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| 3.6 The Rose in the Biedermeier period (1815 - 1848) |
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| Talking about Biedermeier, most of us associate it
with a happy, gay and easy-going life, with waltz, romantic melodies
and the cute tiny bunch of roses, called Biedermeiersträußchen
still available today. But these carefree and peaceful years only
lasted until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 when after the victories
over Napoleon Europe was re-organized. In Prussia a police state was
created that was as intimidating as the strict government of Metternich
in Vienna. As a consequence of that people withdrew from the public
life and started concentrating on their „inner values".
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| ( Ilse Höger-Orthner, Vom Zauber alter Rosen,
Seite 16, BLV-Verlagsgesellschaft, Seite 30) |
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| Gardens at that time unified both aspects: delectare
aut prodesse. Roses were again planted as hedges and bowers and the
design of the rose garden reminds of the strictly structured Renaissance
gardens. A typical feature, however, was the variety of flowers and of colours,
with the rose in a dominant position. Like in ancient antiquity it again
became a multi-functional symbol, both for love and for virtue. It even
got a special name in flower history: Biedermeierröschen (tiny rose). |
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A typical greeting on a card of the Biedermeier period
( Ilse Höger-Orthner, Vom Zauber alter Rosen,
Seite 16, BLV-Verlagsgesellschaft, Seite 37) |
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You could find that rose not only in the gardens,
but also in many realms of artistic creation. Both visual arts and
poetry (e.g. Adalbert Stifter’s Nachsommer) paid tribute
to the rose. In Biedermeier, there is an extremely high number of
works of art of different qualities that focus on the rose. Almost
all the daily objects were decorated with roses as well, e.g. porcelain,
drinking glasses, clothes and linen. Quite unique for that time were
the congratulary card and verses for the family album (illustration:
poems about the rose were very popular in that time. Here you can
see an extract from the family album of the von Seydel dynasty// illustration:
the poem is by Heinrich Heine). |
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