The Royal Gardens in Würzburg
The Royal Gardens in Würzburg, part of the Residence Palace’s grounds, were located around and behind the Residence itself and just down the street and around the corner from Caroline’s apartment; here in 1832 (Kreishauptstadt Würzburg: Gemessen durch Carl Handwerk im Jahre 1832; Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online):
Here a plan of the gardens during the reign of Prince Bishop Friedrich von Seinsheim (1708–79), approximately as Caroline would have experienced them and still restricted by the walls of the town’s fortifications (see below; here: G. Karch, “Gartenplan zu Zeiten des Fürstbischofs Friedrich von Seinsheim nach Mayer’s Pomona,” Die königliche Residenz und der Hofgarten zu Würzburg: nach ihrem mythisch-philosophischen Charakter, dem platonischen Kosmos, im Zusammenhang erklärt und mit einem Plane des Gartens versehen [Würzburg 1869], final plate):
Here a plan of the gardens at the end of the nineteenth century, the outlines of the town’s fortifications still visible but no longer restricting the gardens (Engelbert Sturm, “Der königliche Hofgarten zu Würzurg,” Zeitschrift für Bildende Gartenkunst 2 [1891)] [=9th annual and new series of the Jahrbuch für Gartenkunde und Botanik], 65–67, here: 67:
Concerning the gardens themselves, see Philipp Joseph Horsch, Versuch einer Topographie der Stadt Würzburg in Beziehung auf den allgemeinen Gesundheitszustand und die dahin zielenden Anstalen (Arnstadt, Rudolstadt 1805), 128
Promenades inside Würzburg include:
1) The royal court garden, which because of its size and differing topographical features offers a variety of distraction and entertainment. For several years now, all sorts of refreshments can be had there [Caroline had coffee in May 1806].
Also Carl Gottfried Scharold, Würzburg und die umliegende Gegend, für Fremde und Einheimische kurz beschrieben (Würzburg 1805), 240–42, 189:
Promenades and places of entertainment
The area comprising Würzburg admittedly looks on the whole like a single, large vineyard. That said, the area both inside and outside town lacks neither pleasant promenades nor places of amusement, entertainment, and relaxation.
Inside Town
Such locales inside town include (1) the ramparts on the northern side of town, from the Pleichacher Gate to the Rennweger Gate, where one can promenade aimlessly variously under linden and mulberry trees along gentle paths with, on one side, a handsome view of the town, and, on the other, of the neighboring countryside bordered by hills; a serene, healthy breeze can also be enjoyed there. No carriages, no riders disturb those who walk these paths, and no dust insults the eye.
(2) The Court and Residence Square offers essentially the only promenade along which one can walk with dry feet when unfavorable or wet weather during the winter or summer make longer treks from home uncomfortable. The breeze to which the square is exposed always keeps its cobblestones clean. If the wind is a bit stronger, however, or if the sun a bit too warm, the square is generally empty, since these effects are unbearable. People especially frequent it daily on summer evenings, and on Sundays and holidays from 10:00 a.m. till midday (especially when military parades are scheduled), and afternoons from 4:00 p.m. till 6:00 p.m. it forms a pleasant connection with the neighboring
(3) Court Garden, the gathering place of the belle monde of Würzburg where it can be so crowded that people often walk back and forth shoulder to shoulder. . . .
One element that quite contributes to the beauty of the palace is its garden, which winds around its back and left side, and which within its irregular spaces restricted by the wall fortifications nonetheless harbors a whole panoply of handsome features, pleasant promenades, arbors, resting places, and, from the amphitheater corresponding to the main side of the Residence itself a very pleasant view. Although this feature after the French model was added only later, it nonetheless seems to belong quite seamlessly to the overall plan. Because diligent, meticulous maintenance lends a serenity and pleasing character to the whole, everything about the garden invites a lingering visit, something allowed to residents and visitors alike.
Here four photographs of parts of the Royal Gardens in 1911 and 1901 (in order: [1] Franz Friedrich Leitschuh, Wurzburg (Leipzig 1911), plate 109; [2, 3, 4] S. Göbl, Würzburg: Ein kulturhistorisches Städtebild, 4th ed. [Würzburg 1901], 56–57) and 1915 (postcard):
Translation © 2018 Doug Stott