Arenenberg Castle, Hortense and the first king of the Netherlands

10 September 2021

In the Middle Ages, there were several houses on the Arenenberg estate. The castle complex from the 16th to the 19th century is mainly intact. The most significant loss is the theatre from 1817, which was later demolished.

Anton Prosper von Streng (1694-1781) possessed Arenenberg Castle in the 18th century. His grandson Johann Baptist von Streng sold the castle in February 1817 to Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837), former Queen of Holland (1806-1810). Louis Napoleon (1808-1873), Hortense’s only child, came to Lake Constance with his mother and grew up there.

They created an estate with Parisian charm and a landscape park. From 1832 he was the pretender to the French throne. He lived alternately in Arenenberg and Gottlieben Castle. France elected him President of the Second Republic in 1848 and Emperor four years later.

In 1870 and 1871, the Prussian-French war and a revolution ended his reign. Empress Eugénie (1826-1920) donated the castle to the canton of Thurgau in 1906. She attached a condition to this: the buildings should house a museum, today’s Napoleon Museum. The museum largely corresponds to the state of the imperial period.

Arenenberg Castle refers to the entire complex: the education and advisory centre buildings and the museum. The Arenenberg has always been surrounded by gardens, a hermitage, an arboretum, vineyards and orchards.

(Source: D. Gügel, Arenenberg, Labhard Medien, Konstanz, Napoleonmuseum Arenenberg).

Salenstein