LANCELOT 'CAPABILITY' BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY
Author(s): GÁBOR ALFÖLDY
Source: Garden History , AUTUMN 2016, Vol. 44, Supplement 1: CAPABILITY BROWN:
PERCEPTION AND RESPONSE IN A GLOAL CONTEXT: The Proceedings of an ICOMOS-UK
Conference held at the University of Bath, 7-9 September 2016 (AUTUMN 2016), pp.
125-139
Published by: The Gardens Trust
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44988373
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GÁBOR ALFÖLD Y
LANCELOT 'CAPABILITY' BROWN'S IMPACT ON
LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY
This article examines how ; when and through what channel
Brown's gardens was transmitted to Hungary ; the transform
involved ; and which of its features took root in this area of
relatively few parks to be found in the Carpathian Basin wh
adopting ofBrownian markers of style, but the naturalistic an
and ground, the planting of trees in clumps, the wide lawns an
were idiomatic elements of garden planning in Hungary for d
The question is how far this is attributable to Brown's direct i
In the 1780s, descriptions of Hungarian Baroque gardens app
travel writings in Berlin. These gave the impression that Hu
touched by the Enlightenment and landscape gardening.1 Chris
also gained information from these writings, and based his j
gardens, published in Die Theorie der Gartenkunst , on them.
gardens were like mansions in their pomp and expense, but we
that years after Lancelot Brown's death, in 1784, Prince Nik
Haydn's employer) was still busy building Baroque cascades a
at Eszterháza (today Fertöd), however the countrywide idea of
that conservative.
Examples of early transitional style became prevalent from the early 1770s and
1780s: at this time, only irregular elements, mostly thickly winding paths occurred in the
geometric base structure of Baroque gardens. From the late eighteenth century, England
became the economic and spiritual ideal for a Hungary striving for independence and
autonomy, which had a great impact on agricultural production and culture. Towards
the end of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century, more and more
people could travel to the British Isles and awareness of British literature became almost
universal.3 A degree of Anglomania appeared around 1800: knowing the great figures
of contemporary English philosophy and literature, and the literature of economics and
the arts, became a cultural prerequisite among the intelligentsia and the aristocracy of
the Enlightenment. Nevertheless, various stylistic variations of landscape gardens called
generally 'English garden' appeared in garden planning practice in the Carpathian
Basin, mostly through Viennese transmission, with a delay of decades.4 The Anglophile
philanthropist György Festetics, Count of Keszthely, one of the most enlightened and
most progressive aristocrats of the country is a good example of this.5 Despite being
up-to-date on British affairs on a daily basis, his garden built in 1806-07 still echoed
Batty Langley with its winding pathways (some of which formed Festetics's initials);
what is more, his court engineer planned a garden labyrinth based on a tract by Dézallier
d' Argen ville, as late as 18 05. 6
Krecsányi u. 5, Budapest, H-1025, Hungary. Email: alfoldyg@gmail.com
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126 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
In 1790-1800, a multitude of exotic or bizarre garden buildi
artificial ruins were erected, dozens of them crammed into certain
symbolic meaning (e.g., in the gardens of Csákvár, Hotkóc/Ho
today in Slovakia, or Hogyész), the main goal being creating
emotion.7 This fashion continued into the first decade of the ninete
on 'English gardens', written by the most erudite Hungarian a
(1759-1831), who was intensely interested in gardens, was pub
incited to write his work by 'everybody needing an English gar
fact that 'our gardens with their winding paths and puppet-fin
to taste and reason as those olden ones [i.e., Baroque gardens]'.
