Ehrenburg Castle

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Palace Square with Ehrenburg Palace
Ehrenburg Palace, north elevation

Ehrenburg Palace was the residential palace of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg . The castle is located on the eastern edge of the historic old town of the Upper Franconian city ​​of Coburg .

It emerged from a Franciscan monastery in 1543. An extension followed at the end of the 16th century. In 1690 the palace was rebuilt into a baroque three-wing complex and, in the 19th century, was given a Gothic facade based on designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, as well as living rooms and festive rooms designed in the French Empire style . Today the castle houses the Coburg State Library . Around 25 historically furnished rooms can be viewed on guided tours.

Ehrenburg Palace - north side with Schlossplatz - in the background tower of the Morizkirche

history

Ehrenburg Palace around 1900
Ehrenburg Palace, south facade

Ehrenburg Palace in Coburg was commissioned by Duke Johann Ernst of Saxony from the architects Paulus Beheim ( Nuremberg ), Nikolaus Gromann and Caspar Vischer ( Kulmbach ) in 1543 . With the inclusion of a Franciscan monastery that was dissolved after the Reformation , a new city palace was built, which comprised three wings on the north, west and south sides. In the east it leaned against the city ​​wall . The three-storey main building with the ducal chambers, a stair tower , dwarf houses and courtyard arcades lay in the north, the front facade does not seem to have turned towards the courtyard, but to the north. Before 1575 a palace chapel was added on the east side of the courtyard .

Only paid craftsmen were required for the construction and not, as was customary at the time, slave laborers . This peculiarity is said to have been the reason for the visit of Emperor Charles V in 1547. On this occasion, Karl is said to have given the facility, which was then just moved in, the name Ehrenburg .

From 1590, Duke Johann Casimir had the south wing expanded by the Strasbourg builder Michael Frey, at that time the still existing entrance portal was also changed. Before 1623, two more (functionally subordinate) courtyards were built north of the oldest courtyard from around 1543 and the entire complex was now accessed from the south. In 1623 Giovanni Bonalino under Johann Casimir erected the two-storey arch of the arbor in the south courtyard (formerly with a flat roof that could be walked on ) and in this way upgraded the new entrance courtyard. In 1631/32 the richly carved horn room was built into the south-east corner of this courtyard, which was transferred to Veste Coburg in 1809 .

From 1680, Duke Albrecht III. who had used the Ehrenburg as a residence since 1680, laid a new courtyard garden on leveled sloping terraces in the east of the core complex, to which the new, still partially preserved stables connected as a structural link .

A major fire destroyed the northern part of the Renaissance complex in 1690 . This took Duke Albrecht III. the occasion to have a new building built in the baroque style by 1699 . The three-wing complex around a spacious, north-facing courtyard is divided into the main wing, which adjoins the older palace complex at the rear, the west wing with the palace church and representative rooms and the east wing used as a guest wing.

In the 19th century, under Duke Ernst I , the palace was given its present-day appearance in the English neo-Gothic style based on designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1810) . The French André-Marie Renié-Grety designed the living and party rooms with the classicistic design language. Ernst I. completed the overall impression of the Ehrenburg with the construction of a theater ( Landestheater Coburg ) opposite the newly designed Schlossplatz and the Hofgarten , an English landscape garden between the Ehrenburg-Landestheater ensembles and the Coburg Fortress. The Hofgarten is one of the most important German parks.

The Free State of Coburg closed after it was founded in 1919 with Duke Carl Eduard a settlement agreement in the amount of 1.5 million Reichsmark on its possessions. Among other things, Ehrenburg Castle became the property of the state. The furnishings were awarded to the Coburg State Foundation. Since 1941, the palace has been looked after by the Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes .

The Ehrenburg, which has been completely restored in the last decades, houses the Coburg State Library with a collection of over 400,000 volumes; a large part has been developed as a museum and can be viewed on guided tours.

Furnishing

Castle Church

The two-story, Protestant court church is located in the neo-Gothic west wing. It is a three-aisled, pillar-supported, six-axis gallery with a cap vault. The church is 10.8 meters wide and 30.33 meters long. The interior is designed in the form of Italian baroque. The stucco work comes from the Lucchese brothers, the altar probably from Nikolaus Resch. The foundation stone was laid on June 23, 1690. The church was consecrated on February 4, 1738.

The organ stands on a gallery above the pulpit altar . The organ prospectus is in three parts with rectangular fields and gold-plated carved decoration. The instrument was installed by the Coburg organ builder Paul Daum as part of the new church building. Improvements, repairs and restorations took place in 1815, 1818, 1829 and 1866. Around 1875, the Coburg organ builder Anton Hasselbarth carried out a renovation and expansion. Another renovation followed in 1931 by the Ludwigsburg company Walcker. The instrument has twelve registers on two manuals and a pedal .

Giant hall

The Giant Hall, a magnificent ballroom, is located on the second floor above the Hofkirche. The wooden roof structure spans the space without any supports and is supported by 28 altar figures . The stucco is the work of the Lucchese brothers. Medallion pictures adorn the ceiling and show Minerva as the patron goddess of the fine arts and sciences and her allegorical representations. On the edge of the ceiling there are 56 coats of arms of former rulers of the House of Wettin .

Throne room

The throne room is in the middle of the east wing on the second floor. The French architect Renié-Grétryund designed the design and furnishings of the hall in the classicist style of the French Empire between 1816 and 1833. Bronzes, gilded furniture and red velvet as well as multi-colored, inlaid parquet floors and a stucco ceiling determine the furnishings.

  • Interior views of the Ehrenburg

  • Altar of the court church

  • The magnificent ballroom, also known as the giant hall because of the 28 atlantic figures

  • Monumental forms of classicism in the throne room

  • Audience room with a remarkably well-preserved tapestry

  • Main staircase with late classical coffered vaults

Others

A popular anecdote revolves around the watercloset imported from England in 1860 , probably the first flush toilet on the European continent. It was installed in Queen Victoria's premises in the Ehrenburg and was only allowed to be used by her.

The first working elevator for Queen Victoria is also said to have been installed in the Ehrenburg. Since the then Queen of Great Britain found climbing stairs too cumbersome, she promptly asked for a hand-operated elevator for herself, which she also got.

literature

sorted alphabetically by author

  • Herbert Brunner, Lorenz Seelig: Ehrenburg Castle Coburg. Official leader. 5th newly designed edition. Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-932982-44-6 .
  • Anette Faber: The neo-Gothic reconstruction of Ehrenburg Palace according to the plans of Karl Friedrich Schinkel 1810 - 1840 . In: Yearbook of the Coburger Landesstiftung 30, 1985, pp. 281–394.
  • Peter O. Krückmann: An unusual castle from unusual times - the Ehrenburg in Coburg . In: Yearbook of the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation, Vol. 19, Vol. 2015. Regensburg 2016, pp. 80–87.

Web links

Commons : Ehrenburg Palace  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Fischer, Theodor Wohnhaas: Old organs in the Coburg country, part III. Yearbook of the Coburg State Foundation 1972, p. 86.

Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ′ 29 ″  N , 10 ° 58 ′ 2 ″  E