Schlosspark Augustusburg

Schloss Augustusburg and Schloss Falkenlust in Brühl together form a Gesamtkunstwerk which combines architecture, sculpture, painting and garden design. The ensemble is an example of a completely preserved 18th-century prince’s residence and has been recognised as a UNESCO cultural world heritage site since 1984. The Baroque garden dating from 1728 has survived almost intact to the present day.

Clemens August von Wittelsbach, the Cologne elector, created Brühl as his favourite residence. In 1727, he commissioned the French garden designer Dominique Girard with the planning of the Baroque gardens at the palace. Girard had been a pupil of André le Nôtre and was the creator of the garden at Versailles. He had also previously designed the gardens at Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich and the Belvedere palace in Vienna.

A wildlife park surrounded by water already existed from the previous castle on the site and Girard left its irregular contours untouched. He broke with tradition by moving the central axis of the garden to the south of the palace with the result that the courtyard of honour and forecourt were situated at right angles to the main axis. A garden terrace and a slightly sunken parterre with fountains and broderies were laid out at the south part of the building. The embroidery-like ornamentation of box, flowers, lawn and coloured pebbles was of unsurpassed beauty. Girard planted borders of box-shaped linden avenues at the sides of the parterre.

The parterre was continued with a mirror pool and finally ended at a large fountain in front of the backdrop formed by trees of the adjoining “grand parc”. The main axis was continued through the “grand parc” in a straight line to the end of the park. This woodland-like area of the park was crossed by further diagonal paths. One of these led in a south-east direction along an avenue to Jagdschlösschen Falkenlust, a hunting lodge located outside the park. Clemens August was able to indulge in his passion for falconry here.

Girard laid out triangular boscages at the sides of the parterre. These semishaded “pleasure groves” were enclosed by hedges and featured “round rooms” with octagonal fountains.

Girard designed further gardens in the angular areas on both sides of the parterre. To the east he created rectangular boscages while to the west there was a kitchen garden. Both these areas of the garden were surrounded by canals, as was the “grand parc”. The canals played an important role in the overall concept of the garden. Boating trips for the amusement of the elector and his court were organised on them.

The electorate of Cologne came to an end in 1794 during the turmoil of the French revolution. Schloss Brühl was occupied by French troops and the furnishings were sold off. The garden became totally overgrown.

In 1815, Schloss Brühl fell to the Prussian crown. Like the palace, the garden was in a desolate state but important elements of it such as the covered linden avenues, the boscage and the mirror pool could still be recognised. In 1842, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV stayed in Brühl for a long period for the first time. He ordered the restoration of the palace and a fundamental renovation and enhancement of the overgrown park. Friedrich Wilhelm IV assigned the renewal of the garden to his horticultural director Peter Joseph Lenné.

Lenné did not touch the most important basic structural elements of the garden as conceived by his predecessor Girard. He kept the area of the former parterre with the covered linden avenue as well as the mirror pool, the large fountain and the triangular boscages with their fountains. The diagonal paths and avenues in the wildlife park were also retained. However, he redesigned the wooded areas in a picturesque landscape style, alternating groups of trees with areas of meadow crossed by a system of irregular paths. Lenné transformed the canals in the east of the garden into semi- natural areas of water with islands.

In the summer months, today’s visitors can still admire the parterre de broderie and the herbaceous borders from the palace terrace. The avenue of linden trees provides cool shade as well as a view to the fountains and the mirror pool. A visit to Jagdschloss Falkenlust at the edge of the wood is extremely worthwhile. It is linked to the palace park by Falkenluster Allee and can be visited without a special tour. Directly beside it is a chapel created by Pierre Lapotterie – a gem of shells, crystals and minerals.

The text was compiled from the following sources:

Hormisch, Nadja: Der Garten von Schloss Augustusburg in Brühl. In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Hrsg. (2003): Gartenkultur im Rheinland. Arbeitsheft der rheinischen Denkmalpflege 60. S. 90 ff. Petersberg.

Wilms, Birgit; Straße der Gartenkunst an Rhein und Maas e.V.(Hrsg. ): Gärten und Parks an Rhein und Maas. Ein Reiseführer. Mercator-Verlag Duisburg

Address:
Schlosspark Augustusburg
Schloßstraße 6
50321 Brühl (NRW)
Tel.: 02232-944 31 17
Email: mail@schlossbruehl.de
Website: www.schlossbruehl.de

Owner/management:
Land of North Rhine-Westphalia

Opening times:
The park is open all year round

Admission Prices:
There is no admission fee.

Events, programme, exhibitions:
Current information on the cultural programme can be found on the website: www.schlossbruehl.de

Customer Services:

• Shop: Yes
• Tea Room/ Restaurant: At the palace
• WC: Yes
• Parking: Around the palace
• Seats and benches: Yes
• Average visitor duration: 1-4 hours
• Accessibility – in the park/ garden from the car park: The main paths are suitable for visitors with limited mobility
• Signs in park and on plants: No
• General map and further information on the park can be found on the website