Palais Neubrandenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West side of the palace with main entrance and central projection, around 1900

The Palais Neubrandenburg was the summer and secondary residence of the ducal family of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Neubrandenburg . It stood on the east side of the Neubrandenburg market square and, next to the old town hall, was characteristic of the central square of the city. From 1920 it was the seat of the municipal exhibitions of the Reuter and art collection. During the last days of the war in 1945, the traditional half-timbered palace burned down to the ground and was not rebuilt. After thorough archaeological investigations, the last remnants of the palace foundations were excavated in 2008 through the conversion of the marketplace with underground parking.

History and fate of the palace

Establishment and use

From the middle of the 18th century, Neubrandenburg became, along with Neustrelitz, an important residence for the (partial) duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , where the court society stayed every year during the summer months. In 1774, Duke Adolf Friedrich IV planned to build a princely summer residence in Neubrandenburg. Directly on the east side of the market square in Neubrandenburg, the "Palais" was built as a princely residential palace for the summer months. The reason for this was the beautiful scenic location near Lake Tollensee and national political interests. Neubrandenburg was an important political center in the (partial) duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, founded in 1701. As the “Vorderstadt” , Neubrandenburg represented the other rural towns of the Stargarder Kreis in the “Select Committee” , the co-government and counter-government of the united states in the state of Mecklenburg.

Contrary to what was customary at the time, Adolf Friedrich IV had his new summer residence built in one of the liveliest places on his territory. The city palace was built in several construction phases directly on the Neubrandenburg market square and finally completely delimited its east side. In order to create enough space for the construction project, the Neubrandenburg magistrate donated the land of the city ​​scales and the syringe house to the duke . Construction of the palace began in 1775. After the completion of the building it became apparent that the premises did not offer enough space for the court. For this reason, the neighboring buildings of the Old Ratsapotheke and the so-called Rathkensche House were purchased for an extension in 1785.

While the holding of court in Neubrandenburg ended abruptly with the death of Duke Adolf Friedrich IV. (1794), Neubrandenburg remained the most politically important city in Mecklenburg-Strelitz until the end of the monarchy. Traditionally, the get-togethers of the knights and landscape of Mecklenburg-Strelitz took place here. The enthronement of new rulers also always took place in the Neubrandenburg City Palace.

Remodeling around 1820

Around 1820 the palace was rebuilt in the classical style based on the designs of the court architect and sculptor Christian Philipp Wolff (1772–1820) . The two-storey building, around 86 m long, was given a slightly offset central projection in the middle and side wings protruding around 7.5 m to the west at the corners . The outside of the palace was plastered and given a mansard roof . On the representative west side of the building was the architecturally decorated central projectile with the main entrance. Above the portal, Christian Philipp Wolff had built a balcony that rested on four Roman-Doric columns. The raised porch served the sovereign and his government as a public platform. Here, among other things, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz received homage from the estates and citizens when he took office. The rooms of the palace were also designed in the classical style. The four richly decorated halls, the princely study and the chapel deserve special mention in this context.

Municipal art collection, Reuter collection and destruction

Market square from the southwest with the old town hall , behind it the palace, around 1900
South wing of the palace, entrance to the “Municipal Art Collection”, 1920

After the end of the monarchy in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the palace became the property of the city in 1919 and the city administration's offices were set up in the now public building. In 1920, the city ​​council of Neubrandenburg made the south wing available to house the “Municipal Art Collection” founded in 1890. The establishment of the art collection was made possible in 1890 by the donation of the art collection of the painter Henry Stoll (1822–1890) to his hometown and was expanded in 1911 by a donation from the art dealer August Schmidt (1825–1911). The collection comprised more than 700 paintings and over 3000 graphics (including valuable works by Blechen , Dürer , van Dyck , Murillo , Piranesi and Rembrandt ), valuable Meissen porcelain , sculptures and sculptures, handicrafts as well as an art library and antiques. Four years later, the Reuter collection donated by Karl Theodor Gaedertz (1855–1912) with numerous letters, poems, speeches, essays, press articles, photos and devotional objects by the Low German poet Fritz Reuter was given its new home in two rooms of the same wing . According to Reuter's Dörchläuchting-Humoreske from 1866, the grand-ducal palace was sometimes also referred to as the Dörchläuchtings-Palais .

