The Schleißheim Palace (german: Schloss Schleißheim) comprises three individual palaces in a grand Baroque park in the village of

Oberschleißheim Oberschleißheim () is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 13 km north of Munich (centre). As of 2005 it had a population of 11,467. Oberschleißheim is best known for the Schleissheim Palace and ...

, a suburb of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

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 ...

. The palace was a summer residence of the Bavarian rulers of the House of Wittelsbach. Schlossanlage Schleissheim EN

The palaces

Old Schleissheim Palace

The history of Schleißheim Palace started with a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

country house (1598) and hermitage founded by

William V William V may refer to: * William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030) *William V of Montpellier (1075–1121) * William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191) * William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181) *William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361) * Willia ...

close to

Dachau Palace The Dachau Palace is a former residence of the rulers of Bavaria at Dachau, southern Germany. History The castle was constructed around 1100 as a castle by the cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach. In 1182, the last Count of Dachau, Kon ...

. The central gate and clock tower between both courtyards both date back to the first building period. The inner courtyard is called ''Maximilianshof'', the outer one ''Wilhelmshof''. Under William's son Maximilian I the buildings were extended between 1617 and 1623 by Heinrich Schön and

Hans Krumpper Hans Krumpper (c.1570 – between 7 and 14 May 1634) was a German sculptor, plasterer, architect, and intendant of the arts who served the Bavarian dukes William V and Maximilian I. Krumpper was born in Weilheim in Oberbayern. He worked fo ...

to form the so-called Old Palace. This plan is typologically similar to the castle of Laufzorn in Oberhaching begun by Maximilian's brother

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

the year before. There, too, a free staircase leads up to the first floor, which is used as a mansion. The building, which was designed in the style of

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...

in the late Renaissance, was completed in 1623. The rooms were decorated by

Peter Candid Peter de Witte, known in Italy as Pietro Candido and in Bavaria as Peter Candid (c. 1548 – 1628) was a Flemish-born Mannerist painter, tapestry designer and draughtsman active in Italy and Bavaria.Ferdinand Maria died here in 1679. After heavy destruction in the Second World War the palace with its spacious buildings was reconstructed. Most of the stucco decoration of the chapel ''Wilhelmskapelle'' has been preserved. The Old Schleißheim Palace houses today two exhibitions, one on religious culture, the other the history of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. The ''Grand Hall'' in the middle of the main building today serves as foyer for the museums. In the garden of the Old Palace is a memorial to the Royal Bavarian Air Force, who served during World War I at the

airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

next to the palace grounds.

Lustheim Palace

Then

Enrico Zuccalli Enrico Zuccalli (''Johann Heinrich Zuccalli''; c. 1642 – 8 March 1724) was a Swiss architect who worked for the Wittelsbach regents of Bavaria and Cologne. Biography Zuccalli was born in Roveredo, Switzerland. From 1669 he lived in Munich ...

built Lustheim Palace as a garden villa in Italian style in 1684–1688 for Maximilian II Emanuel and his first wife, the Austrian princess Maria Antonia. Lustheim lies on a circular island and forms as a point de vue the conclusion of the baroque court garden. The floor plan of manor reminiscent of a stylized H, to the central main building will be followed by two wing-like avant-corps. The brick built and plastered building has two storeys, the middle section is dominated by a belvedere, which provides a wide view of the surrounding countryside. The center of the palace is the great hall in the middle section, which is flanked laterally by the apartments of the Elector and Electress. Upstairs rooms were simple for the servants, the basement contained the kitchen and utility rooms. The interior is dominated by the large banqueting hall in the middle of the building. The frescoes were done by Johann Anton Gumpp, Francesco Rosa and Johann Andreas Trubillio. Since 1968 the palace has housed a grand collection of

Meissen porcelain Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work an ...

, only outranged by the Dresden Porcelain Collection in the

Zwinger, Dresden The Zwinger (german: Dresdner Zwinger, ) is a palatial complex with gardens in Dresden, Germany. Designed by architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, it is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period in Germany. Along with the ...

