs.
Tourism[edit]
Neuschwanstein welcomes almost 1.5 million visitors per year making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.[3][57] For security reasons the palace can only be visited during a 35-minute guided tour, and no photography is allowed inside the castle. There are also special guided tours that focus on specific topics. In the peak season from June until August, Neuschwanstein has as many as 6,000 visitors per day, and guests without advance reservation may have to wait several hours. Those without tickets may still walk the long driveway from the base to the top of the mountain and visit the grounds and courtyard without a ticket, but will not be admitted to the interior of the castle. Ticket sales are processed exclusively via the ticket centre in Hohenschwangau.[58] As of 2008, the total number of visitors was more than 60 million.[2] In 2004, the revenues were booked as €6.5 million.[1]
In culture, art, and science[edit]
Neuschwanstein is a global symbol of the era of Romanticism. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies such as Helmut Käutner's Ludwig II (1955) and Luchino Visconti's Ludwig (1972), both biopics about the King; the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and the war drama The Great Escape (1963). It served as the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, Cameran Palace in Lucario and The Mystery of Mew, and later similar structures.[59][60] It is also visited by the character Grace Nakimura alongside Herrenchiemsee in the game The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (1996).
In 1977, Neuschwanstein Castle became the motif of a West German definitive stamp, and it appeared on a €2 commemorative coin for the German Bundesländer series in 2012. In 2007, it was a finalist in the widely publicised on-line selection of the New Seven Wonders of the World.[61]
A meteorite that reached Earth spectacularly on 6 April 2002, at the Austrian border near Hohenschwangau was named Neuschwanstein after the palace. Three fragments were found: Neuschwanstein I (1.75 kg (3.9 lb), found July 2002) and Neuschwanstein II (1.63 kg (3.6 lb), found May 2003) on the German side, and Neuschwanstein III (2.84 kg (6.3 lb), found June 2003) on the Austrian side near Reutte.[62] The meteorite is classified as an enstatite chondrite with unusually large proportions of pure iron (29%), enstatite and the extremely rare mineral sinoite (Si2N2O).[63]
World Heritage candidature[edit]
Since 2015, Neuschwanstein and Ludwig's Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee palaces are on the German tentative list for a future designation as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A joint candidature with other representative palaces of the romantic historicism is discussed (including Schwerin Palace, for example).[64]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle
Synopsis[edit]
Background[edit]
In Eisenach, Germany, in the early 13th century, the landgraves of the Thuringian Valley ruled the area of Germany around the Wartburg. They were great patrons of the arts, particularly music and poetry, holding contests between the minnesingers at the Wartburg. Across the valley towered the Venusberg, in whose interior, according to legend, dwelt Holda, the Goddess of Spring. In time, Holda became identified with Venus, the pagan Goddess of Love, whose grotto was the home of sirens and nymphs. It was said that the Goddess would lure the Wartburg minnesinger-knights to her lair where her beauty would captivate them. The minnesinger-knight Heinrich von Ofterdingen, known as Tannhäuser, left the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia a year ago after a disagreement with his fellow knights. Since then he has been held as a willing captive through his love for Venus, in her grotto in the Venusberg.[27][incomplete short citation][17]
Overture[edit]
The substantial overture commences with the theme of the 'Pilgrim's Chorus' from Act 3, Scene 1, and also includes elements of the 'Venusberg' music from Act 1, Scene 1. The overture is frequently performed as a separate item in orchestral concerts, the first such performance having been given by Felix Mendelssohn conducting the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in February 1846.[28] Wagner later gave the opinion that perhaps it would be better to cut the overture at opera performances to the Pilgrim's Chorus alone – "the remainder – in the fortunate event of its being understood – is, as a prelude to the drama, too much; in the opposite event, too little."[29] In the original, "Dresden" version, the overture comes to a traditional concert close (the version heard in concert performances). For the "Paris" version the music leads directly into the first scene, without pausing.
