Hi all! Today we will talk about the Lion Castle. This is what is commonly called the German castle of Levenburg. This castle stands on a high mountain in Bavaria, the city of Kassel, in the Wilhelmshöhe park. The city of Kassel itself is part of a tourist route with the magical name “German Fairy Tale Road”. This road passes through places associated with ancient traditions and legends. There are a lot of secrets, a lot of antiquity, and, of course, castles. We will talk about one of them today.
The idea to build Löwenburg Castle (Schloss Löwenburg) came to the mind of William IX. According to his idea, it was supposed to be not just a castle, but something like a medieval English palace.
To realize his plans, the architect of Wilhelm IX, Johann Christoph Wussow, went to England. There he carefully and in detail studied the features of the ruins of medieval fortresses. After which he created his own plan for the new “old” castle with the adjacent Yussovu garden.
From 1793 to 1806, builders carefully erected the dilapidated castle. As a result, a picturesque pseudo-fortress was born, surrounded by the greenery of the garden.
Castle Features
Levenburg became one of the first such facilities in Europe. Many people liked the idea, soon the fashion was picked up, and elaborate ruins appeared in other cities. Creating a skillful imitation requires a flight of fancy, and it costs no less than building a “whole” park. Therefore, it is not so easy to surpass the creation of Christoph Wussow.
Let's start with the fact that the garden is picturesquely scattered:
- fake ruins
- fake aqueducts of Rome
- cute “toy” ancient Greek temples
- There is an insurmountable (at least at first glance) moat around the castle, which can be crossed via a drawbridge.
- The courtyard is surrounded by the essential attributes of any medieval castle: a palace tower, a gallery and a gate.
In other words, Levenburg and the area around it look like an architectural complex steeped in antiquity, a fortress that has survived more than one siege.
The interior atmosphere of the castle is no less unique. Here, as it should be, there is medieval furniture, collections of armor and weapons, altar slabs, game tables, stained glass windows and impressive statues.
On the territory of the castle complex there is a chapel with the tomb of William IX, who bequeathed to be buried here.
Next to the castle there is a weapons room that is worth a look. It stores weapons and armor of the 15th-16th centuries.
Castle surroundings
If you go higher up the hill from Levenburg, you will see another palace of enormous size.
This is Wilhelmshöhe Palace. It is now occupied by an art museum. The exhibition includes expensive collections of ancient architectural monuments and a gallery of old masters.
Alley next to Levenburg Castle
The palace is also surrounded by a park, completely different stylistically. But the main attraction of Wilhelmshöhe Park, which attracts thousands of tourists, is the cascading fountain falling from the mountain, from under the feet of the giant statue of Hercules.
Advice: of course, visiting these two parks and palaces should be combined. This is a single architectural complex on a hill.
Working hours
- January, February: from 10:00 to 16:00
- March – October: one hour longer.
What is the price
- adult ticket – €4
- students €2, people under 18 years of age free entry.
How to get there
Getting to the park where the castle is located is very easy: either by tram number 1 to the Wilhelmshöhe stop, or to the station of the same name by train. Continue on foot through the park and past Wilhelmshöhe Castle. Or on a tourist train that runs around the park.
The train runs around the park only on Wednesdays. Cascade Falls is also open for tourists only on Wednesdays. Due to the reconstruction of the park, this operating mode will last until 2018.
Address: Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, 34131 Kassel, Germany
Levenburg Castle on the map
Levenburg Castle is a real find for lovers of romantic ruins and classical European painting.
We hope that our article will help you see all the most interesting things in the park. Thank you for reading us. Subscribe to the news so you don't miss anything important. And see you soon!
The Middle Ages, with its knights, beautiful ladies and ballads of troubadours, have attracted the attention of Europeans at all times. The German lands were no exception. Castles were the embodiment of that romantic time. Among the many such buildings, Leuvenburg Castle stands out.
It is located in the small German town of Kassel in the Bavarian Alps. Located on a 92 m high mountain in Wilhelmshöhe Park, the castle is its most striking attraction.
Leuvenburg is a relatively young building, built in 1806. This was a time when German high society, delighted with romances of chivalry, enthusiastically built medieval castles, which often arose land disputes, which were resolved with the help of land dispute lawyers. The Elector of Hesse, Wilhelm IX, did not stand aside either. While married, he was in love with Caroline von Schlotheim. The castle was destined to become a place for romantic dates. The construction was entrusted to the architect Heinrich Yussof, who became famous for implementing the projects of the richest people of the Old World.
Leuvenburg Castle looks like a dilapidated fortress surrounded by a deep moat. You can get into it by crossing a drawbridge through a massive gate. The main tower palace, gallery, corner towers, castle chapel and armory are concentrated around the quadrangular courtyard.
