Rastede combines parkland and architectural history with opportunities for exercise and leisure. When choosing a hotel for your stay, it may help to decide on your main focus first: Would you like to spend most of your time outdoors, discover architecture, or also include swimming and play activities? You can weigh these different themes separately to help plan your trip.
Palace Park and Palais Garden
Rastede Palace Park was created as an English-style landscape park covering a total area of 330 hectares. You can explore it on foot or by bike. Four well-marked circular walking trails and two distance routes of up to 10 kilometres offer different ways to experience the park. Alongside the Ellernteich pond with its water fountain, horse-head sculptures stand as works of art in the park. Dogs are welcome, but must be kept on a leash there.
Rastede Palais Garden is an approximately 5-hectare site laid out in the style of an English landscape garden, opposite Rastede Palace. A walk follows winding paths past open areas, a small stream, stands of holly and conifers. The two gardens therefore differ both in size and in the landscape features described: the Palace Park features, among other things, circular trails and works of art, while the Palais Garden offers a walk through its landscaped grounds.
Palace and Architectural History
Rastede Palace is the first secular neoclassical building in the Oldenburg region. The present building originated as a Baroque country residence, built from 1756. Commissioned by Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, it was remodelled in the neoclassical style from 1779 to 1791 by architect J. G. Becker. The neoclassical Temple of Venus also stands in the palace park: a circular building with a domed roof, constructed from 1791 to 1793. The dates distinguish the construction history of the palace from that of the temple.
The listed Palais ensemble is also a venue for cultural events, which have been organised there by the Kunst- und Kulturkreis since 1999. The tournament ground is located at the edge of the palace park and hosts several major events each year. If you would like to plan your trip around an event, check the dates in advance.
Churches and Historical Details
The Catholic St. Mary's Church was built in 1950 and remodelled in 1990. Its distinctive features include a baptismal font made from a column base from Rastede Monastery, dating from 1091 to 1529, as well as a statue of the Virgin Mary. A crypt dating from the early 11th century lies beneath St. Ulrich's Church. It was built as an underground church for the count and his wife, the monastery's founders. Along with the neoclassical architectural history of the palace and Temple of Venus, these sites showcase different aspects of Rastede's cultural heritage.
Golf and Swimming
At JanĂźen-Hof, you can choose between two different golf activities. The 5-hectare swingolf course has nine holes, each 90 to 300 metres long, and is suitable for the whole family. Adventure golf consists of 18 artificial-turf holes with obstacles made from materials including wood, water and stone. The artificial turf means the course can be played at any time. The number and length of the holes, along with the obstacles, give you concrete points of comparison when choosing between the two types of game.
Rastede outdoor pool is on MĂĽhlenstraĂźe, right next to the palace park. It has a 50-metre swimming pool with diving platforms up to 5 metres high, a non-swimmer pool with a wide-wave slide and a 50-metre paddling channel. The indoor pool is in the middle of the Palais Garden. It has a large non-swimmer pool with a water slide, counter-current system and water cannons, a 25-metre swimming pool with diving platforms up to 3 metres high, and a warm-water pool with a depth of 0.30 to 1.35 metres. There is a whirlpool in the conservatory. The different pools and features can help you compare the facilities according to your interests.
Discover more destinations: Wiefelstede, Edewecht, Bad Zwischenahn, Apen, Westerstede.
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