Act 1[edit]
The Venusberg, (the Hörselberg of "Frau Holda" in Thuringia, in the vicinity of Eisenach), and a valley between the Venusberg and Wartburg
Scene 1. Wagner's stage directions state: "The stage represents the interior of the Venusberg...In the distant background is a bluish lake; in it one sees the bathing figures of naiads; on its elevated banks are sirens. In the extreme left foreground lies Venus bearing the head of the half kneeling Tannhäuser in her lap. The whole cave is illuminated by rosy light. – A group of dancing nymphs appears, joined gradually by members of loving couples from the cave. – A train of Bacchantes comes from the background in wild dance... – The ever-wilder dance answers as in echo the Chorus of Sirens": "Naht euch dem Strande" (Come to the shore).[30] In the "Paris" version this orgiastic ballet is greatly extended.
Scene 2. Following the orgy of the ballet, Tannhäuser's desires are finally satiated, and he longs for freedom, spring and the sound of church bells. He takes up his harp and pays homage to the goddess in a passionate love song, "Dir töne Lob!" (Let your praises be heard), which he ends with an earnest plea to be allowed to depart, "Aus deinem Reiche, muss ich fliehn! O Königin! Göttin! Lass mich ziehn!" (From your kingdom must I flee! O Queen! O Goddess, set me free). Surprised, Venus offers him further charms, but eventually his repeated pleas arouse her fury and she curses his desire for salvation. (In the "Paris" version Venus's inveighing against Tannhäuser is significantly expanded).[31] Eventually Tannhäuser declares: "Mein Heil ruht in Maria" (My salvation rests in Mary). These words break the unholy spell. Venus and the Venusberg disappear.
Scene 3. According to Wagner's stage directions, "Tannhäuser...finds himself a beautiful valley… To the left one sees the Hörselberg. To the right...a mountain path from the direction of the Wartburg ...; in the foreground, led to by a low promontory, an image of the Virgin Mary – From above left one hears the ringing of herder’s bells; on a high projection sits a young shepherd with pipes facing the valley".[32] It is May. The shepherd sings an ode to the pagan goddess Holda, "Frau Holda kam aus dem Berg hervor" (Lady Holda, come forth from the hill). A hymn "Zu dir wall ich, mein Jesus Christ" (To thee I turn, my Jesus Christ) can be heard, as Pilgrims are seen approaching from the Wartburg, and the shepherd stops playing. The pilgrims pass Tannhäuser as he stands motionless, and then, praising God, ("Allmächt'ger, dir sei Preis!" (Almighty God, to you be praise!)) he sinks to his knees, overcome with gratitude. At that moment the sound of hunting-horns can be heard, drawing ever nearer.
Scene 4. The Landgrave's hunting party appears. The minnesingers (Wolfram, Walther, Biterolf, Reinmar, and Heinrich) recognise Tannhäuser, still deep in prayer, and greet him ("Heinrich! Heinrich! Seh ich recht?" (Heinrich! Heinrich! Do I see right?)) cautiously, recalling past feuds. They question him about his recent whereabouts, to which he gives vague answers. The minnesingers urge Tannhäuser to rejoin them, which he declines until Wolfram mentions Elisabeth, the Landgrave's niece, "Bleib bei Elisabeth!" (Stay, for Elisabeth!). Tannhäuser is visibly moved, "Elisabeth! O Macht des Himmels, rufst du den süssen Namen mir?" (Elisabeth! O might of heaven, do you cry out the sweet name to me?). The minnesingers explain to Tannhäuser how he had enchanted Elisabeth, but when he had left she withdrew from their company and lost interest in music, expressing the hope that his return will also bring her back, "Auf's Neue leuchte uns ihr Stern!" (Let her star once more shine upon us). Tannhäuser begs them to lead him to her, "Zu ihr! Zu ihr!" (To her! To her!). The rest of the hunting party gathers, blowing horns.
Act 2[edit]
The Wartburg in Eisenach
The minnesingers' hall in the Wartburg castle
Introduction – Scene 1. Elisabeth enters, joyfully. She sings, to the hall, of how she has been beset by sadness since Tannhäuser's departure but now lives in hope that his songs will revive both of them, "Dich, teure Halle, grüss ich wieder" (Dear hall, I greet thee once again). Wolfram leads Tannhäuser into the hall.
Scene 2. Tannhäuser flings himself at Elisabeth's feet. He exclaims "O Fürstin!" (O Princess!). At first, seemingly confused, she questions him about where he has been, which he avoids answering. She then greets him joyfully ("Ich preise dieses Wunder aus meines Herzens Tiefe!" (I praise this miracle from my heart's depths!)), and they join in a duet, "Gepriesen sei die Stunde" (Praise be to this hour). Tannhäuser then leaves with Wolfram.
