The Wilhelmshöhe palace in Kassel
part 1
Today I am in Kassel.
From the center of the Kassel city begins a very very very very very long straight road, called Wilhelmshöher Allee, that leads to the famous Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe.
The day is a bit dark. It is drizzling. However, I decided to go on and visit the park anyway.
The easiest way to get to the park is to take tram number 1, which stops at the base of the mountain. From here it is necessary to walk for about 10 - 15 minutes, and finally you will arrive at the famous palace.
the park is wonderful :)
According to the text at the main entrance:
Beginning in 1789, Landgrave Wilhelm IX (1743 - 1821) built the three-wing, Neo-Classical palace complex to replace the earlier Renaissance building. Originally the Palace consisted of three separate blocks: the Weißenstein Wing (1786 - 1790), the Chapel Wing (1788 - 1792, both by Simon Louis Du Ry). and the Corps de Logis (1791 - 1798, by Heinrich Christoph lussow). In order to meet the growing need for space, storeys were added to the connecting gallery buildings from 1828, resulting in today's single block. Once the Corps de Logis was complete, Wilhelm IX required a new name for his palace, formerly known as Weißenstein. The name of Wilhelmshöhe, which also acknowledged the building's patron, came to be used for the park and the avenue leading down towards Kassel as well.The central block and its dome Were destroyed by air raids during WWII. In the years 1968 - 1974, the palace was restored and converted into a museum dedicated to the Antiques Collection and the Old Masters Gallery. Since the last renovation, in 1996 - 2000, the basement and ground floor have been housing the Antiques Collection, the museum shop, and the café. The Old Masters Gallery occupies the three upper floors. The Landgravial living quarters in the southern Weißenstein Wing may be visited in the course of guided tours; the Chapel Wing houses departments of MHK; the Collection of Prints and Drawings; a reference library; and the chapel that gave the wing its name.
The ground floor of the palace contains a collection of ancient archaeological finds dating back to different eras.
The first and third floors contain paintings. The second floor of the building was closed and unfortunately not open to visitors.
From to the Brochure:
The History of the Gallery in KasselThe Gallery of Old Masters is one of the most significant collections of its kind in Germany and boasts an extremely colourful history. With origins at the older landgrave estate, the collection was primarily established by three noblemen. Landgrave Carl (1654-1730) at first set his sights on Italy, however he also acquired the first by Rembrandt's for Kassel. The paintings were exhibited with the Iandgrave's other collections in the Kunsthaus, which was renovated in 1696. Today the building houses the Museum of Natural History. A picture gallery in the true sense was first established by Carl's son, Wilhelm VIII (1682-1760).
His connoisseurship and devotion to collecting was responsible for the majority of the Dutch and Flemish masterpieces on display in Kassel today. To house the extensive collection, he built his own gallery, designed by the Bavarian court architect Francois de Cuvilliés, at the residential palace at the Schdne Aussicht. The gallery's skylights were based on the most advanced ideas of the time. At first Wilhelm's son Friedrich II (1720-1785) continued to collect. Later, however, he devoted himself to other interests and established the Museum Fridericianum based on the ideas of the Enlightenment. It was the first building on the continent built specifically as a museum. Under his authority, the first printed catalogue of the painting collection appeared in 1783. Subsequent generations continually expanded the picture gallery, which nonetheless was increasingly plagued by a lack of space.
The painting collection acquired a magnificent new structure with the opening in 1877 of the new gallery building at the Schbne Aussicht, a state-of-the-art space for exhibitions designed by Heinrich Dehn-Rotfelser. The building was badly damaged during World War II. It was rebuilt and since 1976 as the Neue Galerie it has housed the collection of works from the 19th to 21 st centuries.
After years of temporary accommodation in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, however, the Gallery of the Old Masters finally moved into the remodelled middle tract of the WilhelmshOhe Palace in 1974. Its three storeys of exhibition space offer a fascinating tour of European art history from the late Gothic through the beginnings of Classicism.
Look how beautiful the gallery was, before it was destroyed in World War II :(
