Mesothen Castle

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Mesothen Castle, south facade

Mesothen Castle ( Latvian Mežotnes pils ) is a castle in Mesothen near Bauske in Semgallia and is considered to be one of the outstanding classical buildings in Latvia .

history

Mesothen Castle and the Courland Aa, view from the 19th century

In 1795, Tsarina Catherine II granted her grandchildren's educator, Charlotte von Lieven , the usufruct of the property in Mesothen. Tsar Paul I transformed this into a right of inheritance for the Lieven family and elevated Charlotte von Lieven to a countess in 1799 . In 1826 her foster son, Tsar Nicholas I , made her a princess. Charlotte von Lieven lived with the royal family in Saint Petersburg . She only visited her property in Mesothen once: in 1818 she accompanied Maria Feodorovna on her trip to Germany and stayed there on September 2nd. After Charlotte's death in 1828, her son Johann inherited the property.

Construction of the palace began in 1797 under the direction of Johann Georg Berlitz and was completed in 1802. Berlitz worked based on designs by Giacomo Quarenghi and modified them somewhat by equipping the castle with side wings. An English landscape park and other buildings were added to the ensemble . The existing, old mansion on the castle grounds was renovated and converted into the administrator's house.

In 1881 Paul Lieven's son Anatol inherited the castle, which was badly damaged in 1919 when Pawel Mikhailovich Bermondt-Awaloff's army was looted . In 1920 Anatol Lieven was expropriated as part of the Latvian land reform.

During the Second World War , the castle was partially destroyed by Soviet artillery fire in 1944 before it was transferred to the Latvian Agricultural Research Institute in 1946. A restoration began at the end of 1958. In 1996, the castle came to the state property management, which restored it again from 2001. Today a hotel is housed there.

description

architecture

The north facade has a column portico , which corresponds entirely to the style of the architect Giacomo Quarenghi. The piano nobile is on the first floor. It can be reached from the ground floor via a staircase from the second half of the 19th century. The central domed hall is inspired by the Pantheon in Rome and extends over two floors. It forms the center of the castle, from which various salons and the dining room were accessible. The apartment and guest room used to be on the second floor.

Castle Park

The castle park in the style of an English landscape garden extends behind the house to the river Lielupe (Courland Aa).

literature

  • Sabine Bock: Great Castle Tour, Historical Livonia, September 8-15, 2012. Excursion guide. German Castle Association, Braubach 2012, p. 27.
  • Karl von Löwis of Menar : Castle Lexicon for Old Livonia. Walters and Rapa, Riga 1922, pp. 82-83 ( digitized version ).
  • Heinz Pirang: The Baltic mansion. Volume 2. Jonck & Poliewsky, Riga 1928, pp. 30–31 ( digitized version ).
  • Erik Thomson, Georg Baron von Manteuffel-Szoege: Palaces and manors in the Baltic States (= castles, palaces, manors. Volume 7). 3. Edition. Weidlich, Frankfurt a. M. 1980, ISBN 3-8035-1042-2 , pp. 101-102.

Web links

Commons : Castle Mesothen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Gatis Pavils: Mežotne Palace , accessed on January 8, 2019.
  2. ↑ Sabine Bock: Large castle tour, Historic Livonia, 8 to 15 September 2012. Exkursionsführer. 2012, p. 27.

Coordinates: 56 ° 26 '17.9 "  N , 24 ° 3' 10.8"  E