Retrospect

Exhibition in the ThüringenForst office building in Paulinzella

Until the 18th century, the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was densely forested. Numerous trades used wood as a natural resource, so it is hard to imagine this period without forestry as an economic basis. Wood was used in a variety of ways - as a source of energy for hammer forges and glassworks, for the extraction of charcoal, pot (ash) and resin for the production of pitch and soot, and finally also for use in handicrafts, whereby the quality of the wood was particularly important. The sale of wood also contributed to the exploitation of the forests. In the 19th century, a steadily increasing shortage of wood finally led to a transformation of the forestry system.

Today, the forest is still changing and new risks threaten its species composition - flora and fauna alike. Water shortages and pests are examples of the challenges facing forests. The special exhibitions at Heidecksburg Palace and, in cooperation with ThüringenForst, at the Paulinzella office building are intended to shed light on the changes in the forests in the former territories of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and to portray botanical treasures in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district in greater detail. The exhibitions show the diverse nature of their own surroundings, they sensitise and inspire. The focus is not on dying forests, but on the power of colourful forest nature.

The silver fir shaped our native forests more than 500 years ago, but today it joins the list of rare tree species. The silver fir is the focus of the special exhibition in Paulinzella because the use of this tree can be experienced directly on site.

Exhibition in the Graphic Cabinet of Heidecksburg Palace

Until the 18th century, the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was densely forested. Numerous trades used wood as a natural resource, so it is hard to imagine this period without forestry as an economic basis. Wood was used in a variety of ways - as a source of energy for hammer forges and glassworks, for the extraction of charcoal, pot (ash) and resin for the production of pitch and soot, and finally also for use in handicrafts, whereby the quality of the wood was particularly important. The sale of wood also contributed to the exploitation of the forests. In the 19th century, a steadily increasing shortage of wood finally led to a transformation of the forestry system.

Today, the forest is still changing and new risks threaten its species composition - flora and fauna alike. Water shortages and pests are examples of the challenges facing forests. The special exhibitions at Heidecksburg Palace and, in cooperation with ThüringenForst, at the Paulinzella office building are intended to shed light on the changes in the forests in the former territories of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and to portray botanical treasures in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district in greater detail. The exhibitions show the diverse nature of their own surroundings, they sensitise and inspire. The focus is not on dying forests, but on the power of colourful forest nature.

In the forestry district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, there are two dendrological focus points of rare tree species that will be examined more closely in the course of the exhibition at Heidecksburg Palace. In the north-eastern area near the Schauenforst castle ruins, several Sorbus species and the »Heilinger Mehlbeere« are found. These occurrences are of supra-regional interest and represent a botanical treasure. The second dendrological focus is not far from Rudolstadt. This is the largest yew occurrence in Eastern Thuringia, within sight of Heidecksburg Palace. More than 6500 yew trees can be found in the »Steinberg-Dissau« nature reserve. In these yew-rich forest stands, notable evidence of walnuts as natural regeneration can be found in addition to wild service trees and mealberries.

Although the counts and later princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt could not keep up with the powers of the empire in terms of military strength and the supposed glory of victorious wars, they sought to equal them in courtly ostentation following the French model, in palace building, in the creation of parks, gardens and orangeries, especially in the first half of the 18th century. The princely striving for representation was also the basis for the richness of the diverse collections at Heidecksburg Palace. When the last prince, Günther Viktor, abdicated in 1918, he decided to transfer the collections to a foundation. In 1920, the newly founded palace museum opened its doors. The special exhibition will focus on the passionate collecting activities of the Princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the eventful history and development of the museum areas all the way to the museum of the future. The newly published volume presents 261 pages of exhibits from the various areas of the collection - price €15.00, available at the Heidecksburg Museum ticket office or by mail order at museum@heidecksburg.de.

The ruins of the Romanesque monastery church of Paulinzella rise impressively in the valley meadow and reveal the former size and importance of the monastery complex. Some of the monastery buildings have been altered, rebuilt or demolished over the course of time. Several restorations, monument preservation measures, building investigations and excavations have been carried out on the grounds of Paulinzella Monastery and have brought the history of this complex, which has always attracted travellers, poets and painters, to life. The most recent building excavation was carried out with the comprehensive renovation of the official building, and renovation and safeguarding work is taking place on the monastery church itself.

Meanwhile, archaeology has a little helper at its side - the mole. It is worth taking a closer look at the animal of the year 2020, because its reputation is often worse than it should be and even as an »auxiliary archaeologist« it unearths exciting artefacts from the soil. The special exhibition not only illuminated the field of archaeology by means of finds around Paulinzella, but also spanned the arc to nature through diverse information about the Animal of the Year 2020.

The co-founder of the natural history cabinet and later court physician, Georg Christian Füchsel, played a significant role in classifying and organising the first geological collections of Prince and later Count Friedrich Karl of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, who was confined to bed for a long time due to a serious riding accident. Meanwhile, Füchsel taught him basic knowledge of geology and mineralogy and was himself intensively engaged in geological studies. He not only drew the first geological map of a Thuringian area, but also coined terms that are common today, such as »shell limestone« and »red sandstone«. Throughout the history of the cabinet up to the Natural History Museum, geological finds were repeatedly added to the collection. The museum received a particularly extensive and significant addition through the permanent loan of the gold collection of Dr. Markus Schade, the founder of the German Gold Museum in Theuern. The handover of the collection was honoured with the special exhibition and young and old alike were fascinated by the topic of gold. In addition, selected collection items were on display, including the 18th-century sealing earths recently refurbished by the Freiberg Academy.

