Grüneburgpark
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The Grüneburgpark is a public park in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
,
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
, Germany, located in the Westend quarter. It began as a park for the Grüne Burg (Green Castle), a castle from the 14th century. In 1789, the banker Peter Heinrich von Bethmann Metzler acquired the property, and had the park designed. In 1837, the property was bought by the Rothschild family, who erected a palace-like mansion in the style of a French
Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
palace. They commissioned Heinrich Siesmayer to develop an
English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
, completed in 1877. Under the Nazi regime, Albert von Goldschmidt-Rothschild had to give up his family home. The palace was destroyed in an air raid in 1944. After the War, the park was expanded to 29 hectares, and opened to the public. It has since been a popular recreation place, comprising the botanical garden of the university and a Korean Garden.


History

Grüneburgpark began as a park for the Grüne Burg (Green Castle), a castle from the 14th century. In 1789, the banker Peter Heinrich von Bethmann Metzler acquired the property, expanded the building and had the park designed. In the following years the great thinkers of the day met here, among them
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
and
Bettina von Arnim Bettina von Arnim (the Countess of Arnim) (4 April 178520 January 1859), born Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano, was a German writer and novelist. Bettina (or Bettine) Brentano was a writer, publisher, composer, singer, visual art ...
. In 1837, the park was bought by the Rothschild family, who had a palais constructed in the manner of a French
Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
castle. The Rothschild family had a 29-hectare-large landscaped park developed in this location. The English-style park itself was finished in 1877 by . In 1935, after the Nazi rise to power, Albert von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, who committed suicide in emigration five years later, had to "transfer to the municipality" (quote from a letter to mayor Krebs) what had been the home of his family. The "New Palais" was destroyed in an air raid in 1944. After the Second World War, the park was expanded to 29 hectares. It has since been a popular place for recreation among the Frankfurters, especially in the summer months. The park's northwest corner is now the
Botanical Garden Frankfurt The Botanischer Garten Frankfurt am Main (7 hectares) is a botanical garden and arboretum formerly maintained by the Goethe University and since 2012 administered by the City of Frankfurt. It is located at Siesmayerstraße 72, Frankfurt am Main, ...
. Another major botanical garden, the Palmengarten, is just across the street. The park is also home to a 4,800-square-metre Korean garden. It was a gift to the city as part of South Korea's presentation as the guest of honour at the 2005
Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...
. It has been designed in the style of traditional Korean scholars' gardens.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruneburgpark 1789 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Geography of Frankfurt Parks in Germany