The castle complex, located not far from Eisenach, is named after its builder Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Eisenach.
From 1699 onwards, he had the hunting lodge extended to become a summer residence and had a baroque garden with a storage reservoir and animal enclosures laid out. As an elongated area, the garden surrounded the ensemble of individual pavilions, whose loosened up design is inspired by the pleasure palace Marly of the French Sun King Louis XIV. In the center is the richly furnished Old Castle and to the west the New Castle with the so-called Telemann Hall, where numerous works by Georg Philipp Telemann were performed for the first time.
Under Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the transformation of the meanwhile neglected park complex began in 1795. An extensive landscape garden with numerous flower plantings and exotic groups of trees was created, into which the likewise remodeled castle ensemble was picturesquely integrated. In the middle of the 19th century, Grand Duke Carl Alexander initiated a renewal of the gardens. It was designed by the garden artists Hermann Prince von Pückler-Muskau and Hermann Jäger, who had been appointed court gardener in 1845. They laid out the park as a refined composed nature with flowing transitions to the surrounding landscape.
In the 20th century, the castle complex was used as a military hospital, children's home as well as a pioneer camp. The associated structural changes and the lack of maintenance of the park led to a deterioration of the original design. Since 2009, the ensemble has been in the care of the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation, which is gradually restoring the complex. The harmonious integration of the castle and park into the surrounding landscape makes the ensemble a unique cultural monument.
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Parking
The landscape park is freely accessible all year round.
The castle complex is currently under restoration. Please direct inquiries about group tours to the Förderverein (Association for the Promotion of the Castle): www.schloss-wilhelmsthal.de.
Wilhelmsthal Castle and Park
Schloss- und Parkverwaltung
Wilhelmsthal 5
99834 Gerstungen
Ortsteil Wilhelmsthal
Telefon: 0 36 91 / 8 82 11 94
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