Ruinenberg
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| - | '''Ruins''' is a term used to describe the remains of man-made [[architecture]]: structures that were at one time complete but which have either been deliberately [[destroyed]] or fallen into a state of disrepair over time due to the action of [[weathering]] and lack of [[Maintenance, repair and operations|maintenance]]. | ||
| - | There are famous ruins all over the world, from ancient sites in [[Judea]] to [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] sites in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], and [[Inca Empire|Incan]] sites in [[Peru]]. Ruins can be [[fortification]]s, [[Place of worship|places of worship]], or remnants of houses, storehouses, or other buildings, or even entire cities and towns. Ruins are important for the studying of the past, in particular history and archaeology. There are also substantial ruins in modern cities such as [[Rome]] and [[Athens]]. | + | From the north side of [[Sanssouci Palace]] in [[Potsdam]], between the columns, one can see the colonnade of the court of the '''Ruinenberg''' on the other side. |
| - | Ruins often occur as a result of natural disaster, war or other forms of depopulation. Numerous great historic buildings in Europe have fallen into ruin from taxation policies, which required all structures with roofs to pay substantial taxes. This outcome occurred for [[Fetteresso Castle]] and [[Slains Castle]] in [[Scotland]], although the former is since restored. Ruins can also derive from official decrees of government, such as the case of [[Beverston Castle]], where the [[England|English]] [[parliament]] ordered significant destruction of the castle to prevent it being used by the opposition [[Cavalier|Royalist]]s. European cities were in ruins after [[World War II]], especially [[Berlin]], [[London]], [[Coventry]] and [[Dresden]]. | + | In 1748, [[Frederick the Great]] had a tank with a capacity of around 7600 m³ built on lands previously used for [[partridge]] and [[pheasant]] hunts. Master Builder [[Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff]] and Theater Painter [[Innocente Bellavite]] designed blinds of imitation antique ruins. A [[Monopteros]] (round temple), three high [[ionic column]]s, a small pyramid, and a ruined wall, designed as if from a [[Roman architecture|Roman]] theatre, were grouped around the pool. |
| - | Ruins are often romanticized in literature, art and film, and often provide a backdrop for other forms of decline or decay. For example, the ruined [[Dunnottar Castle]] in Scotland was used for filming of [[Hamlet]] starring [[Mel Gibson]] and [[Glenn Close]], while the ruins of [[Dunstanburgh Castle]] in [[England]] inspired [[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]] to create several paintings. | + | Frederick wanted a lot of water for his then planned projects: a fountain complex, the [[Neptune Grotto]], and a marble colonnade in [[Sanssouci Park]], which is no longer standing. The plans intended to draw water from the [[Havel]] with windmills into the high basin on the mountain. It then flowed under the park through a tubular system of hollowed tree trunks, which was to bring the water up into the fountains. |
| - | __TOC__ | + | Though the king poured a great deal of money into the project, it yielded no success because of the technical ignorance of his men. After many years of effort, Frederick’s dream of fountains was finally given up in 1780. |
| - | ==Aesthetics== | + | In a letter to [[Voltaire]], he wrote in 1778: |
| - | :''[[picturesque]], [[historical landscape]], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_of_ruins paintings of ruins]'' | + | :''I wanted to have a water jet in my garden: [[Euler]] calculated the force of the wheels necessary to raise the water to a reservoir, from where it should fall back through channels, finally spurting out in Sans Souci. My mill was carried out geometrically and could not raise a mouthful of water closer than fifty paces to the reservoir. [[Vanity of vanities]]! Vanity of geometry!'' |
| - | In the Middle Ages Roman ruins were inconvenient impediments to modern life, quarries for pre-shaped blocks for building projects, or of marble to be burnt for agricultural lime, and subjects for satisfying commentaries on the [[triumph of Christianity]] and the general sense of the world's decay, in what was assumed to be its last age, before the [[Second Coming]]. With the [[Renaissance]], ruins took on new roles among a cultural elite, as examples for a consciously revived and purified architecture ''all' antica'', and for a new aesthetic appreciation of their innate beauty as objects of venerable decay. The chance discovery of Nero's [[Domus Aurea]] at the turn of the sixteenth century, and the early excavations at [[Herculaneum]] and [[Pompeii]] had marked effects on current architectural styles, in [[Raphael's Rooms]] at the Vatican and in [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical interiors]], respectively. The new sense of [[historicism]] that accompanied neoclassicism led some artists and designers to conceive of the modern classicising monuments of their own day as they would one day appear as ruins. | + | |
| - | ===Ruin value=== | + | |
| - | [[Ruin value]] is the concept that a building be designed such that if it eventually collapsed, it would leave behind aesthetically pleasing ruins that would last far longer without any maintenance at all. [[Joseph Michael Gandy]] completed for [[Sir John Soane]] in 1832 an atmospheric watercolor of the architect's vast [[Bank of England]] rotunda as a [[picturesque]]ly overgrown ruin, that is an icon of [[Romanticism]]. ''Ruinenwert'' was popularized in the 20th century by Albert Speer while planning for the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] and published as ''Die Ruinenwerttheorie'' ("The Theory of Ruin Value"). | + | |
| - | ===In painting and photography=== | + | |
