The ensemble in Oranienbaum begun in 1683 comprising the town, palace and park forms a rare
example of a systematic Baroque estate commissioned by royality in central Germany. The
underlying features of town planning effected in this Dutch-influenced country district
remain preserved to the present day.
In 1659, Prince Jahann Georg II of Anhalt-Dessau (1627-93) married Princess Henriette
Catharina of Nassau-Orange (1637-1708). At this time her home province was fluorishing
during the "Golden Age", and the Princess' arrival provided an important stimulus for
commercial life and the arts in Anhalt-Dessau (including Oranienbaum). Henriette Catharina
evidently took a liking to the village of Nischwitz, consisting of just a handful of buildings.
In 1673 it was renamed Oranienbaum, and ten years later work began on building the town and the
palace and laying out the park, a task for which the Princess calles in architect and fellow
Dutchman Cornelis Ryckwaert from the Netherlands (d. 1693).
Initially the town districts roughly correspondented to the width of the palace and garden. At
one crossroads, the road axis leading to the palace dilates to form a square marketplace,
while at the southern end of the street crossing it stands the town church consecrated in 1712.
At the centre of the square is a sandstone vase containing a wrought-iron orange tree - for
the orange is the symbol of the House of Orange, who had played a prominent role as
"stadtholders" (governor-generals) of the Netherlands during the liberation struggle against
Hapsburg rule, and from whose lineage Henriette Catharina descended.
The overall layout of the town and the surrounding estate is based around the palace. The
main building was erected first of all, initially with wooden galleries at the sides, although
these were very quickly replaced by sturdy wings. The three-winges, open design was typical
of contemporary trends in palace construction. After Ryckwaert's death, housing for the
nobility, service quarters and stables were added.
As large parts of the palace are currently occupied by Oranienbaum Archive, a museum has been
installed in the side wing, providing an insight into the development of Oranienbaum and the
palace furnishings. A hall in the palace's interior lined with exquisite Dutch leather
wall-hanging is especially remarkable, while the basement harbours a vaulted hall decorated
with blue-and-white tiles and tile paintings also from the Netherlands depicting antique
planetary deities. In the second half of the 18th century, several of the rooms in the
palace were redesigned in the Chinese style.
In the 20th century, building development in Oranienbaum swallowed up parts of the extensive
park. Since then its appearance has been dominated by the hedge-enclosed lawns of the original
parterre maintained until the 18th century. Along the southern edge of the park streches one
of the longest orangeries in Europe built in the classic style between 1812 and 1818 by
Carlo Ignazio Pozzi (1766-1842). Recently revived, orange cultivation actually goes back a
long way in Oranienbaum, and at one time as many as 550 orange trees stood here. Every summer
when the tub plants are displayed in the park, events are held in the building in connection
with the International Garden Festival.
After a large landscape garden was created nearly Wörlitz, the baroque island garden and
part of the adjacent forest area were laid out anew between 1793 and 1797 upon the order of
Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz (1740-1817). The resulting Chinese Garden remains virtually
unchanged to the present and is of outstanding significance in Central Europe. The design of
the Chinese Garden, the grounds of which are criss-crossed by streams and bridges and contain
a pagoda and a summerhouse, was influenced by English architect Sir William Chambers.
The Chinese Garden marked the last main phase in the creation of this historical ensemble in
Oranienbaum comprising the town, the palace and the park - a universal work of art which for
years has been the subject of intensive maintenance, restoration and development work.
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Gebäude der Orangerie
Monument to the House of Orange on the historical marketplace
Pagoda in the Anglo-Chinese Garden
Chinese House in the Anglo-Chinese Garden
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stadtinfo at oranienbaum.de