echoed Winckelmann's classicist aesthetic paradigm - in compl
aesthetic norms represented by Brown: 'True beauty is known
comes into its own with no more than this, it does not need finery
In Hungary, the first 'classical' landscape gardens, represen
splendour' with their unrestrained forms, appeared in the ear
Joseph de Ligne mentioned a few Hungarian gardens with appr
of his renowned work,10 and it was from him that John Claudius L
of these gardens for his Encyclopaedia of Gardening ,n The fir
on Hungarian landscape gardens was natural scientist Robert T
described one of these: the park of Hédervár, then in the proces
mentioned by de Ligne:
Count Vitzay, at his seat at Hedervar, ... received me with the g
was pleased to find him an admirer of the good taste of my cou
his grounds in the English style, for which they were very well ad
the advice of a German, who had resided a good while in Englan
the art of adjusting the scattered careless beauties of rural scenery
The 'German' mentioned by Townson was Johann Georg Bernh
an important landscape gardener and agricultural expert.13 He
of gardeners, being the great-great-nephew of Johann Ludwig
the Baroque 'Zirkel' of Schwetzingen. Between 1782 and 1
Friedrich Ludwig (von) Sckell in Schwetzingen. Sckell had al
was the creator of the landscape garden surrounding the '
August of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, who wanted to entrust the supe
to Johann Georg Bernhard Petri, sent him on a long tour to E
of recommendation from Queen Charlotte's brother, Cha
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, which earned Petri a presentation at W
visit the royal parks. In 1785, he made sketches of the layouts
most of which had been transformed by Brown.15 Brown's cre
a lifelong effect on him. He deepened his botanical knowledge
Kew, and would have accompanied Sir Joseph Banks to Botany
- after a four-year sojourn in England - summoned back by the
of losing his expert. Petri was, however, expected to travel th
Belgium, and some German duchies, studying the agriculture
regions.16 He was working on landscaping the surroundings
Pfalz when French revolutionary invaders forced him to run
to his references, he found Austrian and Hungarian patrons for
After an unsuccessful attempt at procuring a commission from
create a 'Nationalgarten' (proposed by him) in Vienna-Brigitten
Hungary by the emperor's son, Archduke Alexander Leopo
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 127
Palatine of Hungary, probably to draw up plans for the archduke's palace gardens in
Buda and perhaps to landscape the nearby Margaret Island in the Danube.18 However
there is no proof of Petri's involvement in these important gardens to date. Of his othe
works for Hungarian clients, Petri published detailed descriptions.19 We know from hi
description of the park at Hédervár how important it was to him for landscape garden
to be useful: he sowed clover in the meadow in front of the house, planted fast growin
robinias for wood, and planted an ornamental orchard in the rear of the garden.20
Petri also made a detailed description of Baron László Orczy's garden, planned by
him (1793-98) and known to us from maps and other descriptions as well (Figure 1). Th
philanthropic baron's garden, one of the first gardens open to the public, is the earlies
example of 'Brownian' landscape gardens in Pest (today Budapest). Its spacious meadows
were surrounded by a belt on the periphery, and a pond of naturalistic shape, nourishe
by a nearby spring, was created in its centre. Around the pond Petri built mounds, wit
a vineyard on one of them.21
After 1798, Petri worked for the Liechtenstein dukes, and from 1802 he was the
director with full command of Prince Johann von Liechtenstein's estates. Among other
the great castle lake (Schlossteich) of Eisgrub (Lednice, Moravia, Czech Republic), the
improvement of the entire ducal landscape (today a World Heritage site) is connected
with his name. As his health deteriorated, Petri became independent from 1808; after that
point he was known to the public as a sheep farmer - his activities as garden architect
during this period are still to be uncovered.
Archduke Alexander Leopold started the project of turning Margaret Island into
a landscape park in 1792.22 A clearing stretched along the whole length of the island
framed by a belt on the periphery. In the centre, there was a mound with a vineyard and
villa which served as a winepress and a party venue. The view was made more picturesqu
by the ruins of three medieval cloisters. Recommissioned by the archduke's brother an
Figure 1. Orczy Gardens in Pest (Budapest), designed by Bernhard Petri. Detail from the Plan
for the Regulation and Embellishment of the Town of Pest, 1805. Courtesy: Austrian State
Archives, Finance and Court Chamber Archive, Map Collection, 0-221/1-2
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128 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
successor, Palatine Joseph Anton (1776-1847), work gained new
Ideas of that time, soon to be made real, were preserved in a p
author, now held in Vienna.23 The open space was broken up by big
of ornamental and fruit trees. The latter, together with Swiss
emphasized the ferme ornée atmosphere of the place. English au
enraptured by the island's beauty:
We had been told that the Margaret Island is pretty, but wer
unprepared to find it so really beautiful as it is. ... The wooded
visitor finds himself in a large garden full of fruits and flowers, and
care; whence he arrives at the jardin anglais, which is dotted ove
shrubs. ... Every natural advantage has been carefully heightened
Palatine Joseph, who was born in the Palazzo Pitti in Florenc
the Boboli Gardens and, like his brothers, had a deep interest
art. He founded the Committee for Aesthetical Improvement in
several private gardens (e.g., the Orczy and Festetics gardens) s
the benefit of the public, thus saving them from being built over.A
Alcsút, he created a landscape garden in a style close to Brown
rulers of the Holy Alliance fighting against Napoleon (Palatine J
Frances of Austria, his brother-in-law Tzar Alexander of Russia
III of Prussia) visited the Hungarian capital briefly in 1815, the
Garden and Margaret Island as well as the Royal Castle Gardens
Palatine Joseph gave new impetus to turning the Városliget (
a park in 18 13. 26 The Committee for Aesthetical Improvement
for designing the park which was won by Christian Heinrich N
1841), who worked in Hungary between 1811 and 1821. In 1816,
series of plans and a detailed (German) description with an essay
this, after a dedication to the Palatine in English28 he cited, among
Richard Payne Knight, Horace Walpole and Humphry Repton.2
with the works and style of Kent, Brown, and Repton. Through
trees, and the calm (albeit not serpentine) water surface, the w
and the wide lawns, his plan can be associated with Brown's park
Alsókorompa (today Dolna Krupa, Slovakia), Martonvásár and T
by him.31 Nebbien, like Petri, came to Hungary from Germany
Vienna. Like him, Nebbien also put his experiences gained in E
Central Europe, and he, too, worked as an agricultural adviser.
