Versailles as an urban model: New court-towns in Germany circa 1700

Abstract

At the beginning of the eighteenth century in western Europe a new urbanism emerged. Modern warfare and welfare, modern centralized state administration and modern liberties demanded new urban forms: unfortified towns, safe and healthy, expressing the structure of absolutist reign, and accommodating a growing 'army' of civil servants. Neither existing fortified towns nor 'ideal towns' of the past could fulfill the new demands. New towns had to be constructed and a new model found for them that broke the ties of tradition. Versailles offered such a model - a Palladian model, transposed from country to town. The case of its first application in Germany, the newly-founded town of Rastatt, is discussed.