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Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
We are talking about Löwenburg Castle, one of the many gems of Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, which is going to reopen after comprehensive restoration works on 15 July 2022. Built at the end of the 18th century by Elector Wilhelm I, he pursued one goal: Löwenburg
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Issue 90 |
February 2022
Castle was to display the power and endurance of the House of Hesse. On a side note: the elector never lived in this castle. The building represented the beginning of a romanticising return to the Middle Ages; a development that culminated in the idealised, pseudo-medieval castle of Neuschwanstein. Asked about Löwenburg castle’s appeal, Röhring ventures an explanation: “The castle was built to give the impression of having been built in the Middle Ages. An inscription above the southern gate even claims, misleadingly by the way, that the castle was built in 1495. Varying window shapes and supposedly bricked-up windows and doorways are intended to suggest different construction phases – yet in fact, were all built at the same time. In order to fully appreciate the building and its various facets, visitors are advised to look closely and, as the castle refers to Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe and to the buildings within built by the elector’s ancestors, first take in its
The original, well-preserved interior furnishings play a large part in this vivid experience as well. “Löwenburg Castle is not a ‘cleared out’ building,” stresses Röhring. “The tapestries, furniture and decoration date from the elector’s times and, despite their extraordinary state, are currently also being carefully restored. The interior spaces give the feeling of visiting a stately home, with its residents perhaps gone on a short trip. Everything feels alive.” Thus bringing those Middle Ages back to life for visitors. www.museum-kassel.de/en
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“If you look at it objectively,” begins museum development planner Dr. Micha Röhring, “it’s quite an odd building: castle on the outside, albeit without any function, classicist castle within with representative spaces.”
surroundings. Originally, only the keep was planned. But in the course of the construction works, the visions of the builder and his architect Jussow became grander. One can almost follow this thought development and planning process. One edifice here, another turret there… this human aspect, the development, the fulfillment of dreams, all render Löwenburg Castle very accessible, becoming a point of reference. Its turrets and architecture corresponds well to our ideas of what a castle should look like – thereby cementing its unique appeal.”
TEXT: SILKE HENKELE
Although the Middle Ages, knights and jesters have long been a thing of the past, castles still captivate our minds today.
PHOTOS: MUSEUMSLANDSCHAFT HESSEN KASSEL
A REAL CASTLE?!
