Schloss Benrath



Schloss Benrath (Benrath Palace) is a Baroque maison de plaisance (fr. for pleasure palace) in Benrath, which is nowaday a suburb of Düsseldorf. It was erected for the Elector Palatine Charl Theodor and his wife Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach by his garden and building director Nicolas de Pigage. The construction begun in 1755 and was completed in 1770. The ensemble at Benrath has been proposed for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Buildings
The main building, the central corps de logis, for the Elector Palatine and his wife is flanked by two arched symmetrical wings, the maisons de cavalière, which originally were housing the servants. They surround partially a circular pond, the Schlossweiher (palace pond), in the north. On the southside lays a long rectangular pond, the Spiegelweiher (mirror pond). From the predescant castle, which stood formerly in the mid of the long rectangular pond on the southside of the palace, is conserved only one of the servant wings, the so-called Alte Orangerie (Old Orangery).

Museums
The main building corps de logis is a museum with guided tours only. Sometimes concerts of music are presented also. The two wings are housing two museums since 2002: the Museum for European Garden Art in the east wing and the Museum of Natural History in the west wing.

Park
It is surrounded by a baroque square hunting park with two crossing diagonal alleys and a circular alley.