inextricable unity of beauty and utility, too.32
The collection of garden plans and representations, prepare
by Count Antal Apponyi for his park at Hogyész (and having
exception), is a faithful reflection of Hungarian tendencies of
garden design.33 The plan for the larger part of the park, drawn up
d'Archambault in 1814 is one of the last stages in the transition fro
intact until 1785, to the almost purely naturalistic landscape gar
noteworthy not only because LeFebvre had the radial avenue syst
of the park (conceived in 1787) broken up (although he did lea
standing), but also because he is the same 'k. k. Ingenieur Haup
Duke Albert Saxon-Teschen (lieutenant-governor of Hungary and
adapted Brown's plan (1782) for the duke's park at Laeken (Schö
thirty years earlier (1783-85), and who played a definitive rol
landscape garden at Laxenburg for the duke's brother-in-law, th
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 129
Figure 2. François Lefebvre d'Archambault, Remodelling plan of the Northern part of Count
Antal Apponyi's Garden at Hogyész, 1814. Courtesy: Hungarian National Archive, Tolna
County Archive XV.3, T66
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130 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
In Hungary in the first half of the nineteenth century, mor
created which bore more or less explicitly the style markers t
such as Lovasberény, Alcsút, Seregélyes, Felsöbalog (today V
Fot.36 To the present day only a fraction of the hundreds of
at this time have been researched. This is the case with the de
too: Petri, Moreau, and Nebbien are well known by name, but
designers are far from being fully processed.37 Besides other impor
Rudolf Witsch and Carl Ritter,38 we can connect a multitude of
to the building or transforming of one or more important gard
Leopold Klingspögl, Andreas Wieser, Franz Frey or Gergely Bene
After this brief survey, let us examine two outstanding, but rel
which are good examples of the impact of Brown's work. Rese
has shed light on the history and original structures of the largely
and Doba-Somlóvár. That research provided the base for the co
completed conservation projects.
SOMLÓVÁR (DOBA), ERDÖDY PARK
Somlóvár, a landscape garden at Doba, stretching over two hundred and thirty acres, was
once mentioned as one of the most beautiful parks of the Habsburg Empire.40 This was
the largest park of its creator, the French architect and painter Charles-Jean-Alexandre
Moreau (1760-1840). Moreau received 1250 forints for the plans from commissioner
Count Károly Erdödy (1770-1833) in 1822. Given that no plan survived, we can only
draw conjectures regarding the park's original composition and style based on a few
maps from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries and later photos, written sources, site
analysis, and the summary of all of these (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Somlóvár Park, Doba, Bird's-eye view of the park, showing the original structure with
later added elements (up to 1913). Research and conception: Gabor Alföldy, drawing:
Edvárd Takács
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 131
The French architect was contracted by Prince Nikolaus II Esterhazy (1765-1833), the
famous art collector, in Paris in 1803, which resulted in Moreau's move to Vienna, wher
he remained for the rest of his life. His first and most important landscape creation was th
picturesque redesigning of the Prince's park at Kismarton (then western Hungary, toda
Eisenstadt, Austria). Another of Moreau's significant works was the plan for the landscape
garden around the prince's castle at Pottendorf (Austria).41 From 1813 Moreau took on
great number of other private commissions, either as architect or as a landscape designer.
In the case of the park of Somlóvár, conceived between 1820 and 1822, Moreau
exchanged his previous style for a clear, polite, and harmonious classic landscape style
typical of Brown, which lacked all dramatic elements. This change can be evaluated
in light of the fact that in contrast with Moreau's earlier creations at Eisenstadt and
Pottendorf, no spectacular garden feature was built at Somlóvár; the scene was made u
entirely of the intensive visual connection with the wider landscape, a varied terrain, and
the carefully composed system of clumps, vistas, meadows, water surfaces, and bridges
The house, 'New Somlóvár', also Moreau's work, was built on top of a hill emerging
from a plain, which resulted in a 360-degree panorama from the building. Morea
exploited this to the maximum, and involved all veritable elements of the surrounding
landscape into the composition: the churches of the neighbouring villages, the roadside
crosses, and, most importantly, the view of the ancestral castle ruin on top of the nearby
volcanic Somló Hill, 'Old Somlóvár', which gave the residence its name. Thus, the par
was visually extended to the horizon, providing the illusion of infinity.
