Richmond Castle (german: 'Schloss Richmond') is a castle built from 1768 to 1769 in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

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 betwe ...

for Princess (later Duchess) Augusta, wife of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand. It lies near the

Oker The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meaning of the name The ...

river in the south of the city. The architect was Carl Christoph Wilhelm Fleischer. The castle was named after the princess's English home in

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

, a royal park now in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

Architecture

The castle grounds are located along ''Wolfenbütteler Straße'' ("

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

Street") in the city district of

Heidberg-Melverode Heidberg-Melverode is a ''Stadtbezirk'' (borough) in the southern part of Braunschweig, Germany. The Stadtbezirk comprises the quarters Heidberg and Melverode. History Melverode is at least 1100 years old, but was first mentioned in documents i ...

. The building is built in

Baroque 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 including t ...

style, and has a square floor plan with the entrance at one corner. The

state room A state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed for use when entertaining royalty. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in ...

s are located on the diagonal, and on either side of these, there are private rooms and a

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

floor. The facade is divided into

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

, and

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

areas, with a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. Projecting

avant-corps An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...

and perrons (staircases) emphasize the respective ends of the

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal block of a large, (usually Classical architecture, classical), mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dict ...

. Compared to the original plan, the designs of the balustrade, staircases, and roof were changed over the course of time. For example, in 1785 the architect Christian Gottlob Langwagen improved the lighting in the central part of the building by installing a

roof lantern A roof lantern is a daylighting architectural element. Architectural lanterns are part of a larger roof and provide natural light into the space or room below. In contemporary use it is an architectural skylight structure. A lantern roof wil ...

with 12 windows. In 1935, the city of Braunschweig acquired the castle grounds from Duke Ernst August. Since 1945, the building has been used for public events. The 18th-century paintings in the interior of the building were restored from 1977 to 1981.

Park

The park was created along with the castle in 1768, in the style of a classic

English landscape 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 ...

. Together with the Wörlitzer Park, it is one of the earliest

landscape 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 ...

s in

northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

. The park was designed by the renowned English landscape architect

Lancelot "Capability" Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

and is similar in structure and details to Richmond Park, a royal park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A special feature of the park are the long lines of sight that extend far into the country from the castle. Brown's intention was possibly to create a peaceful, picturesque, ideal representation of a

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

. Over the years, the original design was modified and adapted to the tastes of the respective era. From 1830, Duke

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

employed the court gardener Johann Christian Burmester to expand the park significantly. Between 1833 and 1838, more buildings were added – the Ducal Villa and Schloss Neu-Richmond or Williams Castle (which no longer exists). In addition, larger water areas and an island were created. The park has been open to the public since 1964. The nearly four-acre park, largely neglected after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, was reconstructed in 1987 after the historic original design.

Miscellaneous

The castle is not open every day and can only be visited with a guide. Only the state rooms on the ground floor (the three on the diagonal and two smaller rooms facing the gardens on either side of the diagonal) are accessible to the public, because the first floor is a private residence. In 1871, a Braunschweig

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

was named after the castle's popular name, ''Feldschlößchen''. A travelling brewer from Braunschweig took the name to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and founded the ''

Feldschlösschen Feldschlösschen () is a Swiss beverage and brewing company located in Rheinfelden, in the German-speaking canton of Aargau, Switzerland. Founded in 1876, the company operates the biggest brewery in Switzerland by production, the Feldschlössch ...

'' brewery in Rheinfelden in 1876. Since 1982, the Gerstäcker Museum has been housed in the former guard and kitchen house.

Gallery

File:Braunschweig_Schloss_Richmond_Wandverzierungen_(2011).JPG, Wall and ceiling decorations File:Richmond_2005_05_1ab.jpg, View from the garden side of the

river File:Braunschweig_Brunswick_Gerstaecker-Museum_(2006).JPG, Gerstäcker Museum File:Braunschweig_Schloss_Richmond_Innenraum_(2011).JPG, Central area

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Richmond Castle
as a 3D model in the 3D Warehouse by

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{{Authority control Houses completed in 1769 Buildings and structures in Braunschweig Castles in Lower Saxony Baroque architecture in Lower Saxony