Landshut Residence
Encyclopedia
Landshut
Landshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...
, Lower Bavaria
Lower Bavaria
Lower Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state.- Geography :Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions - Landshut and Donau-Wald. Recent election results mark it as the most conservative part of Germany, generally giving huge...
.
History
In 1536 Louis X, Duke of BavariaLouis X, Duke of Bavaria
Louis X , was Duke of Bavaria , together with his older brother William IV, Duke of Bavaria...
laid the foundation stone for a new residence in the inner city of Landshut. It was begun in German Renaissance
German Renaissance
The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which originated from the Italian Renaissance in Italy...
style under the architect Bernhard Zwitzel from Augsburg; this palace is today known as the "German building". During a journey to Italy the duke got the inspiration for an additional palace.
Behind the German building, close to the river Isar
Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald, and flows through Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching the Danube near Deggendorf. At 295 km in length, it is the fourth largest river...
, the so-called "Italian building" was constructed from 1537 to 1543 in Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
style with a spacious courtyard and the palace chapel. It was modeled in particular after the Palazzo Te in Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, and was the first Italian style palace erected north of the Alps. Both buildings were connected by two wings. The paintings in the rooms were created by the Germans Hermanus Posthumus, Hans Bocksberger the Elder and Ludwig Refinger, while the stucco was done by Italian artists.
When Count William of Birkenfeld-Gellnhausen
Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria
Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria, full German name: Wilhelm, Herzog in Bayern was Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen between 1789 and 1799 and first Duke in Bavaria from 16 February 1799 until his death in 1837...
, who became later the first Duke in Bavaria
Duke in Bavaria
Duke in Bavaria was a title used among others since 1506, when primogeniture was established, by all members of the House of Wittelsbach, with the exception of the Duke of Bavaria which began to be a unique position...
, resided in the palace from 1780 onwards the facade of the German building was altered in French Neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style and the so-called "Birkenfeld Rooms" were constructed. These rooms were decorated again with early wallpaper, when Crown Prince Ludwig
Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I was a German king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.-Crown prince:...
lived here in the early 19th century, in the course of his studies in Landshut. These rooms are today a part of the Residence Museum, together with the halls of the Italian building.