Gottfried von Rotenstein besucht Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts Südmähren

Abstract

The contribution reports on the ennobled Bratislava pharmacist Johann Gottfried Stegmüller, who published reports from his numerous travels in Central Europe in the 1780s and 1790s under the name Gottfried Edler von Rotenstein. In particular, he visited with great interest luxurious aristocratic dwellings, where he then described with unusual precision every detail of their furnishings. The quantity of information contained in his descriptions is appreciated especially by art historians, who have thereby gained many interesting findings. In addition, his descriptions of major festivities are also interesting for the study of social change in the 18th century. In September 1782, Rotenstein undertook a tour of southern Moravia, to which the second part of the paper is devoted. His journey passed through Valtice, Lednice, Židlochovice to Brno, and from there to Austerlitz by Brno. With the exception of Lednice, where he found the gates closed, he could view all the châteaux mentioned in detail. He also gave attention to their large parks and gardens. A second journey to Moravia was made by Rotenstein in November 1790. In his report, he focused on a description of several days of festivities at the château in Valtice, on the occasion of the visit of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies.