Palais Bellevue (Kassel)
The Palais Bellevue in Kassel was built in 1714 at the instigation of Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel . Paul du Ry is considered an architect . Originally it served as an observatory , later it became part of the (now destroyed) Bellevue Palace. The municipal Brothers Grimm Museum was housed here for a long time .
history
observatory
In 1714, Landgrave Karl had an observatory built at the southwestern end of the baroque Kassel Oberneustadt in an exposed location above the Karlsaue . It replaced the astronomical facilities of Landgrave Wilhelm IV in the city palace . The external shape of the building roughly corresponded to today's appearance, only the shape of the roof differed considerably. Instead of today's mansard roof, there was a cross-shaped, flat-roofed structure with round openings for the telescopes . In addition to the palace, there was a new observatory on the Zwehrenturm , a former city gate, since 1709 . The Ottoneum later took on the function of an observatory.
Bellevue Palace
The Palais Bellevue was inhabited early on by people from the court society. Several changes of ownership followed in the first half of the 18th century, with the palace repeatedly falling back to the landgrave. Together with the neighboring princely palaces on the street “Schöne Aussicht” (then “Bellevue”) it grew together in the 18th century to form Bellevue Palace. It served as a residence for various members of the princely family; especially Landgrave Wilhelm IX. used it intensively. He had it restored to its present state by Simon Louis du Ry around 1790 . After the old city palace burned down under French rule in 1811, Jérôme Bonaparte had the palace rebuilt by his architect Auguste Henri Victor Grandjean de Montigny and used it as a royal residence until he was expelled. The Palais Bellevue survived the Second World War almost unscathed, while the rest of the palace was badly damaged; its rubble was completely cleared away after the war. Until 1956 the palace remained in the possession of the House of Hesse , which sold it to the city of Kassel. The breakfast pavilion of the former palace garden is still preserved today.
Todays use
From 1956 to 1970 the city art collection was housed in the building, until 1972 the Brothers Grimm Museum moved in. It shares the rooms with the Louis Spohr memorial. Until 1999, the German Music History Archive and the central editorial office of the International Library of Music Sources were also located here . Large parts of the Grimm Museum had not been open to the public since 2006, as significant structural defects led to the upper floors being closed. In 2009 the building was finally closed.
architecture
The appearance of the Palais Bellevue has hardly changed since the renovation work by Simon Louis du Ry at the end of the 18th century. The five-axis front essentially corresponds to that of the original Baroque building. The classicist interior is almost completely unchanged. The Rococo stucco work in a hall on the first floor is remarkable . The three-winged staircase has a circular ramp railing . A wing on the long side of the historical garden has been preserved from the three-winged annex building that was once attached. The facade has recently been refurbished, whereby the subtle plaster structure of SL du Ry was lost. The installation of an elevator also resulted in the loss of historical building fabric. In the summer of 2007, the historic doors inside were replaced by modern fire protection doors, as the tourist use of the building could not be brought into line with the applicable fire protection regulations.
Redevelopment
The Palais Bellevue is one of the last historical buildings in the city of Kassel, which in its entirety has a historical structure and equipment that has been preserved in all parts.
The renovation work began in 2010. There is currently no other usage concept for the palace. Offices and living spaces are to be built on the second floor and the attic, so that the last structural remains of the observatory from the early 18th century are available. The last remaining wing on the garden side is to be extended by several window axes in order to gain additional space. This would cover a large part of the eastern facade of the main building. The art theorist Paul Schultze-Naumburg cites this urban situation of the palace that was affected by the renovation as an example of particularly successful spatial planning.
"Because the building on the side steps back far behind the street, the corner building becomes a concluding prospectus for the street and is therefore much more visible [...]."
literature
- State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (Hrsg.): Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Architectural monuments in Hesse - City of Kassel I. Braunschweig 1983, ISBN 3-528-06232-0
- Alois Holtmeyer , The architectural and art monuments in the Kassel administrative district, Vol. VI , Marburg, 1923
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Meeting of the committee (of the city council of Kassel) for culture on March 16, 2010 ( 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.
- ^ Resolution on the renovation of the Palais Bellevue , the association for Hessian history and regional studies
Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 35 " N , 9 ° 29 ′ 38" E
