Wörlitz Park
The Wörlitzer Park , also Wörlitzer Anlagen , is a landscape garden in Wörlitz in the district of Wittenberg . It belongs to today's UNESCO World Heritage Site Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm , which was established in the second half of the 18th century under the reign of Prince Leopold III. Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) was created. The park was created on the Wörlitzer See , a branch of the Elbe , and belongs to the Network Garden Dreams Saxony-Anhalt . It extends over an area of 112.5 hectares and borders directly on the city of Wörlitz. The park has over a million visitors annually.
history
The park was laid out from 1769 to 1773 and expanded until 1813; it is considered one of the first and one of the largest German landscape parks based on the English model . At the same time, the park had an educational mandate that extended to architecture , horticulture and agriculture. The Prince's goals in designing the park were:
- It corresponds to the educational mandate towards the subjects.
- The human is the center of attention.
- Beyond appearance, there should be a practical benefit.
At that time, the park with all the buildings and the castle was open to everyone. Exceptions were the Gray House and the Rose Island , which his wife, the princess and later Duchess Luise Princess of Brandenburg-Schwedt (also: Louise), served as retreats.
The complex is well preserved in its entirety and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as part of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm.
The castle is the first classical palace in Germany. The garden was designed by the court gardener Johann Friedrich Eyserbeck , while Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff (1736–1800) played a key role in the buildings in the park .
Parts of the park
The Wörlitzer Park has almost only natural boundaries. In the north, the park is separated from the very wide Elbe by the wall, a flood protection dike. It also serves as a belt walk , from whose elevated position you can see many of the classic lines of sight (for example to the castle, to the stone , but also to Coswig to the local castle).
As early as the 18th century, the park was divided into several areas, which essentially reflect its gradual development:
At the castle
Here are the castle, the stables , the kitchen building and the gray house .
Castle and kitchen building
Wörlitz Castle is one of the earliest neo-classical palace structures outside of England. It is considered to be the founding building of German classicism . The builder Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff built it between 1769 and 1773 for the newly wed princely couple. On the main floor, the vestibule, ten rooms and two halls are grouped around the atrium .
The castle has been open to the public since its completion in the 18th century. The interior is very well preserved. It reflects the interests and the grand tour of the prince. In the winter of 1765/66 he and his suite were inspired by their cicerone Johann Joachim Winckelmann for the ancient sites and collections of Rome. The art theory of the friend and the works of art acquired in Rome determine the furnishings of the rooms. The furniture ensemble comes from the furniture workshop of Abraham and David Roentgen . The ceramic collection, preferably from the Wedgwood porcelain factory, is also worth mentioning .
Inspired by his numerous stays abroad, the prince had some very advanced facilities built for the time. There are food elevators and doors that can be lowered into the walls. In addition, there was a bathroom in the rooms under the bedchamber of the princely couple, which is no longer preserved today.
The kitchen and farm building were built next to the castle between 1770 and 1772. Today the kitchen building houses a restaurant and various shops.
The castle and the kitchen building are connected by an underground passage. Today this corridor is used to guide guests who are taking part in a guided tour of the castle into the kitchen building.
Gray house
Opposite the kitchen building is the gray house . Since the park and the palace could also be visited during construction, the princess used this building as a private place to stay - hence the common name of the princess's house . From 1790 until September 6, 1811, it became the permanent residence of the Duchess. She called it the Gray Monastery (like the Franciscan monasteries , also known as the Gray Monks because of the color of their robes ).
Today the Gray House houses an exhibition on the life of the Duchess.
synagogue
The synagogue was built on the eastern edge of the palace garden as a destination for numerous visual connections . The Jewish house of God, built from 1789–1790 based on Erdmannsdorff's designs, is an expression of Prince Franz's tolerant policies. The temple of Hercules Victor in ancient Rome served as a model for the design. There is a ritual bath under the synagogue . The interior was devastated in the November pogroms in 1938 , the building itself could be preserved thanks to the decisive action of the garden director at the time, Hans Hallervorden , which, however, cost him his employment. Inside the synagogue there is now an exhibition on the history of the Jews in Anhalt. This exhibition was created in a collaboration between the Dessau-Wörlitz Cultural Foundation, the Moses-Mendelssohn Society Dessau and other partners.
church
The originally Romanesque church, built at the end of the 12th century, was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style under Prince Franz von Anhalt-Dessau between 1804 and 1809 . From the platform of the 66 meter high church tower (Bibel Tower) you have a delightful view over the park into the surrounding landscape. The tower has been called the "Bible Tower" for a number of years because it hosts exhibitions on religious subjects. Only the outlines of the old cemetery at the church are recognizable. He was moved to the outskirts of town. The provost's office is to the east of the nave.
Gasthof "Zum Eichenkranz"
In 1785–87, Prince Franz had the "Great Inn" built at the entrance to the city of Wörlitz according to plans by Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff and under the structural supervision of Georg Friedrich Hesekiel. In addition to its important urban planning function, it served as a city gate and link between the park and the city, and since 1788 it has served as accommodation for educational travelers of the nobility, scholars and artists. The cosmopolitan nature of this guest house, later referred to as the “oak wreath”, was underlined by the designation of the rooms with the names of well-known and important cultural metropolises; the names of the rooms are attested: Amsterdam, Herculan, Constantinople, London, Messina, Paris, Petersburg and Zurich . The rooms were decorated with oilcloth and canvas wallpapers, some of which still exist and could be exposed again. The historic inn has been renovated since 2013 by means of a public appeal for donations and is used for exhibitions and events.
During the heyday, numerous well-known representatives of the Enlightenment and Romanticism , poets, philosophers, archaeologists and architects stayed in the inn , including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Carl August Boettiger , Daniel Chodowiecki , Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe , David Gilly and Friedrich Gilly , Friedrich von Hardenberg ( Novalis ), Aloys Hirt , Friedrich Hölderlin , Theodor Körner , the Prince de Ligne , Jean Paul , Georg Friedrich Rebmann , Adolph Wilhelm Schack von Staffeldt , Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling , Karl Friedrich Schinkel , Ludwig Tieck and Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder . In 1813 General Maurice-Etienne Gérard invited guests to a large dinner in the oak wreath on the occasion of the birthdays of Napoleon and Prince Franz.
Neumark's garden
This part of the garden was created by one of the two great gardeners in the park, Johann Christian Neumark . There you will also find a labyrinth symbolizing the wrong paths of life , the Rousseau Island , which is reminiscent of the famous philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment , the Rose Island and the Eisenhart Island .
Schoch's garden
This is the part of the park of the second great gardener in Wörlitzer Park, Johann Leopold Ludwig Schoch the Elder. Ä. Among other things, the Gothic House and the White Bridge are located there . There used to be a monument to Prince Franz there. In the eastern part of Schoch's garden , Schoch is buried under a turf mound.
Gothic house
|
|
|
|
Front and back of the Gothic house.
|
||
The Gothic House was built in the neo-Gothic style from 1773–1813 according to plans by Erdmannsdorff and building director Georg Christoph Hesekiel . The model was the English manor house Strawberry Hill , which Prince Leopold had met on his travels. The special thing about the house are its two different facades. The front facing the Wolf Canal is that of a Venetian church ( Madonna del Orto in the Cannaregio sestiere). The garden side follows the Tudor Gothic style . Both facades are focal points of visual axes. This creates the impression that you are dealing with two different buildings. The prince used the upper floor as an apartment and for his museum. The lower area was used economically; Schoch also lived there later. In the Gothic House , a Swiss of the largest collections exist stained glass windows and a museum shop. The part of the Gothic House used as a museum can be visited; this also includes the pomological cabinet, originally the library of the house in which Prince Franz's pomological collection, consisting of 200 wax fruits, was later kept.
Romantic party
The romantic part or rock part was created in the 1780s and 1790s. It should awaken intense sensual sensations in the visitor: the chain bridge sways with every step. Its construction cannot be seen from afar, so that it then gives the impression that someone is walking on a rope. Small, tunnel-like corridors lead to the various, separate scenes (prayer place of the hermit , hermitage , cell of the mystagogue , Elysian field , Luis cliff, grottoes under the temple of Venus). The corridors are so angled that you cannot see their end and you first walk into an uncertain darkness.
Luisenklippe
The Luisenklippe , which was built from 1794 to 1798, gives the appearance of a suddenly towering rock that can be climbed on steep steps that appear to have been carved into the rock. Attached to the rock is a single room in medieval shapes that can only be accessed through a hidden door. The cliff is embedded in a cave system that ends under the Temple of Venus .
Temple of Venus
Today's Temple of Venus , built from 1794 to 1797, replaced a previous wooden building from 1774. It is a Doric Monopteros with a cast of Venus Medici in the center . Colored glass panes in its pedestal illuminate the grotto below the temple, which was dedicated to Vulcanus , according to the Greek legend, the husband of Venus.
New facility
As the youngest part of the park, the new grounds Schochs Garten , created in the 1790s, extended eastward along the Elbe Wall. Because they include a much larger area of agricultural land, the new facilities were able to take on a much more spacious character than the older parts of the park. Most buildings are inspired by buildings that the prince had got to know on his travels ( style of travel impressions ), such as u. a. also the iron bridge .
