Heidexburg

Previous Buildings

The predecessor of the palace was built in the XIII century, located on the territory of a modern castle garden. This fortress belonged to the counts of Orlamunde , and in 1334 passed to the counts of Schwarzburg , and during the Thuringian war the counts in 1345 were destroyed. ^[1] There are no visible parts of this fortress. In the second half of the XIV century, a new castle was erected, which was located between the open stage and the center of the modern castle. A round tower built into the horse riding hall has survived from this building to our days. In 1573, the fortress burned down, at least partially, and in its place was built a Renaissance palace with three wings, the dimensions of which approximately corresponded to the modern palace.

Baroque Palace

In 1735, this palace also burned down, only the watchhouse, the ribbed vault on the first floor of the western wing, the entrance to the northern wing, as well as large parts of the southern filigel (entrance gate, mirror cabinet and several other rooms) survived. These parts have been preserved and incorporated into the new palace. In 1737, construction work began on the construction of a new residence in the Baroque style , which was supposed to correspond to the level of the Schwarzburg house , whose head now had the status of imperial prince .

The length of the courtyard of the palace is about 150 meters. On the south side of the courtyard is the southern outbuilding, built on the basis of the predecessor palace. A new main outbuilding was erected from the western part of the courtyard. Its center is occupied by a magnificent ceremonial hall, which today is open for visitors and where various cultural events, such as palace concerts, are held. On each side of the hall is preceded by a certain order of rooms. The northern outbuilding was built as the location of the administration of the principality and was expanded to include many small utility rooms, including the playpen. The last major building of that era is the 40-meter tower erected in 1744.

To build a new palace after the fire, Prince Friedrich Anton wanted to invite the famous Dresden architect M.D. Pöppelmann , but he died in 1736. As a result, the main architect of the palace was the successor of Peppermann as chief architect of Dresden, Christoph Kneffel (1686-1752). The influence of the Dresden Late Baroque is manifested primarily in the drawings made by Kneffel of the western outbuilding and in the arrangement of rooms in the main outbuilding. In the rooms, divided into two apartments, consisting of a front, a living room, an office with an alcove and a garberob, a certain French influence was visible. However, construction work did not go as fast as planned. The reason for this, first of all, was the overload of Kneffel, who could not keep up with the development of construction plans. In this regard, in 1743 he was removed from the leadership of the construction of the palace, which was transferred to the chief architect of Weimar , Gottfried Heinrich Krone (1703-1756). Under his leadership, the construction of the residence accelerated. Although at the time of his death in 1756 the finishing work was not completely completed, Krone managed to draw up detailed drawings, according to which the construction continued until the 1770s. The construction completion time is considered to be 1786 (as indicated on the plate), however, work in the northern outbuilding and in the eastern part of the south was carried out almost until 1810.

The palace compares favorably, at least with the residences of numerous Thuringian small states, due to its splendor. It was achieved through such elements as a voluminous decoration of the hall with a height of 12 meters. Initially, the strictly rectangular Kneffel Hall acquired walls, curved in the form of waves, niches for furnaces on the end sides, corners and lodges rounded in the upper part by the buffet niches. Also, baroque elements include wall forms of stucco and murals . To the south of the main hall since 1742 there are “red rooms”, in 1750 there were rooms on the north side, forming a "green hall" and completely completed in the 1770s. They also have a luxurious finish - stucco, ceiling and wall paintings, carvings. All rooms included in the ensemble of the front hall are connected to each other by a gallery and two stairs. The southern outbuilding consists primarily of residential premises, which, however, are decorated according to numerous personal preferences and have a diverse appearance.

Subsequent stages of construction

Almost immediately after the completion of the interior decoration of the palace, in 1800 a new intensive construction phase began. Several small rooms have been remade in accordance with the requirements of another style - classicism . In the palace garden appeared the sanctuary of Or , artificial ruins and the foundations of columns. In addition, the south wing was expanded east.

After 1918 and the removal from power of Prince Gunther Victor, the palace became an exhibition site for many museums, which in 1950 merged into the "State Museum of Heidexburg". In 1940, as a result of the reconstruction in Schwarzburg Castle, the weapons collection housed in it was moved to Heidexburg. In 1945 the castle suffered serious damage, and in the 1950s, work was carried out to repair the roof of the palace, in 1956 the facing of the western and northern outbuildings was updated. In 1966, a new copper roof was constructed on the tower. In 1971, a mirror cabinet was restored in the south wing, which remained from the previous palace. Since 1994, various restoration works have been carried out with the support of the Thuringian Foundation for Palaces and Gardens , which is the current owner of Heidexburg. During these works, the palace courtyard was re-paved, the gallery's rooms were restored, the halls of the southern outbuilding were equipped, and the roof was also updated.

Today, the Thuringian Museum of Heidexburg and the Thuringian State Archive Rudolstadt are located in the palace. Here is the headquarters of the foundation of Thuringian palaces and gardens. The interior of the palace (main hall, green hall, porcelain gallery, palace courtyard, terrace) can be visited with a guided tour or during other events held in Heidexburg.

Weapon Collection

The Thuringian Museum of Hydexburg has a rich collection of weapons, consisting of about 4000 exhibits from the 15th-19th centuries. Part of this collection is exhibited in the late Gothic vaulted hall. At present, about 3,500 weapons that have not been exhibited since 1940 are stored in the Heidexburg warehouse. It is estimated that this collection will be restored as part of a joint project between the Federation and the museum. After the restoration of the Schwarzburg arsenal is completed , it is planned to transfer part of the meeting there in 2012. ^[2]

In the northern wing will be shown the development of the Schwarzburg army through the exhibition of swords of the XV century. and armor from the Thirty Years War . ^[3]

• Direktion der Staatlichen Museen Heidecksburg (Hg.in): Schloß Heidecksburg. Wegweiser durch die Fest- und Wohnräume , Rudolstadt 1969.
• Direktion der Staatlichen Museen Heidecksburg (Hg.in): Schloß Heidecksburg. Wegweiser zu den Sammlungen im Schloß und in den weiteren Museumsaußenstellen , 3. erweit. Aufl., Rudolstadt oJ (1983).
• Alfred Koch: Schloß Heidecksburg , (Baudenkmale 71), EA Seemann: Leipzig 1990, ISBN 3-363-00454-0 .
• Thüringer Landesmuseum Heidecksburg (Hg.): Schloß Heidecksburg. Die Sammlungen , Rudolstadt 2004, ISBN 3-910013-57-0 .

• Hydexburg Castle (German )
• Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation (German) (English) (inaccessible link - history )