Friends of Versailles

Tags

art., artists, Chapelle royale, history, palace, Versailles

Friends groups exist everywhere and they are useful to raise funds and promote a site. Friends of Museums, Opera Houses, Theatres, Palaces, Gardens, etc. All have in common raising funds and promoting a place and attracting others to their project.

The Palace of Versailles was built between 1631 and 1715. Then after 1792 when it was closed by the Revolutionary government, it’s furniture and all its fixtures where sold off to foreign collectors. The Wallace Collection in London has an incredible array of furniture and objects from the Palace and it is all beautifully presented at Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along with the Marquesses of Hertford.

During the 19th century the Palace was remodelled to accommodate the French Senate and Legislative assembly. Great painting galleries were built from the former apartments of the Great Princes. Other buildings like Trianon and Le Hameau de la Reine were left to decay, this including the fountains and the extensive gardens and statuary.

When I first visited Versailles in 1969 with my parents, the palace looked a little sad and neglected. Yes, you could see the great rooms of the palace like la gallerie des glaces and the royal bedrooms, but they were empty of furniture, no candelabras or curtains on the windows. It was difficult to imagine how the King lived in such a place surrounded by a large number of Courtisans. The guided tours only gave the most perfunctory information mostly the major dates and details well known to all. My father remarked that the way the tour was given you had the impression that everything had been sent out for cleaning but would be back next week.

Les Amis du Chateau de Versailles is more than 100 year old association. In 1998 a group of wealthy Americans formed what is known as the American Friends of Versailles. Their goal was simple, raise funds to promote and support major restoration projects for the Palace and gardens and to support the French group of Les Amis, promoting friendship between France and the USA.

It goes without saying that any restoration work at Versailles requires experts in many fields, including archeologists, artists, historians and scholars plus artisan builders. The cost is always in the millions of Euros and the French Government and the European Union participate financially. Versailles is a UNESCO site.

The American Friends of Versailles being hosted at the Elysée Palace by Madame Macron, wife of the French President.

In the last few years restoration projects were done or are under way at Le Hameau de la Reine, which is this little farm built for Marie-Antoinette so she could play the Bergère and pretend she lived a simple life. The Royal Gate was rebuilt in front of the Chateau, it had been torn down at the Revolution, the roof top of the entire palace was re-gilded in gold leaf as it was in the 18th century. Major fountains in the park were totally restored. Now the Royal Chapel completed in 1715 is being restored and repaired, this multi-year project should be completed in the Spring of 2021. It is the first major restoration of the Chapel since its construction. The roof with its giant wood beams and slate roof had not been touched in 300 years.

These are only some of the numerous projects underway at Versailles. The last time I visited was 1989 for the sad anniversary of the so called French Revolution which now is called a Civil War by historians, at that time some furniture had returned and some restoration had been done.

In recent YouTube videos you can see the work being done on the Palace. It is nothing short of breathtaking. There is also an active program to recover some of the original furniture of the Palace, however the Wallace Collection in London is not parting with any of its royal furniture.

Restauration de la Chapelle Royale de Versailles.

Photos on a sunny Sunday

Tags

Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany, Kaiser, palace, Prussia

Here is a nice photo of the Imperial Palace in Berlin now free of scaffoldings and seen from the Western side of the Spree River in Central Berlin.

Here is a second photo taken from the Palace Bridge, landscaping work and completion of a new metro station continues. Opening date October 2021.

final touches

Tags

art., culture, Empire, Germany, Hohenzollern, palace, Prussia

Daily I follow the changes around the final touches in the re-building of the Berlin City Palace now known as the Humboldt Forum which was set to open this September 2020, but now it has been postponed to October 2021. The Pandemic cut the working construction crews by 25% many unable to return to work after Easter. There is a lot of details to attend to in terms of landscaping and installing new central heating system which runs in huge pipes along the street on the South side of the Palace. On the North side facing the Lutheran Cathedral and the Museums, gardens and trees have been planted. The East facade looking at Alexander Platz across the Spree River is being completed. On the West facade which is the main gate of the Palace the last scaffolding is coming down on Portal III, one big element that is missing is the bronze cartouche at the top of the triple gate, which according to plans is in the making by the same group of artisans who made the lantern with the dancing angels for the dome of the palace. It is truly work requiring a lot of attention to detail and the artisans belong to another era. Lucky that such artists like Andreas Hoferick can still be found. He is responsible for all the baroque elements of the palace, the numerous statues and cartouche that can be seen. He has worked on many projects all over Germany involving historical reconstructions. www.hoferick.com

