Ehrenburg Palace (German: ''Schloss Ehrenburg'') is a palace in
Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...
,
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. It served as the main Coburg residence for the ruling princes from the 1540s until 1918. The palace's exterior today mostly reflects Gothic Revival style.
History
The palace was built by
Johann Ernst,
Duke of Saxe-Coburg
Saxe-Coburg (german: Sachsen-Coburg) was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany.
History
Ernestine Line
When Henry IV, Count of Henneberg – Schleusingen, died in 1347, the possessions of the ...
, in 1543–7. It replaced the
Veste Coburg as the dukes' town ''
Residenz''. The new town palace was built around a
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
monastery dissolved during
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
According to tradition, the palace was named ''Ehrenburg'' ("Palace of Honour") by
Emperor Charles V
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fr ...
for having been constructed without the use of forced labour.
Under Duke
Johann Casimir the first major rebuilding took place. Around 1590 the (still extant) south wing was constructed by the Renaissance architect Michael Frey.
In 1690, a fire destroyed the northern part of the palace. This was an opportunity for
Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Coburg
Albert V (24 May 1648 – 6 August 1699) was a duke of Saxe-Coburg.
He was the fifth but second surviving son of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg (1601-1675), and Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg (1619-1680). He was born in Gotha. ...
, who had a new
Baroque style
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires includin ...
palace built in 1699.
The construction of a new chapel in the west wing, the east wing and the central part of the building gave the Ehrenburg the basic structure it retains today.
In the 19th century,
Ernst I had the palace redesigned by
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassic ...
in English
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style, beginning in 1810.
Most of the work took place between 1816 and 1840, with the palace façade clothed in
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
.
Also between 1816 and 1840 the state apartments were redesigned in the
French Empire style
The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...
.
Because the palace was the home of the ducal
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (previously Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), many royal occasions happened here.
In 1863,
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
(whose mother,
Princess Victoria, and husband,
Prince Albert, grew up here) met Austrian
Emperor Franz Josef
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...
for the first time in the Hall of Giants (a sign marks the occasion).
In 1894, the wedding of
Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
, spouses =
, issue =
, house = Hesse-Darmstadt
, father =Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
, mother =Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
, birth_date =
, birth_place = New Palace, Darmstadt, Grand ...
and
Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha brought together, at the palace, Queen Victoria, her son the future King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second chil ...
, her grandson the future King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother ...
, her daughter German
Empress Victoria, her other grandson Kaiser
Wilhelm II
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
, her son's nephew the future Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
(with her granddaughter, future
Tsarina Alexandra), and many other royalty from England, Greece, Belgium, Romania, Portugal, Brazil and elsewhere.
Today
The palace is used as a museum today.
Among other exhibits, it features art galleries with works by
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...
, Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as
Romantic landscape paintings.
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Gothic Revival architecture in Germany
Palaces in Bavaria
Museums in Bavaria
Historic house museums in Germany
Buildings and structures in Coburg
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Royal residences in Bavaria