Reinhardsbrunn Palace, a unique European architectural and cultural monument, was left to decay for many years. In a nationwide unique expropriation procedure, the Free State had taken ownership of the fairy-tale-like palace and park complex Reinhardsbrunn and carried out extensive use-neutral preservation and renovation work on the palace and park. Last year, under the leadership of the Thuringian State Chancellery, a multi-stage and participatory process was initiated to develop a sustainable, monument-appropriate, and cost-neutral use for Reinhardsbrunn Palace and Park, and the State Development Company (LEG) was commissioned to prepare a usage study.
Within one year - from the starting signal for the development strategy of the castle through the ideas competition to the result of the jury meeting - LEG Thüringen has developed a master plan focusing on a usage concept for Reinhardsbrunn Castle and Park, which was presented to the public in Erfurt today. As the result of a comprehensive participation process involving various stakeholders, the concept is intended to secure the sustainable and economically viable future of this historically significant property. The usage concept for Reinhardsbrunn Castle and Park is the essential building block for the future development of the area and thus a central component of the master plan.
Thuringia's State Secretary for Culture, Tina Beer, presented the master plan today at the LEG's premises and emphasized: "The master plan is a guide for the further development of Reinhardsbrunn. Through a broad participation process, it has been possible to jointly define sustainable goals and usage perspectives for the palace with its nine buildings and the 15-hectare Inner Park. I thank all those involved for this. I am confident that the presented usage options will help bring this unique ensemble to life in the coming years."
"Since the transition to the care of the Free State, around 6.4 million euros have been invested in the preservation of Reinhardsbrunn Castle. With comprehensive safeguarding measures on the entire building stock, we were able to stop the years of decay of Reinhardsbrunn Castle and lay good foundations for its future development. With the heritage-compliant renovation of the former castle chapel, a first component will be publicly usable from next year," said Thuringia's State Secretary for Infrastructure, Prof. Dr. Barbara Schönig.
The urgently necessary heritage protection securing measures include making the roofs watertight and roof drainage, eliminating true dry rot, structural reinforcement measures such as the roof truss above the Ancestral Hall, and tree care work in the park, which serve to ensure traffic safety and preserve the garden monument. The other buildings in the monument ensemble, such as the Cavalier House, stable building, and Marstall, as well as the park, are secured or maintained as part of building maintenance.
The renovation of the former castle chapel is expected to be completed next year. The chapel is to open as an event venue from 2025. The costs for the renovation of the chapel alone amount to approximately 7.6 million euros. The restoration of the park grounds around the mill pond and the heritage-preservation reconstruction of the park wall are expected to be completed in 2026. According to the current status, these two measures will cost 5.4 million euros. This means that the currently commissioned overall package for construction, restoration, and repair measures at the castle totals approximately 13 million euros.
The LEG was commissioned by the Free State of Thuringia to manage the overall process and develop the master plan. "The revitalization of Reinhardsbrunn Palace and Park is a major task. The master plan could only be developed through the trusting and constructive cooperation of a wide range of stakeholders. We thank all those involved in the process for this," said Denis Peisker, Head of Urban and Regional Development at LEG Thüringen, at today's press conference.
Architect and jury chairman Hans-Gerd Schmidt adds: “As part of the master planning, the actors involved succeeded in exploring and defining fundamental positions for the development of the site. In the further process, it will be important to further substantiate these requirements in a targeted and step-by-step manner in order to be able to show interested users and operators clear framework conditions and utilization options from a wide variety of professional perspectives.“
The master plan includes the following four sub-concepts to define the planning goals for Reinhardsbrunn Palace and Park:
Usage concept
The palace complex comprises a total of nine buildings with a usable floor area of approx. 4,500 m². For the subsequent use of the listed buildings, a mix of uses in five variants with the following different types of use is proposed:
- Hotel/ accommodation
- Education and conference center with boarding school
- Gastronomy
- Visitor center with exhibition space
- Event center,
- additional areas for offices or non-disruptive commercial/services.
The 15-hectare inner park remains largely accessible to the public.
For 2025, the reopening of the castle chapel as a multifunctional event space is planned.
Urban planning concept
The main objective is the sustainable, heritage-compliant renovation of the entire ensemble, including the surrounding park areas. In this context, there is the option to replace the Marstall building and the gatehouse with new buildings of the same cubature, and to supplement the overall ensemble with new buildings in accordance with the requirements of heritage conservation, insofar as this is necessary for the intended use.
Development concept
The development concept follows the future uses. With the revitalization of the palace complex and its individual buildings, the required development measures will be implemented.
Open space concept
Reinhardsbrunn Palace and its park, divided into the Inner and Outer Park, are a unique testament to European history. The goal for the Inner Park is to restore the landscape park to a state corresponding to the Reinhardsbrunn landscape park around 1830.
The next steps are planned as follows:
- Continuation of use-neutral preservation work in the inner park and completion of the renovation measures on the castle chapel in 2025 and opening as an event space,
- Preparation of use-specific investments for the individual buildings of Reinhardsbrunn Castle based on in-depth planning formats and an integrated market approach,
- Continuation and completion of the concepts and plans for the Outer Park and the entire area under consideration, including Reinhardsbrunn station and the connection to the town of Friedrichroda,
- Continuation of transparent project communication and thus information for all stakeholders involved in the process, including the general public.
All information on the development process of Reinhardsbrunn Palace and Park to date, including the master plan, is available on the project website at the following link: https://www.leg-thueringen.de/perspektive-schloss-reinhardsbrunn/