The draft design on paper before the casting in bronze.

the cartouche will be attached to the stone facade with hooks. Below is a photo of what it looked like in 1920.

The final recreated cartouche will also be embellished with gold leaf. It is a fairly large element and is part of the 105 million Euros raised through public donations for the portion paid by the public. Total cost of this project is 750 million Euros.

This Summer as the palace was approaching the final phase, a Court case made the headlines in newspapers in Germany. It turns out that the former Royal Family of Germany and it’s head, Prince Georg Frederich of Prussia are asking the German Government for the return of their palaces and art collections which includes art work in several German Museums some of which are just across the street from the Palace. In Potsdam alone there are 5 palaces of various sizes. In Berlin one is now the Presidential Palace, Bellevue, the other would be the Charlottenburg Palace. The City Palace was the main one but in its new incarnation it is a vast conference centre, library, museum and restaurant. The German Government have won the latest round in Court. The legal argument is in the German Constitution of May 1949 which establishes the new German Federal Republic and its basic Law. In it the text states that any claimant of former properties must prove that their family had no connection or did not belong to the NSDAP (Nazi Party). Though the Prince who was born in 1976 and his father had no links whatsoever, his grandfather the Crown Prince and his great grandfather the former Kaiser in exile, uncles and cousins had links or were members of the Nazi party until 1942. So the Court rejected his claim which was seen as an over reach by the public. The family is quite wealthy and has the ancestral Hohenzollern castle in Southern Germany including the Prussian Crown Jewels and many other assets.

Castle Hohenzollern in Baden-Wurttenberg. It is open to the public https://www.burg-hohenzollern.com/startseite.html

A bird’s eye view of Berlin

Tags

Germany, Hohenzollern, Kaiser, palace

This short video shows the City Palace Berlin AKA Humboldt Forum opening in September 2020. It gives a good idea of the sheer size of the former Palace of the Kaiser in Berlin, now destined to be in its reborn modern form a museum to world culture.

Websites and comments

Tags

Hohenzollern, Humboldt, museum, palace, Russia, St-Petersburg

Readers of this blog will know that I have a fascination for historical renovations of famous places. Among the many blogs on architecture and history I am following, two blogs one in Russia and one in Germany have large number of followers from around the world. Gropus who specialize in architecture, people sharing ideas and photos of specific projects underway, some discussions are esoteric and interesting, many bring specialize knowledge.

Russia since 1990 has seen a full blown restoration of countless Orthodox churches, monasteries, palaces, monuments of Imperial Russia. Yes the Romanov are back with a vengeance.

Monthly a new monument, monastery, church or palace opens completely renovated to its former glory, even Putin has his own pet project, the former palace of Grand Duke Konstantin which he rebuilt as the Official palace of the Russian President. The Konstantinovsky Palace was destroyed in 1944 now it lives again.

St-Petersburg and its outskirts was occupied between 1942-1944 by the Nazi army, the region experienced the death of a million citizens and the virtual destruction of its most historical buildings. But since 1990 the Government of Russia has given back to the Russian Orthodox Church its monasteries and churches and helped them financially with restoration, all of which is complicated due to old building techniques and material used.

All this restoration is going towards tourism promotion, the Soviets destroyed on purpose many historical places, looting and selling off assets, in some cases using once beautiful gardens to bury the millions of victims of the purges of Stalin, thus polluting waterways and gardens with the stench of human decay.

Putin changed all that and St-Petersburg being his hometown lavishly benefitted from monies to massively rehabilitate the city and its sights. Armies of artisans, construction trades of all kinds, architects and historians are at work. Many have taken photos of their work and share them with the public, creating excitement in the process.

