ENGEL, Josef Franz
(b. ca. 1776, Wien, d. 1827, Wien)

Exterior view

1826-27
Photo
Border Palace, Feldsberg (Valtice)

One of the most interesting collections of Neoclassical and Romantic buildings can be found situated along the Thaya on the border between Austria and Moravia. Along the seven-kilometer avenue which connected their residences at Feldsberg (Valtice) and Eisgrub (Lednice), the princes of Liechtenstein laid out a landscape garden on the English model with buildings from a variety of different architectural styles. From the 13th century to 1945 both locations were inextricably linked to the House of Liechtenstein, and in the 16th century Feldsberg became the main seat of the princes, along with their summer residence at Eisgrub. It was towards the end of the 18th century that Prince Johann Josef I began to regulate the countryside, laying out the gigantic landscape garden that still exists today.

The princes' architects, Joseph Hardtmuth, Joseph Kornhäusel and Franz Engel created an architecture of follies, pavilions, miniature palaces and all the other accoutrements of an English garden in Feldsberg and Eisgrub.

The Temple of Three Graces (1824) and the Border Palace (1826-27), both by Franz Engel, served as resting places for hunting parties. The Temple of Three Graces is a semi-circular colonnade faced with Palladian motifs. The colonnade encloses the eponymous group of figures by the sculptor Josef Klieber (1773-1850).