The European Garden Award ceremony took place last weekend at Schloss Dyck in Jüchen, Germany. The awards were presented in three categories: Management or Development of a Historic Park or Garden; Protection or Development of a Cultural Landscape; and Design or Concept of a Contemporary Park or Garden. A total of nine nominees, selected by 12 members of an international jury, had been nominated in these categories.
The Baroque French Garden of Rundāle Palace, the most prominent historic garden in the Baltics, won first place in the Management or Development of a Historic Park or Garden category, contending with Lowther Castle & Gardens (Penrith, UK) and Marqueyssac (Vésac, France).
The nomination of Rundāle Palace noted that ‘a comprehensive and professional restoration of Latvia’s unique Baroque garden was a difficult task, which largely depended on the dedication and work of the Museum’s staff and volunteers’. The universal value of Rundāle Palace ensemble is inextricably linked to the preservation of authenticity by maintaining and caring for buildings and territories in accordance with the requirements of cultural heritage preservation.
‘This award is especially important for our museum in several respects. Firstly, it is a recognition of Rundāle Garden at European level by an international jury. Secondly, the nomination was initiated by the Böckler-Mare-Balticum Foundation in Germany. Thus, the initiator of the nomination was an organisation unrelated to the museum. Thirdly, many residents of Latvia have volunteered to participate in the development and maintenance of Rundāle Garden, so this award can be considered a tribute to each of them’, Laura Lūse, Director of the Rundāle Palace Museum, acknowledges with satisfaction.
The European Garden Award has been presented since 2010 and 93 winners from 15 countries have been awarded since then and up until 2019. Among the recipients of the award are the UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the Park and Palace of Monserrate in Sintra (Portugal), Lorsch Abbey (Germany), Peterhof Palace in Saint Petersburg (Russia), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Great Britain), and Chaumont Palace and its International Garden Festival (France). The award has been presented to organisations, such as the Royal Horticultural Society (Great Britain), and cities – Malmö (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Cologne (Germany) that are engaged in creating sustainable and environmentally friendly urban developments and climate adaptations.
The European Garden Award is presented by the European Garden Heritage Network and the Schloss Dyck Foundation. The European Garden Heritage Network is an institution established in 2003 in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It offers a wide range of services, draws the interest of international garden lovers to the parks and gardens in the partner states and is appreciated by the professional world as a competent and attractive partner for professional exchange and cooperation in a variety of projects with more than 200 partners from 15 European countries. The Schloss Dyck Foundation was founded in 1999 at Schloss Dyck in Jüchen, Germany, with the aim of preserving and developing it as a Centre for Garden Art and Landscape Design.
