Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,794
Small gifts maintain friendship ...
On February 6, 1713, the Danish King Friedrich IV meets
... the Russian Tsar Petr. I.
... during the Northern War.
So far, the two rulers have eyed each other suspiciously - now an alliance is pending against Sweden.
But the technology-loving Tsar has the meeting place, Gottdorf Castle ...
... not chosen without ulterior motive in Schleswig, which was then Danish:
There is something shown that interests him a lot:
In a specially constructed building in the castle park - the so-called "Globus House" ...
... one of the wonders of the world of its time is shown:
A giant walk-in globe!
On the outside, the globe, which is exactly 3.10 meters in diameter, shows a map of the world known at that time - inside it is artfully decorated with allegories of the seasons and the stars.
The globe can also be rotated via an ingenious mechanism with three gears - it is driven by water power!
The miracle, much described in its time, had between 1650 and 1664 on behalf of Duke Friedrich III. the ducal court scholar and librarian Adam Olearius constructed by Gottorf; the Limburg gunsmith Andreas Bösch carried out the work.
The Tsar is enthusiastic, has the miracle work explained again and again in all its details and sticks his nose into every corner of the construction ...:
Hydropower - that is his passion!
The wonderful water features of his Peterhof Palace ...
... are also based on water power - just like the many fountains in the castle park, designed as deceptively real trees made of metal ...:
The political talks are far behind the tsar's interest in the globe (they quickly agree on an alliance anyway, the diplomats on both sides have worked well!)
King Friedrich IV understands the tsar's hint!
Russia can be a very useful and economically rewarding, but otherwise also a very dangerous neighbor for little Denmark.
So when the tsar said goodbye towards evening (he still has to go to Prussia!) The Dane gave him the globe as a present when he said goodbye!
A few weeks later, the Russian has his present picked up by handpicked carters at Gottdorf Castle.
But since the globe house was built around the marvel, the building has to be partially demolished in order to be able to load the huge thing.
Stripped of its actual content, the building was sold for demolition a little later. (The Danish rulers were thrifty people ...!).
In order not to damage the tsar's wonder globe, the carters work extremely carefully! After a journey of four years (!) The gift finally arrives in the Russian capital Saint Peterburg.
There the Tsar has the globe set up in the Kunstkammer - one of the first public museums in the world ...:
But in 1747 a devastating fire broke out in the Kunstkammer, which completely destroyed many irretrievable objects.
The globe was also badly damaged!
All wooden parts were destroyed by the fire, the metal parts were preserved, but were burned out and robbed of their color.
Only the hatch with the Gottorf coat of arms stayed intact!
But the Romanovs weren't poor people - after all, it was about a favorite piece of the revered Tsar, now called "Peter the Great".
So in the same year the Tsarina Elizabeth II ordered...
... her all-purpose scholar Mikhail Wassiljewitsch Lomonossow ...
... the restoration of the globe, whereby Lomonosov took the liberty of updating the world map with newly acquired knowledge.
The globe can still be viewed in the in the original building that has also been preserved of the "Kunstkammerij" today ...:
When Gottorf Castle became the seat of the Schleswig-Holstein State Museum, a copy of the globe was made based on the original drawings in the 1990s.
This copy can be seen in the picture at the top of this article ...:
And since 1997 this globe reconstruction - at its old location - has its own building again ...:
On February 6, 1713, the Danish King Friedrich IV meets
... the Russian Tsar Petr. I.
... during the Northern War.
So far, the two rulers have eyed each other suspiciously - now an alliance is pending against Sweden.
But the technology-loving Tsar has the meeting place, Gottdorf Castle ...
... not chosen without ulterior motive in Schleswig, which was then Danish:
There is something shown that interests him a lot:
In a specially constructed building in the castle park - the so-called "Globus House" ...
... one of the wonders of the world of its time is shown:
A giant walk-in globe!
On the outside, the globe, which is exactly 3.10 meters in diameter, shows a map of the world known at that time - inside it is artfully decorated with allegories of the seasons and the stars.
The globe can also be rotated via an ingenious mechanism with three gears - it is driven by water power!
The miracle, much described in its time, had between 1650 and 1664 on behalf of Duke Friedrich III. the ducal court scholar and librarian Adam Olearius constructed by Gottorf; the Limburg gunsmith Andreas Bösch carried out the work.
The Tsar is enthusiastic, has the miracle work explained again and again in all its details and sticks his nose into every corner of the construction ...:
Hydropower - that is his passion!
The wonderful water features of his Peterhof Palace ...
... are also based on water power - just like the many fountains in the castle park, designed as deceptively real trees made of metal ...:
The political talks are far behind the tsar's interest in the globe (they quickly agree on an alliance anyway, the diplomats on both sides have worked well!)
King Friedrich IV understands the tsar's hint!
Russia can be a very useful and economically rewarding, but otherwise also a very dangerous neighbor for little Denmark.
So when the tsar said goodbye towards evening (he still has to go to Prussia!) The Dane gave him the globe as a present when he said goodbye!
A few weeks later, the Russian has his present picked up by handpicked carters at Gottdorf Castle.
But since the globe house was built around the marvel, the building has to be partially demolished in order to be able to load the huge thing.
Stripped of its actual content, the building was sold for demolition a little later. (The Danish rulers were thrifty people ...!).
In order not to damage the tsar's wonder globe, the carters work extremely carefully! After a journey of four years (!) The gift finally arrives in the Russian capital Saint Peterburg.
There the Tsar has the globe set up in the Kunstkammer - one of the first public museums in the world ...:
But in 1747 a devastating fire broke out in the Kunstkammer, which completely destroyed many irretrievable objects.
The globe was also badly damaged!
All wooden parts were destroyed by the fire, the metal parts were preserved, but were burned out and robbed of their color.
Only the hatch with the Gottorf coat of arms stayed intact!
But the Romanovs weren't poor people - after all, it was about a favorite piece of the revered Tsar, now called "Peter the Great".
So in the same year the Tsarina Elizabeth II ordered...
... her all-purpose scholar Mikhail Wassiljewitsch Lomonossow ...
... the restoration of the globe, whereby Lomonosov took the liberty of updating the world map with newly acquired knowledge.
The globe can still be viewed in the in the original building that has also been preserved of the "Kunstkammerij" today ...:
When Gottorf Castle became the seat of the Schleswig-Holstein State Museum, a copy of the globe was made based on the original drawings in the 1990s.
This copy can be seen in the picture at the top of this article ...:
And since 1997 this globe reconstruction - at its old location - has its own building again ...:
