Waddesdon Manor

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Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor is a castle ensemble in Waddesdon , Buckinghamshire , England , which was built for Baron Ferdinand von Rothschild from 1874 to 1889 by the architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur .

overview

Waddesdon Manor - The towers of the west wing

In 1874 Ferdinand acquired the land between Aylesbury and Bicester . Due to other properties of the English branch of the Rothschilds, the area around Buckingham in Buckinghamshire and Bicester in Oxfordshire is also called Rothschildshire .

The property came on the market in 1874 during the agricultural crisis in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the last third of the 19th century . John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough , was - like many other landowners - forced to sell property for liquidity reasons. In the following years, many of the art collections of the British nobility, which had grown rapidly in the 18th century, were also offered for sale. Some of the most important collections formed the basis of the collection of Ferdinand von Rothschild in Waddesdon.

After the death of his wife, who died in childbirth with the child in 1866, Ferdinand withdrew from the banking business and sold his shares after the death of his father. He did not remarry and devoted himself entirely to building up the art collection.

Ferdinand bequeathed the property to his unmarried sister Alice Charlotte von Rothschild in 1898, while the art and arms collection went to the British Museum . They are known today as The Waddesdon Bequest (Waddesdon Legacy).

Alice bequeathed the castle to her great-nephew James Armand von Rothschild, who bequeathed it along with 120 acres of land to the National Trust on his death in 1957 in order to preserve it for posterity and make it accessible to the public. It can be visited today including the collections and gardens.

Building history

Waddesdon Manor - one of the two stairwells, modeled on the Château de Chambord

It was built by the architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur for Baron Ferdinand von Rothschild in the years 1874 to 1883 in the style of a French Renaissance palace. Stylistically, the building fits in with the tradition of Goût Rothschild , the typical variant of historicism for the family, and thus follows:

Waddeston Manor is a further example of the use of architectural pieces from different eras , such as the French Renaissance , the French Louis Quatorze and Louis XVI . The selected elements are added to an eclectic unit. The English landscape park was the model for the large garden .

Collection history

As an enthusiastic all-round collector, Baron von Rothschild was able to exhibit his collection of French furnishings, his porcelain collection and his collection of English portraits in a “gallery” corresponding to its value. He was also able to integrate the collection of his father Anselm von Rothschild . After 1874 Ferdinand von Rothschild acquired important collections from the Duke of Hamilton , the Duke of Buccleuch , the Duke of Devonshire , John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer and Earl FitzWilliam, among others .

In addition to the collections of Richard Charles Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford , John Julius Angerstein and Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet , the collection of the Rothschild family in Waddesdon is one of the most important of the 19th century in England.

See also

literature

  • Selma Schwartz: The Waddesdon Companion Guide. 2nd revised edition. The National Trust, Waddesdon Manor 2005.
  • James de Rothschild: Rothschilds at Waddesdon Manor. Collins, London 1979, ISBN 0-00-216671-2 .
  • Michael Hall, John Bigelow Taylor: Waddesdon Manor. The Heritage of a Rothschild House. Abrams in association with Waddesdon Manor, New York NY 2002, ISBN 0-8109-0507-8 .

Web links

Commons : Waddesdon Manor  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 50 ′ 32 "  N , 0 ° 56 ′ 16"  W.