Bellevue Palace (Kassel)

The Palais Bellevue in Kassel was built in 1714 at the instigation of Landgrave Karl of Hesse-Kassel. Paul du Ry is considered to be the architect. Originally, it served as an observatory, later becoming part of the (now destroyed) Bellevue Palace. For a long time, the municipal Brothers Grimm Museum was housed here.

Observatory

In 1714, Landgrave Karl had an observatory built at the southwestern end of the baroque Kassel Oberneustadt in an exposed location above the Karlsaue. It replaced the astronomical facilities of Landgrave Wilhelm IV in the city palace. The external appearance of the building roughly corresponded to its current appearance, only the roof shape differed considerably. Instead of today's mansard roof, there was a cross-shaped flat-roofed structure at the top with round openings for the telescopes. In addition to the Palais, a new observatory had existed since 1709 on the Zwehrenturm, a former city gate. Later, the Ottoneum took over the function of an observatory.

Bellevue Palace

Early on, the Palais Bellevue was inhabited by members of the court society. Several changes of ownership followed in the first half of the 18th century, with the Palais repeatedly reverting to the Landgrave. Together with the neighboring princely palaces on the "Schöne Aussicht" street (then "Bellevue"), it grew into Bellevue Palace in the 18th century. It served as a residence for various members of the princely family; Landgrave Wilhelm IX, in particular, used it intensively. He had it restored to its current state by Simon Louis du Ry around 1790. After the old city palace burned down in 1811 under French rule, Jérôme Bonaparte used the palace as a royal residence until his expulsion. The Palais Bellevue survived the Second World War almost unscathed, while the rest of the palace was severely damaged; its rubble was completely cleared after the war. Until 1956, the Palais remained in the possession of the House of Hesse, which sold it to the city of Kassel. The breakfast pavilion from the former palace garden is still preserved today.

Current Use

From 1956 to 1970, the Municipal Art Collection was housed in the building, until the Brothers Grimm Museum moved in in 1972. It shares the rooms with the Louis Spohr Memorial. Until 1999, the German Musicological Archive and the central editorial office of the International Inventory of Musical Sources were also located here. The Grimm Museum had largely been inaccessible to the public since 2006, as significant structural defects led to the closure of the upper floors. In 2009, the building was finally closed.