On a trip to the area of “former GDR” a few years ago we were trying to cover all its Michelin 2 and 3 “*” sites (!) and, right on the Polish border, we came to the little spa town of Bad Muscau. Here, in the early 19th century ,a Prince Puckler had created a huge park (Michelin **). This park has had a chequered history – first bankrupting the prince, then being taken over by Prince Freidrich of the Netherlands who altered its style somewhat, then being destroyed in 1945 and split across 2 countries. When we were there in 2002 it was undergoing the latter stages of reconstruction.

It was with some surprise then that we noted its elevation as a joint German/Polish nomination to WHS status in 2004 (In 2002 we still didn’t use the Tentative List to inform our travels).

Apparently to Garden Historians the Park has huge significance. Indeed anyone interested in this aspect of “world culture” should note that there are 2 other WHS inscribed gardens within a few hours drive of Muskau – at Dessau-Wörlitz (late 18th century) and at Potsdam (Is this a bit of WHS “overkill” or is there something genuinely to be gained from having a continuity of styles inscribed?).

Even though (or perhaps because) the gardens were considerably influenced by English garden design theories I can’t say we were over-impressed. We only saw a part of the German side (less than half the area but perhaps containing the main buildings?) and the large landscape concepts need a lot of walking to appreciate. We personally preferred the gardens at Dessau-Wörlitz even though we saw them in very bad weather. The buildings (photo) were also still in need of renovation. Nevertheless the inscription represents an interesting strand of human culture. Worth a visit.