The entire Leuvenburg complex has a beautiful British style garden with themed corners. Here you can see the ruins of Greek cathedrals, ancient Roman aqueducts, and palace ruins. In the shady alleys of the garden, figures of ancient gods and statues of lions lurk, thanks to which the complex received its second name - “Lion Castle”. The interior of the castle is represented by unique medieval furniture. The walls are lined with collectible weapons, and the reception rooms are lined with gaming tables and bronze statues. The windows of the Lion Castle are decorated with elaborate stained glass windows.
In the Wilhelmshohe park (Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe), which is located in the city of Kassel, there is a unique Löwenburg castle. Looking at it, you might think that this is an ancient medieval building. However, it is not. It was commissioned by William IX at the end of the 18th century and served as a place for his love affairs with Caroline von Schlotheim, as well as subsequently […]
IN park Wilhelmshohe (Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe) that is in the city Kassel, located unique Löwenburg Castle. Looking at it, you might think that this is an ancient medieval building. However, it is not. It was built to order William IX at the end of the 18th century and served as a place for his love affairs with Caroline von Schlotheim, and also subsequently became the burial place of the Landgrave.
From 1793 to 1801, the construction of Levenburg Castle lasted. An architect worked on his project Heinrich Christoph Yussow. About a hundred years passed when the last castle was built in Germany, because with the advent of the Renaissance, aristocrats began to build palaces, preferring them to castles, but the famous architect got down to business with enthusiasm.
To build a beautiful romantic garden around Levenburg Castle, Yussow had to go to Great Britain to get to know the English romantic ruins better. At first, the customer only planned to rebuild the destroyed tower and an extension near it, but later a full-fledged castle grew on the hill, which was grouped around a courtyard.
In 1945 Levenburg Castle, which is also called Lion Castle, was significantly destroyed. All that was left of it was the tower and part of the walls, and the garden was also very badly damaged. Almost immediately after the war, work began on the restoration of Levenburg. As a result, the appearance of the castle changed greatly. However, it continues to attract tourists today.
34131 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, Germany
museum-kassel.de
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Despite the fact that Levenburg with its beautiful towers looks like a real castle from chivalric romances or European fairy tales, it was built at the end of the 18th century by the architect Heinrich Christoph Jussow on the meeting place of William IX (1743-1821) with by his mistress Caroline von Schlotheim (1766-1847) and then became his burial place. Having completed his earthly journey, the Landgrave rested in the crypt under the chapel at his own request. The castle is located in the unique mountain nature park Wilhelmshohe (Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe) in Kassel, Germany, on a 92-meter-high hill in the Bavarian Alps. The castle is considered one of the first significant examples of neo-Gothic architecture in Germany and serves as a recognizable emblem for the company producing children's films.
Of course, Levenburg is fundamentally different from the magnificent Bavarian Neuschwanstein Castle in terms of architecture, but this does not mean that Levenburg is any less beautiful and dramatic. Today Levenburg is more of a mock castle surrounded by ruins, but it still manages to offer an unforgettable journey back in time.
Architect Heinrich Christoph Jussow worked on the construction of Levenburg from 1793 to 1801, centuries after castles had actually been built in Germany (with the advent of the Renaissance, wealthy and noble clients began to prefer palaces to castles). He was a very popular architect with extensive knowledge, who worked not only at home, but also abroad, in France, Italy and England. Yussow made a special trip to Great Britain (UK) to study the English romantic ruins in order to build a large beautiful garden around Levenburg. This imitation of a medieval castle initially responded to romantic rather than historical ideas about the Middle Ages and was deliberately built in the form of artificial ruins. Initially, it was planned to build only a “dilapidated” tower with an extension, but ultimately a complete castle appeared on the hill, grouped around a courtyard.
In 1945, British and Allied aircraft carried out several raids on Kassel, which, due to its defense industrial complex, was a very important city for the war economy of Nazi Germany. Alas, the Lion Castle was also bombed. It was destroyed to a large extent, only the tower with the remains of the walls remained, and the garden was also damaged. In the post-war years, the reconstruction of Levenburg began, which quite noticeably changed the original appearance of the castle, and the work has not yet been completed.
However, Levenburg is considered one of the most attractive places for tourists in the Wilhelmsholl park, which in Germany is something like the Tokyo Disney park. The entire complex is a beautiful park in the English style, where you can see not only a “medieval” false fortress, but also the same artificial ruins of a Roman aqueduct, an English castle, Greek temples and even a fake Chinese village. This is one of the first facilities of this kind in Europe.
The interiors of Levenburg were cozy princely apartments, decorated in accordance with the trends of the Baroque era and decorated with numerous weapons and armor from the 16th and 17th centuries, but most of the historical collections have been stored in warehouses since the Second World War and will only be returned to the castle after the reconstruction is completed.
In Kassel, in the Wilhelmshöhe park, there is the medieval Leuvenburg fortress - one of the most beautiful castles in the world, which evokes clear associations with Gothic, airy and seemingly very ancient. Landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hesse built it at the beginning of the 19th century, inspired by medieval romance.
