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Schloss Weißenstein is a palatial residence in Pommersfelden, Bavaria. It was constructed for Lothar Franz von Schönborn, Prince-Bishop of Bamberg and Archbishop of Mainz, to designs by Johann Dientzenhofer and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. It is considered a masterwork of Baroque art.
The palace was built in a record five years by Johann Dientzenhofer and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. The stairwell on which they collaborated is just one component in a monumental space vaulted by a huge ceiling. The viewer is presented with an aesthetic cornucopia comprising painting, plasterwork, and architecture.
The staircase hall was conceptually a grand room for which Dientzenhofer first drew up plans in 1712. His original idea for the ceiling was a vast fresco. His original idea for the ceiling was a vast fresco. The stairs would run round and so open up the scenes optically to the observer. A year later, the plans were handed over for Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt for reworking. The Viennese architect adopted a different approach to the spatial situation and suggested including a gallery.. With this approach, the openness of the space was retained, but the ceiling was reduced to a size where it could impress in proportional relationship to the height.
Balthasar Neumann later proposed yet another approach for Würzburg. He saw the staircase structure as an independent architectural component in the spatial organization of the palace, a building within a building.
The picture shows the staircase hall in the Weissenstein palace.
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