Scene 3. The Landgrave enters, and he and Elisabeth embrace. The Landgrave sings of his joy, "Dich treff ich hier in dieser Halle" (Do I find you in this hall) at her recovery and announces the upcoming song contest, at which she will preside, "dass du des Festes Fürstin seist" (that you will be the Princess of the Festival).
Scene 4 and Sängerkrieg (Song Contest). Elisabeth and the Landgrave watch the guests arrive. The guests assemble greeting the Landgrave and singing "Freudig begrüssen wir edle Halle" (With joy we greet the noble hall), take their places in a semicircle, with Elisabeth and the Landgrave in the seats of honour in the foreground. The Landgrave announces the contest and the theme, which shall be "Könnt ihr der Liebe Wesen mir ergründen?" (Can you explain the nature of Love?), and that the prize will be whatever the winner asks of Elisabeth. The knights place their names in a cup from which Elisabeth draws the first singer, Wolfram. Wolfram sings a trite song of courtly love and is applauded, but Tannhäuser chides him for his lack of passion. There is consternation, and once again Elisabeth appears confused, torn between rapture and anxiety. Biterolf accuses him of blasphemy and speaks of "Frauenehr und hohe Tugend" (women's virtue and honour). The knights draw their swords as Tannhäuser mocks Biterolf, but the Landgrave intervenes to restore order. However, Tannhäuser, as if in a trance, rises to his feet and sings a song of ecstatic love to Venus, "Dir Göttin der Liebe, soll mein Lied ertönen" (To thee, Goddess of Love, should my song resound). There is general horror as it is realised he has been in the Venusberg; the women, apart from Elisabeth, flee. She appears pale and shocked, while the knights and the Landgrave gather together and condemn Tannhäuser to death. Only Elisabeth, shielding him with her body, saves him, "Haltet ein!" (Stop!). She states that God's will is that a sinner shall achieve salvation through atonement. Tannhäuser collapses as all hail Elisabeth as an angel, "Ein Engel stieg aus lichtem Äther" (An angel rose out of the bright ether). He promises to seek atonement, the Landgrave exiles him and orders him to join another younger band of pilgrims then assembling. All depart, crying Nach Rom! (To Rome!).
In the "Paris" version, the song contest is somewhat shortened, possibly because of the lack of suitable soloists for the Paris production.[citation needed]
Act 3[edit]
The valley of the Wartburg, in autumn. Elisabeth is kneeling, praying before the Virgin as Wolfram comes down the path and notices her
Scene 1. Orchestral music describes the pilgrimage of Tannhäuser. It is evening. Wolfram muses on Elisabeth's sorrow during Tannhäuser's second absence, "Wohl wusst' ich hier sie im Gebet zu finden" (I knew well I might find her here in prayer) and her longing for the return of the pilgrims, and expresses concerns that he may not have been absolved. As he does so he hears a pilgrims' prayer in the distance, "Beglückt darf nun dich, O Heimat, ich schauen" (Joyfully may I now you, O homeland, behold). Elisabeth rises and she and Wolfram listen to the hymn, watching the pilgrims approach and pass by. She anxiously searches the procession, but in vain, realising sorrowfully he is not amongst them, "Er kehret nicht züruck!" (He has not returned). She again kneels with a prayer to the Virgin that appears to foretell her death, "Allmächt'ge Jungfrau! Hör mein Flehen" (Almighty Virgin, hear my plea!). On rising she sees Wolfram but motions him not to speak. He offers to escort her back to the Wartburg, but she again motions him to be still, and gestures that she is grateful for his devotion but her path leads to heaven. She slowly makes her way up the path alone.
Scene 2. Wolfram, left alone as darkness draws on and the stars appear, begins to play and sings a hymn to the evening star that also hints at Elisabeth's approaching death, "Wie Todesahnung Dämmrung deckt die Lande...O du mein holder Abendstern" (Like a premonition of death the twilight shrouds the earth... O thou my fair evening star).