During the last days of the war in 1945, the palace burned down to the ground. Allegedly, the art collection is said to have been relocated shortly beforehand and transported to Schwerin and has been lost since then. Research into the whereabouts of the stock has so far been unsuccessful. Inventory lists found in the estate files of the Stoll collection made it possible for the first time to make more detailed statements about the holdings and to search for the individual lost works.

Excavations

Since May 15, 2006, the Neubrandenburg market square has been archaeologically examined by the State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation. The reason for the measure was the construction of an underground car park. In autumn 2006, remains of the municipal art collection were found in two basement rooms under the former south wing of the palace, directly in the area where the art collection was housed from 1920 to 1945. In particular, the remains of high-quality statuettes made of bronze, porcelain and terracotta, which have been severely damaged by fire. Some of these have been identified and provisionally put together. The State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation presented the find together with the Neubrandenburg Art Collection in a special exhibition.

The foundations and vaults of the summer residence of the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, which was destroyed in 1945, have been almost completely excavated. It turned out that the foundations and the construction of the palace could not be deduced from the surviving plans for the room division. The archaeological investigations provided a precise plan of the foundation walls for the first time. The finds (e.g. countless oyster shells, richly decorated stove tiles, remains of various furnishings) offer an interesting insight into life at the Strelitz court.

The structural remains of the palace and the predecessor buildings, some of which were centuries older, were removed after the archaeological investigations were completed. The former building contours were not marked above ground.

Literature (selection)

  • Reinhard Wehden: "Bad building" dug up in 1785: the foundations of the ducal palace on Stargarder Strasse have almost been exposed; details can be found on a public tour. In: Nordkurier. 2006, No. 145, p. 20.
  • Helmut Borth: Neubrandenburg market: Dörchläuchtings summer residence. In: Belvedere and other beautiful views. 2003, pp. 131-138.
  • Helmut Borth: Neubrandenburg-Kleine Wollweberstrasse: the palace of the theater count. In: Belvedere and other beautiful views. 2003, pp. 114-119.
  • Helmut Borth: A summer residence for Dörchläuchting: Neubrandenburg-Palais. In: Advertisement Courier. Volume 11, 2001, No. 51, p. 7.
  • Annalize Wagner : town hall, market square and palace. In: From the old Neubrandenburg. 1998, pp. 5-10.
  • Volker Schmidt : Palais. In: Neubrandenburg. 1997, p. 80.
  • Joachim Milster: "Dörchläuchtings" Palais and Palaisstrasse. In: Advertisement Courier. Volume 7, 1997, No. 52, p. 9.
  • Joachim Milster: Magnificent "Paleh" on the market: Dörchläuchting had to borrow money for the construction - the Duke's summer house destroyed in 1945. In: Nordkurier. 1995, No. 156, p. 14.
  • Georg Alexander Duke of Mecklenburg: The House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and its castles. In: Castles, palaces, manor houses in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 1993, pp. 59-65.
  • Annalize Wagner: town hall, market square and palace. In: From the old Neubrandenburg. 1972, pp. 9-16.
  • Neubrandenburg: Palais, Belvedere. In: Georg Krüger [Hrsg.]: Art and history monuments of the Free State of Mecklenburg Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Volume 1: The Land of Stargard. Part 3, 1929, pp. 115-122.
  • Jürgen Brandt: Neubrandenburg. In: Old Mecklenburg castles and mansions. 1925, p. 29.
  • Karl Wendt : The tribute to Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V on the part of the estates of the Stargardian Circle in the Palais zu Neubrandenburg on July 21, 1904 and his entry into the city on June 1, 1906. In: History of the Vorderstadt Neubrandenburg in individual representations. 1922, pp. 240-242.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press release of the city of Neubrandenburg from November 30, 2007

Web links

Coordinates: 53 ° 33 '26.8 "  N , 13 ° 15' 38.5"  E