Arenenberg Castle, Napolean III, Vichy and Chalets

10 September 2021

In the Middle Ages, several houses were located on the Arenenberg estate. The castle complex, dating from the 16th to the 19th century, is largely intact. The most significant loss is the theatre, built in 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, accompanied his mother to Lake Constance 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, specifically the Napoleon Museum of today. 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. Gardens, a hermitage, an arboretum, vineyards and orchards have always surrounded the Arenenberg.

Napoleon III and his Chalets

It seems that his stay in Switzerland was one of the sources of inspiration for the construction of chalets at his summer residence in Vichy during his reign as Emperor (1852–1870).

From 1863 onwards, several chalets were built on the Boulevard des États-Unis for him, his imperial family and his staff. He housed the officers of the Imperial Guard in eight identical villas on the nearby Rue Alquié.

Vichy had already become a renowned spa resort in the preceding decades. During his reign, and thanks to its prestige as an imperial summer residence, Vichy attained its current grandeur – a status that even the collaboration of Philippe Pétain (1856–1951) cannot detract from.

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

Salenstein