In the south of Weimar, Belvedere Castle rises on a hill, surrounded by a 43-hectare park. Duke Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach had a baroque summer residence built here between 1724 and 1748, including an orangery and a pleasure and maze garden. Since 1923, Belvedere Castle has been a museum for 18th-century arts and crafts.
The castle complex, originally serving as a hunting lodge, is surrounded by lateral cavalier houses and stables that give it the typical absolutist form of estates of the time. After the death of Ernst August in 1748, the park facilities began to deteriorate. It wasn´t until the summer stays of Duchess Anna Amalia that it regained its original significance. The Duke Carl August, who ruled since 1775, conducted botanical studies in Belvedere with Goethe. By 1820, a botanical garden with about 7900 domestic and foreign plant species was created. In 1811, Carl August handed over Belvedere Castle and Park to his son Carl Friedrich and his wife, the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. The hereditary duke had the so-called Russian Garden laid out to the west of the castle for his wife. Between 1815 and 1830, the area, which had meanwhile become completely overgrown, was transformed into a landscape park with classical romantic influences, featuring winding paths and a variety of ornamental spaces and park architectures. The Grand Duke Carl Alexander, who ruled from 1853, carefully preserved and maintained the castle, park, and orangery. From 1974 to 1978, the park was restored, and from 1978 to 1982, the Russian Garden was restored. From 1998 to 2014, during the ongoing operation of the orangery, the comprehensive renovation and restoration of the orangery ensemble was carried out in several construction phases.