the palm house inside wörlitz park ( 1798/99 ).
when we visited dessau we got wind of the dessau-wörlitz garden realm which includes 6 parks and various palaces. one of them we visited in dessau, which had been the georgium park surrounding the palace of the same denominator. i guess you could say that we 'licked blood' there ;) we decided to return to the dessau region and check out the garden kingdom's most priced jewel: the palace and park in wörlitz. you might ask, what is so very special about this particular place? well, it's the germ cell for the world heritage site of the garden realm! here, duke leopold III of anhalt-dessau laid a foundation stone for his educational, aesthetic vision of enlightenment, beauty and knowledge and created a masterpiece of german architecture and landscaping. wörlitz palace for example is the first classicist palace on europe's mainland, drawing inspiration from the ancient world. the park surrounding the palace ( containining 4 gardens and some parts of the elbe floodplains ) is also one of the first english landscape gardens in germany. the whole construction of this ensemble caused quite a stir in the old times, not only because it was super ambitious and some sort of an archetype in europe, but also because it wasn't just made for the high society, but for all people. it was built to be of educational value to humankind. duke leopold ( or prince franz - as everyone called him lovingly ) opened the palace and park for the wide public,where he exhibited his collections he gathered on his travels to england, france and italy, changing the cultural perception of his subjects. he also gave impulses to landscaping education and reformed the pedagogic system in his little prinicpality. he was quite the personality, y'all and together with his friend and architect friedrich wilhelm von erdmannsdorff and other famed gardeners ( johann leopold ludwig schoch, johann christian neumark & johann friedrich eyserbeck - or, as i like to call them, the three johanns 😂 ) 'he created a dream around himself', as johann wolfgang von goethe once eloquently put it ( damn, another johann 😅)
the palace and park were built from 1769 to 1773 and got enhanced and enlarged until approximately 1813. it is situated at an anabranch of the elbe river, part of which was used to create lake wörlitz. since it is an english landscape park you can find typical elements like artificial ruins, temples, bridges ( 17 of them, and they are all supposed to showcase the evolution of bridges - even THAT was thought out in detail ) and lots and lots of sculptural tidbits. there's grottos, a labyrinth and even an artificial volcano on the grounds! the palace also isn't the only palace available, the gothic house and the grey house were both former places of refuge for duke leopold and his wife louise. villa hamilton ( named after leopold's host during his italy travels william hamilton ) was also constructed to serve as a living space. in the more remote sections of the park the erectors made sure to build little dwellings of respite, in case someone wanted to flee the open for public parts of the park ( an italian farmer's house served that purpose, and possibly also a guard house - both of which are now offered as vacational rentals 😍 ).
the palmenhaus is used to store the more delicate plants around the park, such as palm trees and century plants, citrus trees etc. it can be booked for gatherings such as birthday and wedding parties in the summer.
the eisenhart is a construction that spans over a canal in the entrance part of the park. it is made out of bog iron and holds two pavilions ( one of them houses the south sea collection and one of them was the former library ). the gondola that is hiding underneath the underbridge is a hint to some of the transport possibilities on lake wörlitz ;)
lake wörlitz is an artificial lake that was created out of an old anabranch of the elbe river. the city of wörlitz directly neighbors the lake and the garden realm, which the bell tower of saint petri indicates ( the tower is called bible tower by the way - because it exhibits stuff about the biblical story ). you can also see a tiny bit of the wörlitz palace hiding behind some trees on the right.
close-up of the bell tower, a sweet dream of neo-gothic goodness.
well, if you guessed it right, you gathered already that one of the transportation modes on lake wörlitz is traversing the waters via gondolas! we didn't choose to explore it this way, though, we mainly used our feet and went for the ferry system over the canals and lake on our way back.
the gondolas were way too crowded for my taste, even though i would've loved to try it out. probably should book one just for just myself in case i ever revisit this magical place ;)
the shell seeker sits at the banks of lake wörlitz looking for mussels and clams. if she would stop searching a little and look up, she would see the wolfsbrücke ( wolf's bridge ) on the other side of the lake.
i doubt that there are a lot of shells on the grounds of the lake, but at least there were rudds zooming through the waters.
wörlitz palace from down the shores of the lake. we decided not to check out the palace yet, but instead continued to explore the park.
a characteristic of english gardens is that they are laid out to look as natural as possible, carefully designed to look untouched and pristine. a lot of times you wouldn't ever think of them as landscaped environments, especially not about 250 years later when every single tree grew up to be big and towering and parts of it maybe turned a curve or two and did its own transformations. it all just really looks like some people found a really gorgeous place on earth and simply smacked some walking lanes on it, whereas in reality it was all precisely planned and assembled.
this little path led to a viewpoint. i couldn't find any info on the glacial-looking gate, and how it related to the overall picture of the park.
