Park New Palace

The palace court park was originally only for the use of the court and its guests: open for public use only since 1790.

The park borde­ring on New Palace is seen as the “green lung” in midst of the city and is a rela­xing land­scape for ever­yone. It was not always this way, where the people could walk the chestnut- and oak alleys and the gravel walks or use the wide lawns and enjoy the still waters.

The Hofgarten begins at the southeast side of the former city wall which can be traced back to the 16th century. At first it was a much smaller, a fenced in vege­table- and flower garden. The artistic design of the garden park is traceable back just to the middle of the 18th century. The still today exis­ting longi­tu­dinal axis in the Hofgarten served then for playing the very popular game of Braille-Maille by which a ball is driven forward by means of a racket.

In connec­tion with the cons­truc­tion of the new palace the Hofgarten was substan­ti­ally extended and equipped from 1753 onwards. An L‑form canal was created, with four places extended into ponds with an island. This canal is until today an enli­ven­ment in the middle of the Hofgarten. From this time come also the two avenues starting at the palace and the partly reserved statues with figures from the antique mytho­logy. After 1789 allowed margrave Alex­ander to change the baroque garden with its nume­rous patches, hedges and grounds, to be remo­deled to a “natural style” after English gardens but this was never comple­tely achieved. The baroque elements, canals, islands and alleys still domi­nate in the park today. In the south part of the park a round temple on 8 columns was erected at the end of the 18th century in honor of the prus­sian queen Louise. In the last decades some baroque forms, which had disap­peared in time, have been restored, like the parterre in the south part of the new palace.