little pond on the grounds of belvedere castle.
one of my absolute favourite places in thuringia is belvedere castle in weimar, a baroque beauty, famous for being one of the most important castles of the dukes of saxony-weimar. even goethe was a guest in this castle and worked on his natural scientific studies in its botanical gardens ( the hortus belverdereanus was very prominent in its heydays because of its huge diversity of plants & trees ).
the castle was built between 1728 and 1748 by johann adolph richter for duke ernest augustus I as a hunting lodge initially. over the years it developed into a cultural hub & pleasure house of the high society of weimar ( and probably germany at that time ), mainly due to the patron activities of duchess anna amalia. but other illustrious occupants inhabited this little castle as well, such as maria pavlovna & her husband charles frederick, who was responsible for the russian garden in the park of belvedere castle.
i love gallivanting around the grounds of the castle, it's so wide-spread and full of interesting plants & little garden ensembles and also interesting tidbits of history. everytime i visit this castle i fall back in love with it and i tie a lot of memories to the place. when i was a kid we often went here for snow sledding in winter. i will probably forever connect it with my mom as well, because we both love to visit the castle ( often only us two, making long walks and talking through life issues/philosophical thoughts/enjoying nature ). my mom is originally from weimar and we kind of always rummage around in her childhood/teenage past whenever we visit the city in general, and it's one of my favourite things to listen to or ask questions about. especially since she grew up in the GDR system, which i think makes it even more interesting to get to know HER weimar and how she saw it.
so, yes, this castle is very dear to my heart and here are some photos to commemorate it. it was a most glorious sunny autumn day when we visited and everything was absolutely lit by the golden light, elucidated in a most wonderful way.
the artificial ruin in the park was built in 1815 and is quite an interesting little abode.
a tiny part of the park from up above the artificial ruin.
dramatic structures ❤
a redwood tree. love the very distinctive bark.
enjoying the little possenbach stream.
i reaaaaally like the balustrades of this little bridge. so abstract, yet so immersed in a natural vibe.
this is probably the best view you can have onto the surrounding terrain of the castle. far in the back you can see weimar ( and on the far left even buchenwald memorial on the ettersberg hill ), the settlement in the front is ehringsdorf or oberweimar, i'm never sure about this, haha. they are both part of weimar city and quite close-knit, soooo, don't blame me.
you can have this view just around the corner of the red tower ( which is part of the orangery of the castle ).
the orangery is such a wonderful building! it is so warmly coloured & welcoming with its many windows.
took a peek inside the orangery and found the cutest little chair scenery 🌹
😍😍
the orangery from the flower garden. on the left you can see a sun dial.
eek, i still can't get enough of this beauty.
one of the two palm houses.
growing towards a bright blue square.
the side windows of the palm houses.
the other wing of the orangery and in the middle you can see the gardener's house.
there was a little pumpkin exhibition inside the gardener's house so we went and took a look.
yugoslavian fingers gourd. i actually think of this as a secret ufo, not a fruit 😄
i thought this set-up was really beautiful.
we had to use the restroom and i fell in love with it? it was down in the cellar and it smelled fantastically cellar-like, a smell i really like. it's kind of musty and muggy & old, but in a good way. also, how amazing is this incorporation of the actual restrooms? loved the design.
finally, we were approaching the castle. this picture warms my heart in a way i can't really explain. it is such a good one, right?
left pavillon of the palais. the building is not that huge actually, especially if you consider that there's two underbridges dividing the central building. this, to me, makes it a perfect example of a summer resort. it's also surrounded by cavalier houses, houses that were inhabited by servants, guests, and everyone else who had the right to be there. so it's actually an accumulation of buildings, rather than one big castle.
two of four cavalier houses. they are used these days as the teaching/living grounds for the music school of belvedere castle. it being a residential school makes me think all the time of how badly i would've liked it to learn here. alas, we didn't live in weimar and i never was very musical either, so the thought never crossed my mind. also, i think it's partly a private school, and i'm pretty sure my parents probably couldn't have afforded it.
the middle block of the palais is quite a beautiful construction. this was shot from the cavalier house square.
and this from the park side.
again, warm colours are the main panoply of the whole area.
details of the facade.
park paths.
the rose trellis with its little fountain. i like this picture because of the fairy light 🌈
inside the russian garden.
baby putto feeding baby bird. such a lovely sculpture.
i'd say this is maria pavlovna, but i am not at all sure about it. can't find any info anywhere. this is still inside the russian garden, to be exact it's part of the hedge theater.
the auditorium of the hedge theater.
tunnel vision in the golden lane.
ducks on the gasthofsteich, a little pond in the entrance area of belvedere castle.
sledge & hammer gate of the russian cemetery.
we left the park grounds for another gem on the belvedere hill - the russian war cemetery. initially built for nazi 'dignitaries' in 1937/38 it was never quite used for these people ( except 6 guys who where re-buried on the main cemetery in the city after the russians claimed the property for themselves ). it was restructured in 1946, right after the war, and would hold 2000 deceased in the years to come ( until 1975 ). not only were soldiers buried here, but also their families or other russian civilians who lived in & around weimar ). it's quite a remarkable place, it is a place of russian symbols and pride - which is strange when you think back to russia's role in GDR's state. but then again, it is here as a reminder of the past and i wouldn't even say it's a bad thing, at least when you look back critically, not in an adulating way. the area is still one of strange beauty, even though it is very clean & minimal & structured. maybe it's the clear structured lay-out that emanates this special kind of charm, but this place did not feel sad at all. but that could also be me speaking, because i generally am not intimidated by graveyards at all, even seeking them out on purpose.
red star. i love the bars that lead away from the star and create the gate.
headstones. some were not stable anymore and fell over. these were mostly of young people, families & kids.
i think these headstones were for soldiers mostly.
many russians died here in the aftermath of the war as well, some were imprisoned by the nazi regime and died of the implications that this imprisonment brought them.
i really like the headstones with memorial portraits on them. unfortunately they are not in very good shape anymore ( at least i remember them being in a better state on previous visits ). some were even stolen, which i think is such an iniquity.
the old oak trees are giving the cemetery a perfect backdrop.
this one stood out, because it wasn't so generic and small like the other ones. and of course because of the german epitaph: the loved ones, who were parted by death will be united in heaven again. tamara here was only 25 when she died. i really wonder what happened to her.
this almost completed fairy ring of mushrooms delighted me so much.
the obelisk in the middle of the cemetery with the soviet coat of arms on each side.
a very washed out face of a woman.
those massive oak trees are an eye treat 🌳
really nice shot of the cemetery gate and my mother's shadow.
we walked back to the palais ( and finally you can get an idea what the whole thing actually looks like - especially in relation to the cavalier houses i mentioned earlier ).
one last view over the gasthofsteich with the 1995/96 auditorium of the music school. in the far back you can see a tidbit of weimar as well.
it's always, always such a treat to revisit belvedere castle 💗
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