In 1815, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau started work on a landscaped garden that would be without equal throughout the world. He gave his park a very modern and imaginative form, becoming one of the most important German landscape gardeners in the process. However, not all of his gardening dreams could be realised. A comparison between his visions and the reality is revealing.

Pückler drew inspiration for his park from the grounds of English stately homes. He was particularly enamoured of the romantic castles and palaces in England because they appearedd to be evidence of centuries of dominion. He wanted something similar in Muskau, but there was a catch: his medieval castle would have to be built specially. It never was.

At the centre of Muskauer Park stands the New Castle (Neues Schloss). Pückler planned to restyle it in collaboration with no less a person than Karl Friedrich Schinkel, but a shortage of money forced him to abandon the idea. Instead, Pückler's successors gave the castle a neo-renaissance look. It was destroyed by arson in 1945, but the ruin survived until 1995 when restoration began, resulting in the spectacular rebirth of the beautiful building.

“Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau” Foundation is dedicated to the preservation of Pückler's work and memory. Muskauer Park has been restored and is maintained by the foundation in co-operation with park specialists in Poland, and was inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004.

Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau Foundation