Princely Riding School Bückeburg

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The Princely Riding School Bückeburg is a horse museum in Germany. Bückeburg lies on the border with North Rhine-Westphalia in the Weser Uplands in Lower Saxony.

Riding demonstration by the Princely Riding School in Bückeburg at a public festival in Papenburg

It is located in the historic stables and riding house of Bückeburg Castle . The buildings were built between 1609 and 1622 and housed the riding and driving horses of the princes of Schaumburg-Lippe until the 1950s . 2004 Riding School in a private initiative of Krischke family has undergone major renovation to the fact the horsemanship of the baroque and the old races of Baroque horses to illustrate. The riding school is open to visitors all year round, the approximately 250 annual horsemanship demonstrations take place from April to October on the weekends and on many additional dates.

history

construction

Under Count Ernst zu Holstein-Schaumburg , the so-called "Reit- und Wagenhauß", today's Marstall and a mirror-like wing in a northwest extension with a covered riding arena, was built between 1609 and 1622. At the same time he had a ballroom built, which was dedicated to contemporary ball games . In a major fire in 1797, the second stables with the "Reithauß" were destroyed. The regent Princess Juliane then arranged for the ballroom to be converted into a riding hall. The castle itself goes back to a moated castle from 1304 in the foundation walls of the castle tower . The farm buildings for the riding, war and work horses from the period up to 1609 have not been preserved. The first surviving testimony of horses at Bückeburg Castle is a letter from 1598.

In 1616 the Englishman John Taylor describes his impressions of the Bückeburg residence of Count Ernst zu Holstein-Schaumburg:

“After I was entered within the outward gate, I was shewed his stables, where I saw very fair and goodly horses, both for war and other uses, amongst the rest there was one naturally spotted like a leopard or panther, and is called by the name of leopard, a stately courageous beast and so formed as if nature had laid all her cunning aside; only to compose that horse, and indeed I must acknowledge he was made for the service of some great Prince, and not for any inferior person. "

“After I stepped through the outer gate, I was shown the stables; I saw excellent and excellent horses, warhorses, and others, including one that was naturally spotted like a leopard or a panther; it was also called the leopard, an unusually fearless animal and shaped as if nature had set aside all its reason just to create this steed, and I could see from him that it was the horse of a great prince and not an ordinary man. "

- Brage bei der Wieden: Schaumburger reading book

Heyday

During the reign of Count Friedrich Christian , the Marstall in Bückeburg flourished. In 1704 the inventory listed 89 stallions and 60 mares, in 1720 a total of 266 horses that were housed in the Marstall and at the Fasanenhof stud near the town of Meinsen. The count was in lively exchange with the Spanish Riding School in Vienna: a number of sires were transported to Vienna, where they were trained at the riding school and some of them were used in breeding. In 1730, Count Albrecht Wolfgang initiated a "guideline for country horse breeding", from which he promised himself the quality assurance of the "Bückeburger race".

On November 17, 1764, Count Wilhelm returned to Bückeburg after a victorious campaign against Spain. Among the many valuable gifts he received from the Portuguese king for saving Portugal's independence were "several of the most magnificent horses" . The count also had "a lot of Andalusians or barbels [...] bought in Spain and on the coast of Africa" . In addition to Spaniards, the inventory from 1777 lists mainly Berbers. In the middle of 1753, Count Wilhelm set up a carbine corps . The so-called “Black Riders at Bückeburg” because of their black skirts were made mounted exclusively with black (and dark brown) Andalusians and at their heyday numbered 180 men in defense and arms.

Since Count Wilhelm died without an heir, his cousin Count Philipp II. Ernst took over the government of the county of Schaumburg-Lippe in 1777. He continued the horse keeping of his predecessor: “All stately mares cannot be covered by a stallion like last year, and the noble Spaniard Schimmel, who is the first to breed this year, has to be used a lot to get back into the race . “ On September 7, 1780, the 21-year-old Hereditary Count Karl died in a riding accident on the summer riding track in front of the Marstall and Philipp Ernst remained in the government as the only agnate of his house until his death.

Beginning decline

From 1787 Philipp Ernst's widow, Juliane von Hessen-Philippsthal , sold large parts of the royal stables (horses, carriages, saddles and other inventory) in several auctions. In 1799, the princess died of pneumonia at the age of 38 , whereupon Count Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn continued the previously jointly run custodial government for the underage heir Georg Wilhelm alone. He tried hard to rebuild the number of horses necessary for keeping the court: "Dabey was graciously given to recognize that one should always keep an adequate number of stallions for the state stud, to improve the domestic race, and to buy them." The following purchases mark a turning point in breeding with increasing focus on the English breed .

Prince Georg Wilhelm made Schaumburg-Lippe one of the richest small countries in Germany. His business acumen and thrift showed in a strict and well-structured stud system. By means of an advertisement in the Schaumburg-Lippische state advertisements on March 10, 1827, the rent chamber announced for the quality assurance of the "Bückeburger race": "This is brought to the public knowledge, and it is noted that to designate the nobler race, that of stately stallions Fallen fill a fire, BLG with a princely crown on which the loin is to be printed. Bückeburg, Feb. 28, 1827. “ A particular hobby of the prince was the so-called Isabelles . Georg Wilhelm bought a total of seven mares for a carriage team and a foal at the Marstall in Kassel .

Like his predecessors, Prince Adolf I. Georg was still dependent on keeping horses for movement.

In the monthly reports under Prince Georg about the stock in the stables and stud from 1901 to 1906, around 50 horses, mostly carriage horses, are named. In 1911, in addition to a large number of Irish horses, the princes' personal horses are listed: for the Hereditary Prince Adolf, the horse “Dollar” from America, for Prince Moritz the Scottish horse “Piccolo” .

