NYMPHENBURG PALACE

Description

Essentials about Nymphenburg Palace

If you walk along the driveway along the Nymphenburg Canal in a westerly direction, you can’t help but be amazed: the imposing front of Nymphenburg Palace rises up in front of you, surpassing even the gigantic dimensions of Versailles Palace with a span of 632 meters. The former summer residence of the Bavarian ruling dynasty of the Wittelsbach dynasty is one of the largest and most beautiful royal palaces in Europe and definitely worth a visit, not only for royalists – not only because of the impressive palace itself, but also because of its beautiful extensive park.

The history of Nymphenburg Palace

Admittedly, it was a rather generous gift that Elector Ferdinand Maria made to his wife Adelheid of Savoy on the birth of the long-awaited heir to the throne, Max Emanuel: In 1663, Ferdinand Maria made Adelheid the owner of an entire Hofmark and, a year later, commissioned a country palace for her, which Adelheid named “Nymphenburg”. The complex was designed as a pleasure palace in the style of Italian country villas and was intended to serve as an alternative residence to the Munich Residenz in the city center during the summer months.

Originally, the central wing was built as a five-story cubic block with later double-flight open staircases on both sides starting in 1664 and was essentially completed in 1675. The first architect of Nymphenburg was Agostino Barelli, who also built the Theatine Church in the city center. After the death of the Electress in 1676, the central building was substantially altered under the direction of the new court architect Zuccalli. When Elector Ferdinand Maria also died in 1679, construction work was suspended for more than twenty years. Only then was the palace gradually expanded and remodeled over time.

First, Elector Max II. Emanuel had Enrico Zuccalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi build the two two-story arcaded galleries next to the main palace and the adjoining, approximately square two northern and southern pavilions, each with three stories, from 1702 to 1704. This created a courtyard of honor as the two outer pavilions were moved to the east. Viscardi also built the second large flight of steps leading to the garden as a counterpart to Zuccalli’s existing staircase on the east side and constructed the entrance hall on the first floor. After only three years of construction, the building work was put on hold for a second time due to the exile of the Elector during the War of the Spanish Succession. In the second northern pavilion, Viscardi built the palace chapel in 1713.

In 1716, the new court architect Joseph Effner altered the facades of the main building according to the French model. Under his direction, apartments in the style of the French Régence were built until 1719. Starting in 1716, the two cuboid connecting wings adjoining the northern and southern pavilions were built to the two outer four-winged buildings for the Orangery in the north and the Marstall in the south. These two-story buildings were again advanced to the east. The Marstall was largely completed by 1719, while the Orangery wing was not finished until 1755-58. With these two blocks, the eastern front of Nymphenburg extended to a gigantic 538 meters. To the north and south of the two courtyard blocks, however, there are two more enclosed courtyards, which were built later.

The rotunda in front of the main wing, which extends from the two outer buildings and was completed under Elector Karl Albrecht after 1730, was considered an architectural sensation in its day. It was to become the starting point of the “Carlstadt” that was never realized. Here, along the palace rondel, are ten palaces symmetrically divided into two groups of five, which were built between 1728 and 1758 for higher court servants. Elector Max III Joseph commissioned François de Cuvilliés with the famous “Stone Hall” in the main building, which was completed in 1756. Elector Karl Theodor finally had the galleries on the park side widened in 1795, creating additional rooms on either side of the central pavilion.

Under King Maximilian I Joseph and Ludwig I, a few more changes were made to the facades and interior decoration at the beginning of the 19th century. The last structural change took place in 1848 by order of King Maximilian II. Joseph by extending the now inaccessible second floor of the middle building with new living quarters.

Historically, Nymphenburg Palace was connected with Fürstenried Palace via Fürstenrieder Strasse as an avenue. A water connection to Schleissheim Palace was planned via the Nymphenburg-Biedersteiner Canal. Today, the avenue connection to the originally not yet merged residential city of Munich still exists via the northern or southern driveway avenue.

As a result of the revolution in 1918, Nymphenburg became state property. The Bavarian ruling family of the Wittelsbach retained a limited right of residence, which is also used by the respective head of the House of Wittelsbach. During World War II, the palace complex was largely spared. However, some parts of the palace, such as the palace church as well as the Badenburg and the Great Cascade in the park were severely damaged by bomb hits. After the war, the damage was repaired. In 1952 the present Marstall Museum was opened and in 1990 the Museum of Man and Nature was inaugurated.

