Ludwigsburg Palace

History

In the days before the palace in the 17th century, an Erlachhof, a hunting property with a falconry set up and a sea economy, stood on the site of the current palace. In 1697, it was razed to the ground by French soldiers. However, before 1700, Duke Eberhard Louis visited the French king Louis XIV and his court and was so inspired by the Palace of Verailles that he decided to build his own to reflect his own dreams of an absolutist Württemberg. So it was that master builder Philipp Joseph Jenisch was commissioned to construct a more elaborate hunting retreat for the, 27-year-old, who laid the foundation of what become the largest Baroque palace in Germany on 7 May 1704. Four days later, it was given the name "Ludiwgsburg," literally "Ludwig's castle."

On August 17, 1709, the duke established the city of Ludwigsburg directly next to his palace, copying the proximity of Versailles to Paris. Previously, the royal palace was the cramped and outdated Old Castle (Altes Schloss) in the heart of Stuttgart. In 1718, Ludwigsburg temporarily became capital and sole residence of the dukes of Württemberg.

The main architects involved in the construction and refurbishment of the site were Johann Friedrich Nette (from 1704 to 1714), Donato Giuseppe Frisoni (from 1714 to 1733), Philippe de La Guêpière (1757–1758), who built the Palace Theatre and refurbished the corps de logis in Rococo style, and Friedrich Thouret.

In the 1740s a New Palace was built in Stuttgart, and it was favoured by some of the dukes and kings of Württemberg as their primary residence, but Ludwigsburg remained in use as well. However, under King William I of Württemberg (reigned 1816-64), the palace and especially the gardens gradually decayed because the monarch, in contrast to his predecessors, showed no interest in Ludwigsburg. He favored his own palatial projects: "Wilhelma" (Moorish) and "Rosenstein" (classical) in Stuttgart.

The palace theatre (Europe's oldest preserved theatre) and its stage machinery from 1758 are still operational.

Ethos

Despite the efforts of some southern German architects, the inevitable spread of the Baroque style into the Holy Roman Empire had been halted in the mid-17th century by the ravages of the Thirty Years War. From the 1650s onward, the Baroque style bloomed in the Empire. However, it was the construction of the Palace of Versailles that revolutionized palace construction in Europe, and it replaced the Italian influences thereof with French ones. A new wave of Baroque architects, like Balthasar Neumann, Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, and Christoph Dientzenhofer, set to work building new Baroque masterpieces throughout Germany such as the world famous Würzburg Residence, which incorporated features of the Austro-Italian as well as French styles into a masterful new palace. Ludwigsburg, while being the largest Baroque palace in all of Germany, is built in a French Baroque model.

In 1733, when construction was complete, the baroque style prevailed in Germany. Eventually, successors of Eberhard Louis modified the original design of the palace, especially, Duke Charles Eugene of Württemberg and King Frederick I of Württemberg, but in different architectural styles.

Design

The design of the palace began as a hunting lodge, but two years after construction began in 1706, the palace evolved into a then common three wing-system.

Today, three different styles are dominant:

Grounds and gardens

Ludwigsburg Palace was not destroyed during World War II, so a renaissance of the complex could start in the mid-20th century. The continuous garden show "Baroque in Bloom" (Blühendes Barock), that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, opened in 1953. Today, the palace and its surrounding gardens are presented to the public in a state similar to their appearance around 1800.

Schloss Favorite

A Lustschloss, or pleasure palace, built from 1713 to 1728 by Duke Eberhard Louis in the Rococo style on a rise directly north of the main residential palace. This new, smaller palace was fitted with a special flat roof from which the Duke and his guests could stand and shoot at passing game. In the 1820s, King Frederick I of Württemberg converted its grounds into a Menagerie stocked with deer and Chamois.

Monrepos

Construction of Monrepos, which lasted from 1764 to 1768, cost the Duchy of Württemberg a sum of at least 300,000 florins.

Usage

From the 18th century to 1918 it was the principal royal palace of the dukedom that became in 1806 the Kingdom of Württemberg.

Museums

There are various museums inside the Palace, each primarily an extension of a larger museum organization. First is the Barockgalerie, or "Baroque Gallery" in the Old Main building, a branch of the Stuttgart State Gallery that houses various historical works of Baroque art by numerous artists. In the New Main building is the large collection of porcelains and ceramics in the Keramikmuseum, Ceramic museum, and the Modemuseum, or "Fashion museum," which displays clothing from the years 1750 to 1820. Both are under the umbrella of the Württemberg State Museum Stuttgart.

For children aged four and beyond, there is an interactive museum called Kinderreich, or "Children's empire." The aim of the museum is to teach children, through hands-on method like touch and the wearing of authentic dress, about life in the court of the Duke of Württemberg.

Burials in the Schlosskirche

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