The Neues Museum Schloss Sayn: Behind the Scenes of the Princely Family

In winter 2019/2020, the palace underwent a number of considerable changes. The Rhenish Museum for Ornamental Cast Iron, which was housed at the Palace Museum for twenty long and proud years, has been relocated to the neighbouring Sayn Foundry. Prince Alexander and Princess Gabriela took this opportunity to redesign the palace rooms for an exciting new exhibition, showcasing 200 years of family history through the biographies of the great Centenarian Princesses Leonilla (1816-1918) and Marianne (b. 1919). The museum shows the great splendour of bygone times, the destruction of the palace at the end of World War II, its recent reconstruction, and today’s princely family.

Outstanding photographs by Princess Marianne, the legendary “Mamarazza” and Grande Dame of the Salzburg Festival, tell of her time in Sayn, the “Sayner Zeit”, as well as her life near Lake Fuschl in Austria where she hosted famous luncheons attracting the likes of Sean Connery, Margaret Thatcher, and King Juan Carlos of Spain.

 Car racing scenes from the 1950s, captured through Princess Marianne’s lens, are shown in a room specially dedicated to gentlemen. The sport greatly inspired the Princess and her family, so much so that her eldest son, Prince Alexander, became a committed racer until his marriage to Princess Gabriela, whose father made him promise never to race again. 

When entering the “Blue Hall”, you feel immersed in the life of the princely household of Prince Louis and his wife, the beautiful Russian Princess Leonilla, who lived in Sayn in the 19th century. Gold dishes, crystal glasses and silver cutlery on view were used while receiving emperors and kings. The cabinet next to the Blue Hall is dedicated to their earlier life and work in Russia.

Young guests have their own kingdom in the palace with a fairy tale workshop and a small butterfly cabinet of curiosity in which delicate butterflies can be examined under a magnifying glass. 

The tour through the new museum can of course be altered to suit young visitors. 

Today, Sayn Castle with its banqueting hall and royal parlours is a popular venue for celebrations and weddings. Before visiting the famous Garden of Butterflies in the Princely Palace Park, visitors with the same ticket can experience the eventful life of a European princely family in the New Museum Sayn Palace.

Information: www.sayn.de 

Butterfly Garden (Garten der Schmetterlinge) Tel +49 2622 15478, schmetterlinge@sayn.de

New Museum Schloss Sayn (Neues Museum) Tel +49 2622 902424, museum@sayn.de

Open daily March – December 

Schloss-Str. 100, 56170 Bendorf-Sayn