Bellevue Palace, Kassel
| Bellevue Palace | |
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The palace in July 2010
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| Alternative names | Palais Bellevue, Schloss Bellevue |
| General information | |
| Status | Museum |
| Town or city | Kassel |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 51°18′35″N 9°29′38″E / 51.309839°N 9.493933°ECoordinates: 51°18′35″N 9°29′38″E / 51.309839°N 9.493933°E |
| Opened | 1714 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Paul du Ry |
Bellevue Palace (German: Palais Bellevue or Schloss Bellevue) in Kassel was built in 1714 for Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Originally the building served as an Observatory. It became a residence, and then part of Bellevue Castle, which was later destroyed. Today the building houses a museum devoted to the Brothers Grimm.
Bellevue Palace is near the center of Kassel, west of the Fulde River. It is next to the Neue Galerie, an art museum founded in 1976 in an 1874 neo-classical building. Bellevue Palace was erected in 1714 by the French architect and Huguenot refugee Paul du Ry as an observatory for Charles I (1654–1730), Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.
From about 1725 on, the palace was used as a residence for members of the Landgrave's court, such as his mistress Barbara Christine von Bernhold (1690–1756). Prince Frederick II (1720–1785), Landgrave from 1760 on, married Mary, daughter of King George II of England. He had the palace surrounded by an Anglo-Chinese garden, the first such garden on the continent. In 1779, Frederick II opened a public museum of natural history and classical art, the Fridericianum, but kept the royal painting collection in Bellevue palace. In 1790 Simon Louis du Ry renovated the building for William IX (1743–1821).
During the Napoleonic era the palace became the property of Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813. It first housed his foreign minister, Pierre Alexandre Le Camus. In 1810, Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny rebuilt the state rooms of the palace, and after Kassel's primary palace had burned in 1811, Jérôme himself moved into Bellevue Palace. Jacob Grimm, the private librarian of King Jérôme and state auditor, was a frequent visitor. After Jérôme was expelled in 1813 William IX, later Elector William I of Hesse (1743–1821), returned. William II (1777–1847) also lived here. The Electress Augusta (1780–1841), who was estranged from William II, used it as her town house and summer residence.
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Wikipedia