Schloss Muskau, Renaissance castle in Bad Muskau, Germany
Schloss Muskau is a Neo-Renaissance castle standing at the edge of a sprawling landscape park along the German-Polish border. The main building, called the New Palace, anchors vast grounds filled with pathways, bridges, and structures that flow across both countries.
Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau began reshaping the landscape park starting in 1815, introducing entirely new approaches to combining nature with human design. Over decades, the castle became a place where innovative thinking about gardens and land stewardship took root and spread.
The castle served as a hub for Prince Pückler's landscape philosophy, attracting gardeners and designers from across Europe who came to study his revolutionary methods. The place embodied 19th-century ideas about harmony between people and nature, shaping how others thought about gardens.
You can walk freely between the German and Polish sections without border checks, following numerous pathways throughout the grounds. The park is easiest to explore in dry weather, when paths are firm and the landscape shows its full character.
The park spans roughly 5,600 hectares across the German-Polish border, making it the largest English garden in Central Europe with this unusual divided structure. This split between two countries lets visitors walk through landscape design that flows seamlessly despite political boundaries.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.