Neues Castle (Bad Lobenstein)

The New Palace is a palace complex with a park in the southeastern Thuringian town of Bad Lobenstein.

The palace is located on the northern edge of the old town on Leonberger Platz. Today it is used as a museum and houses a collection focusing on Reussian regional and numismatic history, as well as temporary exhibitions. The park is freely accessible and serves as an inner-city green space behind the palace.

History
Initially, the Old Palace from 1601 stood in the town center of Lobenstein, which was severely damaged in a fire in 1714. The remaining parts of the building were subsequently used as a malthouse, while the Princes of Reuss-Lobenstein, who had resided in Lobenstein since 1647, had a new palace built. Between 1714 and 1718, under Heinrich XV of Reuss-Lobenstein, the New Palace was built in Baroque style outside the city walls. It served as a residence until 1824, after which the Lobenstein line of the Reuss family died out, and their territory fell to Reuss-Ebersdorf. These princes subsequently called themselves Reuss-Lobenstein-Ebersdorf. During the town fires in 1732, 1800, and 1862, the New Palace was damaged and rebuilt with slight alterations each time. From 1996 to 1997, the palace, park, and outbuildings were renovated. The west wing has been undergoing extensive renovation since 2008.

Complexes
The palace consists of two buildings with a square floor plan (east and west wings), connected by a lower central building. This connecting building contains a passage that forms a visual axis with the pavilion in the park. The palace park (also known as the Herrengarten) extends behind the palace for about 250 meters in length and 100 meters in width. The central axis is a meadow interrupted by the pavilion, flanked on both sides by tree-lined avenues with walking paths. The originally French Baroque garden gradually developed into an English landscape park by the mid-19th century due to the progressive growth of the trees.

The pavilion in the palace park is a square, two-story, late Baroque building, whose eye-catcher is the striking window shutters. In a broader sense, the Old Guardhouse on the other side of Leonberger Platz also belongs to the palace. It was once a guard post for the princely military and is a small, neoclassical building that is extremely similar to the Old Guardhouse in Greiz. The carriage house of the princely family is also located opposite the palace. This simple, late Baroque building now serves as the tourist information office for the town of Bad Lobenstein.