Die Pall Mall. Von der Sportbahn zur städtischen Vergnügungsmeile

Public lecture at the Württembergischer Geschichts- und Altertumsverein by Prof. Dr. Prof. h. c. Eva-Maria Seng, Stuttgart

Numerous old European city maps show wide, tree-lined lanes that could be mistaken for avenues. However, these apparent avenues do not connect two places, but end abruptly in the landscape: they are in fact sports tracks, so-called pallamaglio courses. The ball game pallamaglio was one of the most popular games in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. It was also popular in Stuttgart: at the beginning of the 17th century, the ducal architect Heinrich Schickhardt built one of the largest and most prestigious pallamaglio courses. It was part of the impressive sports facilities that the dukes of Württemberg had built in the princely pleasure gardens from the end of the 16th century. The sports tracks became a starting point for political, social, cultural and urban planning processes. The lecture examines the sports facilities as a place of encounter between the nobility and the urban upper classes, as a socio-economic factor for new entertainment facilities and businesses, as a space for new practices of physical culture and finally as a motor for opening up the cities to their surroundings and a starting point for urban expansion.