In Germany many cities have seen vast restoration in what was East Germany. Many of the websites I read are in German and great discussions take place on how to proceed or why not do this or that. Of course cost $$$ is always a huge factor and in most cases the public has made substantial monetary donations, the Federal Government cannot do it all and also the political aspect comes into play. Former communists and socialists oppose for historical and ideological reasons some restorations, an example the memorial to the first German Emperor Wilhelm I (1870). Same in Potsdam with the Garnison Church which is being rebuilt now with donations from the Lutheran Church and other members of the public. The socialist on the Potsdam town council oppose this project for ideological reasons. German Newspapers carry articles and opinion pieces and no project is not without controversy. In Brunswick the former ducal palace destroyed during the war was rebuilt however to make it economically viable the inside is a shopping mall.

Not to forget that many of the old nobility is still around and have opinions on what has happened to their former homes. In Russia the Romanov descendants some of whom have returned to live are paraded by the authorities who cater to them on the theme of the good old days, romantic mythology for the masses. The Church and Russian Christian Orthodox who support the Romanov Family is courted by Putin for votes and support through such endeavours. Finally the tourists also love to see the sights restored.

Germany does the same thing, the old nobles now have wineries, renovated castle turned into B&B or appear at public events, photoshoots etc to lend a sense of the authentic. Even the old Imperial family, Hohenzollern have gone into commercial ventures, one created a jazz band, appear at cultural events, run museums in their family chateau, talk to the tourists who are awe struck.

Here are some photos of today and yesterday to illustrate the point of the discussions going on websites. I find this interesting because we do not have those discussions here in Canada, no one is really interested, heritage is not understood in the same way.

It also gives an idea of what people are thinking and how they see their country and themselves today compared with 90 years ago in what was to become a very dark chapter for Germany.

One big discussion on the reconstruction of the City Palace now called Humboldt Forum. the Architect Franco Stella,  imagined a re-built palace with historical facade on 3 sides and one very modern facade on the East side. He wanted to show past and present and since this re-built palace will be a museum to world culture, there is a mix of two visions, from where we were to where we are now. The inside rooms will not be recreated, the rooms are designed for a modern museum with no reference to its imperial past. Again the contrast between former use and new use, it does not prevent the debate about why not recreate the historical rooms.

The East facade of 1445 on the Spree River around 1920 with its private garden.

The East facade of the Palace was the private living quarter of the Imperial Family. The Eastern portion of the Palace will expand as of 1701 when the Kingdom of Prussia is proclaimed.

The old Apothek or Pharmacy wing of the palace across the street from the Lutheran Cathedral. This oldest portion of the palace will not be rebuilt, instead we now have this modern new wing. This was a compromise with the various political parties in the Bundestag. It was never meant to be a reconstruction of the Imperial Palace or a memorial to the Kaiser. The three historical facade, South, West and North fit with all the other buildings in the area of the same era, whereas the Eastern facade is facing across the river the modern area of Alexander Platz.

The Humboldt Forum will open to the public as a Museum, conference centre, city library and a rooftop restaurant in October 2020.

 

 

20cm

Tags

Canada., exile, foolishness, Markle, palace, Royal, Sussex, the Queen

Well 20 cm is a little over 7 inches and this is what we are getting today, big fluffy white stuff. The temperature yesterday was the coldest it has been in PEI for 105 years which is highly abnormal for us. Next week we should be back to our usual -2 to -5c daytime temperature.

This being a Sunday, people have an excuse for not being open for business after noontime and the visibility is not good on the roads.

Yesterday we went to a friend for a 6 hour marathon viewing of Wolf Hall the 2015 series on the time of Henry VIII and his Minister Thomas Cromwell, a very well done historical drama. Our friend has the most beautiful mansion, I counted 5 double fireplaces in the house which is located in Keppoch with a large lawn giving unto water and the entrance to the Strait of Northumberland. Every ship entering the Hillsborough river and Charlottetown passes in front of his house. The other side is the ruins of Fort Amherst and Rocky point, what they call a million dollar view, sea, forests, rocky shores and sky.

