Paul Smit  Mick Palarczyk | Features, Photos and TextTwo faces, one philosophy |
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flowers & gardens |
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 36]
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139248145_6Wpgm-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 36]
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 35]
'Goethe's garden house, Park an der Ilm, Weimar.'
Weimar is the city of Goethe. When he was twenty-six he was invited by Karl August, duke of the mini-state Sachsen-Weimar and seven years his minor, to be his personal teacher. Later Goethe became minister of mining and taxes. He improved the social climate of the miners and decreased the number of soldiers in the army, leading to lower taxes and higher prosperity for the Weimarians.
After a long journey to Italy he returned and became minister of education and director of the theatre. Everyone knows Goethe as a poet and author, but these were just two of his side-activities. He also liked to draw and was thoroughly involved with botanics, zoology, geology and colour theory. He was one of the last universal minds in history.
His garden house is another proof of his versatility. Not only did he design its garden, he designed the adjacent landscape park as well: the Park an der Ilm. In fact, he decorated it with his own romantic dreams: gothic ruins, artificial caves and antique temples.
His house proper, situated in the town's heart, is open for the public as well, but don't expect to be alone: it's the busiest attraction of Thüringen. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139248102_DuU7g-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 35]
'Goethe's garden house, Park an der Ilm, Weimar.'
Weimar is the city of Goethe. When he was twenty-six he was invited by Karl August, duke of the mini-state Sachsen-Weimar and seven years his minor, to be his personal teacher. Later Goethe became minister of mining and taxes. He improved the social climate of the miners and decreased the number of soldiers in the army, leading to lower taxes and higher prosperity for the Weimarians.
After a long journey to Italy he returned and became minister of education and director of the theatre. Everyone knows Goethe as a poet and author, but these were just two of his side-activities. He also liked to draw and was thoroughly involved with botanics, zoology, geology and colour theory. He was one of the last universal minds in history.
His garden house is another proof of his versatility. Not only did he design its garden, he designed the adjacent landscape park as well: the Park an der Ilm. In fact, he decorated it with his own romantic dreams: gothic ruins, artificial caves and antique temples.
His house proper, situated in the town's heart, is open for the public as well, but don't expect to be alone: it's the busiest attraction of Thüringen. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 27]
'Rosegarden of the Dornburg castles.'
Three castles in a row, one romanesque, one renaissance and one rococo. Goethe retreated into the southernmost of the three Dornburg castles during the summer of 1828, leaving his ministerial worries behind. He did so with his employer, duke Carl August of Sachsen-Weimar, a small state that was especially famous in cultural circles.
Goethe loved to wander around the rose gardens surrounding the middle rococo castle, from where he had a beautiful view upon the river Saale down below. An inspiring spot, where famous pieces of literature were concepted. When he went, everything was kept as he had left it behind. Or so says the concierge. Thus the drawings he brought from his travels to Italy are still hanging in the same place. And his bed is as neat now as it was during his life; as an experienced traveller he had always preferred his field bed. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139248010_xdjGt-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 27]
'Rosegarden of the Dornburg castles.'
Three castles in a row, one romanesque, one renaissance and one rococo. Goethe retreated into the southernmost of the three Dornburg castles during the summer of 1828, leaving his ministerial worries behind. He did so with his employer, duke Carl August of Sachsen-Weimar, a small state that was especially famous in cultural circles.
Goethe loved to wander around the rose gardens surrounding the middle rococo castle, from where he had a beautiful view upon the river Saale down below. An inspiring spot, where famous pieces of literature were concepted. When he went, everything was kept as he had left it behind. Or so says the concierge. Thus the drawings he brought from his travels to Italy are still hanging in the same place. And his bed is as neat now as it was during his life; as an experienced traveller he had always preferred his field bed. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 20]
'Venus in Schlosspark Branitz.'
A lighthearted Venus seems to forget the surroundings and watch herself in the mirroring water. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139247916_A97Wr-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 20]
'Venus in Schlosspark Branitz.'
A lighthearted Venus seems to forget the surroundings and watch herself in the mirroring water. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 19]
'Schlosspark Branitz.'