Pantheon
Based on the model of the Pantheon in Rome around 1795 based on plans by Erdmannsdorff, it stands on the river side of the flood wall. A grotto that crosses the wall leads to the basement. It contains a canopic , which was (mis) understood as a symbol of the Elbe river, reliefs of Anubis , Osiris and Harpocrates as well as a statue of Isis . They were created by Friedrich Wilhelm Eugen Döll and are among the earliest works of art in Germany based on ancient Egyptian models. On the ground floor, which is accessible from the wall, there are antique statues of Apollo and the nine muses , bought especially for this building in Italy . Large parts of the Prince's collection of antiques used to be housed on the upper floor.
Cedar path / water mill ride
Island stone
The stone was built from 1788 to 1794 according to plans by Prince Leopold III. Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau built as a reminder of his stay on the Gulf of Naples . It is an artificial island covered with boulders . It houses rock passages, grottoes, the temple of the day, the temple of night, a columbarium , an amphitheater , the Villa Hamilton and is crowned by an artificial volcano that is modeled on Vesuvius .
As a highlight, the “Vesuvius of Wörlitz” was able to “ spit lava ” at the Prince's garden festivals using sophisticated sound, light and water effects . At the end of August 2005 and 2006 the volcanic eruption was demonstrated again for the first time.
Due to severe structural damage, the island had to be closed to visitors for a long time and has been open to the public again since September 2005 after extensive restoration. The old gondola berth in the grottos can no longer be used after the renovation work.
Villa Hamilton on the rock island of Stein
The Villa Hamilton is located at the foot of the artificial volcano on the island of Stein. The prince dedicated the building to the friendship with the geologist and English ambassador to the court of the king of Naples, Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), who hosted the prince and his builder on the trip to the Gulf of Naples and Sicily. Hamilton's house served as a model for the three-room villa.
Egeria grotto
In the southeast corner of the park is the artificial ruin of a vaulted room with the statue of the reclining spring nymph Egeria , who, according to Roman mythology , advised the early Roman king Numa Pompilius and helped him establish a wise government. The model is the ancient nymphaeum of Egeria on the Via Appia near Porta Capena in Rome, which was a popular destination in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Piedmontese (Italian) farmhouse
_Bauernhaus.jpg)
The Piedmontese farmhouse (also: Italian farmhouse) is located at the inflow into the Great Walloch .
bridges
There are a total of 17 bridges in the park. Each of the bridges is built in a different style and has its own meaning:
- The Chinese (White) Bridge leads over the Wolf Canal at the confluence with the Kleine Walloch. It is supposed to represent life, as this bridge consists only of steps that become flatter and flatter towards the middle and steeper towards the end.
- The Hornzackenbrücke leads over the Wolf Canal near the Gothic House. It consists of a split oak trunk with a knotty railing.
- The Wolfsbrücke leads over the Wolfskanal at the confluence with the Wörlitzer See. This bridge was named after a farmer who wanted his name immortalized in this park.
- The Agnesbrücke is a bridge on the connecting canal Kleines Walloch - Wörlitzer See at the confluence with the Kleine Walloch.
- The New Bridge is located on the connecting canal from the Kleiner Walloch to the Wörlitzer See at the confluence with the Wörlitzer See. This bridge is the newest bridge in the park after the bascule bridge. Hence it is called the New Bridge .
- The chain bridge is a suspension bridge. It belongs to the romantic part and leads to a larger cave system with numerous tunnels and grottos and the Luisenklippe. Today the bridge can only be entered by one person.
- Not far from the chain bridge, two small floating bridges, one behind the other, lead across the canal.
- The Hohe Brücke is a stone bridge that lies on the same canal as the suspension bridge and is built so high that you can no longer see the floor of the suspension bridge from the height and it looks as if the walkers are floating.
- The Iron Bridge over the George Canal, built in 1791, was the first cast iron bridge in Germany and the entire European mainland. The cast individual parts are riveted together . As a footbridge, it is a 1: 4 scale replica of the Iron Bridge in England (near Coalbrookdale ) from 1779, the world's first cast iron bridge .
- A commercial bridge also leads over the Georgskanal in order to be able to reach these parts of the new facilities.
- The sun bridge crosses the sun channel in the eastern part (2005 restoration) at the junction with the Great Walloch.
- The floating bridge is a pontoon bridge over the Sonnenkanal in the western part at the confluence with the Wörlitzer See.
- The bascule bridge is a small, based on the Dutch model, hinged bridge over the swan pond near the castle.
- The bridge made of divided oak trunk leads over the tributary from the Hoppgraben to the Great Walloch near the Piedmontese (Italian) farmhouse.
- The Friederikenbrücke is the road bridge on the outflow of the Wörlitzer See.
