Munich Castles: Nymphenburg Palace

The history of the origins of the Nymphenburg palace and its gardens, both of which are located in the west of Munich in the district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, is very long and covers a period of more than 300 years.

Because a successor to the throne, Max Emanuel, was born in 1664, the elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy put the Bolognese architect Agostino Barelli in charge of constructing a summer residence with a small ornamental garden for her.

In 1701, her son Max Emanuel decided to extend his mother's residence that is not visible any more nowadays. This extension was carried out by Charles Carbonet.

In 1715, the palace and the garden were extended again by Dominique Girard and Joseph Effner in baroque style. The canal system that had been started in 1701 and served for collecting the water from the river Würm (that was about two kilometers away) and directing it to the garden, was finished. It did not only serve for the watering of the gardens, but also for sophisticated waterworks by means of pump systems.

At the end of the reign of Max Emanuel in 1726, there was a large park that had mainly been created from the forrest that used to be there. The garden area was designed in a symmetrical way. At the end of the straight canal that was lined with paths and trees on both sides, Joseph Effner realised a waterfall. In the park, two small castles were built by Joseph Effner, the Pagodenburg north and the Badenburg south of the canal, both arranged symetrically again. The Badenburg is of baroque style and was served as indoor swimming pool for Max Emanuel. Between 1734 and 1739, Francois de Cuvillies built the Amalienburg of rococo style.

Within the following decades, the park and the palace were extended again and many interesting features of different styles were added.