Time of Upheavals

The palace was constructed during an extremely critical period in history: Confessional debates and the collapse of the old political order marked this highly confusing and turbulent historical era, which was characterised by deep upheavals and reforms.

The discovery of the New World meant that the frontiers of the previously overseeable world had shifted and greatly expanded. Copernicus had postulated heliocentrism and the sacred veil of illusion of the world being the centre of the cosmos had since fallen. After 1582 the Gregorian calendar reform introduced the consolidation of both the ecclesiastical and secular calendar in Europe. And the Reformation that followed signified the loss of the final, most-cherished security; the protection of the only true religion.

The period around 1600 was marked by religious fears, dissatisfaction and deep feelings of helplessness. Everywhere people were searching for new explanations, structures and rules to describe the way the universe worked and how it was created. The progress of modern new sciences did, however, still often overlap with the many ancient and irrational ideas. The yearning for universal knowledge enabling people to fathom out the secrets of the world that remained hidden to rational thinking caused occult sciences to flourish, and astronomy, astrology, kabbalah and alchemy were extremely popular pastimes in this historical period.

Many mathematicians and astronomers combined their scientific findings with mystical, philosophical argumentations on the "Harmony of the World", which joins heaven and earth with mutual, calculable rules. In the whole of Europe the search for a harmonious new order resulted in a variety of utopian states and social structures, which were to set the stage for future political activity.