The park's structure creates a radial system of vistas, starting mainly from the
porticos and terraces of the house. These axes lead to certain emphasized inner points of
the park, or elements in the landscape beyond its borders. A row of consciously composed
images is uncovered from certain points of the park's paths, with the house coming int
view now and again as eye-catcher. The polished, sparkling white stucco lustro renderin
emphasized the building's position as focal point even more once.42
Moreau formed two ponds from the brook traversing the park, but these do not
follow Brown's serpentine shape, but are both wider (just as at Kismarton/Eisenstadt
and Pottendorf). Surplus water from the brook was channelled into an overflow cana
which was the park's northern border. Moreau planned white bridges to points of focus
in the ponds and the brook. These bridges and their reflections served as important eye
catchers. Also, one could admire the reflections of the house or the castle from the bridges
or special points of the banks (Figures 4 and 5). The third little pond next to the main
entrance was built solely for the reflections: entering the park, the visitor is immediately
taken by the view of the castle ruins' reflection in the water. The bridge over the pond
attracts the gaze both from the banks and the house. On the other hand, watching from
the bridge, the house's portico appears doubled as reflected in the water (Figure 4). As
this pond had no natural water supply, an eight hundred-metre-long pipeline was buil
from the largest pond in the park.
The belt, one of the most characteristic elements of the Brownian landscape parks
appears in an almost uniquely clear form among Hungarian parks at Somlóvár. This
strip of forest is broken now and again to allow a view from the house or the perimete
drive to external viewpoints. The view to the nearby churches was already emphasized
by a contemporary description in the case of the park of Pottendorf,43 but the belt only
appears at Somlóvár in Moreau's œuvre as garden designer. Garden archaeological work,
performed recently as part of the conservation, has shown that the paths connected with
each other at right angles all over the park.44
Approaching the residence followed a well-planned scenario: to make it more
comfortable and elegant, a great stretch of the old main public road from the north-eas
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132 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
Figure 4. Somlóvár, view of the house from the bridge of the lake at th
conservation. Photo: author
Figure 5. Somlóvár Park, the house viewed from the recently restored Great Lake.
Photo: Tamas Horváth
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 133
was straightened so that the castle ruin fell into its axis, then the road took a sudden turn
towards the park's entrance from which point the road was directed farther outside the
boundary. The part of the road inside the park became a path. Other roads on the estate
were directed so that either the house or the castle ruin should appear in their axis.
Moreau's colleague and student, later Viennese professor of architecture Heinrich
Koch (1781-1861) also designed the parks for his houses in the name of complexity.45
He was responsible for later improvements at Somlóvár between 1834 and 1855. Koch
lengthened the house on both sides, eliminated the orchard on the southern part, and
created a smaller house for the estate manager and the gardener, designed the orangery, a
look-out pavilion, the porter's lodge, and the children's playhouse or so-called Comtesse
House. A fourth lake and parterres around the house were created in the late nineteenth
century.
DÉG, FESTETICS PARK
Among the Hungarian parks, perhaps the one at Dég (Fejér County) is closest to
Brown's style (Figures 6-8). This landscape park, created without precedent between
1810 and 1820, is the largest in Hungary with its eight hundred acres.46 At the time of
its construction it was already reported to surpass every park in the country.47 It was
commissioned by the richest man among the country's gentry, Antal Festetics (17641853), a learned man and enthusiastic botanist. The park was created at the heart of
the estate, in a dell to the west of the village Dég, at the confluence of three brooks. The
estate took up fifteen thousand acres of an almost completely flat area. Instead of fence
or ha-ha, a ditch of varying depth was dug along the edge of the dell, and a hedge of
Lycium was planted on the bottom of this ditch. A belt of varying width ran along the
ditch. A Robinia forest was planted in a wider area between the western border and
Figure 6. Dég, Festetics Park, 'Idealplan' for the conservation, showing the original structure
with later built elements up to 1930. Research and conception: Alföldy Gábor, digital drawing:
Krisztina Bálint
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134 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
Figure 7. Dég, the house with the island of the Dutch House. Courtes
one of the brooks. The grassy areas of the park were used as
pheasantry. Its wide and long clearings were broken up by tre
(including fruit trees), and patches of woodland. On a souther
selection of grapes was planted. Although the greater part of t
of native species, a contemporary description states that the e
exceeds the otherwise rich collection of Kismarton/Eisenstadt
calls the lake 'incomparable'.48 Not without reason: the water f
into the park was swelled into a mile-long serpentine lake, wi
(Figure 8). This form of garden lake was not a common eleme
this area of Europe, with many parks having roundish or amo
Dég, beyond the serpentine, in the south-western end of the p
created. Of the material from the pond's bed, a mound was for
this tumulus which provided the burial place for the owner's
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 135
Figure 8. Dég, the recently restored serpentine and the lake around the burial mound (tumulus).
