3. - Schlösser-Magazin

3. Palaces
46
3. Justification for Inscription
of Augustusburg and Falkenlust
Basic Facts
Location: Germany, state of Nordrhein-
Westfalen, city of Brühl
Historical outline: Augustusburg: from 1200
seat and hunting park of the Prince-Electors
of Cologne; from 1263 their preferred
residence; 1689 destroyed in the Palatine
War of Succession; from 1725 rebuilding of
the palace under Elector Clemens August
of Cologne from plans by Johann Conrad
Schlaun, 1728 garden laid out by Dominique
Girard; 1732 water canals constructed; from
1740 plans for the staircase by Balthasar
Neumann; 1768 building of the guardhouses
to complete Augustusburg; from 1788 parts
of the animal park were converted into a
landscape garden, construction of the Cottage;
from 1794 French property; 1815–1918
Prussian property; 1842 plans by Peter
Josef Lenné for conversion into a landscape
garden; put into practice from 1843 by Court
Gardener Hermann Claussen, park is opened
to the public; 1886-88 parts of the northern
garden are built over with a church; 1930-35
reconstruction of the garden parterre from
the Girard plan by Georg Potente; from 1948
up to 1990 used for receptions by the Federal
Government; 1964-65 simplified replanting
of the remains of the northern garden based
on the Girard plan; 1973-75 separate gardens
laid out in a quasi-Baroque style in the
former vegetable garden; 1983 new plans
for the parterre drawn up by the Office for
Monument Preservation.
Falkenlust: built from 1729 from plans by
François Cuvilliés as a hunting lodge for
hunting with falcons; 1734 inhabited for the
first time, by Elector Clemens August; 1741
final completion; from 1794 French property;
from 1807 private property; 1960 sold to the
state of Nordrhein-Westfalen; 1984 inscription
on the UNESCO World Heritage list; from
2000 large-scale restoration and preservation
work in progress.
Characteristics: The Baroque garden is a
late work by the artist-gardener Girard, and
profited from his experiences working on the
palace gardens of Nymphenburg, Schleißheim
and the Upper Belvedere in Vienna. Today
its central parts have been restored to their
original appearance. Lenné’s plans for the
redesign of the garden belong to his later
style, and integrated not only existing
Baroque structures and elements but also, as a
technological marvel, the railway tracks of the
Cologne-Bonn line that had been opened in
1844: an ornate iron bridge was to carry them
right across an area of ponds and islands.
Topical Comparison
Summer residence: Until 1794 Augustusburg
was the favourite summer palace and hunting
lodge of the Electors of Cologne, whose main
residence was their palace in Bonn; a Baroque
axis connecting Falkenlust and Augustusburg
survives; no connections established to the
city of Brühl; countryside developed by a
star-shaped pattern of avenues.
Synthesis of gardening styles: Baroque gardens
by Girard; 1788 parts of the animal park
landscaped; in the 19th-century conversion
into a landscape garden retaining and
integrating the basic Baroque structures; 1930-
35 first reconstruction of a Baroque garden
parterre in Germany, traces of Lenné’s garden
remain visible, but the emphasis is squarely
on the Baroque elements.
Furnishing: The statuary is lost, as is a ”Rural
Cottage“ from the late 18th-century landscape
garden, the Snail-Shell House and the Indian
House from the time of Elector Clemens
August.
Technical monuments: none documented.