Confessions of a Castleholic

From the old onto the new: the Neues Schloss Schleißheim (as opposed to the Altes Schloss ). It was Elector Max Emanuel who commissioned the construction of Schleißheim’s new palace. The Elector of Bavaria wished for a residence that represented his ambition to become the next ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, a position held by the Habsburgs at the time. With the wish in mind, the construction began in the winter of 1700/01 under court architect Enrico Zuccalli. However, the Spanish War of Succession ensued and its outcome put a halt to the palace’s construction. In 1704, Max Emanuel was forced into exile after his attempt to supplant the Habsburgs as the Holy Roman Emperors failed. At the time, only the shell of the main wing of an intended four-winged palace stood. Eleven years later, work on the palace was resumed when Elector Max Emanuel returned from his exile in 1715. However, the financial situation of Bavaria didn’t allow for the original plan, consisting of a cour ...

Time to catch up on my recent castleseeing adventures (and I hope that one of these days, we will also be able to catch up on the not-so-recent-anymore ones). The Altes Schloss Schleißheim is the least spectacular one of the three palaces located in Oberschleißheim (or Oberschleissheim), just north of Munich. The origins of the palace go back to a simple manor house built by Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria around the year 1598. The purpose of the manor house was to be a place of reflection and prayer for the later years of the Duke. Oberscheißheim is located not too far from Schloss Dachau , at the time the summer residence of the Wittelsbach family. Already Wilhelm's son Maximilian I decided to demolish the building in favour of a new palace who would be modelled after Andrea Palladino's ideas for Italian mansions to be found in the architectural tract of Vincenzo Scamozzi. Construction of what today is known as the Altes Schloss (Old Palace) started in 1617. Within six ye...

Turns out that reality is sometimes better than memories (and crappy old pictures). Case in point: Schloss Nymphenburg . The summer residence of the Wittelsbach family was built startig in 1665 according to the designs of the Italian architect Agostino Barelli. Located in Bavaria's capital Munich, it was commissioned by Elector Ferdinand Maria for his wife née Princess Henriette Adelheid of Savoy to celebrate the birth of their son and heir Max Emanuel, who you might recall from all the Schleißheim palaces . Each year from May to September, the Bavarian royal family and the entire court moved from the Residenz in the city centre to Schloss Nymphenburg with its extensive park and numerous pleasure pavilions (which were sadly closed at the time of the year I visited). And while it was Henriette Adelheid who had started to build the palace, it was her son Max Emanuel who gave it its current appearance with its easily recognisable five pavilions connected by galleries an...

Turns out I visited 19 castles and palaces this year. Instead of pondering the question whether you start calling it an addiction at this rate, let's have a look back at all of them and have a vote on which one you like most. (I purposely excluded all the museum and churches related to royalty, as that would have firmly established me as an addict...) In order of appearance in the pictures: Altes Schloss Schleißheim Palácio Azurara Schloss Blankenburg Blenheim Palace Hertford House Villa Hügel Kensington Palace Kleines Schloss Blankenburg Schloss Lustheim Castelo dos Mouros Neues Schloss Schleißheim Schloss Nymphenburg Palácio Nacional de la Pena Palácio Nacional de Queluz Quinta da Regaleira Schloss Schönhausen Castelo de São Jorge Burg Regenstein Palácio Nacional de Sintra And now it's onto you: Which one of the castles and palaces I have visited this year ranks the highest up in your eyes? Cast votes for your three favourites ...

In addition to the old and new palaces, there is a third, much smaller palace located in Oberschleissheim. Located across the gardens, it is not called middle palace despite being built after the Altes Schloss and before the Neues Schloss . Schloss Lustheim , a maison de plaisance, was commissioned by the young Elector Max Emanuel, who also built the new palace, in June 1685 to celebrate his marriage to Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, the eldest daughter and only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and his wife Margarita Teresa of Spain.  Court architect Enrico Zucalli came up with the plans for the the hunting lodge and garden palace. Located about 1300 metres from the Altes Schloss , Zucalli based his design on the Italian casino buildings popular since the early 16th century. Schloss Lustheim was to form the centre of its own gardens as well as a point de vue from the old palace. While there weren't any concrete plans for the new palace yet, it is cl...