Scene 3. It is now night. Tannhäuser appears, ragged, pale and haggard, walking feebly leaning on his staff. Wolfram suddenly recognises Tannhäuser, and startled challenges him, since he is exiled. To Wolfram's horror, Tannhäuser explains he is once again seeking the company of Venus. Wolfram tries to restrain him, at the same time expressing compassion and begging him to tell the story of his pilgrimage. Tannhäuser urges Wolfram to listen to his story, "Nun denn, hör an! Du, Wolfram, du sollst es erfahren" (Now then, listen! You, Wolfram, shall learn all that has passed). Tannhäuser sings of his penitence and suffering, all the time thinking of Elisabeth's gesture and pain, "Inbrunst im Herzen, wie kein Büsser noch" (With a flame in my heart, such as no penitent has known). He explains how he reached Rome, and the "Heiligtumes Schwelle" (Holy shrine), and witnessed thousands of pilgrims being absolved. Finally he approaches "ihn, durch den sich Gott verkündigt'" (he, through whom God speaks)[a] and tells his story. However, rather than finding absolution, he is cursed, "bist nun ewig du verdammt!" (you are forever damned!), and is told by the pope that "Wie dieser Stab in meiner Hand, nie mehr sich schmückt mit frischem Grün, kann aus der Hölle heissem Brand, Erlösung nimmer dir erblühn!" (As this staff in my hand, no more shall bear fresh leaves, from the hot fires of hell, salvation never shall bloom for thee). Whereupon, absolutely crushed, he fled, seeking his former source of bliss.
Having completed his tale, Tannhäuser calls out to Venus to take him back, "Zu dir, Frau Venus, kehr ich wieder" (To you, Lady Venus, I return). The two men struggle as a faint image of dancing becomes apparent. As Tannhäuser repeatedly calls on Venus, she suddenly appears and welcomes him back, "Willkommen, ungetreuer Mann!" (Welcome, faithless man!). As Venus continues to beckon, "Zu mir! Zu mir!" (To me!, To me!), in desperation, Wolfram suddenly remembers there is one word that can change Tannhäuser's heart, and exclaims "Elisabeth!" Tannhäuser, as if frozen in time, repeats the name. As he does so, torches are seen, and a funeral hymn is heard approaching, "Der Seele Heil, die nun entflohn" (Hail, the soul that now is flown). Wolfram realises it must be Elisabeth's body that is being borne, and that in her death lies Tannhäuser's redemption, "Heinrich, du bist erlöst!" (Heinrich, you are saved). Venus cries out, "Weh! Mir verloren" (Alas! Lost to me!) and vanishes with her kingdom. As dawn breaks the procession appears bearing Elisabeth's body on a bier. Wolfram beckons to them to set it down, and as Tannhäuser bends over the body uttering, "Heilige Elisabeth, bitte für mich!" (Holy Elisabeth!, pray for me!) he dies. As the growing light bathes the scene the younger pilgrims arrive bearing the pope's staff sprouting new leaves, and proclaiming a miracle, "Heil! Heil! Der Gnade Wunder Heil!" (Hail!, Hail! To this miracle of grace, Hail!). All then sing "Der Gnade Heil ist dem Büsser beschieden, er geht nun ein in der Seligen Frieden!" (The Holy Grace of God is to the penitent given, who now enters into the joy of Heaven!).[27][incomplete short citation][25][30]
After Wagner[edit]
Productions[edit]
Wagner died in 1883. The first production of the opera at Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus (originally constructed for the performance of his Ring Cycle), was undertaken under the supervision of Cosima in 1891, and adhered closely to the 'Vienna' version. Later performances at Bayreuth included one conducted by Richard Strauss (1894), and one where the Bacchanal was choreographed by Isadora Duncan (1904).[33] Duncan envisaged the Bacchanal as a fantasy of Tannhäuser's fevered brain, as Wagner had written to Mathilde Wesendonck in 1860.[34] Arturo Toscanini conducted the opera at Bayreuth in the 1930/31 season.[35][incomplete short citation]
In the words of the Wagner scholar Thomas S. Grey, "The Bacchanal remained a defining focus of many ...productions, as a proving ground for changing conceptions of the psychosexual symbolism of the Venusberg." Productions including those of Götz Friedrich at Bayreuth (1972) and Otto Schenk at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, (1977) "routinely offer quantities of simulated copulation and post-coital langour, for which the Paris score offers ample encouragement".[33] A Munich production (1994) included as part of Tannhäuser's fantasies "creatures out of Hieronymus Bosch crawl[ing] around the oblivious protagonist".[36]
The Operabase website indicates that in the two calendar years 2014/2015, there were 163 performances of 41 productions of Tannhäuser in 30 cities throughout the world.[37]
Literature[edit]
Many scholars and writers on opera have advanced theories to explain the motives and behaviour of the characters,[9] including Jungian psychoanalysis,[1] in particular as regards Tannhäuser's apparently self-destructive behaviour. In 2014 an analysis suggested that his apparently inconsistent behaviour, when analysed by game theory, is actually consistent with a redemption strategy. Only by public disclosure can Tannhäuser force a resolution of his inner conflict.[38]
The former drawbridge of the Château de Brézé, seen from the bottom of the castle moat, Loire Valley, France
Some background information:
The Château de Brézé is located in the community of Brézé in the French department of Maine-et-Loire, just about ten kilometres (6.2 miles) south of the town of Saumur. The city of Angers is situated about 50 km (31 miles) to the northwest, while the city of Tours lies about 60 km (37 miles) to the northeast. It is considered one of the most intriguing castles of the Loire, partly due to its underground fortress, and partly because of its rich history.
