Stein Island and Villa Hamilton

As you get closer, the artificial volcano offers a view of the graceful Villa Hamilton, a small jewel of classicism. If you climb the hill, the view falls down to an ancient theater, which is still used today for theater, music and film screenings. All in all: a place of longing for Prince Franz, who had lost his heart on his “Grand Tour” to Italy and now let the whole world participate in it.

Extracted from a headland, the island of Stein was created from 1788 to 1794 as a travel memory of the prince after his visit to Naples. Its educational goal was obvious: his subjects, who would never be able to visit southern Italy, were to be given the opportunity to explore the world of Mediterranean antiquity for themselves. In addition to the volcano and the theatre, the ensemble not only includes a miniature recreation of a contemporary Italian country house at the time – figs and Lombard poplars were also planted, agaves were provided.

With the Villa Hamilton designed by Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff, the prince also set a monument of friendship to the British diplomat, collector of antiquities and geologist Sir William Hamilton (1731–1803). In Naples, the two had met in 1766 and climbed Mount Vesuvius together. The villa contains three rooms richly decorated with Italian motifs, including gouaches by Erdmansdorff’s drawing teacher Charles-Louis Clérisseau. Unlike the original, the Wörlitz building is now completely restored.

Among the absolute highlights in the history of the Wörlitz facilities were the deceptively real and extremely rare eruptions of the volcano, which is clad with huge natural stones or entire boulders. Under the cone there is even more to discover: caves, grottoes, arcades, bathrooms – as well as a cabinet of the day and a cabinet of the night.