Ludwigsburg Palace, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Ludwigsburg Palace (Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg) is the largest Baroque palace complex in Germany — a vast ensemble of eighteen linked buildings with some 452 rooms, spread across a 32-hectare estate just north of Stuttgart. It grew from a hunting lodge begun in 1704 by Eberhard Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg, who gave both the palace and the town around it his name, and by 1733 it had become a full princely residence, earning the nickname the “Swabian Versailles.” Because it was lived in and redecorated by later Württemberg dukes and kings, the palace is unusually rich, its interiors ranging from exuberant Baroque through Rococo to elegant Neoclassical — a rare survival that came through the wars of the following centuries almost untouched.

What to See

The state rooms, seen on a guided tour, lead through richly furnished apartments, ceremonial halls, the court chapel and the ancestral gallery, all reflecting the changing tastes of three centuries of court life. A special treasure is the palace theatre of 1758, one of the oldest surviving Baroque court theatres in Europe, still complete with its original stage machinery. Within the palace are also several museums, including a Baroque gallery, a fashion museum and one of the largest ceramics collections in Germany. Outside, the gardens are a destination in themselves: laid out in Baroque and English-landscape styles and today staged as the famous “Blühendes Barock” (Blooming Baroque) flower show, complete with a much-loved Fairy-Tale Garden for children. On a rise just to the north stands the graceful hunting lodge of Schloss Favorite, linked to the palace by a long avenue, while the lakeside Monrepos palace lies a little further on.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Ludwigsburg lies about 15 kilometres north of Stuttgart and is very easy to reach: frequent S-Bahn and regional trains run from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg station in around ten to fifteen minutes, and from there it is a short bus ride or a walk of about twenty minutes to the palace. Drivers will find car parks nearby. The historic state rooms can be visited only on a guided tour, which runs regularly through the day and needs no reservation, while the surrounding Blooming Baroque gardens are ticketed separately and open through the main season; the palace itself is open year-round. Allow a good half-day, or a full day if you want to combine the palace, the gardens and the nearby Favorite lodge — and note that in autumn the gardens host a spectacular pumpkin festival.