Poppelsdorf Palace

The origins of the current palace date back to 1583, when a Gothic moated castle was destroyed during the Truchsessian War. In its place, the current Baroque palace was built starting in 1715. The foundation stone was laid on August 21, and construction was completed by 1740 according to plans by the French architect Robert de Cotte. The builders were the Electors of Cologne, Joseph Clemens and his successor Clemens August, who later had the palace extended by Balthasar Neumann and named it Schloss Clemensruhe. Under Prussian rule, the palace became the property of the University of Bonn in 1818, and the adjacent park was transformed into the Botanical Garden. In 1944, the palace suffered severe damage from an aerial mine but was rebuilt in a simplified form starting in 1955.