The Château de Brézé was built between the 11th and 19th centuries in the heart of a vineyard with an area of several dozen hectares. In 1060, it was first mentioned in a document. But today’s structure dates primarily from the 16th to 19th centuries. However, the oldest parts of today’s building are the towers framing the main wing. They were erected in the 13th century, but were later modified to match the Renaissance appearance, which was contemporary almost 600 years ago. Their current architectural design is believed to date back to the rebuilding of the fortifications by Gilles de Maillé-Brézé in 1448.
Around 1515, the castle was again heavily modified. Additional alterations, carried out by Arthur de Maillé-Brézé around 1560, included the construction of the east side of the Renaissance wing. One of the castle’s most interesting parts is the moat. It’s a dra and very deep ditch, which was created by the quarrying of the tuff, on which the Château de Brézé stands. But it did not only have the purpose of a defensive work, as it was also used for economic reasons. In caves quarried into the tuff of the outer walls of the moat, visitors can still see the castle’s outbuildings such as a bakery, a press house, a wine cellar and a room for silkworm breeding.
Over the centuries, Château de Brézé has been home to several families. Just like the Brézé lordship and in the 17th century also the title of Marquis de Brézé, it belonged to the House of Maillé-Brézé, which had already acquired the village of Brézé in the 14th century. It was also this family, which carried out the first extensive renovations in the 15th century. After Gilles de Maillé-Brézé had received permission from René I, Duke of Anjou, to fortify the castle, he had the ten to twelve meter deep ditches dug around the building. In 1558, his descendant Arthur de Maillé-Brézé added the Renaissance wing. In 1615, the estate was made a marquisate by the French King Louis XIII and Urbain de Maillé-Brézé became the first marquis. He married Nicole du Plessis, the sister of Cardinal Richelieu, and their son Armand became an Admiral of France.
In 1650, Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, sole heiress, married Louis II de Bourbon, prince of Condé, and passed the estate on to his family. In the same year, the "Great Condé" (that was his nickname) joined the Fronde. The Fronde was an alliance of the French nobility, the high judiciary of the Parlements, above all the Parlement of Paris, and parts of the people, also mainly in Paris, which was directed against the increasing absolutism in France in the 17th century. Subsequently, a series of civil wars took place between 1648 and 1653. In 1653, the Château de Brézé was occupied by royal troops for one year.
In 1682, Louis II de Bourbon exchanged the Château de Brézé for the Château de la Galissonnière near Nantes. The new owner of the estate, Thomas de Dreux, advisor to the Parliament in Paris, not only acquired the estate, but also received the title of Marquis under King Louis XIV. In 1701, the title of "Master of Ceremonies" was also bestowed on the family Dreux- Brézé, which they retained until 1830.
Henrio Evrard de Dreux-Brézé, King Louis XVI's Master of Ceremonies, expanded the Renaissance part of the castle. His son Pierre, Bishop of Moulins, and his grandson Henry Simon began remodeling the château, giving it the neo-Gothic style elements that are still in evidence today. After Charlotte de Dreux-Brézé had married Count Bernard de Colbert in 1959, the estate came into the possession of the Colbert family, who still live there today.
