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Herrenchiemsee Park

Park management today – maintenance and preservation

The numerous design features of Herrenchiemsee Palace Park require a great deal of continuous maintenance. The park's staff are responsible for the upkeep of 3.5 hectares of lawn, 6.5 hectares of paths, 0.1 hectares of flowerbeds, 2.5 hectares of hedges, 4900 metres of avenue trees and numerous pools and figures.

 

The gardens were not always in the good condition they are today. The waterworks had to be turned off shortly after Ludwig II's death in 1886, as the basins had cracks in them. In the critical times before and during the two World Wars the gardens deteriorated still further: vegetables were grown in the flowerbeds, the Apollo basin was used as a cattle trough and the canal silted up.

Restoration of the Herrenchiemsee Palace Park began in earnest in the 1970s, when first the Latona Fountain and then the two hunting fountains were renovated. Reconstruction of the gravel ornamentation in the two Flower Parterres was started in 1985. Since the restoration of the Fama and Fortuna Fountains in 1994 and the large canal in 1996, the Herrenchiemsee gardens look much as they did in the time of King Ludwig II.