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Residenz Museum

Exhibition "Arcadia under glass"

The conservatories of Max II and Ludwig II in the Munich Residenz

In 1869, King Ludwig had a conservatory built on the roof of the Festival Hall Building in the north part of the Residenz. The vaulted, free-standing iron-frame construction with a length of almost 70 metres was designed by court architect Eduard Riedel. Beneath the 10-metre high glass vault, the court garden director Carl von Effner created an exotic landscape garden with luxuriant vegetation and a large pond with a waterfall, which he completed in 1871.

 

 

King Ludwig II’s conservatory, photo by court photographer Joseph Albert, c. 1875

 

 

Removable panoramic paintings, which alternated between an "Indian palace" and the "Himalayan Mountains", made the room look larger than it was. Scene painter Christian Jank also produced various oriental constructions such as a "Moorish kiosk" and an "Indian royal tent".

 

 

Panorama of an Indian palace from the east end of the conservatory, Julius Lange, 1872

 

 

This fairy-tale setting, which was designed to transport its royal visitor into worlds from One Thousand and One Nights, was dismantled in 1897, only a few years after Ludwig II’s death. An exhibition in the Hall of the Knights of St. George documents this vanished royal dream in pictures.

Visitors are given a vivid impression of the fascinating creation which by combining a romantic love of nature and the latest technology perfectly represented the artistic endeavours of the 19th century.

 

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