THE OLD PALACES

Ludwigsburg Palace

Ludwigsburg Palace is one of the largest baroque residences in Europe. Between 1704 and 1733 two architects were primarily at work here, i.e. Johann Friedrich Nette and Donato Guiseppe Frisoni.

At first a three-winged complex characterized by Austro-Bohemian architecture was built around a Court of Honor. The rich decoration of the halls exalts the military glory of Duke Eberhard Ludwig and his support of the arts.
Eberhard Ludwig also moves the residence from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg due to his mistress Wilhelmine von Grävenitz. Now that the former "retreat" houses an entire royal household, more space is required and the following structures are erected:

• The Kavaliersbauten (Noblemen's Buildings) for the important servants of the court
• The sumptuous, high baroque Schloßkirche (Palace Chapel)
• The Theater and the Festinbau (Festin Building)
• Finally, to eliminate the greatest remaining deficiencies an entire Neues Schloß (New Palace) to the south of the old palace. There the Parade-Appartements (Suite of State Rooms) absolutely essential to the Duke finally find their place.
• The connecting buildings between the old and the new section - the Ahnengalerie (Gallery of Ancestral Portraits) and the Bildergalerie (Picture Gallery).

Under Duke Carl Eugen (ruled 1744-93) Württemberg was considered one of Europe's most magnificent courts: "No other court was like that of Württemberg at that time", judged a widely-traveled Baron in 1763. However, the Duke has very little altered inside the palace in Ludwigsburg:

• the Ordenskapelle (Order Chapel)
• his Privat-Appartement (Private Chambers) on the 2^nd floor
• the Theater
• several rooms on the Beletage (1^st floor) of the Neuer Hauptbau (New Main Building)

In most cases only transient modifications and installations for festive occasions and performances were erected - for the birthday festivities in 1763/64 the palace court was even transformed into the "Palace of Splendor" with festive architecture. Carl Eugen's main interest was devoted to his many new palace structures: Monrepos, Solitude, Hohenheim etc.

Duke Friedrich II, later the first Württemberg King (ruled 1798-1816), at first used the palace as a summer palace. When he was elevated to King by Emperor Napoleon I in 1805, most sections of the palace were altered in accordance with the conventions of the French Empire. These furnishings can still be seen today, primarily in the Neuer Hauptbau.

Today the suites of rooms of the residential palace, with their sumptuous furnishings, paintings and sculptures, still preserve the picture of the eventful history under three important Württemberg rulers.

For information on guided tours, please call the Schloßverwaltung (Palace Administration): +49-(0)7141-186440

Favorite Palace

In the midst of an extensive park with wooded areas planted in 1707 for a pheasantry, lies the small baroque pleasure and hunting palace Favorite. It was erected 1717-1723 according to the plans of the Court Architect Donato Guiseppe Frisoni. Duke Eberhard Ludwig, the builder of the residential palace in Ludwigsburg, had the richly forested park surrounded with a high wooden fence and set up a pheasant breeding farm.

Favorite Palace was not intended for longer stays, but instead served as an eye-catching point designed as the northern end of Ludwigsburg's main axis. The palace was also used for hunting, as a summer villa and provided a superb view from the Beletage.

In 1748 Favorite Palace also served as the background for a magnificent fireworks display at the wedding of Duke Carl Eugen and Elisabeth Friederike von Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Carl Eugen moved the pheasant breeding farm in 1750 and had white stags settled in the park.

Duke Friedrich II, from 1806 the first Württemberg King, had the park turned into a zoo with fallow dear, chamois and stags soon after his accession to the throne. The architect Nikolaus von Thouret redesigned the interior of the small palace in the classicistic style. The central hall and the eastern rooms received elaborate ornamental plasterwork with paintings imitating classical antiquity. Three of the main salons were covered with paper wallpaper.

Following a thorough restoration, Favorite Palace has been open to the public since 1983 and is appointed with valuable furnishings. The rooms can be viewed as part of guided tours.

For information, please call the Schloßverwaltung (Palace Administration): +49-(0)7141- 186440

Monrepos Palace

The small pleasure palace Monrepos lies in a lake garden. The straight-as-an-arrow, 1.9 mile (3 kilometer) long lake palace avenue from Favorite Palace still shows visitors the way today.

Monrepos was built under Duke Carl Eugen in the years 1758 to 1764 on a raised tract of land. During the summer, "the most gracious folk" were to "be able to amuse themselves with pleasures". Once Carl Eugen had turned his interest to other buildings, the small baroque palace lay dormant for many decades. Not until Duke Friedrich II and his court architect Thouret was it remodeled in the classicistic style and furnished to provide a suitable setting for hunting celebrations. The level of the lake was also lowered and the geometric garden was turned into an English landscape garden in accordance with the taste of the age.

However, even today it is still possible to row a rowboat around the idyllic lake, although such rides are less luxurious than those at the time of Duke Carl Eugens, when gondolas brought from Venice were steered by real gondoliers.

The palace is owned by the House of Württemberg and can only be visited on special arrangement.