Meiningen Castle Park
The Meiningen Castle Park is a landscape park in the center of the southern Thuringian district town of Meiningen .
history
In the years 1702 to 1705, Duke Bernhard I of Saxony-Meiningen had the forerunner of the park, a palace garden modeled on the French and Dutch Renaissance gardens at the newly built Elisabethenburg Palace. It consisted of eight squares enclosed by walls and moats that faced the castle. Pavilions , a grotto house and the “Elisabethenlust” garden house on the other side of the Werra complemented the garden.
Around 1770, during the period of absolutism and the reign of Duchess Charlotte Amalie , the previously strictly geometrically designed garden was enlarged to the north and converted into an English landscape park by court gardener Siegmund Friedrich Buttmann . The park was further enlarged to the south in 1859 according to plans by PJ Lennès. In 1971/72 the palace park received a number of large sculptures.
description
The castle park is located close to the center in the northwest of the old town, framed by Elisabethenburg Castle and the Marstall , by city villas, the Herrenberg Landscape Park and the two Werra bridges Georgsbrücke in the south and Volkshausbrücke in the north.
The approximately 950 meters long and up to 300 meters wide park is traversed by the Werra along its entire length from south to north. In the north-eastern part, two of the three moats of the former Meiningen city fortifications cross the park with the two bleaching ditches. These unite in the park and flow into the Werra at the Volkshausbrücke. Several bridges span the watercourses. The arched bridge with its love locks over the Werra near the castle is particularly worth seeing .
The large meadow in the middle of the palace park is optically dominated by the west front of the palace. It is a venue for concerts and a popular place for park visitors to relax and play. In contrast to the English Garden, there are no fountains or monuments in the palace gardens . At various locations, however, sculptures by contemporary artists enrich the park landscape, including "Mother and Child" by Gerhard Rommel , the "Reclining" by Werner Stötzer and the "Taubenstele" by Erich Wurzer.
Along the western bank of the Werra , the Werratal cycle path leads through the Limbachsweg , which forms the border with the “Herrenberg” forest park . There is also a landing stage with a resting place for canoeists and other water hikers . The Milseburgweg long-distance hiking trail and the premium hiking trail “Der Meininger” lead through the park and over the arched bridge .
Culture and leisure
Every year during the city festival, the BUND Meiningen organizes a popular river bathing festival around the large meadow between the Werra and the castle under the motto “Werra water bathing fun” with numerous games on and with the water. During the summer festival " Grasgrün " the palace park is the setting for the "Park Whisper", a radio play weekend on the large meadow. In September the southern part of the park is the venue for the “Meininger Parkwelten” trade fair. The traditional Meininger New Year's Eve run has also taken place in the castle park for many years .
See also
Literature and Sources
- Meininger views. Staatliche Museen Meiningen, 1982, DNB 209150491 .
- Kuratorium Meiningen (Hrsg.): Lexicon for the history of the city of Meiningen. Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809504-4-2 .
- Reissland / Pfannschmidt: The Meininger Parks . Verlag Resch, Meiningen, 2012, ISBN 978-3-940295-30-9 .
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 34 ′ 15 ″ N , 10 ° 24 ′ 40 ″ E