As vast as it is sublime, Germany’s pastel-yellow Ludwigsburg Residential Palace was once considered the “Versailles of Swabia.” The region of Swabia, in the southwest of the country, no longer exists, but Versailles-like grandeur can still be seen throughout Ludwigsburg Palace.
The palace was commissioned in the early 18th century by the Duke of Württemberg, Eberhard Ludwig, who named the palace in his honor. (Ludwigsburg translates to Louis’s Castle in English.) Constructed over almost 30 years, the palace with its more than 450 rooms includes some of the finest Baroque, Rococo, and Classical art and architecture.
Ludwigsburg’s Baroque craftsmen and architects were mostly trained in the Bohemian style of architecture, which gives the palace a distinctive Czech and Austrian style. But elements of Versailles are echoed in the very fabric of Ludwigsburg Palace, from the distinctive mansard (French Baroque) rooftops to its mirrored halls to its Paris-commissioned furniture. And even the town of Ludwigsburg was specifically created after the palace was built, just like Versailles.
The palace features several museums, including a ceramics museum, a fashion museum, the Baroque Gallery, the private apartments of Duke Carl Eugen, and an interactive museum for young visitors. Achim Mende/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The palace and gardens. Achim Mende/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The crown atop the gable. Achim Mende/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The second antechamber. The second antechamber. (David Franck/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The assembly room. David Franck/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The king's staircase in the New Corps de Logis. Steffen Hauswirth/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The ancestral hall. Steffen Hauswirth/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The records room. Arnim Weischer/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The palace was originally intended as a hunting lodge for Duke Eberhard Ludwig. Guenther Bayerl/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
Palace grounds in bloom. Guenther Bayerl/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
The palace includes an interactive museum for children. Guenther Bayerl/State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Wuerttemberg
