Muskau Park – largest and one of the most famous English gardens of Germany and Poland
If you plan to visit Germany or Poland, you should reserve at least a moment to see one of the most beautiful parks in Europe – Muskau Park (Muskauer Park in German or Park Mużakowski in Polish). Walking through this picturesque piece of nature can help you to forget about everyday stress and worries.
Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Udo Schröter
Muskau Park is located on the border between Poland and Germany, along the Neisse River. It covers an area of over eight hundred hectares, thus it is one of the largest and certainly the most famous English parks in both countries. The park includes also two magnificent castles – An Old Castle, dating back to the 13th century and two centuries younger New Castle. Right here, beside those two castles, was Muskau Park founded in 1815. The founder was Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau, whose name is probably not missing in any publication of the garden architecture. He was an excellent artist in landscape gardening and wrote also several great publications about a harmony between a nature and human activity. In 1834 he summarized his ideas and findings into the publication, which meant a complete breakthrough in this area. Unfortunately, not all plans could be implemented. The cost of construction of the park and extensive reconstructions of the adjacent castles greatly exceeded the architect’s investment options. In 1845 Pückler was forced to sold a park and the adjacent estate and the new owner engaged for completion works the famous landscape architect Eduard Petzold.
Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Udo Schröter
Muskauer Park was seriously damaged during the World War II. Both castles and surrounding structures, including bridges, were destroyed by bombing. In addition, the park was in 1945 divided into two parts, which made its reconstruction very complicated. More than two thirds of the area fell to Poland and and the rest to Germany. The closer cooperation between those two parts started in the 90′s of the last century, while the reconstruction work is still being done.
Not only the life-work of Hermann von Pückler, but also the way how Muskau Park was created, greatly influenced the development of landscape architecture in Europe and America. This is why the park was in 2004 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The park is now open for visitors every day from 10 to 18 hours, winter months excluded. The admission is free.
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