Treasures off the Beaten Track: Oberschleissheim Palace
Our recent best and worst of 2009 by no means wanted to suggest a hierarchy of places or that there are no others that could offer similar experiences. In fact, there are many more in our area of travel, i.e. Central and Eastern Europe- many that can be discovered as part of a tour with guests - and many that warrant going to on one's own to infuse travel with culture and a taste of the local.
In the following blog posts I would like to look at several such places. It is an open brainstorming effort and again is not meant to be conclusive.
Oberschleissheim Palace, Bavaria
I can't even count how many times I have had to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site outside Munich in recent years. Its educational merit notwithstanding, it often resembles a bit of death camp tourism between shopping in Munich and is overrun with tourists and school groups alike. Although not as personally uprooting as Auschwitz or the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., the Dachau memorial usually leaves visitors visibly moved and emotionally in need of a little "mood booster" afterwards.
For that reason, I like to visit nearby Oberschleissheim Palace - a mere 3-4 miles away from the Memorial Site.
It is one of the big Munich palaces built by the Wittelsbach family, but rarely seen by visitors and almost never by larger groups. Although destroyed in WWII due to a nearby airstrip, it was carefully restored in the post-war years and nowadays boasts a splendid interior with opulent frescoes as well as paintings pertaining to the Bavarian State Collection.
And this is the unique, uplifiting and culturally enriching part of Oberschleissheim - it is one of the few places I know in the area where actual bonding and intimate immediate contact with artwork is still possible, simply because there is noone there.
The collection includes Dutch and Flemish Masters, especially by Van Dyk and Rubens, as well as potraits by Joseph Vivien, pioneer of pastel paintings. Much of the artwork deals with Prince Elector Max Emanuel, who had the New Palace of Oberschleissheim built as a testament to his political power ambitions. After conquering the Turks in the late 17th century, Max Emmanuel had high hopes of becoming Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but ultimately failed after losing the War of Spanish Succession. He subsequently spent years of exile in Flanders and returned to Bavaria a broken man. Much of that personal legacy can be retraced through the paintings inside the Palace. In addition, there are surprising, subtle references to the victory over the Turks hidden and waiting to be discovered in almost any rococo ornament throughout the building.
Finally, the gardens around Oberschleissheim are a delight to visit, as they are usually devoid of crowds and neatly landscaped according to the French garden tradition. And in front of the New Palace entrance - adjacent to the Old Palace of Schleissheim, an Italian Villa from the 17th century, we can find one of greater Munich's most authentic and least crowded beer gardens, perfect for a lunch break outdoors in spring and summer.
Link: http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/deutsch/schloss/objekte/schl_ns.htm
In the following blog posts I would like to look at several such places. It is an open brainstorming effort and again is not meant to be conclusive.
Oberschleissheim Palace, Bavaria
I can't even count how many times I have had to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site outside Munich in recent years. Its educational merit notwithstanding, it often resembles a bit of death camp tourism between shopping in Munich and is overrun with tourists and school groups alike. Although not as personally uprooting as Auschwitz or the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., the Dachau memorial usually leaves visitors visibly moved and emotionally in need of a little "mood booster" afterwards.
For that reason, I like to visit nearby Oberschleissheim Palace - a mere 3-4 miles away from the Memorial Site.
It is one of the big Munich palaces built by the Wittelsbach family, but rarely seen by visitors and almost never by larger groups. Although destroyed in WWII due to a nearby airstrip, it was carefully restored in the post-war years and nowadays boasts a splendid interior with opulent frescoes as well as paintings pertaining to the Bavarian State Collection.
And this is the unique, uplifiting and culturally enriching part of Oberschleissheim - it is one of the few places I know in the area where actual bonding and intimate immediate contact with artwork is still possible, simply because there is noone there.
The collection includes Dutch and Flemish Masters, especially by Van Dyk and Rubens, as well as potraits by Joseph Vivien, pioneer of pastel paintings. Much of the artwork deals with Prince Elector Max Emanuel, who had the New Palace of Oberschleissheim built as a testament to his political power ambitions. After conquering the Turks in the late 17th century, Max Emmanuel had high hopes of becoming Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but ultimately failed after losing the War of Spanish Succession. He subsequently spent years of exile in Flanders and returned to Bavaria a broken man. Much of that personal legacy can be retraced through the paintings inside the Palace. In addition, there are surprising, subtle references to the victory over the Turks hidden and waiting to be discovered in almost any rococo ornament throughout the building.
Finally, the gardens around Oberschleissheim are a delight to visit, as they are usually devoid of crowds and neatly landscaped according to the French garden tradition. And in front of the New Palace entrance - adjacent to the Old Palace of Schleissheim, an Italian Villa from the 17th century, we can find one of greater Munich's most authentic and least crowded beer gardens, perfect for a lunch break outdoors in spring and summer.
Link: http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/deutsch/schloss/objekte/schl_ns.htm
Comments
Post a Comment