Baroque gardens are conceived as theatrical scenarios, and water is given in a special role in the show.
Firstly, water has a practical use, essential for the growth of plants. Meanwhile, the number of elaborate fountains and jeux d’eau symbolises the wealth of the commissioning patrons. Namely, concealed “backstage” is a complex interplay of pipelines, reservoirs and technically innovative pump systems without which a sufficient water supply is not guaranteed.
Above all however, water is a key decorative design element, bringing a touch of vitality into the strictly geometric Baroque garden. In contrast, tranquil expanses of water in the fountain basins and canals radiate serenity and peace. Cascades enliven as a diverting transition between different levels in the terrain, enticing visitors further into the garden. Fountains jet up high, special water effects spray and splash, a scintillating show for eyes and ears that embodies Baroque joie de vivre for us even today.
Technology is the Thing
Technical expertise along with innovative and occasionally dauntless planning is required to pipe water into the garden, usually in free fall from a faraway source. All at once, it shoots out from subterranean pipes into the fountain basins, the “curtains up” for a fascinating show. The motto is: “let it flow”, regardless of the cost.
The conveyance of water is an exorbitant item, requiring mechanical pumping systems, animal power and human ingenuity. Another difficulty is that only one direction exists for the “water course”: after the “liquid gold” has passed through the last fountain, it is piped out of the garden. Experiencing a garden enhanced with fountains is therefore an absolutely unique event and only of short duration – aquatic “fireworks”, as it were!
Ground plan and elevation of the mechanical water device in Groissenbrunn
signed and dated: Anton Daum, 6 April 1802 (reproduction)
Three ponds in Groissenbrunn – a township in the vicinity of Schloss Hof – were used for collecting water for the fountains. To raise the water from the ponds to a higher located reservoir, a wind- and animal-driven pumping system was developed. This enabled those at Schloss Hof to operate the fountains “at their will and pleasure”.
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Abteilung Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Güterdirektion Wien, Kt 262, Az 1353
Original model of a “fire engine”
In the early eighteenth century, the English ironmonger Thomas Newcomen constructed the first practically functioning steam engine. In 1721 the first atmospheric steam engine in the Habsburg Monarchy was set up in Königsberg/ Nová Baňa near Schemnitz/Banská Štiavnica in what is today Slovakia in order to pump water out of the mines. The following year a further “fire engine” was set up in the garden of Palais Schwarzenberg in Vienna to operate the fountains. Both machines were constructed by the English engineer Isaac Potter together with Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.
Technisches Museum Wien, Standort E2, 3.23, Inv.Nr. 690
Plan of a fountain in Schönbrunn with technical accessories and different spray nozzles
pen and ink drawing 1757 (reproduction)
ALBERTINA, Wien, Inv.Nr. AZ5490
Different forms of metal attachments for fountains
from: Topographia Windhagiana aucta, Vienna, 1673 (reproduction)
Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg, Sign. 2 Gs 545
Grosses Bassin (Large Basin) in the cour d’honneur in Belvedere
coloured pen and ink drawing (reproduction)
The Grosses Basin in the cour d’honneur of the Belvedere was used along with two smaller basins as water reservoir to supply the 23 fountains in the garden. The drawing shows a cross section of the basin, only half filled. We see the reason in the description at the side. Farmers tapped Prince Eugene’s water supply illegally in order to water their fields.
Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Sachsen, Dresden, Inv.Nr. M 68.V.Bl. 1
Back wall
“Fire Engine” for operating a fountain in the Schwarzenberg summer palace in Vienna
engraving, Johann Georg Schmidt, from: Johann Basilii Kuchelbeckers allerneueste Nachricht vom Römisch-Käyserlichen Hofe […], Hanover, 1730, p. 739 (reproduction)
Lothar Franz Count Schönborn (1655–1729) voiced a very sceptical opinion of this, the very first steam-engine system in Austria: “Prince von Schwarzenberg’s water machine with fire is all very well […], but it costs a load [of money].”
Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. Lit553
Ground plan of the Schloss Hof garden with drawing of water supply
plan drawing, signed: Michael Gruber Bau Ingenieur, c. 1825 (reproduction)
This plan still shows the original routing of the water supply within the Schloss Hof garden. One main pipe connected all the fountains with one another. In order to force the spray of the Great Cascade and the Octagon Fountain as high as possible, these fountains were given an extra pipeline. The water was led off at the end of the garden, thus was not re-pumped.
ALBERTINA, Wien, Inv.Nr. AZ 9154, Mappe 13/3/8
Portfolio on the Schloss Hof water supply set up in 1843
signed and dated: Eugen Fichna, 1874 (reproduction)
The plan shown here illustrates the water supply of Schloss Hof. The water was drawn from multiple sources in the township of Groissenbrunn several kilometres away and collected in three ponds. Using a mechanical pump, it was led from a well house to the highest point in the area and then via underground pipes all the way to Schloss Hof.
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Abteilung Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Plansammlung, Sign. Ag 59, Mappe 1, Nr. 2S
Overview plan of all imperial and royal water mains for Schönbrunn
coloured plan drawing, 1st half 19th C.
The water supplying the fountains in Schönbrunn was led from the Lainz hunting preserve (seen at top right). The water is led to the individual fountains through a web-like, multi-ramified subterranean system of pipes.
Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.