Courtesy: CIVERTAN Budapest
lakes' beds were dug by hundreds of miners, coming here from the northern area of th
country in 1813. They built the overflow canals which followed the pond system from
two directions, channelling the surplus water from the unpredictable brooks beyond
the park.49
Architect Mihály Pollack (1773-1856) built the house on the spot from which
it was possible to get an overview of a significant part of the park. The main road,
reaching the village from the north-west, was straightened over a twelve-kilometre
stretch, a row of robinias planted along it. The house was built right in the axis of
this road, thus the residence was given a stately approach and visitors could see the
house's portico from a great distance. Arriving at the park, the road took a small
detour before it turned in towards the building. Having been to Italy, Pollack may have
used the solutions applied at Villa Emo at Fanzolo as his model: the appearance of the
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136 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
portico at the end of the long avenue, and the view of the see
road from the portico would indicate this. The central axis of v
was turned into a virtual patte d'oie by diagonal clearings. On
building overlooking the park, similar to the Italian example,
the park's clearing instead of steps. The portico in the court on
is more closed, the one of the south-eastern side is both wider
one-hundred-and-eighty-degree panorama to the park.
The village churches of Dég are the two most important eyeRoman Catholic parish church was rebuilt for this very purpo
was erected over the sanctuary, following a decision made aft
made the axis of view more balanced with the row of crop cellar
and the bridge coming into view in front of the church. The Ca
earlier, but its tower was repainted red in 1815 when the family
house. The axis of view directed at the tower also takes in the sl
also serving as a bridge. From this bridge (the so-called 'Red Br
reflection of the portico of the house in the water surface.
There used to be a building on the island facing the house, p
cowshed (schweitzerei) which was also an eye-catcher. This is re
'Dutch House', built to house cows and to provide a 'sanator
member of the family in 1891 (Figure 7).50 More axes of view
the wine hill and the vicinity of the grave mound. The views from
different points of the park created a well-organized structure
of paths, that we know exactly only from a cadastral map fro
thick, offering dozens of possible routes. The owners and visi
park by carriage, a journey usually lasting half an hour witho
contemporary note.
As the family archive, held locally, perished in the Second World War, the park's
designer is unknown, but Mihály Pollack, the architect of the house, the outbuildings,
the orangery, and the Catholic church, is a possibility.51 The park of Dég can be at least
partly his creation - the perfect setting of the house within the landscape and its visual
connections could indicate this.52 However, estate inspector Ferenc Kováts, who graduated
from a French school of engineering, besides the works of Milton and Voltaire, translated
Hubert Gautier's book on road construction into Hungarian, and must have played a
serious role in the works. Bernhard Petri might also have been involved as having gained
experience during building the lake at Lednice, he came back to work in Hungary after
leaving the service of the dukes of Liechtenstein in 1808.53 Furthermore, the owner's wife
was the niece of László Orczy, founder of the Orczy Garden in Pest, Petri's work. The
young Festetics couple created a landscape garden in Pest, of similar size and character
between 1802 and 1810, right next to the Orczy Garden around their house probably
designed by Mihály Pollack. The obvious utilitarianism - vineyard, ornamental orchard,
Robinia forest - as well as the fencing of the park with Lycium (similarly to the Orczy
Gardens) also point towards Petri's involvement in Dég. The historical investigation
and conservation of the park of Dég has been systematically ongoing since 2003: the
serpentine lake and its surroundings as well as a significant part of the basic structure has
already been restored (Figures 7 and 8).
* X *
After the detailed description of these two examples let us quote Eng
Richard Bright (1789-1858) who, in 1815, visited much of Hungary o
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 137
the Congress of Vienna which created the Holy Alliance. Bright was the guest of Count
Ferenc Brunswick (Beethoven's friend) at Martonvásár. About the landscape garden
created by Nebbien a few years before he noted:
Early in the morning I walked in the garden, which the Graf [Count Brunswick] has laid
out in the style, universally called upon the continent 'English', that is, a style in which
art is not allowed to disguise nature. It was a delightful spring morning, - all round me
appeared so like England, that I almost fancied myself in my own country.54
Bright's feeling at home in Hungary was incited by the then already common
'language' acquired also by Nebbien - to the 'grammar' of which Brown significantly
contributed - and which drew garden designers, owners and visitors from all countries
of Europe into a longer lasting, more universal and more peaceful network than any
political alliance.