Among the park loving monarchs count Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau definitely was the most colourful character. He enjoyed life, travelled a lot and got bitten by the landscape park bug when in England. He set himself the task of transforming his infertile estate around Bad Muskau into a park. This enormous undertaking costed so much money that he was forced to win the heart of rich women. But though he succeeded in winning their hearts, he never got their money. However, the letters he wrote about these affairs - and that his wife published as a book! - became a bestseller, providing him with the money to finish the park. Well, almost - he went bankrupt when the end of the project was in sight.
With his wife he escaped to his last possession, a derilict mansion in Branitz near Cottbus. Famous architect Gottfried Semper, who was to renovate the house for them, stated that even Pückler's green hands would not be able to turn the sandy plains around the house into something worthwhile. But Semper was wrong, as Pückler, now 61 years old, repeated the miracle of Bad Muskau.
In his new park he is buried. Not his body, but his heart, which had beaten passionately for eighty-six years. He designed the final resting place for it himself: a surrealistic clay pyramid rising from one of the lakes. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139247864_9z8We-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 19]
'Schlosspark Branitz.'
Among the park loving monarchs count Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau definitely was the most colourful character. He enjoyed life, travelled a lot and got bitten by the landscape park bug when in England. He set himself the task of transforming his infertile estate around Bad Muskau into a park. This enormous undertaking costed so much money that he was forced to win the heart of rich women. But though he succeeded in winning their hearts, he never got their money. However, the letters he wrote about these affairs - and that his wife published as a book! - became a bestseller, providing him with the money to finish the park. Well, almost - he went bankrupt when the end of the project was in sight.
With his wife he escaped to his last possession, a derilict mansion in Branitz near Cottbus. Famous architect Gottfried Semper, who was to renovate the house for them, stated that even Pückler's green hands would not be able to turn the sandy plains around the house into something worthwhile. But Semper was wrong, as Pückler, now 61 years old, repeated the miracle of Bad Muskau.
In his new park he is buried. Not his body, but his heart, which had beaten passionately for eighty-six years. He designed the final resting place for it himself: a surrealistic clay pyramid rising from one of the lakes. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 18]
'Schlosspark Branitz.'
Among the park loving monarchs count Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau definitely was the most colourful character. He enjoyed life, travelled a lot and got bitten by the landscape park bug when in England. He set himself the task of transforming his infertile estate around Bad Muskau into a park. This enormous undertaking costed so much money that he was forced to win the heart of rich women. But though he succeeded in winning their hearts, he never got their money. However, the letters he wrote about these affairs - that his wife published as a book! - became a bestseller, providing him with the money to finish the park. Well, almost - he went bankrupt when the end of the project was in sight.
With his wife he escaped to his last possession, a derilict mansion in Branitz near Cottbus. Famous architect Gottfried Semper, who was to renovate the house for them, stated that even Pückler's green hands would not be able to turn the sandy plains around the house into something worthwhile. But Semper was wrong, as Pückler, now 61 years old, repeated the miracle of Bad Muskau.
In his new park he is buried. Not his body, but his heart, which had beaten passionately for eighty-six years. He designed the final resting place for it himself: a surrealistic clay pyramid rising from one of the lakes. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139247853_fDSjq-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 18]
'Schlosspark Branitz.'
Among the park loving monarchs count Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau definitely was the most colourful character. He enjoyed life, travelled a lot and got bitten by the landscape park bug when in England. He set himself the task of transforming his infertile estate around Bad Muskau into a park. This enormous undertaking costed so much money that he was forced to win the heart of rich women. But though he succeeded in winning their hearts, he never got their money. However, the letters he wrote about these affairs - that his wife published as a book! - became a bestseller, providing him with the money to finish the park. Well, almost - he went bankrupt when the end of the project was in sight.
With his wife he escaped to his last possession, a derilict mansion in Branitz near Cottbus. Famous architect Gottfried Semper, who was to renovate the house for them, stated that even Pückler's green hands would not be able to turn the sandy plains around the house into something worthwhile. But Semper was wrong, as Pückler, now 61 years old, repeated the miracle of Bad Muskau.
In his new park he is buried. Not his body, but his heart, which had beaten passionately for eighty-six years. He designed the final resting place for it himself: a surrealistic clay pyramid rising from one of the lakes. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 17]
'Wörlitz landscape park.'
