Stables and riding arena at Eisgrub Castle

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Main entrance, south wing
Courtyard view, west wing

The stables and riding arena of Eisgrub Castle (today: Lednice ) were planned by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach around 1690. Together with Lednice Castle, they are now part of the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site .

Geographical location

The complex is located northwest of the Eisgrub Castle in the Ledice municipality.

building

The complex is designed as a square with four wings around an inner courtyard. The inward-facing façades facing the courtyard are designed to a greater extent than those facing outward. Of these, only the southern one, facing the farmyard, was architecturally designed, the others were barely decorated. The stables have three aisles : a central supply corridor separated the two side areas in which the horses stood. The naves were separated by arcades resting on Tuscan columns .

The figural decoration at the riding arena shows four pairs of gods and heroes of antiquity : Hercules / Hebe , Apollon / Diana , Neptune / Venus and Jupiter / Juno , allegories of the (then known) four continents Europe / Asia , Africa / America and the personified four seasons .

history

The client was Prince Johann I Adam (1662–1712) of Liechtenstein , who had been managing the family property since 1684. The previous building was part of a long utility wing that stretched west of the castle. The “winter stables” also remained here. The planning began in 1687 under Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, construction was then carried out in sections from 1688 to 1701, with completed sections immediately being used, while construction continued elsewhere:

  • The riding arena - the particularly splendidly designed south wing with a representative portal - was completed before 1690 according to plans by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who was not involved in it until the project was completed. After the side wings had been added, the riding hall was redesigned again around 1700.
  • The east wing was built from 1693 and contained two large stables. The southern part of this wing was rebuilt after 1819 by Franz Engel and lost its baroque sculptural decoration.
  • From 1695 the west wing was built, which also housed the staff.
  • The originally planned north wing was no longer built. The existing “building gap” was only partially closed in the 1780s by two short wings, which were added to the west and east wings, but which do not collide in the middle, but rather leave a gap.

After 1690 - Fischer von Erlach had meanwhile entered the imperial service - there was a falling out with Prince Johann Adam I. The prince wanted to build "more modern" and engaged Domenico Martinelli , who now - besides the Liechtenstein palaces in Vienna - also took care of the work took care of the stables and riding hall of Eisgrub Castle. The redesign of the entrance portals of the riding arena and the figural decorations were also created in 1700/1701 under his direction by Giovanni Giuliani and Bendikt Sondermayer .

Worth knowing

The execution of the stables was so splendid that they were also referred to as the “horse castle”.

literature

  • Pŕemysl Krejčiŕik, Ondŕej Zatloukal: The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape [České Dédictví Unesco] . Ed .: Pavel Zatloukal. Foibos Books, Prague 2012, ISBN 978-80-87073-47-6 .

Web links

Commons : Lednice riding hall and stables  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Pavel Zatloukal (ed.): The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape . Foibos Books, Prague 2012, ISBN 978-80-87073-47-6 , pp. 83 .
  2. ↑ a b Pavel Zatloukal (ed.): The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape . Foibos Books, Prague 2012, ISBN 978-80-87073-47-6 , pp. 81 .
  3. ↑ Pavel Zatloukal (ed.): The cultural landscape Lednice-Valtice . Foibos Books, Prague 2012, ISBN 978-80-87073-47-6 , pp. 81/83 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 48 ′ 9 ″  N , 16 ° 48 ′ 16.2 ″  E