. The palace once formed the centre point of a semicircle of round buildings. Two pavillons still exist: To the south of Lustheim Place the ''Renatus Chapel'' was erected in 1686 by Zuccalli in the southern pavillon. The northern pavillon houses the decorated stable which was built for the favourite horses of Elector Max Emanuel.

New Schleißheim Palace

Zuccalli also finally erected the Baroque New Palace between the two palaces in 1701–1704 as the new residence, since the elector expected the imperial crown. But after Max Emanuel had lost Bavaria for some years in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, the construction work was interrupted.

Joseph Effner Joseph Effner (February 4, 1687 (baptized) – February 23, 1745) was a German architect and decorator. Biography Effner was born in Dachau as a son of the court gardener Christian Öffner. Effner accompanied the elector of Bavaria Max Emanu ...

enlarged the building to one of the most impressive Baroque palaces in 1719–1726. But only the main wing was completed. The New Palace is a wide-bearing construction of more than 300 meters in length. The main building, the corps de logis, is divided by 37 garden-sided window bays, eleven axes fall on the middle section with the grand staircase, the ballroom and the gallery. The middle section is structured with

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s. The main wing is connected by arcades with two pavilions in the south and in the north, the southern pavilion should serve as a guest house, the northern one keeps the pumping station for the trick fountains of the park. The central building of the castle has three storeys. The top floor of the central building is set back garden side, so there is a large terrace. This terrace is the result of a change in the draft, after parts of the garden facade were still collapsed during construction due to an insufficient foundation. Important examples of German baroque architecture are especially the ''Grand Hall'', the ''Grand Gallery'', the wide staircase, the ''Maximilian's Chapel'' and the four state apartments decorated by artists such as Charles Dubut, Franz Joachim Beich,

Johann Baptist Zimmermann Johann Baptist Zimmermann (3 January 1680, Gaispoint — 2 March 1758, Munich) was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque. Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were ...

, Cosmas Damian Asam, Jacopo Amigoni, Giuseppe Volpini, Guillielmus de Grof (Wilhelm de Groff) and Antoine Motté. Max Emanuel's fame as a triumphant general was the overall theme. The ''Grand Gallery'' was constructed in line with a draft provided by Robert de Cotte. The ''Victory Hall'', the ''Red Cabinet'' and the ''Chapel of the Electress'' keep the most significant interior decorations. The ''Grand Staircase'' of Zuccalli is particularly significant in terms of architecture: The stairs and pedestals lie within a high, wide hall, an idea which Balthasar Neumann later took up in the design of the palace of Augustusburg in Brühl and the Residence Palace in Würzburg. The dome fresco by Cosmas Damian Asam depicts Venus in the blacksmiths of the volcano, where the weapons are made for her son Aeneas, who is wearing the facial features of Elector Max Emanuel. Most of the rooms still show their original late baroque decoration celebrating the elector's victories against the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

. The entirely preserved Gobelin tapestries were acquired by Max Emanuel from Flemish manufacturies when he served as Governor for the Spanish Netherlands. Max Emanuels's son Emperor Charles VII Albert preferred the more private atmosphere of

Nymphenburg Palace The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it cons ...

, so only one of four planned wings was completed. But Max Emanuel's grandson Maximilian III Joseph ordered to decorate some rooms in

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style. In 1763

Ignaz Günther Ignaz Günther (22 November 1725 – 27 June 1775) was a German sculptor and woodcarver working in the Bavarian Rococo tradition. He was born in Altmannstein, where he received his earliest training from his father, then studied in Munich und ...

decorated the wings of the east portal with allegorical adornments. Under King Ludwig I finally

Leo von Klenze Leo von Klenze (Franz Karl Leopold von Klenze; 29 February 1784, Buchladen (Bockelah / Bocla) near Schladen – 26 January 1864, Munich) was a German neoclassicist architect, painter and writer. Court architect of Bavarian King Ludwig I, Le ...

completed the Great Staircase. Klenze's neoclassical alterations of the façade were not restored with the renovation after the destructions in World War II.

