The Globe of Gottorf is a 17th-century, large, walk-in globe of the Earth and the celestial sphere. It measures 3.1 meters in diameter. Conceived and constructed at Gottorf Castle near Schleswig, it was later transferred to the Kunstkamera museum in Saint Petersburg in Russia. Following a fire in 1747 most of the globe had to be reconstructed. A modern replica was constructed in 2005 at the original location near Schleswig.
The globe features a map of the Earth's surface on the outside and a map of star constellations with astronomical and mythological symbols on the inside. Turned manually or by water power, it demonstrates the movement of the heavens to those seated inside. It was a predecessor of the modern planetarium.
The globe was built between 1650 and 1664 on the request of Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. The construction was supervised by Frederick's court scholar and librarian Adam Olearius and carried out by the gunsmith Andreas Bösch from Limburg an der Lahn.
The Globe house in the Neuwerk Garden The Globe probably already featured in early plans for the Neuwerk garden (the "new work") at Gottorf Castle, which was laid out from 1637. Not before 1650 did Duke Frederick embark on the construction of the garden's central point, the Globe house pavilion. The building was completed in seven years, while construction of the Globe itself took rather longer. Work came to a halt with the death of Duke Frederick III in 1659 in the Second Northern War. The globe was eventually completed in 1664 by Frederick's son Christian Albrecht.
The likely architect of the Globe house was Adam Olearius who was the court scholar and librarian at Gottorf. The orientation of the house was north–south, the location central at the lower end of the terraced Neuwerk garden. A semi-circular wall ran from the house to the Hercules pond in the South; the area between wall and pond contains the formal "Globe garden". The house was a symmetric, four-storey brick building with a terrace on the flat roof. There were extensions on all sides that reached to the second floor. The northern extension was a higher tower crowned with a copper onion dome.
The building had two basement levels, above these the Globe hall and the upper floor with sleeping quarters and a hall facing south. These two upper floors and the roof terrace were connected by a spiral staircase in the tower. The main floor had the main entrance in the North and was level with the first garden terrace. The lower basement was level with the Globe garden to the South. Excluding the extensions or tower, the building measured a respectable 200 m2 in area and 14 m in height, perhaps giving rise to the occasional labelling as "Friedrichsburg" (Frederick's castle, in contrast to the palace that was Gottorf Castle). The official designation was "Lusthaus" (folly or hunting lodge); only toward the latter decades of its existence was it called "Globe house". The cubic shape and accessible flat roof were in keeping with contemporary counterparts in Italy, Netherlands and Denmark. The building was supposed to appear exotic and was occasionally called "Persian House". The building detail, however, adhered to the Northern Renaissance that was the norm at the time in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
Little is known about how the Globe house was used; excavations revealed evidence of extensive meals in the House. It seems to have been hardly used after the death of Duke Frederick III. Leaks in the flat roofs damaged the building, but the Globe remained a popular exhibition piece and was readily demonstrated to visitors.
The Globe
The centrepiece of the Globe house was the large globe. On the outside it presented the Earth's surface, while its interior contained a planetarium that showed the celestial sphere with stars and constellations as well as the movement of the Sun as it appeared from the Earth. (The label "planetarium" may be disputed, as the device showed only the motion of the Sun, not of the Moon or planets.) The particular attraction was to climb into the globe, sit down and allow the stars to circle around the Earth. The Globe was an invention of the Duke; the scientific lead lay with his court scholar and librarian Adam Olearius. The gunsmith Andreas Bösch was hired from Limburg an der Lahn to make the project a reality.
Construction of the Globe and its building went hand in hand. Parts were made in a nearby forge and assembled in the Globe house. Seven to nine craftsmen worked on the project for several years.
Simultaneously, between 1654 and 1657, Bösch worked on his own invention, the Sphaera Copernicana. At a time when work on the Globe had already made great progress, this enhanced and extended the cosmological concept of the Globe.
Transfer to Saint Petersburg
Slight controversy remains regarding the circumstances of the gifting of the Globe to Tsar Peter the Great in 1713. In the Great Northern War, Gottorp was treading a fine line between Danish occupation and sympathies with Sweden. Duke Frederick IV had died in battle, his son Charles Frederick was under age, his uncle Christian August was regent. Early in 1713 Tsar Peter held conference with his ally, king Frederick IV of Denmark in Holstein, possibly Gottorf. Following the meeting, Peter solicited the Globe to be transferred to Russia. In July 1713, Christian August complied and ordered the Globe dispatched to Saint Petersburg where it arrived in 1717. Due to the ongoing war, the transport was apparently by sea to Pillau (a harbour near Königsberg), onward by land to Riga, by sea to Reval (Tallinn) and by land to Saint Petersburg. It became eventually part of the Kunstkamera in 1726, but the transport and elapsed time had left their mark on the condition of the Globe.
