H-German Spalding on Bechler, 'Schloss Oranienbaum: Architektur und Kunstpolitik der Oranierinnen in der zweiten HÖ¤lfte des 17. Jahrhunderts' and Wehser, 'Anna Wilhelmine von Anhalt und ihr Schloss in Mosigkau: Idee und Gestaltung eines Gesamtkunstwerks' Review published on Saturday, October 1, 2005 Katharina Bechler. Schloss Oranienbaum: Architektur und Kunstpolitik der Oranierinnen in der zweiten HÖ¤lfte des 17. Jahrhunderts. Saale: mdv Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2002. 248 pp. EUR 26.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-3-89812-097-5.Astrid Wehser. Anna Wilhelmine von Anhalt und ihr Schloss in Mosigkau: Idee und Gestaltung eines Gesamtkunstwerks. Kiel: Ludwig, 2002. 336 pp. EUR 24.90 (paper), ISBN 978-3-933598-45-5. Reviewed by Almut Spalding (Department of Modern Languages and Program of Gender and Women's Studies, Illinois College) Published on H-German (October, 2005) To Represent a Dynasty When Princely Heirs Are Scarce: Castles of the Princesses of Orange Together, these two books explore the castle complexes that four succeeding generations of princesses of the house of Orange built in the seventeenth to mid-eighteenth centuries, among them Oranienburg near Berlin, Oranienbaum near Dessau, Oranienstein near Limburg/Lahn, and Mosigkau, also near Dessau. Wörlitz, another castle and park complex in the same tradition and also near Dessau, developed in the late eighteenth century by a male scion of the family, is considerably larger and in 2000 was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The two present studies show, however, how the women in the family transmitted the interest in architecture and landscaping, and how their castles provided models when subsequent generations of the family embarked on building projects of their own. Therefore Bechler's and Wehser's books add important new perspectives to areas where either female builders have received very little attention or their projects have been subsumed under the work of male relatives. At the heart of these princesses' building activity, Bechler argues convincingly, stood a political program, namely to proclaim the strength, prosperity, and bright future of the house of Orange precisely when the dearth of adult male heirs threatened the survival of the dynasty. While Wehser does not articulate such reflections, her study also fits well into this context. Bechler and Wehser both approach their investigation as art historians and closely examine castle buildings and grounds, taking into account the role of the princesses who commissioned the various projects (Bauherrinnen). Their books focus on castles located about twenty kilometers apart in the former Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau, Oranienbaum and Mosigkau, built by grandmother and granddaughter, respectively. Both studies apparently evolved in connection with recent efforts to preserve and restore surviving seventeenth- and eighteenth-century castles following decades of neglect in the former GDR. Both books are thoroughly researched and include numerous illustrations of buildings, rooms, grounds, sculptures, design plans, maps, and paintings, especially portraits. Both Citation: H-Net Reviews. Spalding on Bechler, 'Schloss Oranienbaum: Architektur und Kunstpolitik der Oranierinnen in der zweiten HÖ¤lfte des 17. Jahrhunderts' and Wehser, 'Anna Wilhelmine von Anhalt und ihr Schloss in Mosigkau: Idee und Gestaltung eines Gesamtkunstwerks'. H-German. 09-30-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/reviews/44395/spalding-bechler-schloss-oranienbaum-architektur-und-kunstpolitik-der Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-German books also reprint in the appendix transcriptions of relevant unpublished primary material, such as original building contracts with masons and carpenters, or literary references to a castle by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century contemporaries. Bechler and Wehser must have researched in the Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz and Landesarchiv Dessau nearly at the same time. They even acknowledge some of the same individuals for their assistance. Despite these parallels, however, their studies differ considerably in scope and style, which is why they will be discussed separately below. Bechler does a superb job of contextualizing Oranienbaum--the castle, the grounds, the town--in the "big picture" of early modern Europe. First, this book really explains the far-reaching branches of the house of Orange in confessionally torn Europe, the family's Reformed affiliation, and their ambitious marriage politics. Secondly, the careful analysis of Oranienbaum's architectural features and artwork also takes into account added] other family castles located in modern-day France, Holland, England, and