The Gallery of Baroque paintings

The Gallery of baroque paintings owned by the

Bavarian State Picture Collection The Bavarian State Painting Collections (german: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), based in Munich, Germany, oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. It was established in 1799 as ''Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion''. Artwork includes ...

s is today exhibited in several rooms. Among the artists are

Flemish Baroque painter Flemish Baroque painting refers to the art produced in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with ...

s such as

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

and Anthony van Dyck, Italians like Guido Reni,

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Earl ...

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...

, Carlo Saraceni,

Marcantonio Bassetti Marco Antonio Bassetti (1586–1630) was an Italian painter. Life He was born in Verona, and was a pupil of Felice Ricci. He then went to Venice where he was particularly influenced by the works of Tintoretto, Veronese and Jacopo Bassano. He is ...

, Alessandro Turchi, Carlo Dolci and Pietro da Cortona, but also the Germans

Joachim von Sandrart Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 – 14 October 1688) was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He is most significant for his collection of biographies of Dutch and German artists the '' T ...

, Johann Heinrich Schönfeld and

Johann Carl Loth Johann Carl Loth (Baptized 8 August 1632 – 6 October 1698) was a German Baroque painter who spent most of his life in Venice. His name is also rendered as Johann Karl, Karel and, in Italy, Carlotto or Carlo Lotti.Alonso Cano Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 16013 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada.José Antolínez and José de Ribera. The French paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries exhibited in the palace are for the most part historically closely related to Elector Max Emanuel and his family. For example, some pictures of Pierre-Denis Martin show his French and Polish relatives, his sister was married to the Grand Dauphin, he himself was in a second marriage engaged with a daughter of the Polish king Jan Sobieski. A huge historiography of

Joseph Vivien Joseph Vivien (1657 – 5 December 1735) was a French painter from Lyon. He left Lyon for Paris at the age of twenty and found employment in the large atelier of Charles Le Brun, the equivalent of an academy. He made his reputation with his por ...

deals with the reunion of the Elector with his family in 1715. Rooms with battle paintings are celebrating the Elector. The former Gardesaal, converted from 1762 to a new dining room, shows the portraits of all the Electorates of Bavaria between 1597 and 1777. On the north wall are a portraits of Maximilian I by Nikolaus Prugger, a portrait of Ferdinand Marias in standing position by George Desmarées and a depiction of Max II Emanuel on horseback as a commander by Martin Maingaud, on the south wall shows equestrian portraits of Charles Albert and Max III. Joseph by Desmarées. The canvas paintings, which are embedded in the walls, are older and had been retrofitted to today's frame size. In 1852, over 1000 paintings that had been in storage at the

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen The Bavarian State Painting Collections (german: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), based in Munich, Germany, oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. It was established in 1799 as ''Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion''. Artwork includes ...

in Schleißheim, Augsburg and Nuremberg were sold at a public auction with the permission of the Bavarian royal house. The proceedings were used to fund modern acquisitions for the Wittelsbach portrait gallery.

The park

The grand park is one of the rare preserved baroque gardens in Germany. Its structure with canals and

bosquet In the French formal garden, a ''bosquet'' (French, from Italian ''bosco'', "grove, wood") is a formal plantation of trees in a wide variety of forms, some open at the bottom and others not. At a minimum a bosquet can be five trees of identical s ...

area was arranged by Zuccalli. Dominique Girard, a pupil of Le Notre, constructed the grand

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

and the cascade until 1720. Water forms since the central element in the garden. The Grand Canal in the garden center and the ditch round of Lustheim island are part of the northern Munich channel system, a system of waterways that connected also to the complex of

. From the Old Palace, a line of sight goes south to the Frauenkirche in Munich, which is also the end point of another line of sight of the

Fürstenried Palace Fürstenried Palace is a Baroque ''maison de plaisance'' and hunting lodge in Munich, Germany. It was built from 1715 to 1717 for Elector Maximilian II Emanuel. Today the palace serves as spiritual house for archdiocese and as pastoral center. ...

. The northern side channel has finally

as target. In the ''Brunnhaus'' (well house), which was built in 1867 north of the Old Palace by Carl von Effner, the waterwheel and the pumps are still present, the fountains are, however, now powered by electric pumps. The Palace Garden is also the home of a 300-year-old tree that has survived several lightning strikes.

