Natur als Kunstwerk, Garten als Bühne: Der Rosswalder Schlossgarten des Grafen Albert Joseph Hoditz (1706–78) als ästhetisch-religiöser Raum im Übergang von Barock zur Aufklärung

This study explores the sentimental garden of Count Albert Joseph Hoditz in Rosswald as a unique cultural space between the Baroque and the Enlightenment. Based on archival manuscripts, it examines Hoditz’s neglected poems and reflections on nature, religion, and art. The garden functioned as a carefully staged Arcadian landscape where theatrical performances, mythology, literature, and architecture merged into a symbolic whole. It served both as a venue for artistic representation and as a place of spiritual contemplation. The analysis reveals how Hoditz combined Baroque piety with Enlightenment ideals of education, tolerance, and cultural exchange. Rosswald thus emerges as an important centre of eighteenth-century European culture and an example of the close interaction between landscape design, literature, and worldview.