The current owners operate Brézé Castle mainly as a winery with around 30 hectares of cultivation area. Since the year 2000,parts of the cave's basement and the castle are open to the public. Since 2000, the Château de Brézé belongs to the UNESCO Word Heritage Site "The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes" with its many breathtaking châteaux. Altogether there are more than 400 of them in the Loire region.
Another from the "21 sessions". If you don`t know The Thin Grey Duke and his "21", it`s right here: www.flickr.com/photos/thethingreyduke/3836667873/in/photo...
Happy B.day, Franz K.
Humanity and architecture are not invariable, both are no longer part of a place, both mutate over time, their bodies and their souls are transformed according to need and function, their shape and size dimensions. skins reflect images and inspire ideas. Both are actors engaged in the perverse game of iconicism and symbolism. Both are dependent on the "star system", "reality TV", instant news, global communication.
It is for this reason that architecture and communication are in my eyes the main pillars of the globalized world. Both "format" the human environment, material and virtual, they allow him to be Present "here and now": a deterritorialized "here" and a timeless "now". Architecture becomes sign, icon, symbol, "a phenomenological consideration of our architectural relationship suggests to us that normally we enjoy architecture as a fact of communication even without excluding functionality" functionality which would in a way become a " second function ”from the point of view of communication according to the precepts of Eco (Eco, 1972).
The identity issue is far-reaching, amplified by the search for the “sensational” both among decision-makers caught up in the globalized trend and in search of recognition, and among promoters seeking to dazzle customers bewitched by the proliferation of forms that “ take your breath away ”. The architectures therefore become more and more "stimulating objects" which stand out and mark the place by their too powerful presence.
This tendency which makes architecture "the stimulating object" and not "a preparatory stimulus which replaces the stimulating object" 16 increases tenfold the impact of its "presence" which becomes almost hegemonic in its communicative approaches to a certain culture (or civilization to use the terms linked to the September 11, 2001 clash). This brings us back to the days of absolutism, or of the conquerors of past centuries, who replaced the culture of the place with their own. At this level, the possible damage incurred in new towns without an urban past is not enormous, but in memorial towns such as Beirut the impact is severe, both historically and from a socio-cultural point of view.
In the tumultuous framework of contemporary architecture where the race for "signatures" is becoming an important, if not essential, paradigm of presence on the map of a world that is excessively globalizing, there are many examples. From Asian metropolises suffering from suffocating overcrowding to emerging desert cities whose supply outrageously exceeds demand, examples of image and message architecture abound. What is the impact of place and history on these global cities? Some of these cities have been involved in the race since the creation of the phenomenon, and the impact of ancient history and the original place is no longer real: a new urban layer has formed erasing the previous ones or the original ones. relegating to the level of the “historic basement”. While other cities (emerging from the desert) are in a non-place, an immense void without history or architectural identity of their own, which brings us back to a simple observation: an abundance of parachuted architectural objects which “fill” a space. more or less vast, like a large display of masterpieces. It’s like a permanent universal exhibition.
By questioning Architecture through different examples and periods up to our contemporary world, we obtain many answers to existential questions that seem enigmatic to us. The phenomenon of communication or expression through architecture is not independent of the antagonism that led to the clash of civilizations. Through its Presence, architecture configures the world of man, responding to his material needs, but also to his aspirations, dreams and ideals. She carries her Ideas within her, reflects her "vision" or her images and communicates her Messages. It contributes to enchantment by building a new world. But she can also destroy it by assaulting her senses and polluting her minds with the ideas she reflects.
