Muskau Park (german: Muskauer Park, officially: ''Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau''; pl, Park Mużakowski) is a landscape park in the

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

region of

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 ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It is the largest and one of the most famous English gardens in Central Europe, stretching along both sides of the German–Polish border on the

Lusatian Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785–1871), centered on his

Schloss Muskau Schloss Muskau (Muskau palace) is a '' schloss'' in the Görlitz district in the state of Saxony, Germany. It is located in an extended park, the ''Muskau Park'', since July 2004 a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building complex was develope ...

residence. In July 2004, Muskau Park was added to the list of

UNESCO World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

(as a joint effort between Poland and Germany) because of its 'utopian' design that incorporates both native plants and the nearby town, and its influence on the development of landscape architecture. The park also stands as one of Poland's official Historic Monuments (''pomnik historii''), as designated May 1, 2004, and tracked by the

National Heritage Board of Poland The National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland ( pl, Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa NID) is a Polish governmental institution responsible for documenting cultural property and the intangible cultural heritage, as well as for supporting and ...

Overview

The park covers of land in Poland and in Germany. It extends on both sides of the

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.buffer zone around the park encompassed the German town

Bad Muskau Bad Muskau (; formerly ''Muskau'', hsb, Mužakow, pl, Mużaków, cs, Mužakov) is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany, at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony. It is located ...

( hsb, Mužakow) in the West and Polish

Łęknica Łęknica (german: Lugknitz; hsb, Wjeska) is a border town in western Poland, one of the two gminas of Żary County in Lubusz Voivodeship. Muskau Park (''Park Mużakowski''), a Polish-German World Heritage Site, stretches north of the town ce ...

(''Wjeska'', former ''Lugknitz'') in the East. While Muskau Castle is situated west of the river, the heart of the park is the partially wooded raised areas on the east bank called ''The Park on Terraces''. In 2003, a pedestrian bridge spanning the Neisse was rebuilt to connect both parts. Designed as a ''painting with plants'', the park uses native plants, water features, bridges, and paths to enhance the site's inherent natural beauty. Park von Muskau in Łęknica und Bad Muskau

Park von Muskau in Łęknica und Bad Muskau

History

A fortress on the Neisse at Muskau was first mentioned as early as the 13th century under the rule of Margrave

Henry III of Meissen Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrav ...

. The founder of the adjacent park was Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), the author of the influential ''Remarks on Landscape Gardening'' and owner of the state country of Muskau from 1811. After prolonged studies in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1815 during the time when the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia fell to

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 ...

, he laid out the Park. As time went by, he established an international school of landscape management in Bad Muskau and outlined the construction of an extensive landscape park which would envelop the town "in a way not done before on such a grand scale". Altes Schloss Muskau

The works involved remodelling the Baroque "Old Castle" - actually a former castle gate - and the construction of a Gothic Revival

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, an English cottage, several bridges, and an

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

Friedrich Ludwig Persius Friedrich Ludwig Persius (15 February 1803 in Potsdam – 12 July 1845 in Potsdam) was a Prussian architect and a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Persius assisted Schinkel with, among others, the building of the Charlottenhof Castle an ...

. Pückler reconstructed the medieval fortress as the "New Castle", the compositional centre of the park, with a network of paths radiating from it and a pleasure ground influenced by the ideas of

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

, whose son John Adey worked at Muskau from 1822 on. The extensions went on until 1845, when Pückler because of his enormous debts was constrained to sell the patrimony. The next year it was acquired by

Prince Frederick of the Netherlands Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau (full names: Willem Frederik Karel; 28 February 1797, in Berlin – 8 September 1881, in Wassenaar), was the second son of William I of the Netherlands and his wife, Wilhelmine of Pru ...

, who employed

Eduard Petzold Carl Eduard Adolph Petzold (14 January 1815 – August 1891) was a German landscape gardener. Life Petzold was born in Königswalde (Lubniewice), Brandenburg. As a child, he followed his parents in 1826 to Muskau, visiting the town's schoo ...

, Pückler's disciple and a well-known landscape gardener, to complete his design. Upon his death in 1881, he was succeeded by his daughter Princess Marie, who sold the estates to the Arnim family. Neues Schloss Muskau (2011)

During the Battle of Berlin, both castles were levelled and all four bridges across the Neisse were razed. Count von Arnim-Muskau was dispossessed by the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...

and since the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945, the park has been divided by the state border between Poland and Germany, with two thirds of it on the Polish side. Not until the 1960s did the authorities gradually accept the legacy of the "''

Junker Junker ( da, Junker, german: Junker, nl, Jonkheer, en, Yunker, no, Junker, sv, Junker ka, იუნკერი (Iunkeri)) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German ''Juncherre'', meaning "young nobleman"Duden; Meaning of Junke ...

''" Prince Pückler. The Old Castle was rebuilt by the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

administration in 1965–1972, while the New Castle and the bridges are still being restored. The ''Englische Brücke'' ("English Bridge") across the River Neisse has been repaired and was rededicated on 17 October 2011, after having been demolished with explosives in 1945.Rededication of ''Englische Brücke'' 2011-10-17
After the

Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

the German and Polish administration joined forces in the redevelopment of the park ensemble. Since Poland entered the Schengen Area in 2007, visitors may freely explore both parts of the park without border checks.

Gallery

File:Englische Brücke.jpg, ''Englische Brücke'' (Germany in foreground, Poland in background) File:Orangerie im Schloßpark Muskau (2).jpg, The orangery File:Fürst-Pückler-Park in Bad Muskau 74.JPG File:Park Muzakowski1.jpg File:Park Muzakowski3.jpg

References

External links

Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski
UNESCO Officiel Website
Muskauer Park website
{{Authority control Parks in Germany Gardens in Saxony Parks in Poland Castles in Lubusz Voivodeship Castles in Saxony Gardens in Poland Landmarks in Germany World Heritage Sites in Poland World Heritage Sites in Germany Museums in Saxony Żary County Historic house museums in Germany Parks in Lubusz Voivodeship Rebuilt buildings and structures in Germany Bad Muskau Cultural landscapes of Germany