Muskau Park

Bad Muskau, Germany

The Muskau or Muskauer Park is the largest and one of the most famous English gardens of Germany and Poland. Situated in the historic Upper Lusatia region, it covers 3.5 square kilometers of land in Poland and 2.1 km2 in Germany. The park extends on both sides of the Lusatian Neisse, which constitutes the border between the countries.

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. The founder of the adjacent park was Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), the author of the influential Hints on Landscape Gardening and owner of the state country of Muskau from 1811. After prolonged studies in England, in 1815 during the time when the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia fell to Prussia, 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.

The works involved remodelling the Baroque 'Old Castle' - actually a former castle gate - and the construction of a Gothic Revival chapel, an English cottage, several bridges, and an orangery designed by Friedrich Ludwig Persius. 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, 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, who employed Eduard Petzold, 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.

During the Battle of Berlin, both castles were levelled and all four bridges across the Neisse were razed. The von Arnims were dispossessed by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany 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' Prince Pückler.

In 2004 UNESCO added the park to its World Heritage List, as an exemplary example of cross-border cultural collaboration between Poland and Germany. It was added to the list on two criteria: for breaking new ground in terms of development towards the ideal man-made landscape, and for its influence on the development of landscape architecture as a discipline.

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User Reviews

Agnieszka Rybczyńska (9 months ago)
Located on the border of Poland and Germany, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Muskau Park is an excellent proposition for those who like spending time actively, outdoors, in the bosom of nature. The park is huge, you can spend all day there.
Yevgen Chupak (11 months ago)
Good spot. The Castle is nice outside but nothing to do inside. Cafe on the 2nd floor do not accepting cards. Be aware. The park is really beautiful especially in autumn
Maciej Polakowski (14 months ago)
Really really well maintained park with a beautiful palace inside. The terrain is quite large with a small waterfall and some ups and downs. Entrance to the park is free so don't wait and go for a stroll if you are around.
Terence Hill (14 months ago)
We drover here from Berlin. It's an easy drive. Took us about 1:30 minutes. There was plenty of Parking. We arrived at 11:47 and left at 16:50. We walked all over the Park Grounds. Pick up a Map makes it easier to navigate the Park. Part of the Park is in Poland. The Castle is also very nice. We walked up the Tower. It has 3 levels and you can get up into the spire and the all around. Each level of the Tower has small exhibites. We had a really good time. I can highly recommend to visit this Park.
Saba Malik (15 months ago)
Beautiful park to visit, don't forget to check out the castle. Entry is free unless you're planning a guided tour. View of the garden from Terrace Café is stunning! Ice tea/ice cream recommended. You can also opt for a horsecarriage ride in the park but check the timings.
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