Leonberg Palace and Orangery

Leonberg was founded in 1248 by Count Ulrich I of Württemberg. Between 1560 and 1565 Duke Christoph had the master builder Aberlin Tretsch convert what had originally been a stronghold into a palace. In 1609 this became the home of the dowager duchess Sibylla of Württemberg. Her son, Duke Johann Friedrich, commissioned the famous court architect Heinrich Schickhardt to restore the complex and lay out, especially for the duchess, a terraced garden with a fountain and a "Pomeranzengarten" ("Pomeranzen" being a kind of bitter orange). From 1742 onwards, however, the palace ceased to be a royal residence. The Orangery was first relegated to an orchard and vegetable garden and then fell into neglect.

It was not until 1980 that the state of Baden-Württemberg restored the Orangery to its original state, in accordance with Heinrich Schickhardt's plans. It is one of the few surviving terraced gardens from the High Renaissance period, with colourful herbaceous borders containing a wide variety of plants. Visitors can stroll from flower to flower, soaking up the atmosphere. There is a balanced mixture of aromatic varieties, herbs and medicinal plants, as was the custom in the Renaissance gardens of the day.
 

Opening hours

The palace can't be visited.

Orangery "Pomeranzengarten":
April –September:
08:00 am  - 10:00 pm

October -  March:
08:00 am - 06:00 pm