soon we neared the 'vesuv of wörlitz', an artificial volcano that got built from 1788-94. on his travels through italy from 1765 to 1766, duke leopold had the chance to climb mount vesuvius in naples and was so mesmerized by it that he wanted to have a small version to play with in his park as well. erdmannsdorff created an ensemble that functioned as some sort of crazy souvenir, the volcano is surrounded by the villa hamilton, a replica of hamilton's living quarter 'villa emma' in naples, as well as a small roman theater, a columbarium and a grotto that is supposed to depict the famous one of the mountain range posillipo. the vesuv of wörlitz actually was able to erupt, but that only happened on very special occassions like the duke's birthday. it was basically a fire and light show. in 2005 they re-enacted this eruption for the public, trying to use the old techniques. since then the eruption took place a few times again, but unfortunately the structure took some damage. now, plans for the eruptions were modified and it seems they don't want to use fireworks anymore. i have to say, i wish i could be a spectator of this awesome happening, must be super cool to sit in a gondola on the lake and watch the volcano catching fire.
i absolutely LOVED this structure with its facade made out of erratic boulders, basalt and slag stones. 😍
one of the many entries into the grotto.
villa hamilton sits next to the vesuv, shining bright in red. the original villa in posillipo unfortunately didn't age well, where it once stood solitary it is now surrounded by other buildings and altered into something that really isn't comparable anymore to what it should actually look like. so i guess this is the new villa emma, it can now be found in wörlitz?
the whole ensemble sits on a little island called 'insel stein' ( stone island ). unfortunately, the little tiny ferry in front of it wasn't on our side of the shore, so we didn't check out more of that italy-inspired abode. the scenery was still cute, though, swan posing and all ;)
we were at the eastern edges of park wörlitz now, where the georgenkanal ( george's channel ) separates it from lots of grainfields. on the property of the park you could also find fields of canola, shining as bright as the sun.
the georgenkanal had just the perfect size for taking a little canoe or gondola trip! though it would be kinda sad to have to stir up the beautiful submerged water lily net.
this iron bridge is a special one, a small replica of the first iron cast bridge in the world ( which overspans the severn in england ) and was also the first iron cast bridge of germany and the european mainland! it got built in 1791.
gorgeous georgenkanal hidden underneath lots of greens.
the canal leads to the great walloch, another little lake inside the park. the great walloch ( and also the little walloch a bit further west ) formed when the river elbe ruptured a dike during a flooding in 1771 in which already constructed parts of the park were completely destroyed. the remaining washouts were then used to create two lakes and then incorporated into the park planning again.
rose-coloured tamarisk blossoms.
at the great walloch you will find the pantheon ( inspired by the pantheon in rome ), which was built in 1795. underneath the building ( which we couldn't enter, because it was fenced off ) there is a grotto corridor where you can find several egyptian 'artifacts' of gods and goddesses and a canopic jar, all created by sculptor friedrich wilhelm eugen döll. duke leopold bought some antique statues in italy and brought some of them to wörlitz, and this was the place he chose to store them and exhibit them. another gimmick on this house is the roof platform, which you can enter via an unscrewable umbrella construction.
view over the redding, a lake outside the park's 'borders' ( there are none, really, except the dike walls ). i think the redding is probably another one of those wash-outs back from the flooding.
the floodplains of the river elbe are beyond the dikes as well. the middle elbe is known to have quite an extensive amount of floodplain forests, so what you see here is only a teeny part of it and it's also interrupted by cultivated farmlands in the back.
found a heron waiting to catch some fishes.
the elbe river is about 4 to 6 kilometer in the distance! did you know that the flood irrigation bed of the river once spanned about 20 kilometers? over the centuries humans restricted this space to only about a radius of 5 km, which is still pretty big, but since the elbe has very flat-leveled shores and can carry a lot of water in the spring from the snowmelt of 5 mountain ranges, it can escalate pretty quickly and lead to unbelievable floodings. when the landscapes were less populated, those snowmelt floodings would eventually even out without destroying much, but as human beings moved closer to the river and impoldered the landscapes more densely it doesn't have a big chance anymore to use its original floodplain potential.
a goose with goslings was roaming around on the meadows as well. i really loved the landscapes behind the dikes, the meadows were so wonderfully outspread and offered such nice views. 😍
back in the park a small dike guard house with a horseman sandstone relief awaited us. built in 1769 it has the appearance of an ionic little temple.
every once in a while i found sweet tiny blossoms, such as the ones of the true comfrey! it is a very old medicinal plant and edible in small doses.
the hall of ancestors was built to commemorate the ancestors of duke leopold. it's from 1794.
