Brandis Castle (Saxony)

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Brandis Castle (2014)
Brandis Castle, view of the garden (1928)

The Brandiser City Palace is a baroque palace with a palace garden in the immediate vicinity of the historic market square of the city of Brandis in Saxony. The castle and the garden were built between 1700 and 1727 according to designs by David Schatz on behalf of Kraft Burchhard von Bodenhausen.

Geography and size

The Brandis City Palace is located approx. 12 km east of the gates of Leipzig , near the A 14 and B 6 . It is centrally located in the city of Brandis, directly on the market square. The size of the castle is 54,730 m², of which approx. 39,000 m² are in the castle park.

Staircase of Brandis Castle

history

18th and 19th centuries

Originally the area of ​​today's city palace functioned as a manor, the history of which can be traced back to the 12th century. Around 1700 the manor was bought by Kraft Burchhard von Bodenhausen . His son Otto Wilhelm von Bodenhausen had the palace built between 1724 and 1727 according to plans by David Schatz . David Schatz was a student of the master builder Pöppelmann, who brought the Dresden Baroque to Leipzig. With the stately castle and the spacious farmyard, Otto Wilhelm von Bodenhausen created one of the most imposing manor complexes in the Leipzig area. The original plan remained unfinished. The west wing did not come from the baroque building. Baron Friedrich von Pentz acquired the complex in 1849 and had the castle renovated in 1875 and the western extension and the veranda added to the garden front.

20th century

Major Otto Busse was the owner of the palace complex from 1930 to 1945. Under him, the palace and the park were included in the Saxon State Monument List A in 1941 as art and cultural monuments . After the end of the Second World War, a battalion of the US armed forces and a little later the military command of the Red Army moved into the castle. From May 1946, it was owned by the USSR and used as a hotel for trade fair visitors. From January 1950, the facility was leased as a finance school and partly used for stables. In 1968 the property became the property of the City of Leipzig. A retirement and nursing home that existed until 2003 moved in.

21st century

First construction phase (2006–2012)

After the retirement and nursing home was closed, the castle remained unused for several years. In 2006 it was acquired by an investor who then had the two side wings renovated. Around 50 apartments and maisonettes were built in the Orangerie and Ailette Rustique . The entire inner courtyard was also designed according to the specifications of the monument protection .

Second construction phase (from 2012)

The palace complex, which is located with a direct connection to the market and in the middle of the growing town of Brandis, consists of the following renovation sections in the development concept: Palace building (main building) and park (area approx.

Castle building

According to the current state of planning, the main palace comprises 14 residential and commercial units with an area of ​​50 to 200 m². The building structure in the main castle is well preserved and allows the use of numerous historical details such as chimneys, stucco , windows, thick walls, vaulted ceilings and various room solutions. The extensive renovation work tries to preserve the historical structure as much as possible, while still ensuring that it meets today's commercial and residential requirements.

Park

The park, which is still very well preserved in its basic structure (paths and structure), only needs to be revised, the trees partially cut and the small lake dredged and recultivated. Talks are being held with the City of Brandis on the lower part of the park (meadow area and connecting piece to the city park).

Brandis Castle Park

Brandis Castle Park has a history of over 250 years. Possibly the layout of the palace gardens can be traced back to the builder of the palace David Schatz . Hardly any visible elements have been preserved from the original complex, as it has undergone several redesigns over the years. Its current condition dates from the 1920s.

In the garden there is a mausoleum , which was built in 1854 for the then owner Freiherr von Pentz, a water tower from 1884, a pavilion , a fountain and several lion sculptures .

After 1875 the palace park was significantly expanded. Worth mentioning here is the planting of trees from exotic woody plants such as the catalpa , the copper beech , the red oak and sycamore , which were introduced at this time to Europe. These large trees were planted in the edge area around the park to shield it from the outside.

The design phase from 1912 was important for the current appearance of the park. The palace park was divided into two parts. The upper part, which is closer to the castle, was redesigned in the sense of a baroque garden. Flower beds were planted along the paths and around the fountain. This is why this part of the palace park was called the "Rose Plant". The lower part of the palace park was laid out in a landscape style that was particularly characterized by the planting of hornbeams in the outdoor areas of the park.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the palace park was divided and the rose beds along the paths were removed. While the upper, northern part remained part of the castle, the southern part was used as a public park for the city of Brandis. This division continues to this day.

Although no cutting and maintenance work was carried out after the retirement and nursing home was closed in 2003 at the latest, the structures of the palace park, as laid out by Baron von Pentz, have largely been preserved. However, numerous buildings such as the mausoleum, the pavilion, the water tower or the natural theater are in great need of repair. Furthermore, the previously numerous sculptures and sculptures such as the lion sculptures, the sandstone monument or the fountain are only partially or in poor condition. As a result, the castle park has been in a comprehensive recultivation and repair phase since 2012.

literature

  • Cornelius Gurlitt : Brandis. In:  Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 19. Issue: Amtshauptmannschaft Grimma (1st half) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1897, p. 23.
  • Association for environmental and urban planning: Brandis Castle Park: Preservation of monuments. Markkleeberg 2007.
  • Morgenstern engineering office: Description of the Brandis Castle. Leipzig 2012.
  • Usage and marketing concept for Schloss Brandis. Leipzig 2012.
  • Michael Keller: The Schlosspark zu Brandis: Assessment of the monument value and development of a monument preservation objective. Dresden 1999.
  • City of Brandys (Ed.): Brandis. History of a small town in Saxony. Beucha 1996, ISBN 3-930076-38-1 .
  • City of Brandis (ed.): 875 years of Brandis. Brandis 1996.

Web links

Commons : Brandis Castle (Saxony)  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City administration Brandis (ed.): Brandis: History of a small Saxon town. Beucha 1996, ISBN 3-930076-38-1 , p. 74.
  2. ^ A b Association for Environmental and Urban Planning: Brandis Castle Park: Preservation objective. Markkleeberg 2007, p. 11.
  3. ↑ a b Michael Keller: The Brandis Castle Park: Assessment of the monument value and development of a monument preservation objective. Dresden 1999, p. 2.
  4. ↑ a b Morgenstern engineering office: Description of the Brandis Castle. Leipzig 2012.
  5. ↑ a b Usage and marketing concept for Schloss Brandis. Leipzig 2012.
  6. ^ A b Association for Environmental and Urban Planning: Brandis Castle Park: Preservation objective. Markkleeberg 2007, p. 7.
  7. ^ A b Association for Environmental and Urban Planning: Brandis Castle Park: Preservation objective. Markkleeberg 2007, p. 18 f.

Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 58.5 ″  N , 12 ° 36 ′ 29.8 ″  E