Schloss Weilburg

Schloss Weilburg
Aerial view of the palace and its church and gardens above the Lahn river (from the southeast)
General information
Status	Museum
Location	Weilburg, Hesse, Germany
Coordinates	50°29′07″N 8°15′40″E / 50.4854°N 8.2611°E / 50.4854; 8.2611
Construction started	1530 (1530)
Completed	1772

Schloss Weilburg (Weilburg Palace) is a

• 
  Detail of engraving of the Renaissance palace by

  Matthäus Merian

  , 1655, view looking southeast
• 
  Outside of the east wing of the Renaissance palace, overlooking the Lahn river. This facade was raised and simplified in 1661.^[2]
• 
  The same east wing from inside the Renaissance courtyard, with clocktower
• 
  Panorama of the courtyard, taken from the clocktower
• 
  The north side of the Renaissance courtyard
• 
  A broader view
• 
  Northeast corner of the Renaissance courtyard
• 
  Outside of the west wing
• 
  Part of the interior of the Renaissance palace

Baroque extensions

The area of the Baroque buildings is almost 400 metres (1,300 ft) long and surrounds the old Renaissance palace.

In the south, the Untere Orangerie was added from 1711 to 1713. It is rectangular^[4] and followed the model of the Versailles Orangerie.^[5] The roof terrace gives a view of the Lahn valley and the parterre garden in front. The Baroque parterre was re-landscaped in the 19th century but rebuilt from 1936 to 1939 according to the original Baroque plans.^[4]

At the south end of the Obere Orangerie,^[4] the town hall (Rathaus) and church (Schlosskirche) were built, and the garden terraces (Schlossgarten) were installed.^[6][4] In the west, the new Rentkammer and Kanzlei were built for the administration of the county.^[5]

• 
  The curved Obere Orangerie
• 
  Untere Orangerie
• 
  Untere Orangerie and adjacent garden
• 
  The parterre in front of the Untere Orangerie
• 
  The northern buildings are now a hotel
• 
  Another part of the Marstall (stables)
• 
  The Kanzelei, on the west side of the palace.
• 
  Part of the Windhof
• 
  View from the south, showing

  terraced garden

  and tower from old city wall

Schlosskirche

The palace church (Schlosskirche) was built to conclude the expansion to a Baroque residence.

The Renaissance gardens covered 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres). When the palace was transformed to a Baroque residential palace, the gardens were redesigned and substantially extended with seven terraces, so that they covered 3.8 hectares (9.4 acres).^[5] Parts of the garden were created by Francois LeMarie from 1701.^[7] Later notable gardeners included the brothers Johann Wilhelm Sckell and Johann Friedrich Sckell. The gardens are decorated with fountains and sculptures.^[8]

Water supply

The fountains, gardens, and baths of the Baroque palace required an abundant water supply, and a new system had to be built. The Baroque water supply system gathered water from a large number of springs, then carried it down, over the Lahn river, and up to the town and castle. The system supplied water until the end of the 1800s, when it had to be abandoned due to lack of maintenance. It is now being researched and restored.^[8]

The waterpipes were originally carried over the Lahn by the Rothe Brücke. In 1784, high water and ice jamming destroyed this bridge, and in 1785-1786 it was replaced by the Kettenbrucke ("Chain Bridge"), which remained in service until 1934.^[8]

Northern buildings

At the north end, Viehhof was heavily redeveloped, with the building of the Marstall (formal stables), the Prinzessenbau, and the Kabinettbau.^[5] The Reithalle ("riding hall") was built from 1705 to 1708, and the Heuscheuer (haybarn) from 1743 to 1746.^[3] The Prinzessenbau and Marstall are now the Schlosshotel ("Castle Hotel") and the Kabinettsbau and Reitbahn are now the Stadthalle (city event space).^[5]

Later use

In the 18th century, plans for major changes were made but not realised; therefore, the Baroque palace has been preserved.

In 1935, the palace was sold to the Prussian state.^[2][1] Its administration of state palaces and gardens installed a museum from 1936 to 1942.^[2] After World War II, it was managed by the Hessian administration, Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlösser und Gärten Hessen [de], which is responsible for the preservation of the buildings and the gardens. There are guided tours.^[1]

Several areas are venues of the Weilburger Schlosskonzerte music festival, which is held annually in the summer: the Renaissancehof, Alte Hofstube, Untere Orangerie, Obere Orangerie and the Stadthalle in the former riding hall.^[9]

See also

• Baroque architecture
• French formal garden

Literature

• ISBN 3-7701-2957-1
  , p. 57–63 (DuMont Kunst-Reiseführer).
• Bernd Modrow, Claudia Gröschel (2002), Fürstliches Vergnügen. 400 Jahre Gartenkultur in Hessen (in German), Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner Verlag,
  ISBN 3-7954-1487-3
• Eckhard Olschewski (2001), Schloss und Schlossgarten Weilburg/Lahn, Bad Homburg, Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlösser und Gärten Hessen (in German),
  ISBN 3-7954-1286-2
• Eckhard Olschewski (2005), "Die Weilburger Residenzarchitektur Julius Ludwig Rothweils", Nassauische Annalen (in German), vol. 116, Wiesbaden: Verlag des Vereines für Nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung,
  ISSN 0077-2887

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schloss Weilburg.

• Literature by and about Schloss Weilburg in the German National Library catalogue
• Official website
• Weilburger Schlosskonzerte
• Bergbau- und Stadtmuseum
• Schloss Weilburg Weilburg
• Geschichte und Ausstattung des Schlosses weilburg-lahn.info
• Maps and plans Historic lexicon of places in Hesse
• Renaissanceschlösser in Hessen Project at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, by Georg Ulrich Großmann