Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell (13 September 1750, in

Weilburg Weilburg () is, with just under 13,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg. Geography Location The community lies in the Lahn valley between the Wes ...

– 24 February 1823, in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) was a German landscape gardener from

an der Lahn. He is regarded as the founder of the English gardens in Germany, which he introduced to the German experts with his writings on garden design. His manner of grouping and choice of plants is still used to an extent in German landscaping today.

Career

Sckell was trained in the Court Market Garden in

Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; ) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-sized centre between ...

near

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and worked after his apprenticeship in

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; South Franconian: ''Brusl'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Bruchsal is the lar ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. From 1773 to 1777, he was in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

busying himself with English-style gardening. Upon his return, Sckell redesigned the gardens of

Schönbusch Schönbusch or Schoenbusch refers to: * Schönbusch (Königsberg) * ''Schloss'' and Park Schönbusch (Aschaffenburg) Schönbusch is a historic park and ''Schloss'' near the town of Aschaffenburg in the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. The pa ...

Park in Aschaffenburg for the

Prince-Elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

s of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

and Archbishop

Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal Friedrich Karl Joseph Reichsfreiherr von Erthal (3 January 1719 – 25 July 1802) was prince-elector and Archbishopric of Mainz, archbishop of Mainz from 18 July 1774 to 4 July 1802, shortly before the end of the archbishopric in the ''Reichsdepu ...

in the English style, as well as those of

Schöntal Park is a municipality in the district of in , Germany. It is principally known as the location of Abbey. Districts The municipality consists of the following districts. * * * * Abbey * * * * * History Following the dissolution of ...

. Afterwards he was responsible for the beginning of the Schwetzinger Gardens as a scenic park, and along with

Benjamin Thompson Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 175321 August 1814), was an American-born British military officer, scientist and inventor. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he sup ...

, was commissioned by Prince Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria in 1789 to begin the

Englischer Garten The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Coun ...

. In the time following the Englischer Garten, Sckell spent a short time in service of the rulers of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, before he was called back in 1803 to Munich, where, as the Director of Royal Gardens, he completed the Englischer Garten. He then transformed the regular garden of Nymphenburg Park into a more scenic arrangement. As a landscape gardener, Sckell was also responsible for beginning the castle gardens at Biebrich and

Oppenweiler Oppenweiler is a town in the Rems-Murr district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Oppenweiler merged with Reichenberg on 1 April 1938. Geography The municipality ('' Gemeinde'') of Oppenweiler is located in the Rems-Murr district of Bad ...

, and possibly those at

Dirmstein Dirmstein () is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim (district), Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ...

as well. In 1808, Sckell received the title ''Knight of Sckell'', which added the "von" to his name. He died in 1823 in

as a Court Garden Director, and was buried in the

Alter Südfriedhof The Alter Südfriedhof (''Old South Cemetery'') also known as "Alter Südlicher Friedhof" is a cemetery in Munich, Germany. It was founded by Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, Duke Albrecht V as a plague cemetery in 1563 about half a kilometer so ...

there. A monument in the Englischer Garten was erected in his honor.

Notes

References

* The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent. * Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell: ''Beiträge zur bildenden Gartenkunst für angehende Gartenkünstler''. 2. Nachdruck der 2. Auflage von 1825, Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft (Grüne Reihe - Quellen und Forschungen zur Gartenkunst Band 05), Worms, 1998, *

Volker Hannwacker Volker may refer to: * Volker (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Volker, Kansas City, a historic neighborhood in Kansas City * Volker Boulevard, Kansas City * ''Alien Nations'' (German: ''Die Völker''), a real-time ...

: ''Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell. Der Begründer des Landschaftsgarten in Deutschland''.

Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...

, Stuttgart, 1992,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sckell, Friedrich Ludwig von 1750 births 1823 deaths 18th-century German people 19th-century German people German gardeners German landscape architects German untitled nobility People from Weilburg Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof

Career

See also

Notes

References

External links