| - | Ruins remain a popular subject for [[painting]] and creative [[photography]] and are often romanticized in film and literature, providing scenic backdrops or used as [[metaphor]]s for other forms of decline or decay. For example, the ruins of [[Dunstanburgh Castle]] in [[England]] inspired [[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]] to create several paintings; in 1989 the ruined [[Dunnottar Castle]] in Scotland was used for filming of ''[[Hamlet (1990 film)|Hamlet]]''. The [[Civilization (series)|Civilization]] series of turn-based strategy computer games features ruins as special tiles which may provide the player with a bonus when explored. | + | |
| - | ====Examples==== | + | |
| - | *''[[Classical Ruins]]''[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hubert_Robert_005.jpg] (1798) is a painting by French artist [[Hubert Robert]]. | + | |
| - | *''[[A capriccio of classical ruins with figures]]'' [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_capriccio_of_classical_ruins_with_figures,_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Leonardo_Coccorante.jpg] by [[Leonardo Coccorante]] (1680–1750) | + | |
| - | ==Folly== | + | |
| - | :''[[folly (architecture)]]'' | + | |
| - | Ruins are frequently present in architectural follies. The canonical examples pretend to be the remains of an old building but were in fact constructed in that state. Many of the great estates of the late 16th century and early 17th century had ruins of monastic houses (in England) and Roman villas (in Italy). See [[Ruinenberg]] at [[Sanssouci]]. A contemporary example is ''[[Piazza d'Italia]]''. | + | |
| + | [[Image:Potsdam_pumpenhaus.jpg|thumb|225px|The Pump House on the Havel]] | ||
| + | Around a century after the construction of Sanssouci, [[Friedrich Wilhelm IV]] realized Frederick’s dream. Through new technical possibilities of the [[steam engine]] and a modern piping system, the fountains were put into place. A building was erected especially for the steam engine ([[August Borsig]]) and its pump machine from 1841 to 1843 on the shore of the Havel. Disguised as a mosque, it was designed by [[Ludwig Persius]]. | ||
| - | ==Relics of steel and wooden towers== | + | Persius also had plans to extend the theater wall on the Ruinenberg with a 23 m high look-out tower, in imitation of a medieval watchtower. After his early death, the so-called ''Norman Tower'' was built by [[Ferdinand von Arnim]] in 1846. |
| - | As a rule, towers built of steel are dismantled, when not used any more, because their construction can be either rebuilt on a new site or if state of construction does not allow a direct reuse, the metal can be recycled economically. However sometimes tower basements remain, because their removal can sometimes be expensive. One example of such a basement is the basement of the former radio mast of [[Deutschlandsender Herzberg/Elster]]. | + | |
| - | The basements of large wooden towers such as [[transmitter Ismaning]] may also be left behind, because removing them would be difficult. | + | ==References== |
| - | + | *The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent. | |
| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | * [[Capriccio (art)]] | + | |
| - | * [[List of vedutisti]] | + | |
| - | *"[[Ozymandias]]" | + | |
| - | *[[Folly (architecture)]] | + | |
| - | *[[Dissolution of the monasteries]] | + | |
| - | *[[Shipwreck]] | + | |
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Revision as of 12:21, 23 August 2012
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From the north side of Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, between the columns, one can see the colonnade of the court of the Ruinenberg on the other side.
In 1748, Frederick the Great had a tank with a capacity of around 7600 m³ built on lands previously used for partridge and pheasant hunts. Master Builder Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff and Theater Painter Innocente Bellavite designed blinds of imitation antique ruins. A Monopteros (round temple), three high ionic columns, a small pyramid, and a ruined wall, designed as if from a Roman theatre, were grouped around the pool.
Frederick wanted a lot of water for his then planned projects: a fountain complex, the Neptune Grotto, and a marble colonnade in Sanssouci Park, which is no longer standing. The plans intended to draw water from the Havel with windmills into the high basin on the mountain. It then flowed under the park through a tubular system of hollowed tree trunks, which was to bring the water up into the fountains.
Though the king poured a great deal of money into the project, it yielded no success because of the technical ignorance of his men. After many years of effort, Frederick’s dream of fountains was finally given up in 1780. In a letter to Voltaire, he wrote in 1778:
- I wanted to have a water jet in my garden: Euler calculated the force of the wheels necessary to raise the water to a reservoir, from where it should fall back through channels, finally spurting out in Sans Souci. My mill was carried out geometrically and could not raise a mouthful of water closer than fifty paces to the reservoir. Vanity of vanities! Vanity of geometry!
Image:Potsdam pumpenhaus.jpg
The Pump House on the Havel
Around a century after the construction of Sanssouci, Friedrich Wilhelm IV realized Frederick’s dream. Through new technical possibilities of the steam engine and a modern piping system, the fountains were put into place. A building was erected especially for the steam engine (August Borsig) and its pump machine from 1841 to 1843 on the shore of the Havel. Disguised as a mosque, it was designed by Ludwig Persius.
Persius also had plans to extend the theater wall on the Ruinenberg with a 23 m high look-out tower, in imitation of a medieval watchtower. After his early death, the so-called Norman Tower was built by Ferdinand von Arnim in 1846.
References
- The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Ruinenberg" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