Since the domestication of the wild horse about 5500 years ago, the horse has developed as a versatile companion of man and was also an integral part of court life in Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. However, it played a large part not only in the mobility of the court household, but also served, among other things, for representation, training in the riding school or as a hunting and parade horse. Intensive horse breeding at the specially established stud farm can still be traced today on the basis of archival sources. The books in the Marstall library, which also include works by old riding masters, bear witness to the endeavour to keep up to date with the latest knowledge on horsemanship and breeding. Among them are important works by Antoine de Pluvinel, the riding instructor of King Louis XIII, and François Robichon de la Guérinière, who wrote down important principles for classical horsemanship that have not lost their validity to this day. The special exhibition reflected the evidence of horse keeping at court and the associated passion of the counts and princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt for the horse.

The Natural History Museum in Rudolstadt's Heidecksburg Palace was founded in 1757 by Prince Friedrich Karl of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt as a natural history cabinet and is the oldest natural history museum in Thuringia. Since then, a diverse collection has been built up that spans all the natural kingdoms. Not only some of the custodians themselves, but also a large number of preparators, including, for example, the founder of modern dermoplastics, Philipp Leopold Martin, were involved in the design of the preparations. Their preparations reveal the progress of both craftsmanship and artistry.

The special exhibition on the occasion of the museum's 260th anniversary focused on zoological taxidermy, which is not only an important pillar for the exhibitions in natural history museums, but also a foundation for science. Natural history collections are an essential part of modern natural history research and can provide information about many biological aspects, e.g. the evolution of species and their distribution.

Techniques, materials and tools that can be found in the everyday use of a taxidermist were shown. In addition, preparations from different animal classes were presented, with the focus on taxidermy, the preparation of vertebrates. Using selected animal species, it was possible to draw an impressive comparison between historical and modern taxidermy techniques. The exhibition included not only large mammals, reptiles and various bird species, but also insects as well as alcohol preparations and casts that could not be exhibited before.

The Princely Natural History Cabinet, founded in Rudolstadt in 1757 and now the Natural History Museum in Heidecksburg Palace, was and is a haven for plant lovers and botanists. Its collections of herbarium specimens (since the 17th century) and richly illustrated botanical works (including J. W. Weinmann's Phytanthozoa Iconographia of 1739 or J. H. Tiemeroth's watercolours from 1726 to 1758) bear witness to this interest. Towards the end of the 18th century, it found special expression in the garden art of the royal city on the Saale with a new arrangement of the arboretum and botanical garden.

The Natural History Museum at Heidecksburg Palace owns the largest collection of corals in Thuringia. It already attracted particular interest in Rudolstadt in the 18th century. At the end of the 20th century, its museum holdings were significantly enriched. It is thanks to Prof. Dr. D.H.H. Kühlmann, a coral specialist who worked at the Berlin Natural History Museum for many years. The cabinet exhibition not only conveyed local collection history, but also insights into the unique habitat of these fascinating marine inhabitants.

Princess Karoline Louise of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, a daughter of Landgrave Friedrich V of Hessen-Homburg, left behind a considerable collection of drawings and watercolours. The works, hitherto unknown to the public, are distinguished by their high artistic quality and bear witness to her romantic devotion to nature.

Princess Karoline Louise received an education in the sciences from an early age, but also instruction in the »fine arts«. Thus, in 1785, she was taught by the drawing teacher Wilhelm Adam Thierry. In Thierry's style, she produced numerous watercolours, including the landscape park around Homburg Castle, in addition to her briskly drawn sketches of her travels and hikes. After her marriage to Prince Ludwig Friedrich II of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1791, Karoline Louise arranged for her former drawing teacher, who had enabled her to study architecture in Karlsruhe, to become a master builder at the Rudolstadt court. Works from her youth were presented in the Graphic Cabinet for the first time, authentically showing installations of the Homburg Landscape Park.

Seven unpublished anthologies of manuscripts by the Arnstadt physician Dr. J. H. Tiemeroth the Younger were presented from the library of the Natural History Museum in the Graphic Cabinet of Heidecksburg Palace. They comprise about 1000 sheets with watercolours (opaque colour painting) of flowering plants and some mushrooms, which Tiemeroth created between 1725 and 1764. With the purchase of the natural history cabinet of Prof. Kaltschmied (University of Jena), they came into princely possession in Rudolstadt in 1772. It is known that Tiemeroth also painted for other naturalists of his time. W. F. von Gleichen-Rußwurm, for example, owned about 1200 of Tiemeroth's plant paintings, which are now in the Mainfränkisches Museum in Würzburg. Tiemeroth's depictions of plants can be counted among the best scientifically founded and aesthetically most sophisticated in the first half of the 18th century. Little is known about Tiemeroth's life and work in the network of his time.