Old château of the Eremitage in Bayreuth, Summer palace in Bayreuth, Germany
The Old château of the Eremitage in Bayreuth is a four-wing building with a grotto at the south entrance and a ballroom in the north wing. The structure combines formal reception rooms with private chambers, featuring several cabinets decorated with valuable collections including lacquer panels and Chinese mirrors.
Margrave Georg Wilhelm commissioned this summer palace in 1715 with architect Johann David Räntz the Elder directing the project. The building evolved over decades into a central gathering place for the margravial court, especially during the leadership of Margravine Wilhelmine.
The name references the residents who periodically adopted hermit-like lifestyles in forest huts before gathering for evening celebrations. This theatrical way of living gave the palace a distinctive character among the region's nobility.
Visits are conducted through guided tours that allow visitors to explore the different wings and cabinets throughout the complex. Following extensive restoration work completed in 2009, many original architectural features and furnishings are now visible and accessible to view.
Two lacquer panels in the Japanese Cabinet were gifts from Prussian King Frederick the Great, serving as valuable evidence of diplomatic relations. These rare East Asian artworks reveal the cosmopolitan taste of the 18th-century court.
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