A magnificent palace always has magnificent palace gardens. I strolled through such gardens during my visit to the Baroque palace in Bruchsal. These beautiful palace gardens were laid out over 300 years ago as a geometrically designed garden based on the French model. Later, it was redesigned as an English garden. In 1843, the lower part of the garden fell victim to the construction of the railway line and shrank to less than half its size, which did not detract from its beauty. Along the central axis, under magnificent chestnut trees, a wide path led me through the palace gardens. I enjoyed the sight of the artistically designed flower beds with their elaborate ornaments made of crushed stones. I was particularly fascinated by the Baroque sculpture groups, which were created around 1750 in Joachim Günther’s workshop. The groups, consisting of the allegory of the seasons and the allegory of the four elements, line the chestnut avenue. The halberdiers, guardians of the garden with long cutting and thrusting weapons, form the conclusion at the end of the main avenue. I was no less impressed by the large water basin with its fantastic water feature on the garden terrace directly adjacent to the palace. I listened to the splashing of the fountains in the water basins and enjoyed the sight of the orangeries to the north and south, which are decorated with elaborate figurative and architectural paintings in shades of yellow and green. Until their conversion into residential buildings for the court employees in the 1740s under Prince-Bishop Hutten, these served as winter quarters for citrus and ball trees. I walked along the idyllic paths to the pergolas and the beautifully blooming rose bushes at the end of the castle park. Here I sat down on one of the many park benches and recovered from the tropical heat under a shady tree. The special flair and lightness of being that this castle garden exudes made my trip to Bruchsal an unforgettable experience.
