Castles & Palaces
Nymphenburg Palace and Park – a duo in perfect harmony
Nymphenburg Palace is a European masterpiece of high standing as a vibrant story book of Bavarian history and a rare example of architecture and landscaping in perfect harmony.
Visitors to Nymphenburg Palace feel as though they are stepping through the pages of a Bavarian history book, with the region's leaders having left behind their traces here for almost 200 years. At the start of the 18th century, the existing building was extended on both sides and the facade made to look more French. In so doing, the simple palace was transformed into a vast and elegant summer residence. It combines elements of a perfect baroque palace with the more laid-back rococo style and a lavish abundance of detail in rare splendour.
The south pavilion is home to King Ludwig I's Gallery of Beauties, which is a famous series of portraits of beautiful women, who are interestingly from all different walks of life. But it is the Palace Park that oozes unprecedented beauty. The axially symmetrical baroque garden was joined up with the extensive wooded park where four little pavilion-style park palaces were located: Badenburg, Pagodenburg, Madgalenenklause and Amalienburg.