REFERENCES
pp. 117-20.
1 Gottfried von Rotenstein,
Johann Bernoulli's Sammlung kurzer 11 John Claudius Loudon, An Encyclopedia
of Gardenings
2nd edn (London, 1825), p. 44.
Reisebeschreibungen , vols 9 onwards
(178312 Robert Townson, Travels in Hungary ,
93).
2 C. C. L Hirschfeld, Theorie der with a Short Account of Vienna in the Year
Gartenkunst (Leipzig, 1785), V, p. 1793
314.(London, 1797), pp. 49-50.
13 For Petriisand his works, see also
3 One example from the relevant literature
József Sisa, 'Count Széchényi's visitGéza
to Galavics,
EnglishMagyarországi angolkertek
1999), pp. 56-68.
parks and gardens in 1787', Garden(Budapest:
HistoryBaiassi,
,
14 Karl Lohmeyer, Süddeutsche Gärten
22/1 (1994), pp. 64-71.
des Barock und der Romantik mit ihren
4 On early examples of landscape gardens
in- und ausländischen Vorbildern nach dem
in and around Vienna and on the spread of
Arbeitsmaterial der saarländischen und
landscape gardens in that region, see Géza
pfälzischen Hofgärtnerfamilie der Koellner
Hajós, Romantische Gärten der Aufklärung :
(Saarbrücken, 1937), p. 185.
Englische Landschaftskultur des 18.
15 Ralph Schneider, 'Unbekannte Pläne
Jahrhunderts in und um Wien (Vienna: Böhlau,
zu Parkanlagen in Pfalz-Zweibrücken', Die
1989).
5 György Kurucz, Keszthely grófja : Festetics Gartenkunst 26/2 (2014), pp. 209-34, at
209-12 and 224-9. Petri's drawing of Stowe is
György [The Count of Keszthely: György
published in Gábor Alföldy, A dégi FesteticsFestetics] (Budapest: Corvina, 2013).
kastélypark (Budapest: Forster Centre, 2015),
6 For a summary of the history of the park
p. 55.
in Keszthely, with a publication of the plans
16 For the most detailed description of Petri's
referenced and an evaluation of Count György's
horticultural taste, see Gabor Alföldy, 'A brief tour, see Johann Samuel Ersch and Johann
history of Festetics Park at Keszthely', in Gábor Gottfried Gruber, Allgemeine Encyclopädie der
Wissenschaften und Künste , Section 3, Theil 19
Alföldy (ed.), Principal Gardens of Hungary
(Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1844), pp. 296-8.
(Budapest: Mágus, 2001), pp. 103-17, 223-38.
1 Hajós, Romantische Gärten der
7 József Sisa, 'A csákvári Esterházy-kastély
Aufklärung , pp. 90, 252 (n. 350).
parkja' [The Esterhazy Park at Csákvár],
18 Ersch and Gruber, Allgemeine
Muvészettôrténeti Értesítô , 46/3-4 (1997),
Encyclopädie; Gábor Alföldy, 'Hapsburg
pp. 147-79; Anna Zádor, 'A Hungarian
gardens in Hungary', in Habsburg: The
landscape garden around 1800', New
House of Hapsburg and Garden Art/Das
Hungarian Quarterly , 26/100 (1985),
Haus Habsburg und die Gartenkunst. Die
pp. 116-22.
Gartenkunst , Suppl. to 20/2 (2008), pp. 878 Ferenc Kazinczy, 'Hotkócz - Angļus
kertek', Hazai Tudósítások , 1 (1806), pp. 262- 102.
19 For descriptions of the landscape gardens
3, 268-71, 276-80.
of Vedröd, Hédervár, Ráró and Orczy in
9 Ibid., p. 278. In one of his letters, Kazinczy
noted that landscape gardens 'need more rulesPest by Petri, see Becker's Taschenbuch für
Gartenfreunde , vols 1797 and 1798.
and even more attention than fancy French
0 For a detailed study on the history of
gardens'; Jánoš Váczy (ed.), Kazinczy Ferenc
levelezése [Ferenc Kazinczy's Correspondence] the park at Hédervár, see Gábor Alföldy,
'A hédervári kastélypark: Tudományos
(Budapest, 1893), IV, p. 371.
