Sanspareil Rock Garden & Zwernitz Castle
Felsengarten Sanspareil / Burg Zwernitz
A beech-forest rock garden created by Margravine Wilhelmine, with rock formations named after scenes from a novel. Next to it stands the medieval Zwernitz Castle.
Sanspareil Rock Garden was built between 1744 and 1748. Wilhelmine named the natural dolomite boulders in the beech forest after scenes from Fénelon's novel The Adventures of Telemachus, and added caves, arches and a ruined theater. It is considered a representative example of early German landscape gardening. The “Oriental Pavilion” at the entrance preserves painted Rococo rooms. Next door, Zwernitz Castle lets visitors climb its tower for views. The gardens are free and open year-round, while the castle and Oriental Pavilion are open only from April to mid-October. It is about 25 km from Bayreuth.
Opening hours
Gardens open all day; castle April–mid-October
Nearby sights
- Plassenburg, Kulmbach
- Schloss Fantaisie
- Kulmbacher Mönchshof Museums
- Maisel's Bier-Erlebnis-Welt
- Holy Trinity Town Church
- New Palace Bayreuth
- Bayreuth Festspielhaus
- Maximilianstraße & Old Town