The Globe suffered severe damage in a mysterious fire at the Kunstkamera in 1747. Only few of its metal parts, and none of the wood or canvas, survived the fire intact. The entrance hatch had been kept separately in the basement and so was unaffected by the fire. The Globe was removed from the Kunstkamera and reconstructed by Benjamin Scott from 1748 to 1750. However, the outer painting with contemporary geography proceeded slowly and was completed only in 1790 by Theodor von Schubert. A new pavilion had been constructed and the Globe moved there in 1753.
In 1828 the Globe was transferred to the eastern rotunda of the Zoological Museum, and in 1901 to the Admiralty at Tsarskoje Selo, just south of Saint Petersburg.
In 1941 German troops seized the Globe and it was taken by special train to Neustadt in Holstein where it was kept, fully packed and on its special rail carriage, presumably to await eventual transport to Gottorf Castle. In 1946 British troops took the Globe from Neustadt to nearby Lübeck, where it was on public display for three weeks. In 1947 the Globe was moved to Hamburg and shipped to Murmansk and onward to the Hermitage in Leningrad.
It was decided to restore the Kunstkamera, to place the Globe in it and to restore it.
At Gottorf in 1713, in order to retrieve the Globe from the Globe house in one piece, a large piece of the western facade had been removed. This sealed the fate of the building, which was also bereft of its main purpose. Only half-hearted maintenance was carried out from then on and the building decayed. In November 1768, after 50 years of disuse, King Christian VII of Denmark ordered the building to be auctioned off. After another year nothing remained of the ruins, and a building unique in the history of architecture and technology was lost.
A visit to the original Globe house Entry into the Globe house was from the North by the decorative portal of the main entrance, below the tower with the staircase. A short corridor led to the globe hall, which occupied almost the whole space of this level. The hall had numerous windows and was white in colour for best illumination of the Globe; the ceiling was stuccoed. The Globe itself stood in a wide, twelve-sided, wooden, horizontal ring, which was supported by an alternation of herm pillars and Corinthian columns. Painted on the exterior of the Globe was the then known world – Europe, Africa, America and Asia – with coloured country borders and with depictions of animals, ships and sea creatures. The cartography was based on globes from the famous cartographers Willem Blaeu and Joan Blaeu from Amsterdam.
A small hatch permitted entry into the Globe to take a seat at the round table at the centre of the sphere. From here one could observe the celestial sphere depicted on the inside of the globe. The stars were represented by more than 1000 gilded brass nail heads, while the constellations were painted as coloured figures on the blue background of the heavens. The Globe included mechanisms to show the annual movement of the Sun and to drive a "world clock" that indicated where on Earth it was midday or midnight. The Globe was driven, either by water power from the basement to make one turn in 24 hours, or manually by the occupant of the Globe to accelerate the otherwise imperceptible motion. The Globe of Gottorf was the first planetarium where the observer could enter the interior. At the same time it is a large model of the old geocentric model after Ptolemy. When not in use, the hatch was closed with a cover that featured the Gottorf coat of arms; the Globe would then be covered in a heavy, green, woollen cloth. The doors of the Globe hall featured portraits of Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe, in reverence to the foremost authorities of astronomy at the time.
While the main floor with the Globe provided space for learned discussions among a larger audience, the upper level was more private with its sleeping quarters and a festive hall. French doors led onto the flat roofs of the extensions. The large roof terrace offered magnificent views of the gardens and invited to feasts under the open sky.
Access to the two basement levels was separate, from the outside. The upper basement had a kitchen stove to cater for festive meals. The lower basement housed the water mill that was meant turn the Globe continuously. The force was transferred by a brass worm drive and long iron shafts.
The technology The Globe of Gottorf was principally of wrought iron construction. The sphere had a cage of 24 meridian rings executed as T-beams and an equator ring for stiffness. The cage was covered on the outside with copper sheet, followed by several layers of chalk and linen canvas with its outer layer polished. On this the cartography could be painted. The interior of the Globe was lined with thin pine board, also followed by chalk and linen canvas. The hatch was held in place by two spring locks; while the Globe was occupied the hatch remained removed.
The sphere rotated around a heavy, fixed, wrought iron axis. At its foot end the axis rested on a millstone, at the top it was fixed to a ceiling beam. The axis was inclined at 54°30', the geographic latitude of Schleswig. This ensured the display of the night sky as it appeared over Schleswig, as was the purpose.
The seating, apparently for up to ten or twelve persons, was mounted on the axis. It was constructed of heavy iron rails that were clamped to each other and fixed to the axis with heavy braces. This construction carried the narrow seat, the footrest and the round table at the centre. The backrest was a broad horizon ring made of brass, which displayed details of the Gregorian and Julian calendars, as well as astronomical data regarding the daily altitude of the Sun.