Capital City

Premodern Capital Cityscapes

The two functions of the premodern seats of government were revived in Europe's seventeenth century when power was sanctioned by the Christian churches, added to which came the role of the capital as the visible demonstration of national grandeur. Absolutist regimes dominated the continent, with the capital as the visible apex of the urban hierarchy. Both its size and splendor depended on the national tax-extracting capacity. The consuming power of the court, nobility, and clergy entertained a vast army of service providers, from luxury craftsmen to porters and servants. Thus, 8 out of Europe's 10 largest cities were parasitic court capitals. They filled no economic function remotely consistent with their size.

These court capitals were rivals in ostentatious display. Their urban design made abundant use of the discovery of the perspective. Streets were not conceived primarily as traffic arteries but as a [Page 106]scenography offering broad vistas on statues, noble palaces, or impressive art galleries. Their flanks were kept sober and stern so as to not distract the eyes of the visitor from the monument in the distance. Classicist architecture, with its emphasis on symmetry and proportion, was ideally suited for that aim. The resulting cityscape impressed people as truly monumental. The orthogonal layout testified to the ruler's will imposed on what previously was an irregular agrarian parcellation. The land was brought into his hands by expropriation and extortion.

Mannheim around 1800

Source: Andrews, J. Ca. 1776. “A Plan of the City of Manheim [Mannheim].” In Plans of the Principal Cities in the World. London: John Stockdale. Copper engraved Plate XXII with decorative title. Sheet size 255 mm × 350 mm, plate size 185 mm × 275 mm.