Anholter Schweiz, Wildlife park in Isselburg, Germany
Anholter Schweiz is a wildlife park in Isselburg that combines recreational areas with natural habitats. The grounds span several hectares with walking paths through forests, meadows, and water bodies.
Prince Leopold of Salm-Salm (1838–1908) laid out the park as an English landscape garden around an artificial lake; it opened officially on 24 April 1892. In 1894–95 Anholt carpenters built the "Swiss House" on the lake island from a chalet plan drawn up in 1893 by the Interlaken Parquet and Chalet Factory, recalling the prince's honeymoon with Eleonore of Croÿ. For the park's centenary the listed garden was extended into a 56-hectare biotope wildlife park.
The park's name comes from its Swiss-style scenery, and the chalet on the lake island was built in 1894–1895 from an Interlaken design to recall the wedding trip of Prince Leopold of Salm-Salm and Eleonore von Croÿ. Around 1 November the park stages Halloween scenes with installations and spooky performances that visitors can join.
The park lies near Anholt in Isselburg-Vehlingen, close to the German-Dutch border at the western edge of the Münsterland. The landscape garden connects to the Schlosspark of Burg Anholt via the Schlüsenweide, a wet meadow area on the Issel that is now used as a golf course; the open connecting path between the garden areas existed until 1945. The garden itself is a listed monument, expanded for its centenary into a 56-hectare biotope wildlife park.
The grounds deliberately recreate Swiss landscape features with shaped terrain and architecture inspired by Alpine design. This creates an environment that evokes mountain scenery while located in the flat Lower Rhine region.
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