the venus temple and the surrounding lawns were a perfect environment to sit down for a bit and enjoy the views. my dad even had a little nap here 😅
the venus temple ( built from 1794 to 1797 ) has a hidden secret, there is a cave underneath it, dedicated to the god vulcan! the venus statue inside the monopteros depicts a venus pudica, a modest venus sculpture.
entering the cave system underneath the venus temple. it was pretty exciting down there, it's been a little bit labyrinthine and would lead you to an enclosed cavern and secret gardens, furthermore a hanging bridge and little mystic sceneries like a hermitage and other contemplative spaces. my camera does not like caves too much, hence why i haven't shot lots of pictures, but it was definitely one of my favourite places in the park! exploring dark tunnels and coming out in a pacifying and calm green garden with benches to sit down on is a surefire way to let me fall in love with it!
the cavern underneath the venus temple. it felt like a mystic summer/winter solstice thing, probably letting light fall into the grotto at the right time and accentuating something hidden! someone should find out!
i think this was near the praying place of the hermit. the whole system is called 'romantische partie' ( romantic game ) and it was wonderfully spooky at times ❤ it got built during the 1780 to 1790ies.
one of the many cave corridors.
emerging near the cell of the mystagogue. if i was living around wörlitz this would be the perfect place to sit down and do some serious comtemplating and reading!
not far away from the romantic cave system you would finally come upon another palace, the gothic house. duke ferdinand got to know a few palaces on his england travels, one of them being strawberry hill. he was so endeared with this building that he sought after something similar for the wörlitz park. together with erdmannsdorff and georg christoph hesekiel the gothic house was planned and built between 1773 and 1813. it has two facades, the one you see here was inspired by the church madonna del orto in venice ), the other side was basically inspired by the tudor style. it´´
this neo-gothic building was a dream, a fairy tale construction. it was SO BEAUTIFUL.
near the gothic house is a small garden - the floragarten. it was full of pansies and mouse-ear chickweeds and it looked splendiferous! i especially loved the flower theater which was based on the form of antique theaters.
the flora temple (1797/98 ) is also a part of the garden and dedicated to the goddess flora. the inspiration for this temple can be found in italy again, where the clitumnus temple near spoleto was the model.
sitting hermes, a copy of a similar statue from the 4th century b.c. this one was made between 1900 and 1920 and was a purchase of duke friedrich II.
a little hidden inside a rhododendron forest - a former cowshed. well, to be perfectly honest with you, i actually wouldn't have minded being a cow on this property, if it meant that you get to live in such a cute dwelling! it was built in 1810 and served as a cow and sheep shed until 1918, after that it also was used as a residential building for the gardener of wörlitz park. can i move in immediately, pretty please?
i mean, it is PERFECTLY overgrown and romantic and surrounded by lots of rhododendron bushes that all bloom in spring and isn't that the most wonderful thing to experience?
dream place, for sure 😍
only a few rhododendrons still bloomed, i felt that we were already a little too late for the main blooming season.
back at the gothic house, taking in the gorgeous embellishments of the facades 😍 the building is a museum that exhibits lots of artwork and artifacts from the 15th to 17th century, reminding you of the time of the reformation.
the gothic house was actually first built to be a home to the court gardener, but soon turned into duke leopold's very own study where he collected swiss stained glass, paintings and mintage. the gothic house wasn't open to the public either, it remained the duke's very own refuge. he lived here with his morganatic wife luise schoch ( he wasn't a very faithful husband 😂 ) and their three children,while his real wife ( of almost the same name - louise ) would live in the grey house on the other side of the lake.
the canal side of the building is plastered in a warm yello, while the garden side towards lake wörlitz has a brickstone facade...
... as you can see here...
up in the pinnacles a peacock was watching over us, judging.
the garden side was really pretty with its big gothic windows and doors.
i mean, it kinda looks like a gingerbread house, ain't i right?
😍😍😍
we slowly made our way back to the city, traversing the lake with two ferries - the rose island ferries. the first leads you from 'schoch's garden' where the gothic house is situated, to rose island ( roseninsel ), a tiny island that was reserved for louise, duke leopold's first wife. the second of the ferries boats over to 'neumark's garden'. in the distance there is another glimpse of wörlitz palace.
arriving in neumark's garden we immediately set out to find the labyrinth, which is another rather small, but scenically delightful gimmick. there are road junctions where you have to deliberately decide where to go, because they all lead to diverse garden sceneries. at the end of it you will arrive at a sculpture of leda, a mythical greek figure.
this sign told the labyrinth visitors to 'choose, wanderer, your path wisely!' unfortunately i seemed to have forgotten to document my wandering pursuit through the labyrinth, hence i don't have any proof of our successful go-through 😅
when you arrive in wörlitz you are greeted by the 'eichenkranz' inn ( 1787 ), a restaurant/hotel that saw many famous guests in its time. all kinds of very important visitors were accommodated inside these walls, such as the architect karl friedrich schinkel and the poets novalis and friedrich hölderlin. the list is much longer of course, but it would definitely go beyond the scope of this post to mention them all.