Wörlitz is Germany's oldest English landscape park, stretching along a former branch of the Elbe and since 2000 on the list of World Heritage Sites. Where many parks want to impress, Wörlitz just is elegant. Even the palace, the first classicistic building of Germany, looks friendly.
The park shows the marks of both Enlightenment, a movement glorifying intellect, and Romanticism, stressing emotions. Goethe, who combined both elements in his own character, wrote: "I was truly moved when we silently floated across the lakes and canals. Here the gods have permitted a king to surround himself with a dream." Initially most German rulers weren't interested in these modernisms at all. But some fifty years later the situation had changed dramatically: every self-respecting monarch had his garden turned into an English landscape park. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139247847_cwXJK-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 17]
'Wörlitz landscape park.'
Wörlitz is Germany's oldest English landscape park, stretching along a former branch of the Elbe and since 2000 on the list of World Heritage Sites. Where many parks want to impress, Wörlitz just is elegant. Even the palace, the first classicistic building of Germany, looks friendly.
The park shows the marks of both Enlightenment, a movement glorifying intellect, and Romanticism, stressing emotions. Goethe, who combined both elements in his own character, wrote: \"I was truly moved when we silently floated across the lakes and canals. Here the gods have permitted a king to surround himself with a dream.\" Initially most German rulers weren't interested in these modernisms at all. But some fifty years later the situation had changed dramatically: every self-respecting monarch had his garden turned into an English landscape park. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 15]
'Park Sanssouci, Potsdam.'
Beauty is not always with the famous palaces or well known garden views. This is just a far off corner of the Sanssouci Park, where hardly a tourist comes, part of the more than 500 ha Potsdam and Berlin Parks and Palaces UNESCO World Heritage site. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139247826_xT6Y4-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 15]
'Park Sanssouci, Potsdam.'
Beauty is not always with the famous palaces or well known garden views. This is just a far off corner of the Sanssouci Park, where hardly a tourist comes, part of the more than 500 ha Potsdam and Berlin Parks and Palaces UNESCO World Heritage site. Photo Paul Smit.")
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 13]
'Schloss and Park Sanssouci, Potsdam.'
Schoolgirls in the terraced vineyard garden of the baroque Sanssouci palace, french for free of worries. This garden is the heart of the much larger, 290 ha Sanssouci Park, that itself is just the centerpiece of a whole chain of parks, gardens and palaces. Friedrich der Große (Frederick the Great) and generations of Prussian kings after him had these parks constructed along the banks of the Havel, a river that widens into an idyllic lake every few kilometers. The park landscape starts at Werder and reaches, via Potsdam, deep into Berlin. In the past the Glienicker Bridge, famous for its exchange of spies, divided this area. Since the German unification you can enjoy it as a whole and it has become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139247753_WSc4g-Ti.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.BRANDENBURG 13]
'Schloss and Park Sanssouci, Potsdam.'
Schoolgirls in the terraced vineyard garden of the baroque Sanssouci palace, french for free of worries. This garden is the heart of the much larger, 290 ha Sanssouci Park, that itself is just the centerpiece of a whole chain of parks, gardens and palaces. Friedrich der Große (Frederick the Great) and generations of Prussian kings after him had these parks constructed along the banks of the Havel, a river that widens into an idyllic lake every few kilometers. The park landscape starts at Werder and reaches, via Potsdam, deep into Berlin. In the past the Glienicker Bridge, famous for its exchange of spies, divided this area. Since the German unification you can enjoy it as a whole and it has become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Photo Paul Smit.")
[GERMANY.THUERINGEN 36]
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.
![Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 36]
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.](http://paulsmit.smugmug.com/photos/139248145_6Wpgm-S.jpg "Smit & Palarczyk > [GERMANY.THUERINGEN 36]
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.")
[GERMANY.THUERINGEN 36]
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.
'Schloss and Park Belvedere, Weimar.'
Just outside Weimar is Schloss Belvedere, where Goethe left his marks once again as he helped transform the baroque gardens into an English landscape park. Proud peacocks are its symbol. Photo Paul Smit.
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