Buildings inspired by Versailles

This article is about buildings inspired by the Palace of Versailles.

As the centralizing organization of modern national government formulated by Richelieu was perfected by Louis XIV and his advisors, other European states hastened to copy it. As they followed the French model in administration and particularly in military affairs (which is why some American government and military vocabulary, such as bureau, personnel, and materiel, are still French), most princes had to construct new buildings to house the new bureaucracies. Because government in those days was still centered on the household of the prince, Versailles ignited a competitive spate of building palaces in fountain-filled gardens among the power elite of Europe.

Ironically, the most direct homage to Versailles came when the age of feudal governments ended at the end of the nineteenth century. Ludwig II of Bavaria, a constitutional monarch, further constrained by doctors because of his incipient insanity, commissioned a nearly identical copy of Versailles, Herrenchiemsee, to be built on an island on the bucolic Chiemsee lake in the countryside of Bavaria. His funds ran out too soon, but the central portion was finished, along with its own hall of mirrors, and formal French gardens were planted around it.

England and Ireland

Efforts in England, where power during the period centered on Parliament and particularly on politically powerful nobles rather than on the monarchy, were limited. They included renovations at Hampton Court, and the all-but-royal Chatsworth. The direct British answer to Versailles is Blenheim Palace, built as a national monument for Louis' nemesis, the Duke of Marlborough.

In Ireland Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt took inspiration from the Palace when building the Powerscourt House in Enniskerry in Co. Wicklow.

Iberian Peninsula and Italy

In Italy, there are Caserta Palace, the Ducal Palace of Colorno and the Palazzina di Stupinigi: although it is the Palace at Caserta that looks the most like the Château even with a Theatre very similar to the Royal opéra at Versailles

In the Iberian peninsula two competitors for Versailles stand out: La Granja near Madrid, and Queluz in Portugal.

Russia and Poland

But during the Baroque period the great palaces and their dependencies housed working governments. When Peter I of Russia structured a new, Western-style government for Russia, he visited Versailles in a "Grand Embassy" and later decided to build a residence in the outskirts of Saint Petersburg. He had the Peterhof complex of buildings, gardens, and parks built.

Poland, with an elected king having less power than monarchs of other countries, had few opportunities for royal construction, and really nothing along the lines of Versailles was possible. However, the last king of Poland did construct Łazienki, essentially an exceptionally large pavilion like those built by French courtiers as weekend residences away from Versailles. The most developed baroque palace complex there, the Branicki Palace in Białystok, was built by a powerful noble.

Germany

In the courts of Germany, several Versailles-like palaces were constructed, including Wilhelmshöhe at Cassel, Augustusburg Palace at Brühl, Ludwigsburg, Schleissheim and the Residenz in Würzburg. Many others still stand, tiny and often exquisite little palaces that once ruled their postage-stamp principalities. Later, Ludwig II built the Neues Schloss (New Palace) at Herrenchiemsee as a tribute to Versailles.

weden

In Sweden, there is Drottningholm.

Austria

In Austria, there is Schönbrunn, the birthplace of future Versailles resident, Marie Antoinette.

Hungary

The seat of the wealthy Esterházy family, Eszterháza is called the Hungarian Versailles. It is the grandest Rococo mansion in Hungary. It was the administrative center of the vast estates of the princely family rather than that of a monarch.

Romania

The seat of a Hungarian noble family, the Bánffys, the Castle of Bonchida (now Bonţida) in Transylvania is called the Transylvanian Versailles. The historical mansion was destroyed during World War 2 and remained a ruin since then.

Elsewhere

In Kapurthala, Punjab, India the famous Jagatjit Palace is also based on this building made by the last Maharajah of the princly state of Kapurthala and designed by a French architect M. Marcel.

In the United States, Belcourt Castle in Newport, Rhode Island is based on the Versailles of Louis XIII. [Belcourt Castle was designed in the style of Louis XIII as [http://www.belcourtcastle.org/architecture/exterior.html described on its official website] . The basis of the design is Louis XIII's expanded hunting lodge which forms the core of the present palace at Versailles.]

Also in the United States, Rose Terrace II in Grosse Pointe, Michigan was based on Versailles, and was built by the auto-baron Dodge family. The building was razed in 1981. [The Second Dodge Mansion, Rose Terrace II, was modeled after the grand French chateaus. A History is available from [http://www.gphistorical.org/autobarons/dodge/index.htm The Grosse Pointe Historical Society] .]

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