2996 GERMANY (Saxony-Anhalt) - Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz (UNESCO WHS)

2996 Wörlitz Palace

The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is an exceptional example of landscape design and planning of the Age of the Enlightenment. Its diverse components - outstanding buildings, landscaped parks and gardens in the English style, and subtly modified expanses of agricultural land - serve aesthetic, educational, and economic purposes in an exemplary manner. For Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) and his friend and adviser  Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff (1736-1800), the study of landscape gardens in England and ancient buildings in Italy during several tours was the impetus for their own creative programme in the little principality by the rivers Elbe and Mulde.

Among new and characteristic components of this garden landscape was the integration of a didactic element, arising from the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), the thinking of Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768), and the aesthetics of Johann Georg Sulzer (1720-1779). Proceeding from the idea of the ferme ornée, agriculture as the basis for everyday life found its place in the garden landscape. It is noteworthy that these objectives - the integration of aesthetics and education into the landscape - were implemented with outstanding artistic quality.

Thus, the buildings of von Erdmannsdorff provided important models for the architectural development of Germany and central Europe. Wörlitz Palace (1769-1773), residence of Duke Leopold and his wife Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt, was the first Neoclassical building in German architectural history. The Gothic House (from 1774) was a decisive influence on the development of Gothic Revival architecture in central Europe. Here, for the first time, the Gothic style was used to carry a political message, namely the desire for the retention of sovereignty among the smaller Imperial territories.

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series Blumen, about which I wrote here. The last stamp is part of the series Baby Animals, about which I wrote here.

References
Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm - Wikipedia
Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz - UNESCO official website

Sender: Katrin Schwanke (direct swap)
Sent from Leipzig (Saxony / Germany), on 28.02.2017