Sommersemester 2018
• TU Darmstadt, Fachbereich Architektur,
Fachgebiet Architektur- und Kunstgeschichte,
El-Lissitzky-Str. 1, 64287 Darmstadt
Seminar
Technikbegeisterung und Wohnkultur – Bayerische Königsschlösser
Dr. Martin Pozsgai
Bavarian Royal Palaces: Advances in Technology and Domestic Culture
The three famous royal palaces of Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee created the stagy illusion of an absolute kingship for Ludwig II of Bavaria, which was refused to him by the bourgeois society of his time. Their architecture and interiors referred to the different spheres of his romantic philosophy. For example, he considered Neuschwanstein as a knight’s castle whose paintings evoked medieval heroes such as Lohengrin and Parsifal. The buildings and their room decorations are regarded today as historistic highlights of domestic culture. Often, however, it is failed to notice that the king equipped them with the latest technology. Hot air central heating, elevators, running hot water and a telephone system – all this testifies his forward-looking enthusiasm for technology. Keeping this in mind, the castles must be newly re-examined.