Visiting Nymphenburg Palace

There is so much to see in Nymphenburg Palace and its park that visitors can easily spend more than one day there. Here are some of the highlights of the palace grounds to focus on if your time budget is a little tighter.

The premises of Nymphenburg Castle

The best sculptors, painters and plasterers of their time were responsible for the interior decoration of the castle. Some of the rooms have preserved their original Baroque decoration, while others were later remodeled in the Rococo and Classicist styles.

A must-see room is the three-story Stone Hall, a banquet hall designed by François de Cuvilliés in the castle’s central pavilion. Another well-known attraction in the palace is the so-called “Gallery of Beauty” of King Ludwig I in the southern pavilion of the palace. Commissioned by the king, court painter Joseph Karl Stieler painted portraits of 36 “beautiful” ladies from all walks of life in Munich, including Ludwig’s longtime mistress, the dancer Lola Montez.

Nymphenburg Palace Park

There is so much to see in Nymphenburg Palace Park that you can easily spend an entire day strolling through the gardens, always discovering something new. There is an extensive network of paths, beautiful avenues, artistically designed flower beds, ornamental gardens with old greenhouses, fairy-tale forests, picturesque lakes, small streams, canals with bridges and locks, water cascades and fountains, three pleasure palaces (the Amalienburg, Badenburg and Pagodenburg – also called “park castles”), hundreds of statues, a temple and even a small village.

Covering an area of almost 230 hectares, Nymphenburg Palace Park is one of the largest and most important works of garden art in Germany. The artful combination of formal garden and landscape park is considered a masterpiece of garden art. The park is bordered on its eastern side, facing the city, by Nymphenburg Palace with the palace rondel in front of it. On all other sides it is largely enclosed by a historic garden wall. The botanical garden adjoins to the north.

The original Baroque garden was modeled on the French gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte Palace and Versailles Palace. The present form is the result of a fundamental redesign by the landscape architect Friedrich Ludwig Sckell starting in 1799. Incidentally, Nymphenburg Palace Park was opened to the public as early as 1792 – a concession by Elector Karl Theodor, who wanted to show mercy to his Bavarian subjects in view of the French Revolution.

The palace park is divided into a large landscaped section in the west and the regularly landscaped area near the palace in the east. The central canal divides the park landscape into a northern and a southern part. In the northern part is the smaller Pagodenburg Lake with the Pagodenburg Castle, in the southern part is the larger Badenburg Lake with the Apollo Temple and the Badenburg. The Green Fountain House with the water wheels and pressure pumps for the garden fountain is located in the Dörfchen (village) of the southern part of the park. The Amalienburg dominates the southeastern part of the park. On the garden side of the castle there is the large Garden Parterre, which occupies the central part of the rectangle bordered by canals and lies in extension of the central axis of the canal. On the city side of the chateau is the chateau rondel.

The Museum Mensch und Natur

The Museum of Man and Nature is a natural history museum that vividly presents the history and diversity of the Earth and life on our planet. On 2,500 square meters, topics such as the formation of the solar system, the history of the earth and the development of life, but also the anatomy and biology of man, nutrition and environmental problems as well as the relationship of man to nature are presented. For children, there is the “Playful Natural History” section with many hands-on exhibits.

The Marstallmuseum

The Marstallmuseum is housed in the former stables in the southern part of the castle. The museum houses a fleet of carriages from the time of the Bavarian and Palatine electors and kings of the House of Wittelsbach. With exhibits from Germany, France and England, the collection provides a comprehensive overview of the development of carriages from the end of the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. From carriages to everyday and gala carriages to sleighs and gala sedans, a variety of vehicles can be seen with which the princes and kings used to get around.

The Porzellanmuseum

The Porzellanmuseum (Porcelain Museum) is located on the upper floor of the Marstallmuseum. More than 1,000 exhibits from the Porzellanmanufaktur Nymphenburg, founded in 1747, are on display here.

The Erwin von Kreibig Museum

The Erwin von Kreibig Museum, located in the southern Castle Rotunda, is dedicated to the Munich painter, draftsman, graphic artist and book illustrator of the same name. In addition to his works, however, works by regional artists are also exhibited here.