Germany. Very briefly, by 1625, the dynasty hinged on Friedrich Heinrich (1584-1647), Prince of Orange, and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675), residing in The Hague. Their only son, Wilhelm II (1626-1650), died within three years of Friedrich Heinrich, leaving a son, Wilhelm III (1650-1702), born shortly after his father's death. During these years without a reigning Prince of Orange, Dowager Princess Amalia transformed her small castle outside The Hague (today's Huis ten Bosch) into a full-fledged dowager's residence, then known as Sael van Orange. Of all the family's castles, especially this one served as model when Amalia's four daughters embarked on their own construction projects in Reformed territories where they were married. All four daughters chose a name for their castle that linked them not to the families of their husbands, but to their own, the house of Orange. Louise Henriette (1627-1667), married to the Great Elector, Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1620-1688), built Oranienburg. Albertine Agnes (1634-1696), married to Wilhelm Friedrich (1613-1664), the Prince of Nassau-Dietz and Governor of Friesland and Groningen, built Oranjewoud (near Heerenveen, no longer extant) and Oranienstein. Henriette Catharina (1637-1708), married to Johann Georg II of Anhalt-Dessau (1627-1693), built Oranienbaum. Maria (1642-1688), married to Ludwig Heinrich Moritz (1640-1674), Count Palatine of Simmern, built Oranienhof (near Bad Kreuznach, no longer extant). In the third generation, Henriette Catharina's daughter, Henriette Amalie of Anhalt-Dessau (1666-1726), as a widow expanded Oranienstein, the castle of her aunt and mother-in-law. (She had been married to her cousin, aunt Albertine Agnes's son, Heinrich Kasimir II (1657-1696), Prince of Nassau-Dietz and Governor of Friesland, and it was their son who inherited the title Prince of Orange and continued the line.) The castles named here, and others of the family, serve to compare and contrast Oranienbaum with regard to its history, architectural style, and political program expressed through art. A word of assurance to the reader, in case these genealogies sound indigestible: Three pages of a family tree in the appendix provide a very helpful reference guide through the complex dynasty (all the way to today's Queen Beatrix). Even the above named castles are listed there with the respective princesses. These charts also visualize the precariousness of the survival of the house of Orange, given the numerous daughters but far fewer sons with descendants. The castles were typically begun as a country seat, consisting only of the main building and detached, symmetrically placed utility pavilions (Wirtschaftsgebäude,which included the main kitchen). Side Citation: H-Net Reviews. Spalding on Bechler, 'Schloss Oranienbaum: Architektur und Kunstpolitik der Oranierinnen in der zweiten HÖ¤lfte des 17. Jahrhunderts' and Wehser, 'Anna Wilhelmine von Anhalt und ihr Schloss in Mosigkau: Idee und Gestaltung eines Gesamtkunstwerks'. H-German. 09-30-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/reviews/44395/spalding-bechler-schloss-oranienbaum-architektur-und-kunstpolitik-der Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-German wings were added to the main building only during a second phase years later, when the princesses expanded their estate to a representative dowager's residence. This holds true also for Oranienbaum, where the side wings had long been assumed to be part of the original construction. In one case (Oranienburg), the expansion from a simple main building to a three-winged castle occurred when Louise Henriette's son, Friedrich III (1657-1713), upgraded his mother's country seat in anticipation of becoming the next Prince of Orange. (The title went to his cousin, but the investment was not in vain. The castle served as fitting backdrop for some of the festivities in connection with Friedrich's self-styled coronation as Friedrich I, King of Prussia.) The princesses' castles' simple and modest exterior in the tradition of Dutch Classicism betrays sumptuous interiors and a lifestyle dependent on imports. Silk tapestry with Chinese motifs, gold- plated leather tapestry, tiled kitchens, displays of porcelain and fayence, ceilings of Italianate stucco, fireplaces of French design, and extraordinary collections of paintings by Dutch masters projected the families' international connections, wealth (sometimes more on display than real), and fashionable latest taste. In that vein, the four sisters were also first among German rulers to maintain precious collections of exotic plants, especially orange trees, emblematic for their family, hence the large winter storage houses with south-facing glass panels (Orangerien) on castle grounds. Despite the loss of