Lecture Evening: "The Electoral Palatinate and Its Western Neighbors: Politics, Art, and Culture under Carl Theodor, Elector Palatine (1742–1778)"

Lecture evening presented by and featuring Dr. Maria Lucia Weigel (Erkenbert Museum, City of Frankenthal) and Lars Maurer (Karl-Wörn-Haus, Museum of the City of Schwetzingen) This two-part lecture evening explores the political, cultural, and artistic connections and relationships between the Electoral Palatinate on the one hand and France and Lorraine on the other during the reign of Elector Carl Theodor (1724–1799, reigned 1742–1799). The focus is on developments at the Electoral Palatinate court (1742–1778) as well as the diverse mutual influences between the regions during this period. Particular attention is given to artistic and cultural exchanges in the fields of garden architecture and porcelain production. In the first part of the lecture, Lars Maurer, director of the Museum of the City of Schwetzingen, will discuss the relations between France, Lorraine, and the Electoral Palatinate under Elector Carl Theodor (1742–1778). These relations were historically close, as their spheres of influence in the Upper Rhine region and along the Moselle bordered directly. Despite severe devastation during the War of the Palatinate Succession (1689–1697), France remained a cultural model for the Electoral Palatinate even in the 18th century. Particularly under Carl Theodor, who assumed the throne in 1742, Francophone influences shaped the court and politics. His origins in a German-French noble family, his native French language, and his upbringing shaped by Jesuits and French-oriented advisors reinforced this orientation. It was not until the 1760s that Carl Theodor developed greater political autonomy and gradually distanced himself from France. A visible sign of this cultural orientation was the appointment in 1749 of the architect Nicolas de Pigage, a native of Lunéville, who set standards for courtly representation in the French style in the Schwetzingen Palace Gardens, as exemplified here. In the second part of the lecture, the director of the Erkenbert Museum in Frankenthal (Palatinate), Dr. Maria Lucia Weigel, first addresses the history of the porcelain manufactory established in Frankenthal under Elector Carl Theodor. The Strasbourg faience and porcelain manufacturer Paul Anton Hannong was subject to a production ban in France resulting from the monopoly held by the royal manufactory in Vincennes. He therefore relocated to the neighboring Palatinate to produce hard-paste porcelain there. The production facility for courtly luxury goods, which began operations in Frankenthal in 1755, was among the most significant manufactories of the 18th century in Germany. In the early phase, the models for its products were Meissen porcelain; from 1762 onward, however, they also included those from the manufactory in Sèvres (formerly Vincennes). Using several examples of forms and decorations, the references of Frankenthal pieces to French models will be presented. Admission is free; no advance registration is required.