Prince Adolf II , who sustained a serious leg injury in a riding accident at the age of seventeen, was an enthusiastic rider and horse lover and planned to set up a racing and breeding stable at Schloss Bückeburg. During the First World War , high-quality racehorses were bought and trained. Despite the high quality stock, the horse breeding of the Princely Marstall was coming to an end. The increasing motorization through cars and trains displaced horses and carriages.

revival

Prince Philipp Ernst was a rider himself in his youth and a lifelong enthusiastic horse lover. During his time as head of the house, riding sprouted as a popular sport in Germany and a private riding club was also founded in Bückeburg, which used the Mar stables and the riding house for equestrian sports until 2003. The negotiations for the conversion into a living horse museum had already been conducted with Prince Philipp Ernst's successor Alexander at the end of 2003 .

After extensive renovation, the Marstall and Reithaus were converted into a horse museum in 2004, patron Alexander Fürst zu Schaumburg-Lippe allowed the operators (Krischke family, as a project of "Die Tjoster Veranstaltungsges. MbH") to use the title "Princely" and thus to the to build on the 400-year-old tradition of the “local royal stables”. The Princely Riding School was opened on May 7, 2004 and expanded over the following years. The Princely Riding School in Bückeburg is one of the five institutions in Europe that bear the name “ Riding School ”.

The roster is both male and female and values ​​informal training for the horses. The Princely Riding School has around 50,000 visitors a year and is financed by entrance fees, support from the Princely Court Chamber and donations and is independent of funding from the city, the state or the EU .

In 2012, the parts of the riding school open to visitors comprised two stables with a total of 18 horse stalls, which are inhabited by the school stallions, as well as a walk-in saddle room, the other stables with the horse museum and the foyer with the stables boutique (souvenir shop, ticket sales). The heated riding arena has a grandstand for 180 spectators, three boxes for a total of 15 guests and sanitary facilities. In the castle park there are fenced paddocks and paddocks with an area of ​​6.5 hectares.

Marstall Museum

Entrance to the horse museum of the Princely Riding School in Bückeburg

In the Bückeburg Riding School there is a horse museum with around 1000 exhibits from the riding of different cultures and epochs and with living horses from eight baroque riding art horse breeds ( Berber , Andalusian , Lusitano , Murgese , Frederiksborger , Lipizzaner , Genete , Knabstrupper ) which are regularly demonstrated by the court riders are presented in baroque equestrian art. In addition, the court riders train horses and riders in baroque riding.

literature

  • Oliver Glißmann: Riding and horse breeding at the Bückeburger Hof . In: Schaumburg-Lippischer Heimatverein e. V. (Ed.): Schaumburg-Lippische Mitteilungen . No. 34 . Self-published, 2007, ISSN  0722-8740 ( Online [PDF]).

Web links

Commons : Fürstliche Hofreitschule Bückeburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Oliver Glissmann: From local manorial Marstalle . 2005.
  2. ↑ John Taylor: In the residence of Prince Ernst . In: Brage bei der Wieden (Hrsg.): Schaumburger reading book . Stadthagen 1989, ISBN 3-89109-024-2 , p. 55-58 .
  3. ^ John Taylor: Three Weeks, three daies, and three hours. Observations And Travel, From London to Hambvrgh in Germanie: Amongst Jews and Gentiles, with Descriptions of Townes and Towers, Castles and Cittadels, artificiall Gallowfes, Naturall Hangmen: And Dedicated for the present, to the absent Odcombian Knight Errant, St. Thomas Coriat . Great Brittaines Error, and the worlds Mirror. London 1617 . In: The Old Book Collector's Miscellany; Or, A Collection Of Readable Reprints Of Literary Rarities, Illustrative Of The History, Literature, Manners And Biography Of The English Nation During The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries . Edited by Charles Hindley. Vol. I. London 1871.
  4. ^ A b Friedrich-Wilhelm Schaer: Count Friedrich Christian zu Schaumburg-Lippe. As a person and as a representative of small-state absolutism around 1700 . In: Franz Engel (Ed.): Schaumburger Studies . No. 17 . Bückeburg 1966.
  5. ↑ Tina Dutzler: The development of the Lipizzaner breed earlier and today in comparison with special consideration of the conformation . Bachelor thesis to obtain the dignity Baccalaurea rerum naturalium of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. 2009.
  6. ↑ Erich Hübinger: Count Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe and his defense. The roots of general conscription in Germany . Borna / Leipzig 1937.
  7. ^ GW von Düring: History of the Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Carabinier and Jäger Corps . Berlin / Posen / Bromberg 1828 (reprinted Starnberg 1986).
  8. ^ Justus Friedrich Froriep: In memory of Lieutenant Colonel Johann Casimir von Monkewitz, former commander of the Bückeburg Carabinier and Jäger Corps . Buckeburg 1789.
  9. ^ Heinke Ehlers: Princess Juliane zu Schaumburg-Lippe (1761–1799). History of the Schaumburg women. Schaumburg cultural landscape . Ed .: Schaumburg Landscape. 6th volume. Bielefeld 2000, p. 156-163 .
  10. ↑ Helga Wieding: Planned and realized projects of Prince Adolf zu Schaumburg-Lippe during his reign 1911–1918 . In: Helge bei der Wieden (Ed.): Schaumburg-Lippische Mitteilungen . No. 23 . Bückeburg 1974, p. 97-120 .
  11. ↑ http://www.hofreitschule.de/page/page_ID/9?PHPSESSID=992c03540ec6d3a229e0de866131c689  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.hofreitschule.de  
  12. ↑ a b c The Princely Riding School. In: Hofreitschule.de. Retrieved May 23, 2011 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 15 '35.4 "  N , 9 ° 2' 46.9"  E