Augustusburg Castle Garden 1
Segment: Augustusburg Castle Garden 1
Episode: 10
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
TX Date: 25th April 2020
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Augustusburg Castle is known for its stunning Baroque-style gardens.
- Viking Cruises offer their guests the chance to explore the castle, with an optional shore excursion to the lavish 18th-century Residence, giving guests the chance to peer into the life of royalty.
- Augustusburg Castle is a vast and splendid example of Germany’s rococo architecture, and is considered to be one of the first of its kind in the country.
- Even after 400 years, the castle has not lost its majesty. Because of its grandeur and museums, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful Renaissance castles in Central Europe.
- Augustusburg is set amongst expansive gardens and parklands, known as the Schlosspark, connecting the castle with the nearby hunting lodge, the Falkenlust.
- Many renowned artists and architects were involved in the building of the palaces, gardens and grounds. The Baroque gardens were created by a man named Dominique Girad, who was a student of the master gardener of Versailles.
- The French influence is evident here – Girad created a landscape styler after the popular French patterns that emerged from the era.
- The core of the garden is the parterre design, where symmetrical plant beds are separated and interconnected by paths. The centrepiece, an ornamental parterre full of round fountain basins with an adjacent Mirror Pool, is quite unique to this era of design.
- The garden uses several techniques to create line, form and shape. The lines of lime trees frame the edge of the garden. The trees are pruned at the bottom and the top, providing a wonderful shady spot during the summer.
- The garden parterre underwent an extensive restoration from 1933 through to 1937, and represents one of the foremost examples of an 18th century European garden.
- Even formal gardens with hedges and sculptured plants like topiary need renovation every few years to ensure the plants remain healthy and strong.
