Can you still visit Schloss Herzogsfreude today?

No, the building was demolished between 1804 and 1810 and nothing of it remains standing; only a memorial and the old forest avenues can be seen on site.

Why did the palace disappear?

After the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine and the dissolution of the Electorate of Cologne, the estate was auctioned in 1804 and dismantled for its building materials.

Who built this palace?

Elector and Archbishop of Cologne Clemens August of Bavaria had it built between 1753 and 1755 as a lodge for his par force hunts.

What can still be seen today in Röttgen?

There is a bronze scale model installed in 1984, a period forester's cottage, the Sankt-Venantius chapel, and the star-shaped pattern of the old hunting avenues in the Kottenforst.

Where exactly is this site located?

It lies in the Röttgen district of Bonn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, within the Kottenforst forest.

Schloss Herzogsfreude

Herzogsfreude Castle

Bonn

Access

No visits on recordNo opening hours or ticketing found

Where: Bonn

To make a day of it

Open within 20 km

Sleep nearby

Schloss Herzogsfreude stands in Bonn (Bonn), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. No visits are on record for this building.

Schloss Herzogsfreude no longer exists: this baroque hunting lodge, built between 1753 and 1755 in the Kottenforst forest for the Elector Clemens August of Bavaria, was dismantled piece by piece after 1804 and had vanished completely by 1810. What remains today in Röttgen, a district of Bonn, is limited to the star-shaped pattern of forest avenues laid out for par force hunts, a forester's cottage from the same period, and the nearby Sankt-Venantius chapel, also commissioned by the Elector. A bronze scale model, installed in 1984 on the square known as the Schlossplatz, recalls the scale of the vanished building, whose main façade once stretched 70 metres. A visit therefore amounts to a walk through the forest and a stop at this memorial marker rather than the discovery of a standing structure.

Written from Schloss Herzogsfreude

What to know

No building stands on site: the palace was completely demolished in the early nineteenth century.
The location is best explored as a forest walk in the Kottenforst, in Röttgen near Bonn.
The main landmark is a small bronze memorial installed in 1984 on the Schlossplatz, depicting the vanished palace.
Visitors can still trace the star-shaped pattern of the old hunting avenues and see the nearby Sankt-Venantius chapel and a period forester's cottage.
There are no opening hours or fees, as this is an open forest area rather than a monument to enter.

Where this château is

Bonn · Bonn · Nordrhein-Westfalen

Map of the area around Schloss Herzogsfreude

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This châteauChâteaux within 40 km

Address

Am Schloßpl. 31, 53125 Bonn

Directions open from wherever you are, by car or public transport.

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Heritage status: Protection status unknown

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Frequently asked

Can you still visit Schloss Herzogsfreude today?: No, the building was demolished between 1804 and 1810 and nothing of it remains standing; only a memorial and the old forest avenues can be seen on site.
Why did the palace disappear?: After the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine and the dissolution of the Electorate of Cologne, the estate was auctioned in 1804 and dismantled for its building materials.
Who built this palace?: Elector and Archbishop of Cologne Clemens August of Bavaria had it built between 1753 and 1755 as a lodge for his par force hunts.
What can still be seen today in Röttgen?: There is a bronze scale model installed in 1984, a period forester's cottage, the Sankt-Venantius chapel, and the star-shaped pattern of the old hunting avenues in the Kottenforst.
Where exactly is this site located?: It lies in the Röttgen district of Bonn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, within the Kottenforst forest.