Bendeleben: Palace Park, St. Pankratius and Routes

Bendeleben combines a distinctive townscape with a range of historical features: St. Pankratius stands on a slight rise, while the palace park surrounds the old palace. The church, palace and park design reflect different periods. If you would like to stay here, you can plan your visit around local history, parkland or routes through the town.

Palace Park and the Old Palace

The 21-hectare palace park surrounds the old palace in Bendeleben. The Jakobs von Uckermann family laid it out in 1765; it was designed in the English style with Baroque elements. It is one of Germany’s earliest landscaped parks. Springs and existing trees were incorporated into winding paths and sightlines. The landscape and its design are therefore among the park’s defining features. The palace park is home to old trees such as yellow pine and bald cypress. It also contains a beech described as being 300 years old. These examples of trees add specific details about the park’s plant life to the information on its style and layout.

The old palace was built from 1763 to 1768, commissioned by Johann Jakob von Uckermann, on the foundations of an older moated castle. The palace’s construction years and the founding of the park can be compared directly: 1765 falls within the period from 1763 to 1768. The older moated castle was the predecessor building, while the years given refer to the palace. The palace’s current use is also important for visitors: the palace in Bendeleben is used as a retirement home and can only be viewed from the outside. Check this visiting restriction again before setting out.

St. Pankratius and its building history

The parish church of St. Pankratius stands east of the main road on a slight rise. A rubble-stone wall made of Kyffhäuser sandstone encloses the rise; the tall tower defines the townscape. The church contains works of art from the late 16th and 17th centuries. In the wider destination of Kyffhäuserland, the village church of St. Pankratius in Bendeleben was rebuilt in 1588 under the patronage of Hermann von Bendeleben. The weathered masonry of the south entrance portal dates back at least to the 12th century, in the Old Romanesque style. The rebuilding and the portal’s history thus represent different points in the church’s timeline: the church was rebuilt in 1588, while the portal’s history goes back at least to the 12th century.

Walking and cycling routes through the town

Several well-signposted regional walking trails pass through Bendeleben, and a cycle route also runs through the town. Walking and cycling routes therefore add another way to shape your stay alongside the historical attractions. You can treat the routes as a separate focus alongside the church, palace and park, without associating them with a specific route or walking time.

Kyffhäuserland as the wider setting

The wider destination of Kyffhäuserland also includes natural and geological features beyond Bendeleben’s local history. Rising in the eastern Hainleite, Filsberg stands 136 metres above the valley plain and is home to rare limestone flora. The Barbarossa Cave is an anhydrite cave between the districts of Rottleben and Steinthaleben. These regional features provide a distinct focus alongside Bendeleben’s church, palace and park.

Discover more destinations: Steinthaleben, Oberheldrungen, Sondershausen, Nausitz, Ebeleben, Heldrungen, Artern/Unstrut, Oldisleben.

View the wider travel guide: Kyffhäuserkreis.