So while we were at our friends the news came of the final arrangements between the Royal Family and now Harry and Meghan. As I suspected all along and knowing how in such matters you cannot win against the Crown, the settlement is pragmatic and no nonsense. It is not what Meghan had hoped for and Harry knew the limits of what could be achieved, after all he was born into this Familly. I had a first inkling of what would happen when the Queen issued her statement after the family meeting at Sandringham, HM spoke of Her Family and of Harry and Meghan not of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. To my reading of this statement HM was saying you are part of the Family and always will be but here for you but we part ways now. The next day it was announced quietly that Frogmore Cottage (not house) was being closed down and staff had been re-assigned to other palaces, only a caretaker living at the house will remain.

So the final settlement is giving up on Royal Titles and styling, no more HRH for either of them. No more Royal military appointments for Harry who was Captain General of the Royal Marines, no more engagements on behalf of the Crown, money is being cut off though Harry may still get some financial support from his father. They will spend most of their time in Canada, though this is a problem in terms of taxation and immigration, I presume the Government of Canada through the Minister of Immigration may extend a special residence permit to them. They cannot immigrate to Canada because they do not meet the basic criteria of University Education and French language skills, they have no employable skills for our job market, being an ex-soldier is not considered a skill in demand and being an actress is also not in demand. They will also have to repay Grandma for the 2.4 Million pounds she spent on refurbishing a few months ago Frogmore Cottage. Their security will also be downgraded to possibly one officer or no security. The Government of Canada does not want to get involved because of the backlash from Canadians on money issues. We are talking of about $3000. CDN dollars a day for both of them which is peanuts really in terms of government spending.

They will have to find a way to make money on their own and support themselves. Yes Harry has money of his own and so does Meghan but that is not going to last forever. With no Official role anymore and a downgrade in their status, how long will the magic last? Once you are a nobody who cares? Or if they take on the lifestyle of celebrities, the media will be like vultures around them. Is that what Meghan really want? There is also the question of the British citizenship Meghan was supposedly working at getting, now that is also up in the air, you have to live in the UK to get citizenship and she does not want to live there.

Who will be their support system in Canada? Meghan claims to have friends due to her stint in Toronto but can they continue to depend on the good favours of friends? Does Harry have any friends in Canada? No, no one. It is a big step down for him and he will experience difficulties in getting accustomed to mere mortal life. The Markle family has started to talk to the Media again and lots of ugliness will come out, including that ill advised lawsuit against the Media, her father wants to testify against her.

I just have a feeling that this is not going to end well. They may find they will have more difficulties than first imagine. As Harry said; this is a leap of faith. Or do they want to spend their life pushing products on SussexRoyal.com, it all sounds tawdry. A sad situation to say the least. Just now the Palace has announced that in one year’s time the situation will be reviewed, it’s an open door for them, maybe they will come to their senses.  In closing this situation cannot be compared to his great uncle Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, they clung to the titles and honours desperately  and wanted to keep the lifestyle which is the opposite of what is happening now. Though the Duke and Wallis found out quickly that their lives were quite boring and lonely despite the notoriety.

 

 

 

Wunderschön

Tags

Berlin, City Palace, Forum, Hohenzollern, Humboldt, palace

I have been following the rebuilding of the Berlin City Palace located on the museum island in the centre of the City at the end of Unter den Linden avenue in Berlin. The palace which stood on the site from 1443 was the official residence of the Kings of Prussia and then the Emperors of Germany. The baroque style building was fire bombed during the second world war and totally demolished by the Communist East German Government in the 1950’s.

Through private and public financing it has been rebuilt and will be inaugurated in 2019, now serving as a museum, library, conference centre as part of the Humboldt University.

The reconstruction of the outside walls is faithful to the original. Here are some photos of the finished product in its soft pale yellow colour, as the scaffolding comes down.

All the decorative elements in stone had to be re-carved from drawings and photos of the original.