51°18′49″N 9°30′11″E / 51.3137°N 9.503°E
The Chattenburg (also formerly known as Kattenburg) was a monumental residential palace in Kassel, Germany, started by Elector William I of Hesse. It was intended to replace the city palace, which had been largely destroyed by a major fire in 1811 and demolished in 1816. When William I died in February 1821, only the ground floor was completed in its raw structure, and his son and successor William II halted construction.
Location
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The construction was located at an elevation of 156 meters above sea level, at the site of the current regional government office (German: Regierungspräsidium) overlooking the Fulda river, where the former city palace of the Landgraves of Hesse or Hesse-Kassel had previously stood.
History
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The Kassel city palace was largely destroyed by a major fire on the night of 24 November 1811, during the French occupation under the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia (1807–1813).[1][2] King Jérôme Bonaparte moved into Schloss Bellevue and showed no interest in rebuilding the city palace.
Elector Wilhelm I, who returned to his land in November 1813 after the French were expelled from Hesse, also had no interest in rebuilding the old palace. He had more ambitious plans.[2] Although he was not successful at the Congress of Vienna in being elevated to the “King of the Chatten,” he wanted at least to build a palace worthy of a king.[2] In December 1816, he not only had the remains of the nearly completely destroyed northwest wing of the city palace removed, but also the other three wings, which were still standing but damaged, to make way for the realization of his grand new construction plan, the "Chattenburg," designed by his architect, Heinrich Christoph Jussow.[1][2]
The scale and expense of the planned neoclassical building went far beyond what was typical for a princely residence.[1][2] Preparatory and foundation work started in June 1817 and took a long time to complete.[1] The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone did not take place until 27 June 1820.[1][2] The complex stretched from west-northwest to east-southeast, high above the Fulda River meadow.[1] A four-winged building, measuring approximately 50 × 60 meters, enclosed a large courtyard, and to the east, two more wings of around 50 meters each extended in a U-shape from the main building. The entire complex was intended to be three stories high.[1]
When the builder, Wilhelm I, died at the age of 78 on 27 February 1821, only the first floor had been completed in its raw structure.[1] Afterward, work was halted because his son and successor, Elector Wilhelm II, preferred his palace on Friedrichsplatz, the Residenzpalais, which he expanded and significantly enlarged by constructing the Red Palace.[2] He had different priorities for the use of personal and state finances—primarily concerning his mistress, Emilie Ortlöpp, and her well-being.[2]
The red sandstone from the ground floor was dismantled between 1840 and 1870 and used in the construction of the nearby New Gallery between 1871 and 1874.
Subsequent Buildings
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After the Prussian annexation of Hesse in 1866, the new Prussian administration was initially housed in the Hessen-Rotenburg Palace on Königsplatz from October 1867. However, the space there was too limited from the start, and soon the site of the former and unfinished Chattenburg was considered for the construction of a new government building. After the remaining ruins were completely removed in 1870, the government purchased the land, along with the still-existing foundations and cellars, from the General Administration of the Electorate's Family Trust and began constructing a new monumental government and justice building in 1875, in the style of the Gründerzeit era. After seven years of construction, it was completed in 1882, and even at the time, contemporaries described it as an "oversized brick box."
The building was heavily damaged during the devastating air raid on Kassel on 22 October 1943. The ruins were removed between 1949 and 1953. From 1957 to 1960, the current office tower of the regional government was built on the same site.[2]
Today: The wooden design model
editToday nothing remembers anymore of the Chattenburg palace except for the designs and a wooden model.[3] The latter was made by Jussow upon request of William I to give an impression how the palace would look like.[3] It was a detail model of the palace, together with its urban and garden surroundings.[3] The detailed model was apparently publicly exhibited in Schloss Bellevue.[3] The model is still existing and gives an impression what may could have been.[3]
Gallery: Wooden design model of the Chattenburg palace (around 1818-1821)
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Wooden design model of the Chattenburg palace by Heinrich Christoph Jussow -
Design model of the palace with its immediate surroundings
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Fenner, Gerd, ed. (1999). Heinrich Christoph Jussow. Ein hessischer Architekt des Klassizismus (in German). Kassel. ISBN 3-931787-09-5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i Ludwig, Bastian (3 August 2016). "Architekt der Löwenburg plante für Kassel weitaus Größeres" (in German). www.hna.de. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Fitzner, Sebastian (2021). Ein Haus für Herkules Das fürstliche Modellhaus der Residenzstadt Kassel – Architektur und Modellpraktiken im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert (PDF) (in German). Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing. pp. 146–149. ISBN 978-3-96822-000-0.
Literature
edit- Fenner, Gerd, ed. (1999). Heinrich Christoph Jussow. Ein hessischer Architekt des Klassizismus (in German). Kassel. ISBN 3-931787-09-5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - 150 Regierungspräsidium Kassel (PDF) (in German). Kassel. 2022.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
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