Castles & Palaces
Bayreuth – a romantic setting for the Hermitage Old and New Palace
The Hermitage in Bayreuth is an impressive combination of gardens and various buildings dating back to the 18th century, including the Old and New Palace and Monplaisir House.
Visitors can head off on a stroll through the spectacular gardens to watch the water features, marvel at the Old and New Palace, admire the sun temple and theatre ruins and explore charming grottos. The Old Palace, which Margrave George William had built in 1715, is home to the Music Room, the lavishly filled Japanese Cabinet and the Chinese Mirror Cabinet, where his wife Wilhelmine wrote her memoirs. The shining star of the Hermitage, however, has to be the New Palace, which was built between 1749 and 1753.
The New Palace features two free-standing curved arcades with a stunning oval complex in the centre. The style fits in perfectly with the overarching rococo architecture. A gilded quadriga being driven by a torch-bearing Apollo as a symbol of the sun stands proudly on the domed roof. Wilhelmine had the Roman Theatre constructed next door as an open-air stage designed to look like ruins. And the Margravine herself appeared on the stage here, playing Roxane in 1743 alongside Voltaire.