The Iron Bridge, the first cast iron bridge on mainland Europe
The chain bridge
Eisenhart and pavilions
The Eisenhart is actually a building made of lawn iron stone (an iron ore known since the Iron Age ), but at the same time it bridges the canal that separates Neumark's garden . A mobile utility bridge also leads over this canal, so that Neumark's garden can also be reached. In addition, the island can be reached through a ford . The South Sea Pavilion and the Library Pavilion (1783/84), which were designed by Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff, stand on the Eisenhart. This houses the otaunity collection ( ethnographic objects from the Pacific region) that Johann Reinhold Forster gave to Prince Franz in 1775.
photos
View from the church tower
Schoch's garden: line of sight over the Wolfsbrücke to the temple of Venus
Flora temple
The golden urn
Rousseau Island
monument
Wörlitz Castle in "Landscape Parks in the GDR", a stamp from 1981
_1981,_MiNr_2611.jpg)
literature
in alphabetical order
- Jost Albert: Paths and Places in the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm. An investigation into the history and design principles of an important cultural landscape at the end of the 18th century . In: Die Gartenkunst 6 (2/1994), pp. 281–319.
- Frank-Andreas Bechtoldt, Thomas Weiss (ed.): Weltbild Wörlitz. Design of a cultural landscape. Hatje, Ostfildern 1996, ISBN 3-86107-009-X (catalog of the exhibition of the same name in the Deutsches Architektur-Museum, Frankfurt am Main from March 22 to June 2, 1996).
- Stefan Grosz: Wörlitz and the modern world or the idealization of nature. Enlightenment and educational optimism . In: Die Gartenkunst 17 (1/2005), pp. 146–160.
- Marie-Luise Harksen: City, Castle and Park Wörlitz. The art monuments of the state of Anhalt, 2nd volume 2nd part. August Hopfer, Burg near Magdeburg, 1939. Reprint as volume 31 of the art monument inventories of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Fly head, Halle 1997, ISBN 3-910147-82-8 .
- Erhard Hirsch: The Dessau-Wörlitz Reform Movement in the Age of Enlightenment. Person-structure-effects. Max Niemeyer, Tübingen 2003, pp. 405-462, ISBN 3-484-81018-1 .
- Erhard Hirsch: Dessau-Wörlitz. Enlightenment and Early Classics. Köhler & Amelang, Leipzig / CH Beck, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-406-30736-1 .
- Ernst-Rainer Hönes : Architectural monument and monument area using the example of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm . In: Landes- und Kommunalverwaltung (LKV) 11th year 2001, pp. 438–443.
- Ernst-Rainer Hönes: The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm World Heritage Site from a monument and nature conservation perspective . In: Burgen und Schlösser 1/2002, pp. 2–11.
- Roland Krawulsky: Dessau-Wörlitz. Guide to the garden kingdom. 5th edition, edition RK, Dessau 2009, ISBN 978-3-934388-04-8 .
- Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz (Ed.): Infinitely beautiful. The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm. Nicolai, Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-3-89479-197-1 .
- Ina Mittelstädt: Leopold III. Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau and his Wörlitzer Park. In: Ina Mittelstädt: Wörlitz - Weimar - Muskau. The landscape garden as a medium of the high nobility (1760 - 1840). Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2015, pp. 49–160.
- Christian Reimann: Mount Etna, the Domus Augusti and the Wörlitzer See . In: Die Gartenkunst 22 (1/2010), pp. 123–150.
- Christian Reimann: On the meaning of the library in the princely country house in Wörlitz . Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft , Worms 2004. ISBN 978-3-88462-194-3
- Christian Reimann: On the evocation of antiquity in Wörlitz: myth, vision and facts. In: Die Gartenkunst 11 (2/1999), pp. 308-314.
- August von Rode : Description of the Princely Anhalt-Dessau country house and English garden in Wörlitz . Edited by Christian Eger, illustrated by Claudia Berg. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2008, ISBN 978-3-89812-576-5 .
- Anna Steins: Mind and Feeling. The Wörlitzer Park between enlightenment and sensitivity. A literary travel companion. VDG, Weimar 1998, ISBN 3-932124-34-0 .
Web links
- Description of the Wörlitz Park
- Website of the city about Wörlitzer Park
- Description and photos at Historic Gardens
- Pictures from the Wörlitzer Park
- Dessau-Wörlitz Cultural Foundation
- Link catalog on the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
Individual evidence
- ↑ A garden realm for everyone. mdr.de from December 23, 2018, accessed on April 3, 2019
- ^ Thomas Pfennigsdorf: Evangelical Congregation - Bibel Tower. Evangelical Parish Wörlitz, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
- ^ Society of Friends of the Dessau-Wörlitzer Garden Empire eV
- ↑ Uwe Erler, Helga Schmiedel: Bridges - historical, construction, monuments. VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, ISBN 3-343-00352-2
- ↑ Innovative Bridge Buildings, p. 13. ( Memento from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 6.3 MB).
Coordinates: 51 ° 50 ′ 53 ″ N , 12 ° 25 ′ 24 ″ E