The architectural work also marks the place through its presence, it stigmatizes it and becomes a symbol or image, landmark, milestone in an international journey that takes on the aspect of a challenge, seeing a new war of power through emblematic buildings. This architecture which we call “Landmark” becomes an essential paradigm of presence and mutation. Its essential mission is to be beyond the instrument, an ever more innovative precept of communication. Architecture, through this new dimension, becomes an inescapable factor of stability and continuation of the world. A conveyor of the future not just a mirror of the past. But what future is it all about? What is the Image of this new world
that we that we create? This constructed world takes into account the "genius of the place ”of its identity, its history or are we transforming. . .”Our physical environment in a kind of constipated void devoid of meaning”
Architecture thereby becomes a major and main instrument of presence and communication of these cities to plural societies. The identification with these cities and the values they carry become universal. They are the cities par excellence of a globalized world where each inhabitant identifies with them regardless of their origins and identity. The architect is not required to respect a history or a "genius of the place" he must only make an object that fits in with contemporaneity juggling with materials and technology to meet new challenges: those of communicating and to communicate through an Architecture that makes people talk about it. In this game of "universal cities" there is no longer any place for indigenous cultures or identities which must necessarily come to terms with the idea of having to transform into citizens of the world, deny their own identity for the benefit of a globality. conqueror, to blend into the image of a universalized world, to ensure their presence in their own city which is no longer theirs since they no longer identify with it. The architect himself imposes his signature by marking a place often taking into account only the criteria of overall architecture. By this fact he imposes (in conjunction with the client, the promoter, and socio-political bodies) his ideas, his image and his communication, but his architecture juxtaposed to that of his colleague does not have the same presence as only object if she was alone. Ideas, Images and communication thereby create a polyphony which can become quite confusing. As at the time of the creation of the Manhattan district, each one will go further and higher, downgrading his neighbor even before his work-challenge is completed.
The antithesis would obviously be the city that develops on the basis of the criteria of identity and values specific to the place. Contemporary architecture is in line with the idea of continuation and images that integrate without creating a break between the past, the present and the future. The new therefore adapts to the old while remaining faithful to the precepts of contemporary architecture in terms of both function and form and new technologies. The architecture that takes root in the place marks it with its presence, but taking care not to distort it. The "brand" is not meant to be a wound but a signature, a variation on the theme, an inscription in today's world. With this in mind, the architect tries to find a way to get the place out of its rigid anchorage to the world of today. Its architecture communicates through its ability to be a link, a window on the contemporary world. A kind of mistrust, against architecture, modern imbued with the old, or the opposite. But this gymnastics is only done within the “intramural” framework of towns with a strong historical character. We cannot generalize it and extrapolate it to “character” cities that are trying to become emerging landmarks in the contemporary world. In other words, these cities cannot become global because they are too steeped in local culture. A citizen of the globalized world cannot identify with it, it is the place of change of scenery to ways of excellencies.
Careful examination of the details embedded in this portrait reveals the key to David's success as a painter during the time of Louis XVI, Robespierre, and Napoleon: the artist's ability to transform his subjects into politically powerful icons.
Napoleon is placed in the center of a vertical canvas dressed in his uniform as a colonel of the Foot Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard. His pose—the slightly hunched shoulders and hand inserted into his vest—contrasts to the formality of his costume. In addition, his cuffs are unbuttoned, his leggings wrinkled, and his hair disheveled. David, in a letter to the patron of this portrait, Alexander Douglas, the tenth Duke of Hamilton, explained that his appearance was designed to show that Napoleon had spent the night in his study composing the Napoleonic Code, an impression enforced by details, such as the flickering candles that are almost extinguished, the quill pen and papers scattered on the desk, and the clock on the wall which points to 4:13 a.m.
David strategically placed the sword on the chair to allude to Napoleon's military success, while the prominent display of the word "Code" in his papers, suggests his administrative achievements. Other decorative details—the heraldic bees and the fleurs–de–lys—are symbols of French absolutism, and imply Napoleon's power as ruler. (Source: NGA)
PLEASE, no multi invitations in your comments. Thanks. I AM POSTING MANY DO NOT FEEL YOU HAVE TO COMMENT ON ALL - JUST ENJOY.
NOT HDR
The Audience Chamber is among the best preserved reception rooms from the early period of Danish Absolutism. Luckily, the building escaped the flames during the devastating fire in 1859.
The original Audience Chamber was damaged by a small fire in 1665 and Christian V did not hesitate turning it into a coherent architectural tribute to the newly established absolute monarchy.
By removing the attic floor the architect Lambert van Haven created a high dome for the impressive room. He had the interior decorated with marvelous stucco ornamentation and paintings visualizing the absolute monarchy. The paintings include an allegorical representation of Christian V’s motto “With Piety and Justice”, personifications of the four continents, Africa, America, Asia and Europe and portraits of the Oldenborg kings.