A cavaliers' house or cavalier house (from "

cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

" meaning horseman or cavalryman) was a building that formed part of the ensemble of a

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

or ''

schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...

'' and was used to accommodate the royal or princely household. They emerged in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

era. The name is derived from the original use of such buildings for accommodating cavalrymen. Later it became synonymous for the building attached to a palace or stately home that was not used by the royal family themselves, but by courtiers, high officials, couriers or guests. In Baroque ensembles, cavalier houses and palace were frequently around a

cour d'honneur A court of honor ( ; ) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block ('' corps de logis''), sometimes with a fourth side, co ...

and could be linked by galleries or stand entirely separate. There were no hard and fast rules, so that a cavalier house could sometimes be found in the palace park. Depending on the area, size and importance of the actual ''

residenz ''Residenz'' () is a German word for "domicile", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, ''Residenzstadt'', denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, and thus carries a similar meaning to the contemp ...

'' – and the status of its noble family – a cavalier house could even be a ''schloss'' in its own right or take on a more modest appearance sometimes resembling a burgher's house.

Examples

Austria

* Cavalier House, Klessheim, Klessheim Palace,

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

state

Germany

* Cavalier house,

Gifhorn Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially import ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, today a museum * Cavalier house inside the larger

Schloss Pyrmont Schloss Pyrmont, sometimes called Pyrmont Castle, was a ''schloss'' and the summer residence of the counts of County of Spiegelberg, Spiegelberg and counts of Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Waldeck-Pyrmont in the present-day German town of ...

Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...

* Cavalier house,

Langenargen Langenargen is a town in the district of Bodensee in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Demographics Population development: Sports Langenargen is an ideal venue for sports such as sailing. The town's location on the shores of the Bodensee ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

* Cavalier house, Spremberg,

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

* Cavalier houses at Altenstein Palace, Bad Liebenstein,

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

* Cavalier houses of

Königs Wusterhausen Königs Wusterhausen (; , ) is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district of the state of Brandenburg in Germany a few kilometers outside Berlin. Geography Geographical location Königs Wusterhausen – locally known as "KW" () or "KWh" ()– lie ...

* Cavalier house and hunting lodge in Darmstadt-Bessungen,

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

* Cavalier house at

Moritzburg Castle Moritzburg Castle () or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden. The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical artificial island. It is name ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

* Cavalier house of Echzeller Burg, Echzell,

, which is actually a palace * Cavalier house of Rheinsberg Castle, Brandenburg

Literature / Sources

*Hans-Joachim Kadatz: ''Seemanns Lexikon der Architektur'', Seemann, Leipzig, 2001. {{ISBN, 3363006136. Palaces