In time for the anniversary of the gardens, something new awaits visitors. A new permanent exhibition on the Weikersheim Palace Gardens documents their history and presents a broad range of artistic garden elements used to design the gardens.
Modern exhibition elements introduce visitors to various topics. The visually emphasized introduction to the respective topic enables an individual walk through the exhibition.
In addition to a chronological overview of the gardens' development livened up with historical plans and many illustrations, topical area such as plants in the Baroque garden, the unique collection of garden figures, the waterworks in the gardens and the magnificent Orangery building, as well as the use of the gardens as a pleasure garden by various sovereigns are explained.
Interactive elements enable visitors to familiarize themselves with the typical plants in the Baroque garden, the plants collected at that time for the Orangery and less familiar areas of the gardens using historical depictions of plants with authentic colors and an attention to detail that will fascinate both young and old. For the illustration of the topics, many of the views of famous French and German palaces and favorite potted plants of that age, which reflect the time period of the laying out of the gardens painted in the Weikersheim Hall of Knights (Rittersaal) in 1712 were used. Now as then, the selected exhibits include common garden tools, remains of old water pipes and archaeological finds from the pavilion with the grotto located in the lower area of the gardens.
The exhibition continues in the two wings of the Orangery. Here visitors are informed on the overwintering of plants, the collections of Orangery plants and their cultivation.
The imprint of a Weikersheim plant inventory from 1745 provides an idea of the great diversity of and the numbers of plants Count Carl Ludwig of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim, who had the Weikersheim gardens laid out, had already collected in his Orangery back then. Since its restoration in 1997, the Orangery now fulfills its actual purpose again. During the cold time of year, the frost-sensitive classic Orangery plants, like citrus plants, laurel or pomegranate, are overwintered here that adorn the area in front of the Orangery in the summer.