10 Charles-Joseph de Ligne, Der Garten zu dokumentáció és helyreállítási javaslať
Bolœil nebst einer kritischen Übersicht der
[Hédervár Park: A Conservation Plan], 4 vols.
Unpublished manuscript (2010).
meisten Gärten Europas (Dresden, 1799), II,
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138 GARDEN HISTORY 44 : SUPPL. 1
(Vienna:
21 For a detailed description of
the Böhlau, 2006), pp. 153-63.
36 For
more detailed overviews of the
garden, see Johann Leibitzer, 'Ein
Deutsche
landscape gardens
in Hungary in the late
Landschaftsgarten', in Johann Leibitzer,
Der
Gartenbau nach den neuesten Ansichten
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, see
Anna Zádor, 'The English garden in Hungary',
und Bedürfnissen. Ein Taschenbuch für
in Nikolaus Pevsner (ed.), The Picturesque
Gartenfreunde ... 8 vols, vol. IV.2: Die
Garden and its Influence Outside the British
Landschaftsgärtnerei (Leipzig, 1831),
Isles (Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on
pp. 133-59.
the History of Landscape Architecture, 2)
According to contemporary praise, 'His
Royal Highness, the Palatine, is keen to do his (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1974),
best to turn St Margaret's (or Rabbits') Island pp. 77-98; idem, 'The history of the English
garden in Hungary', Acta Historiae Artium,
into a charming pleasure ground. Buildings
33 (1987-88), pp. 290-344; and Galavics,
and gardens are bravely being constructed at
Magyarországi angolkertek.
His Highness' expense, through which this
37 Nebbien's work has most recently
place can regain its original beauty'; Magyar
been systematically researched by Knight,
Hírmondó [Hungarian Courier] (1792).
'Borrowed language'; and that of Moreau by
23 Alföldy, 'Hapsburg Gardens', p. 90.
Stefan Kalamář, 'Daten zu Leben und Werk der
24 Julia Pardoe, The City of the Magyar,
Pariser Architekten Charles Moreau zwischen
or Hungary and Her Institutions in 1839-40
1760 und 1803', Österreichische Zeitschrift
(London, 1840), II, pp. 191-2.
für Kunst und Denkmalpflege, 4 (2001), pp.
25 Margaret Island probably served as a
pattern for the improvement of King Frederick 459-85; idem, 'Daten zu Leben und Werk des
pariser Architekten Charles Moreau zwischen
William's Pfaueninsel; Alföldy, 'Hapsburg
1803 und 1813', Acta Historiae Artium, 45
Gardens', pp. 86-96.
(2004), pp. 109-69.
Ine area or the Varosliget was hrst
38 On Ritter and Witsch, see Kristóf Fatsar,
rented by Count József Batthyány with the
'Carl Ritter tervezési programja a pozsonyi
purpose of turning it into a park in 1798,
and it was the head gardener of his brother Bruckenau-kert átalakításához/Carl Ritters
Konzept zur Umgestaltung des Stadtparks
Tivadar Batthyány, Rudolf Witsch, who started
the work in a transitional style with straight Brückenau in Pressburg', in Orsolya Bubryák
avenues.
(ed.) "Ez világ, mint egy kert ..." Tanulmányok
GalavicsFolks-Garten
Géza tiszteletére [Studies in
27 Heinrich Nebbien, Ungarns
Honour
of Géza
Galavics] (Budapest: MTA
der Koeniglichen Frey-Stadt
Pesth
(1816),
Müvészettorténeti
Kutatóintézet, 2010),
ed. /published by Dorothee Nehring
(Munich:
Universität München, 1981). pp. 279-92.
39 About of
Klingspögl,
Wieser, Frey and
28 'Dedicated to the Embellisher
Hungaria
other unknown
garden designers from early
His Imperial and Royal Highness,
Joseph,
nineteenth-century
Hungary, see Gábor
Arch Duke of Austria; Palatine
to the Kingdom
Alföldy,
'Frauendorf
Hungary'; ibid., unnumbered
page
afterund die Gartenkultur
des Karpatenbeckens', in Claudia Gröschel
p. XXVII.
and Hermann Scheuer
(eds), Frauendorfer
29 Quotations have been identified
by Dick
Gartenschätze
- Das
Werk Johann Evangelist
Knight, 'Borrowed language:
literary
sources,
Fürsts
im Spiegel seiner Zeit (Passau: Klinger,
foreign resources and private
communications
2012), pp. 82-3.
in the creation of an early nineteenth
century
For a detailedHistory,
account of Somlóvár's
Central European landscape', 40
Garden
history, see Gábor Alföldy, A Doba-somlóvári
41/2 (2013), pp. 177-95, at pp. 181-2.
