Schloss und Park Belvedere bei Weimar

Weimarer Sommerresidenz mit Orangerie und Irrgarten

Im Süden von Weimar erhebt sich auf einer Anhöhe das Schloss Belvedere, umgeben von einem 43 Hektar großen Park. Herzog Ernst August von Sachsen-Weimar und Eisenach ließ zwischen 1724 und 1748 hier eine barocke Sommerresidenz einschließlich einer Orangerie sowie eines Lust- und Irrgartens errichten.
Seit 1923 ist das Schloss Belvedere ein Museum für das Kunsthandwerk des 18. Jahrhunderts mit Porzellan, Glas, Fayencen, Möbeln und Gemälden.

The palace, which originally served as a hunting lodge, is surrounded by stables with the Knight’s Quarters at the side, giving it the typical atmosphere of an absolutist estate of the time. After the death of Ernst August in 1748, the parks were left wild. They were restored to their former glory only when Duchess Anna Amalia took up residence there every summer. Duke Carl August, who came to power in 1775, pursued botanical studies at Belvedere together with Goethe. By 1820, a botanical garden had been created with approximately 7900 plant species from Germany and abroad. In 1811, Carl August left Belvedere Palace and Park to his son Carl Friedrich and the latter’s wife, the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. The later duke had a so-called Russian garden laid for his wife at the west of the palace followed by a small Hedge Theatre and a maze.

The park had gone to rack and ruin, and between 1815 and 1830 it was transformed into a country park in post-classical, romantic style with meandering paths, numerous ornamental constructions and park developments. Grand Duke Carl Alexander, whose reign commenced in 1853, had the palace, park and orangery carefully preserved and maintained. The park was reconstructed between 1974 and 1978 and the Russian Garden between 1978 and 1982. Reconstruction and restoration work on the orangery complex began in 1998 and will be completed progressively over the next few years. Belvedere Palace and Park are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.