Despite the fact that Levenburg with its beautiful towers looks like a real castle from chivalric romances or European fairy tales, it was built at the end of the 18th century by the architect Heinrich Christoph Jussow on the meeting place of William IX (1743-1821) with his mistress Caroline von Schlotheim (1766-1847). The Landgrave lived in full accordance with the ideals of the Romantic era, and in fact, the castle served him as a place of retreat for himself and his lover, Caroline von Schlotheim, who bore him a dozen children, despite the protests of William's wife, Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark. However, Wilhelmina limited herself to five offspring, so her husband’s mistress outdid her in this indicator. In 1821, Wilhelm died at the age of 78 in his beloved Leuvenburg (as you can see, the amorous excesses did not harm the Landgrave’s health at all, and he managed to live to a fairly respectable age).
The castle also became his burial place. Having completed his earthly journey, the Landgrave rested in the crypt under the chapel at his own request.
The castle stands on a 92-meter-high hill in the Bavarian Alps. The castle is considered one of the first significant examples of neo-Gothic architecture in Germany and serves as a recognizable emblem for the company producing children's films.
The artistic and historical role of Leuvenburg in German architecture is enormous. We can say that the history of neo-Gothic architecture in Germany begins with it, since this castle is the first significant building in this style. Leuvenburg was built in 1793 - 1801, the architect Heinrich Christoph Jussow worked on its design. At a time when the era of building fortified formidable castles in Germany had already ended for several centuries and about a hundred years had passed when the last castle was erected in Germany, because with the advent of the Renaissance, aristocrats began to build palaces, preferring them to castles, but the famous architect enthusiastically got down to business. To build a beautiful romantic garden around Levenburg Castle, Yussow had to go to Great Britain to get to know the English romantic ruins better.
The castle is an imitation of a medieval knight's castle, the romantic appearance of ancient ruins (by the way, there are also ruins, and they were dilapidated already at the design stage, so that everything would be “like for real”). Today the castle looks as if there had been fierce fighting around it for at least a couple of hundred years, with Leuvenburg changing hands. But in reality, the castle experienced real military damage only in the 20th century, but more on that below.
Initially, the architect Heinrich Christoph Yussof planned to build “romantic ruins” - one dilapidated tower with a small extension. The tower turned out to be quite good and moderately destroyed, but it was decided to build something else around it. In the end, it turned out to be a complete fortress, grouped around a courtyard. There was also a beautiful English garden in which you can see fake ruins, pseudo-Roman aqueducts and pseudo-Greek temples. The castle was built from tuff, which was available near the construction site in considerable quantities and was easily processed.
The interior of the castle consists of four princely apartments in Baroque style. The towers contain a rich collection of historical weapons and ramming machines from the 16th – 17th centuries. The Castle Chapel is a museum of medieval church paraphernalia from the surrounding towns. Here, under the choir, there is a crypt with the grave of the Landgrave. During the war, numerous castle furnishings were evacuated from Leuvenburg. This historical collection is still not fully displayed in the castle - Kassel's management promises to do this after the restoration is completely completed.
In 1945, British and Allied aircraft carried out several raids on Kassel, which, due to its defense industrial complex, was a very important city for the war economy of Nazi Germany. Alas, the Lion Castle was also bombed. It was destroyed to a large extent, only the main tower remained, but only a few staircases with the remains of walls remained from it. The castle was restored in the post-war years, but the main tower is still being restored. Unfortunately, the restoration was mainly guided by functionality rather than accuracy of the parts. However, Loewenburg's charm remains the same. The fortress stands on a hill above the city and evokes dreams of knightly tournaments, mighty men-at-arms, beautiful ladies and troubadours.
Of course, Levenburg is fundamentally different from the magnificent Bavarian Neuschwanstein Castle in terms of architecture, but this does not mean that Levenburg is any less beautiful and dramatic. Today Levenburg is more of a mock castle surrounded by ruins, but it still manages to offer an unforgettable journey back in time.
When I was developing the route and saw this castle and park, there was no doubt left - I had to go there!! The castle fascinated me. And when suddenly he opened up among the bushes, I realized that romance is not dead! It still lives in the souls of people who want to see it all (no wonder it is extremely difficult to find a free place in a hotel). But we were unlucky here too, it was already getting dark and there was no sky again.
On the way to the castle, I noticed the fir trees, their branches look up, not down. Wonderful.
The climb is quite steep and I walked without stopping, because I was afraid: if I sat on the bench with the guys, I wouldn’t get up. It’s hard to walk uphill, and it’s steep at that.
And now the castle is visible, but you still need to get to it, the stairs go (as you can see) in zigzags.
Photos, unfortunately, do not give depth, but the height is decent!
just a little more - and I'm there!
Kassel is visible in the distance in a blue haze.
And here is the whole castle. Romantically beautiful, isn't it?
Opposite the castle there are these rows of amphitheater with benches, and on the right there is a huge field for festivities.
and from this field Hercules is clearly visible, also in the haze. The walk to it is also uphill for more than an hour.
and in parts :))
Thank you for your attention:)
I hope that the time you spent with me was not wasted :)
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