Representation of the water pump machine at Schönbrunn
pen and wash drawing, anonymous, 1750/51 (reproduction)
With the aid of an animal-powered machine the water in Schönbrunn can be led all the way to the heights of the Gloriette.
ALBERTINA, Wien, Inv.Nr. AZ5494
Obelisk Fountain in Schönbrunn Palace Park
colour engraving, Karl Schütz, 1778 (reproduction)
Wien Museum, Inv.Nr. 64405
Left Wall
Aquatic Variety
Because of its optical and acoustic features, water can be deployed in a multitude of ways – whether as tumultuous cascades, high-jetting fountains, diaphanous water sprays, softly splashing streams, or tranquil stretches of water reflecting the surroundings.
Moreover, fountains in Baroque gardens possess dense iconographic significance. Thanks to their figural decoration, they help in interpreting the garden’s scenario.
Water touches all human senses: on hot summer days it gleams and glitters, it reflects the surroundings, and its loud, tumultuous resonance can be heard from afar. But a tranquil stretch of water can also have a calming effect and inspire meditative thoughts. It can be felt on the skin in a whiff of breeze, and even the sense of smell is stimulated by water. In winter, the ice pits are resourced with blocks of ice cut out of the ponds. And, to top it all, frozen stretches of water offer wonderful opportunities for ice-skating!
Fountains and jeux d‘eau of Palais Huldenberg in Weidlingau near Vienna
engraving, Johann Adam Delsenbach after a drawing by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, 1715 (reproduction)
The summer palace known later as Ledererschlössl no longer exists. In its time, its garden offered visitors an amazing auditory experience. A multitude of fountains with their high-jetting spray created a genuine feast for the ears that could be heard far beyond the garden limits.
Wien Museum, Inv.Nr. 21431
Great Fountain in the Schwarzenberg Garden in Vienna
Prospect in dem Hochfürstl. Schwartzenbergischen Garten, bey der runden Fontaine, engraving, Georg Daniel Heumann after a drawing by Salomon Kleiner, c. 1735, from: Wahrhafte und genaue Abbildung[...], Part 5, fig. 13 (reproduction)
A central water basin with a central figural group is one of the standard embellishments of a Baroque garden.
Wien Museum, Inv.Nr. 15283
Neptune with Dolphin
pen and wash drawing, Johann Wolfgang van der Auwera, dated 1733, den 24. Januar (reproduction)
The sculptor van der Auwera trained in the workshop of Prince Eugene’s sculptor Johann Christoph Mader and was therefore active at Schloss Hof. It is to him we owe drawings of garden and fountain figures that are lost today. This group once adorned the Neptune Fountain in the cour d’honneur in Schloss Hof.
Martin von Wagner Museum der Universität Würzburg, Inv.Nr. 195/photo: André Mischke
Marine trophies
ornamental engraving (etching), François Thomas Mondon, from: Livre de Trophée, sheet 4, published by Antoine Aveline, Paris, 18th C. (reproduction)
Artists were sometimes inspired by French graphic works such as this for their design of fountains and figural representations.
MAK – Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Inv.Nr. KI 1-781-4
Fragment of a dolphin
Zogelsdorf sandstone, Johann Christoph Mader and workshop (?),1st half 18th C.
As time went by, many sandstone figures were dismantled, and some were even used as building material. In rare, fortunate cases we find parts of fountain figures cropping up, like this dolphin. However, their original placement in the garden often remains obscure. Dolphins are seen as the embodiment of good fortune and playfulness, thus are an enduring component in fountain design.
Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.
Bozzetto (model) of the river god Danubius for the garden of Palais Leeb in the Augarten, Vienna
terracotta, signed and dated: Giovanni Giuliani, 1738
In order to illustrate the effect of garden and fountain figures, sculptors used to make a diminutive model out of clay. This acted as viewing model for the commissioning patron and is simultaneously the model for chiselling the figure out of stone. Local rivers were frequently represented in garden sculpture, not least in the garden of Schloss Hof: the rivers Danube and March can be found in the “Grotto”.
Zisterzienserabtei Stift Heiligenkreuz
View of the central part of the Schönborn garden near Göllersdorf with the great cascade
engraving, Johann Balthasar Gutwein after a drawing by Salomon Kleiner, c. 1726–1730 (reproduction)
One of the most imposing fountain ensembles and simultaneously the first great cascade of the Austrian Baroque period was owned by Friedrich Carl Count Schönborn in the garden of his country seat near Göllersdorf in the Weinviertel in Lower Austria. The grand cascade ensemble with a longitudinal water basin in front and multiple shell fountains is embellished with mythological figures. In the centre is the winged horse Pegasus, flanked by Apollo and Hercules. Joining them at the sides, eight overdimensional Muses are seated on the edge of the basin.
Wienbibliothek im Rathaus, Inv.Nr. D-5737 (Tafel 29)
Prospect of a garden building together with a basin upon which two statues draw in a net wrought of copper
engraving, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, from: Entwurf einer historischen Architektur, Book IV, plate XIX, Vienna, 1721 (reproduction)
There are no holds barred for the imagination when creating the figural adornment of decorative fountains. Here, Fischer von Erlach has designed two monumental figures who are drawing a netted dolphin out of the water. By placing the figures outside the basin he thus establishes a seamless transition between water and earth.
Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. SKB 006709
