Pompeiianum

Inspired by the excavations in Pompeii, King Ludwig I of Bavaria commissioned the architect Friedrich von Gärtner to build an idealized Roman villa, which was completed from 1840–1848. On the ground floor are the reception and guest rooms, the kitchen and the dining room, grouped around two inner court yards, the Atrium with its water basin and the Viridarium with its garden in the rear section of the house.

The splendid decoration of the interior and the mosaic floors were copied or adapted from ancient models. Since 1994, original Roman works of art from the State Antiquities Collections and the Glyptothek in Munich are now also on display here. Among the most valuable exhibits in addition to the Roman marble sculptures, small bronzes and glas ses, are two marble thrones of gods. In addition, there is a different special exhibtion every year on an archaeological topic.

The Pompeiianum is surrounded by a small garden which was also only laid out in the mid-19th century. It was to be an 'ideal Mediterranean landscape', and still has a flavour of the warmer climes of southern Europe with its fig, araucaria and almond trees, as well as vines, Lombardy poplars and pines.

References:

• Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung

Address

Pompejanumstraße 5, Aschaffenburg, Germany

Details

Founded: 1840-1848
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Germany
Historical period: German Confederation (Germany)