Beer garden

The ''Schlosswirtschaft Oberschleißheim''

Biergarten A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

is located on the palace grounds, with seating for 1,000.Schlosswirtschaft Oberschleißheim at Munich Beer Gardens
/ref> Its roots trace back to 1597, when the founder of the Hofbräuhaus brewery retired to a farm there. Following the building of the New Schleißheim Palace in the 17th century, the ''Schlosswirtschaft'' (palace restaurant) provided catering to its workers and servants. A royal brewery followed, enjoying a long period of success before closing. Under the shade of chestnut trees Hofbräuhaus beers and traditional Bavarian fare are served today, enjoyed with a picturesque view of the palace, particularly at sunset.

As film location

Several notable motion pictures have used Schleißheim Palace as a film location: *''

Decision Before Dawn ''Decision Before Dawn'' is a 1951 American war film directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Richard Basehart, Oskar Werner, and Hans Christian Blech. It tells the story of the American Army using potentially unreliable German prisoners of war to g ...

'' (1951) directed by

Anatole Litvak Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...

used interiors and exteriors of Schleißheim when the

Oskar Werner Oskar Werner (; born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer; 13 November 1922 23 October 1984) was an Austrian stage and cinema actor whose prominent roles include two 1965 films, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' and ''Ship of Fools''. Other notable ...

medic/spy character is picked to become an aide to a panzer General. *''

Paths of Glory ''Paths of Glory'' is a 1957 American anti-war film co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Set during World War I, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of ...

'' (1957) directed by Stanley Kubrick used the palace and its grounds extensively. The palace served as the French Army division headquarters; the execution of the World War I French soldiers was filmed in the grand garden of the New Palace (Gartenfassade des Neuen Schlosses); and the court martial in the Great Hall (Grosser Saal) inside the palace. *''

Last Year at Marienbad ''Last Year at Marienbad'' (french: L'Année dernière à Marienbad; released in the United Kingdom as ''Last Year in Marienbad'') is a 1961 Left Bank film directed by Alain Resnais from a screenplay by Alain Robbe-Grillet. Set in a palace in a p ...

'' (1961) directed by

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

used the palace (along with two others in Munich) as a principal filming location. *''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...

'' (2011) filmed some scenes in the palace. *'' Per me, per sempre'' (2001 Music Video: Eros Ramazzotti) Directed by Paolo Scarfo'. Cinematographer: Massimo Zeri. Entirely shot in the palace.Eros Ramazzotti - Per me per sempre (2001). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zms-bdr6ML4

Tourism

Oberschleißheim village and Schleißheim Palace are accessible by the

Munich S-Bahn The Munich S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn München) is an electric rail transit system in Munich, Germany. " S-Bahn" is the German abbreviation for ''Stadtschnellbahn'' (literally, "urban rapid rail"), and the Munich S-Bahn exhibits characteristics of b ...

number 1. This line passes through the city centre, including Stachus and the main train station. Museums: * Gertrud Weinhold Ecumenical Collection (Branch museum of the

Bavarian National Museum The Bavarian National Museum (german: Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, links=no) in Munich is one of the most important museums of decorative arts in Europe and one of the list of largest art museums in the world , largest art museums in Germany. ...

, Old Palace) * East and West Prussia Collection (Bavarian National Museum, Old Palace) * Meißen porcelain collection (Bavarian National Museum, Lustheim Palace) * Gallery of baroque paintings (Part of the

Bavarian State Painting Collections The Bavarian State Painting Collections (german: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), based in Munich, Germany, oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. It was established in 1799 as ''Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion''. Artwork includes ...

, New Palace)

References

External links

Schleißheim Palace

Gallery of European baroque painting
{{Authority control Houses completed in 1623 Houses completed in 1688 Houses completed in 1704 Palaces in Bavaria Munich (district) Buildings and structures in Munich Tourist attractions in Munich Royal residences in Bavaria Art museums and galleries in Germany Parks in Germany Baroque architecture in Munich Baroque palaces in Germany German Baroque gardens Museums in Munich Historic house museums in Germany 1623 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1688 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire