Main information:

Schönbusch

Garden monument preservation

Today Schönbusch covers an area of around 168 hectares. The whole park has been has been maintained for decades by Schönbush’s own gardeners. The work includes the constant resurfacing of over 20 kilometres of paths, mowing the meadows, thinning out the woodland vegetation in winter, cutting the hedges of the maze and the upkeep of the areas of water and their banks.

In addition to continuous maintenance, such a large park repeatedly requires renovation and restoration work to preserve the substance of the historical garden and its building monuments. Recent decades have seen numerous improvement and renovation projects. Between 2005 and 2008, for example, the visitors’ car park was renovated and partially reconstructed and the maze repaired. In the same period the Weighing House (originally a pavilion where people could weigh themselves) and the Devil’s Bridge were reconstructed. The latter is now painted in its original white. In 2009 another original feature was reintroduced with the planting of a large white poplar, surrounded by a white seat, on the former south bank of the Upper Lake. In 2011 the renovation of the Dining Hall façades was completed after several years’ work, and the maze acquired a new viewing platform.

In 2012 the restoration of the historical viewing platform on the ‘Mountains’ was completed with the crenellations on top and the ashlars painted as before, and the visitor service was improved with new bike stands, together with luggage lockers, in the entrance area. In 2015, finally, a new adventure playground was opened at the edge of the beer garden. Its play equipment with untreated tree trunks blends in well with the historical ensemble.

Since 2017 the paths in the park have been successively renovated and some of them relaid along their original route. The work is based largely on a cadastral survey from the year 1846, which is a relatively accurate record of the park’s condition at this time.