Georgenpalais, Historical château in Nord, Germany

Georgenpalais is a neoclassical palace in Nord featuring symmetrical facades marked by paired windows and detailed stonework throughout. The structure presents a grand central entrance with decorative columns and is complemented by multi-story wings extending from the main body.

Built between 1780 and 1782 by the master builder Tänzel, the palace was commissioned by Count Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn as the Wallmodenpalais, part of his Wallmoden gardens, which laid the groundwork for today's Georgengarten. In 1817 garden and palace were sold to George III to enlarge the royal Herrenhausen gardens and renamed after the king in 1818. The city of Hanover acquired both in 1921; damaged in the Second World War air raids, the palace passed to the Wilhelm-Busch-Gesellschaft in 1949, which rebuilt the badly hit western side wing.

The palace owes its name to George III, who bought the Wallmoden garden and palace in 1817 and gave the grounds his own name from 1818. Since 1949 it has housed the Wilhelm Busch Society, and today it holds the Wilhelm Busch – German Museum for Caricature and Drawing. Two sandstone sphinxes stand on the rear stairway landings.

The palace stands in the Georgengarten, reachable on foot through the park; the two sandstone sphinxes sit on the rear stairway landings and are easy to miss from the front. The building now houses the Wilhelm Busch – German Museum of Caricature and Drawing, so interior access follows the museum's opening arrangements.

Two sandstone sphinxes sit on the stairway landings at the rear of the palace, a detail many visitors walk past on their way to the museum entrance.