Roman bath – Natural springs feed seven ponds

"Three large ponds and four small ones interrupt the park's green areas; water lilies float dreamily on smooth surfaces while the brooks babble softly. Everything, simply everything fills the heart with reverence"
(H. Wedemann: Chronik von Bendeleben, Sondershausen, 1899

The Roman bath is the only cascading structure of its kind in Thuringia. It was restored in 2015 by the regional office for monument maintenance (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege) with support from the municipality of Bendeleben. (Photographer: U. Behr).

Roman bath in English park

Although the Bendeleben Palace Park broke with the tradition of the formal baroque garden, Johann Jacob von Uckermann (1718-1781) adopted a few baroque style elements like this Roman bath when the new park was laid out. You barely notice it at the ponds, but here you can clearly see that water is always flowing through the park. Starting with the spring-fed ponds, the seven bodies of water were installed on terraces. After the water flows through all the ponds, it enters the Siedebach.

General Map of Bendeleben Palace Park
© blattwerk bremen

The art of fish pond cultivation

From time to time the ponds have to be freed of the sludge that accumulates in them. For that purpose, they have to be drained. The flow of water is regulated at the "riser". In early 2017 the three sludge ponds were de-sludged.

Cascade structure of a pond: The sludge was hauled out over rails and spread on the fields to serve as fertilizer. (Photographer: Baron von Krause, 1930s)

The history of Bendeleben Palace Park

• 1765 - Johann Jacob von Uckermann had the park put in next to his estate.
• 1860 - Wilhelm von Krause, owner of the estate since 1849, had the new palace built.
• about 1920 - Wilhelm Hugo Ernst von Krause built a bathhouse, riding arena and tennis court.
• about 1930 - Alexandra von Arnim (adopted daughter of von Krause) established a seed breeding business.
• 1945 - The government expropriated the von Krause family from palace, park and seed breeding business
• 1960 -The old rows of linden trees were felled. A pond was put in at the front of the palace.
• since 1990 - The von Arnim family returned to the estate. The new palace is a nursing home. The park remains public property.
• 2015 - The 250th anniversary of the palace park was celebrated in baroque style in Bendeleben.

Photos

Do you recognize the inconspicuous riser in the middle of the photo? The water level can be regulated with this wooden construction, which is anchored at the deepest point of the pond. (Photographer: L. Koch)

The water bubbles up out of the Roman bath and runs into the stream. (Photographer: U. Behr).