Schönbornslust



Schönbornslust (Schloss Schönbornslust) was a palace located in Kesselheim, part of the city of Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was a summer residence and hunting lodge of the Prince-Electors and Archbishops of Trier. It was destroyed by French revolutionary troops in 1794. Today nothing remains of the last palace created by Balthasar Neumann.

History
Prince Elector Franz Georg von Schönborn constructed Schloss Schönbornslust as a hunting lodge between 1748 and 1752. The design was based on plans by Balthasar Neumann and the construction was supervised by his pupil Johanness Seiz. The electoral summer residence was completed in baroque style. It consisted of a single winged building with 21 windows on the front, an orangery and some smaller auxiliary buildings. It was the last completed palace of Balthasar Neumann.

After the start of the French Revolution in 1789, Elector Clemens Wenzeslaus von Sachsen offered refuge in the palace to members of the French royal family (King Louis XVI was his nephew). Also, he allowed Koblenz to become a centre of French monarchism. After the emigrants left the palace, the Prussian king Frederick William II stayed there for a few days in July 1792. Later, the palace was converted into a military hospital for Austrian soldiers.

In the First Coalition War in October 1794, the French revolutionary army approached Koblenz from the North after the battle of Fleurus. Schloss Schönbornslust was in the middle of the fighting and was destroyed. After looting, the palace ruins were sold together and in 1806 completely broken off and levelled. Two economic buildings are located near the former monastery Maria Trost. Today there is a dense industrial area on the location of the palace and nothing remains.