Nymphenburg Palace

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

View from the Park
View from the Park

The Nymphenburg Palace (German: Schloss Nymphenburg) is a Baroque palace in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

Contents

Nymphenburg Palace, around 1760, as painted by Canaletto.
Nymphenburg Palace, around 1760, as painted by Canaletto.

The palace was commissioned by the electoral couple Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy to Agostino Barelli in 1664 after the birth of their son Maximilian II Emanuel. The centre pavilion was completed in 1675.

Starting in 1701, the heir to the sovereign duchies of Bavaria, Max Emanuel, conducted a systematic extension of the palace. Two pavilions were added each in the south and north of Barelli's palace by Enrico Zucalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi. Later, the south section of the palace was further extended to form the court stables. As a balance, the orangerie was added to the north. Finally, a grand circle with baroque mansions (the Schlossrondell) was erected under Max Emanuel's son Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII.

With the treaty of Nymphenburg concluded in July 1741, Charles Albert allied with France and Spain against Austria. For a long time, the palace was the summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria. King Max I Joseph died there in 1825, and his great-grandson King Ludwig II was born there in 1845.

The palace, together with its park, is now one of the most famous sights of Munich. The Steinerner Saal (Stone Hall), with ceiling frescoes by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and F. Zimmermann and decorations by François Cuvilliés, is an impressive site. Acting as a grand hall, it occupies over three floors of the central pavilion of the palace.

Ceiling fresco in the Steinerner Saal
Ceiling fresco in the Steinerner Saal

Some rooms still show their original baroque decoration while others were later redesigned in rococo or neoclassical style. The former small dining room in the south pavilion today houses the Gallery of Beauties of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

The court stables contain one of the most important museums of ancient carriages. They also played a part in historical events - the Paris Coronation Coach for example was used for the coronation of Emperor Charles VII in 1742. Among the main attractions of the museum are the magnificent carriages and sleighs of King Ludwig II. The first floor houses a collection of Nymphenburg porcelain, the factory which, also located in the palace complex, was founded by Maximilian III Joseph.

View on Monopteros from the other side of the lake
View on Monopteros from the other side of the lake
Amalienburg
Amalienburg

The 200 acre (800,000 m²) park, once an Italian garden (1671), which was enlarged and rearranged in French style by Dominique Girard, a pupil of Le Notre, was finally redone in the English manner in early 19th century by Sckell. He preserved the main elements of the Baroque garden (such as the grand parterre). The park bisected by a long canal along the principle axis which leads from the palace to the marble cascade (decorated with stone figures of Greek gods) in the west. Two lakes are situated on both sides of the canal.

Within the park, a number of pavilions were built:

  • the Pagodenburg (1716-1719) - an octagonal, two story pavilion with Delft tile decoration downstairs and Chinoiserie upstairs. It was built by Joseph Effner.
  • the Badenburg (1719-1721) - a baroque pavilion also by Joseph Effner, contains a grand banqueting hall and a very large tiled bath. Some rooms are decorated with various Chinese wallpapers.
  • the Magdalenenklause - a faux ruin for retreat and meditation, erected between 1725 and 1728.
  • the Amalienburg - a rococo hunting lodge constructed in 1734-1739 by François de Cuvilles for Charles VII and his wife, Maria Amalia, including a hall of mirrors and a kennel room for the hunting dogs. The building with its decoration is a masterpiece of European rococo.
  • the Monopteros - a neoclassical temple by Leo von Klenze, erected in 1862-1865

The palace and its park were some of the main filming locations of Alain Resnais' 1961 movie Last Year at Marienbad.

Panoramic View of Nymphenburg Palace
Panoramic View of Nymphenburg Palace

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Coordinates: 48°09′29″N, 11°30′13″E

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.