Splendid adornment of the palace pediment.
In the early 16th century, the prince-bishops of Constance relocated their residence from a newly Protestantized ecclesiastical city to Meersburg. They initially resided in the old Meersburg Castle. Yet the increasing need for representation soon outgrew the medieval structure. In 1710, Prince-Bishop Johann Franz von Stauffenberg expanded his residence with a “New Building” next to the old castle. The shell of the single-wing building was completed and initially used as a legal office.
The representational Baroque ceremonial hall.
Under Prince-Bishop Damian Hugo von Schönborn, the New Building was further expanded into a palace. The representational staircase and the palace chapel were also added, both based on designs by famous architect Balthasar Neumann. Franz Conrad von Rodt continued work on the building and the magnificent interior decor under the direction of Franz Anton Bagnato. After almost 60 years of construction, a prince-bishop was finally able to move into the New Palace in 1762. An equestrian school and a seminary round out the Baroque complex.
The palace lies picturesque above the town and lake.
The incredible ensemble that makes up this prince-bishops’ residence consists of four monumental buildings, all lined up along the shore of Lake Constance: the medieval Meersburg Castle, which served as the first prince-bishops’ residence, the central New Palace, the equestrian school, which now houses the state vineyard, and the former seminary, now the Droste-Hülshoff Gymnasium. Even the construction of the Meersburg historic district still reflects the typical image of a Baroque residential town, with the New Palace at its center.
Mediterranean flair on Lake Constance.
This royal residence also had a garden. Even the old Meersburg Castle had been designed with a garden, on a terrace high above Lake Constance. A pleasure garden was also constructed for the New Palace, and the small terrace with its yellow garden pavilion has survived to this day! The ensemble of the old Meersburg Castle, a garden, and a new government building, the palace, was entirely in the style of the Baroque need for representation, which was equally important for prince-bishops.
