Schloss Benrath

Schloss Benrath lies at Urdenbacher Allee 6 in the district of Benrath, in the south of Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, on the edge of the Rhine plain. It was built between 1755 and 1773 for Elector Carl Theodor of the Palatinate by the court architect Nicolas de Pigage as a maison de plaisance, a pleasure palace rather than a seat of government. The design is distinctive: from the front the central block, the Corps de Logis, looks like a modest single-storey pavilion in rose-pink plaster, but inside it contains three storeys and a series of rooms planned for family use and for entertaining. Two flanking wings frame a forecourt, and the main axis leads to a large mirror pond and parkland that were designed together with the building. The park was later redesigned in the landscape style by the garden designer Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe in the early 19th century. Inside, visitors can join guided tours of the state rooms, including the domed Rococo hall and richly decorated apartments with stucco, painted ceilings and period furnishings. The palace also houses the Museum für Europäische Gartenkunst, which explains the history of European garden design, and a natural history museum in one of the wings. After the Palatinate dynasty ended, the palace passed to the Bavarian crown and then to the Prussian state, and in the 20th century to the city and state. It was repaired after wartime damage and has been maintained as a museum. The park is open free of charge, and guided tours are usually required for the palace interior, so confirm times and prices at schloss-benrath.de.