another inn in the city is the 'gasthaus grüner baum' ( green tree inn ). since 1757 it has been the former court provider for duke leopold and is the oldest inn in wörlitz. the anhalt baronial coat of arms above the entry is proof of their very long tradition and history.
we finally passed by wörlitz palace! the palace was built from 1769 to 1773 and - as mentioned before - is the first classicist palace on european mainland. it was THE trailblazer of this new architectural movement. when it was built progressive elements were included in the construction, such as iron cast furnaces, wall folding beds, water pumps to provide the upper level with water, a refigerator, food lifts and disappearing doors. it was super modern in its day, important when you wanted to be your new palace to be of representative importance. it was always open to the public, so you can guess what kind of impression that made on people.
the palace is open for tours, it still boasts most of its original interiors and also has a collection of wedgwood porcelain. furthermore there is furniture from the brothers roentgen, two famous cabinetmakers.
we didn't have time to visit any of the museums of the wörlitz park, but i would really love to catch up on that someday.
instead, we strolled further and ended up at the saint petri church. the bible tower is quite remarkable in its design, definitely not one that's easy to forget. its origins date back to the 12th century, but it got reconstructed from 1804 to 1809 and now shines bright in a neo-gothic appearance. tower is 66 meters high and i hear that it provides quite a beautiful view on the surrounding city and park.
the old royal stud is standing in front of the church, perfectly aligned with st. petri's brickstone facade.
standing close to the church, almost looking like a monastery, is the 'grey house' ( graues haus ) - duchess louise's living quarters. she called it 'grey monastery', probably even a little out of spite, as she must've felt like a nun with her husband pursuing the skirts of other women and herself not being able to pursue her own love. while she and duke leopold had a son, though, after the birth of their heir, it seemed like they basically lived alongside each other than with each other.
duchess louise had an equally impressive personality as her husband, though she always stood in his shadows. their marriage in 1767 was not a love marriage but arranged by friedrich II of prussia after he had heard that leopold wanted to break out of nobility and move to england with a civil woman. of course that's not really a very good foundation for a working relationship. louise really suffered throughout her marriage under this, as both of them did not really love each other and her heart strived for other fulfillments, such as knowledge in higher education, science and philosophy. in that realm she was of the same wood as her husband, but it seems that he was not very fond of her ambitions and her compulsions to not be 'underneath' him - in all matters of life. in her later years she was able to at least lead a little less dependent life, having her own circle of friends and travelling on her own. all in all, though, she was always a slave of her status and the duties and obligations she had to maintain. this was especially tough for someone in a time were womankind started to emancipate themselves and had a little more self-determination than before, and specifically for her, as her husband played a huge roll in enlightenment, whereas she had to keep her light dim.
the little fountain in the front was built 1787.
inside the grey house there seems to be an exhibition on duchess louise, which i now kinda want to visit really bad.
beautiful st. petri church in its entirety.
the south-eastern part of the church. it is such an elegant building, isn't it?
this little oriel was part of an adjoining building next to the grey house. it is used as a gallery for special exhibitions.
the city of wörlitz looked like it was standing still in time as well, it is an ensemble of the 18th century. even though the city existed before that, several fires destroyed the old structures, but it also created a cityscape that is now consistent.
i love to find vacant buildings and was delighted to find an abandoned restaurant. the 'golden grape' seems to be deserted since at least the 1980ies as the interiors seem to indicate. it looked super pristine, though, so i am not sure whether this is the right assumption ^^;
right on the other side there was a former 'konsum' - the GDR's answer to supermarkets. now there was a private nahkauf inside, but the old advertisements were still going strong! i love when people adopt old designs ❤
especially loved the surviving logo :)
the very last picture i shot on our way back to the car, as we passed by the rousseau island. it is an island dedicated to the philosopher jean-jaques rousseau, one of the founding fathers of the enlightenment era. there exist several rousseau islands in this world, all of them being replicas of his gravesite in ermenonville. the fact that there are more than one rousseau islands shows how deep and important the appreciation for his society reforming and close to nature opinions was for the park owners.
with this gorgeous last picture my feature story is now coming to an end. i hope i could delight someone with this, taking in this extraordinary total work of art and maybe developing a craving to visit it someday. it absolutely is recommended! i surely plan to revisit this place at least one more time, maybe for a longer span, so i can also visit the museums and exhibitions. i am super into the idea to rent one of the accommodation options inside the park, such as the piemontese farmer's house or the red wallwachhaus for a few days. a person can dream, right?
but until then, continue to stay curious ❤
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