30 József Sisa, 'The City Park (Varosliget) of Erdody-kastélypark [Somlóvár Park at Doba]
(Budapest: Forster Centre, 2015), summary in
Budapest', Centropa, 15/1 (2015), pp. 23-33.
English, p. 184.
31 Gabor Alföldy, 'Nebbien, Christian
41 Michael von Kunitsch, 'Der fürstlich
Heinrich', in Patrick Taylor (ed.), The Oxford
Esterházysche Schlosspark zu Pottendorf
Companion to the Garden (Oxford: Oxford
in Nieder-Österreich', Allgemeine deutsche
University Press, 2006), p. 326.
Garten-Zeitung, 10/20 (1832), pp. 82-3.
32 Knight, 'Borrowed language', pp. 179,
186.
42 The portico in the west can be associated
33 Gabor Alföldy, 'Apponyi Antal hogyészi with the two-tier tetrastyle south portico of
Stowe House, probably designed by William
kastélyparkja', Müvészettorténeti Értesíto,
Kent. This was recorded in Jacques Rigaud's
5 0/1-2 (2001), pp. 57-83.
34 Felirata: 'Plan de la Partie Supérieure des 'View of the House from the Parterre/
Jardins de Son Excellence le Comte D'Appony Veüe de le Façade du Château du Coté du
Parterre', published by Sarah Bridgman in
a Hôgyész. Fr. LeFebvre Archit. la 30. May
1739; Peter Willis, Charles Bridgeman and
1814'; Hungarian National Archives, Tolna
County Archive, XV. a. T 66.
the English Landscape Garden, repr. edn with
supplementary plates and catalogue (Newcastle:
35 Elena Holzhausen, 'Laeken, das "Missing
Elysium, 2002), pl. 130.
Link" zwischen Laxenburg und Capability
Brown', in Géza Hajós (ed.), Der malerische
43 Kunitsch, 'Der fürstlich Esterházysche
Schlosspark'.
Landschaftspark in Laxenburg bei Wien
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BROWN'S IMPACT ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN IN HUNGARY 139
Hungary', n. 15.
44 Alföldy, Doba-Somlóvár , p. 117.
52 Mihály Pollack's brother, Leopoldo, was
45 Koch's most beautiful Hungarian parks
were at Fehérvárcsurgó and Fòt - both designedchief architect of Lombardy, and designed
the gardens for each villa he planned. In the
for the Karolyi family, the latter reflecting
1790s he adapted a plan by John Haverfield
Brown's influence; Alföldy, Somlóvár Park,
Jr of Richmond, Brown's former collaborator,
p. 54.
for the Milanese villa of Lodovico Barbiano
46 The most detailed monograph on the
park at Dég is Gabor Alföldy, A dégi Festetics- e Belgioijoso, former ambassador to London
kastélypark [Festetics Park at Dég] (Budapest: from the Monarchy. Mihály Pollack spent
his apprenticeship with his brother just when
Forster Centre, 2015).
this garden was constructed; Anna Zádor,
47 István Kultsár, 'A' szép kertészségrol'
[About fine gardening], Hasznos Mulatságok, 'Leopoldo Pollach (1751-1806)', L'Arte 28/3-4
(1962), pp. 347-90. It is quite possible that it
181 7, p. 238.
was Belgioijoso, a minister of Prince Albert in
8 György Fejer, Utazasbeh Jegyzetek
Belgium in the 1780s, who influenced Albert to
Óvárról, Kismartonról, Fraknóról, 's
commission Brown for the design of his park at
Eszterházáról' [Travel notes on Magyaróvár,
Laeken.
Kismarton/Eisenstadt, Fraknó/Forchtenstein
53 Pavel Zatloukal, 'Bernhard Petri', in Pavel
and Eszterháza/Fertõd], Tudományos
Zatloukal (ed.), Přemysl Krejčiřik-Ondrej
Gyüjtemény, 1824/3, pp. 40-56, at p. 40.
Zatloukal , The Lednice-Valtice Estate (Prague:
49 The building of the serpentine lake is
mentioned by botanist Pal Kitaibel in his travel Foibos, 2012), p. 178.
54 Richard Bright, Travels from Vienna
notes; Alföldy, 'Festetics Park at Dég'.
50 For a photograph of this pretty structure, through Lower Hungary ; with some Remarks
see Taylor, Oxford Companion to the Garden , on the State of Vienna during the Congress , in
p. 131.
the Year 1814 (Edinburgh: Constable, 1818),
51 Zádor, 'History of the English garden in p. 609.
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