Palace Park

The Palace Park is open all day for you. The entrance is free.

PARK FOREST, GARDENS AND BODIES OF WATER

on an area of over 61 acres

The Palace Park is of a high quality not only regarding its garden art, but it is also of importance concerning its cultural and natural history. Nicolas Pigage was commissioned to redesign the area around the old moated palace. He turned the old game park into a bosquet which was afforested and made accessible by a regular path system in a star-shaped fashion. In 1761, he planted lime trees along the transversal avenues, a large part of which have survived up to this day.
Apart from the bosquet (an artificially planted forest), the park is also characterized by bodies of water such as the Palace Pond and the Reflecting Pond, a cascade and the gardens in front of the private chambers of the Elector and the Electress (respectively). The Park with its integrated gardens and bodies of water is inseparably connected with the architecture of the Palace.

The Park of Benrath Palace is under conservation and stretches over 150 acres, 111 of which are listed as a natural reserve. More than 80 species of birds and more than 300 species of beetles live in the Park along with more than 60 different types of plants. Rare trees and shrubs from North America predominantly coin the so-called Elector’s Private Garden which was designed by outstanding garden architects such as Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe and Peter Joseph Lenné in the 19th century. Dating back to the 1770s, the Parterre Garden is the oldest area of the Park. Apart from this ornamental garden, a historic barn and the Kitchen Garden adjacent to the Utility Yard were successfully restored. The Park stretches all the way down to the Rhine, is accessible all year long and can also be visited in the frame of art historic as well as botanical and ornithological guided tours offered by Benrath Palace and Park Foundation.

Kitchen Garden in the Park

The Kitchen Garden is maintained and managed by the Garden Office of Düsseldorf and the Workshop for Adapted Work. Different types of vegetables and herbs are planted, which can be bought fresh daily on site in summer.

Drones

As a general rule, drone images and the use of drones are not allowed on the entire premises.

Dogs in the Parks

Naturally, you are allowed to take your dog for a walk in the park – but it must be kept on a leash. Please note: the park is under conservation and it’s the habitat of numerous ground-nesting birds which could be endangered by off-leash dogs.

Cycling

Cycling is allowed exclusively along the signposted cycle path in the east of the Park.

Ice-Skating

Ice-skating on the Palace Pond and the Reflecting Pond is strictly prohibited, as it is life-threateningly dangerous.

If you still feel like doing a few laps on the ice, you can do so at the nearby Düsseldorf-Benrath ice rink. You can find more information here.

Barbecues

Grills and open fire are prohibited in the Park.

Feeding Ducks

Please don’t feed the ducks! The garden office takes good care of our aquatic birds. Additional food will pollute the water, is very often not species-appropriate and increases the spreading of diseases.