Island of Mainau

Mainau is small a German island of 45 Hectare S, in the Land of Bade-Wurtemberg, located in the north-western part of the Lac of Constancy, the Überlinger See. Its southernmost coasts are accessible thanks to a bridge and by boat. The island belongs to the Litzelstetten-Mainau district of the town of Constance. It is the property of a branch of the royal family of Sweden, the Bernadotte. Mainau is also described as island to the flowers. It is a tourist place.

History

The first traces of colonization of the island appear around 3000 av. J. - C. The Romains subjected the Celtes which lived it in 15 av. J. - C.. They there built a fort and established a base and a building site navals.

The Monastère of Reichenau had the island of 9th at the 13th centuries. It then passed to the hands of the knights of the teutonic Ordre. In 1732, under the direction of the architect of the Order Johann Caspar Bagnato, began construction from the Saint-Marien church and the castle, both of style Baroque. The frescos of the church were ébauchéees by Franz Joseph Spiegler in 1737/1738. In 1806, following the Secularization imposed by Napoleon i, the Order lost Mainau; various private owners followed one another until the island is acquired in 1853 by the large-duke regent of Bade Frederic Ier, which made its residence of été.
of it

The large-duke transformed the island thanks to his gardeners Chr. Schlichter and especially Ludwig Eberling, which was with the service of Frederic of 1856 with 1898. Thus, of the Mediterranean and exotic plants were planted; alleys, gardens, a Arboretum and a new roadway system were created. The visions and the allied ideas of Frederic to the know-how of his gardeners gave to the island his current aspect. Although Mainau was left with the abandonment after the death of Frederic in 1907, it is however during its regency that the first stone of the island to the flowers was posed.

Following a heritage, the island became in 1928 the property of Victoria de Bade, wife of Gustave V of Sweden. Lennart Bernadotte, a grandson of Victoria, was withdrawn there in 1932 and made it available to the public. He died in the castle of Mainau the December 21st 2004 at the age of 95 ans.

Nowadays, the island of Mainau is managed by the privately held company “Insel Mainau GMBH”, created by Lennart Bernadotte. In 2005, Mainau was visited by 1,2 million tourists. The artist Stefan Szczesny for transforming the island into a whole of works of art in 2007.

External bond

Official site

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