A private home garden in the 19th century
After Johann Conrad Schlaun completed Haus Rüschhaus as a Westphalian country residence in the French style between 1745 and 1749, he designed a baroque park behind the house. The moat was given a clearly defined shape and 12 geometric garden fields were laid out. However, when the family of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff acquired Rüschhaus in 1825, it was temporarily remodelled. All representative elements were removed and vegetables, herbs and fruit were planted alongside flowers. The idea was to create a private garden with various useful and recreational areas.
Reconstruction of the baroque garden
In 1983, the garden was reconstructed according to the original designs of the Westphalian Baroque master builder and completed for the first time according to Schlaun's wishes. The typical Baroque landscape elements such as geometric shapes, symmetrical flowerbeds and wide axes are now visible again. Two stylishly planted parterres with ornate paths extend in front of the representative garden front. And imperial crowns, violets and other magnificent flowers grow between yew hedges and rows of box trees. There are also several sculptures by the baroque sculptor Johann Christoph Manskirch and a bronze bust of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. In the smaller, circular garden to the side of the house, you can even discover a stone sundial.
