In the Baroque period the developing absolutist sovereign rule created its representative centers of dominion, which also include the residence of the Margrave of Baden-Baden in Rastatt.
Like nearly all persons who commissioned such buildings to be built in that age, the Baden sovereign based the floor plan of the palace and the layout of the town (Patte d´oie = goose foot) on the French model Versailles. Three streets radiate toward a deep "Ehrenhof" (Court of Honor). Despite the strong dependence on the floor plan of the French model, the palace is built in Italian forms.
The "endless" space
In the Baroque the domes of churches seemed to expand into infinity. One explanation for this further development of the way space was experienced may lie in the new findings of the scientists Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler, who viewed the world as a kind of "spaceship" which floated through endless space. Sculptures at the transitions of walls and ceilings convey the impression of looking into the vastness of heavenly space. As well matched parts of a whole, architecture, painting and sculpture have the task of expressing transcendence and experience with death.
Baroque sensual pleasure
In the baroque age the often dreadful experiences of reality stood in contrast to the sensual pleasure, the delight in pictures and illusions. Wars, disease and depopulation controlled people's lives. In the "Spiegelkabinett" (Mirror Cabinet) of Rastatt Palace the viewer is offered a confusing picture by the optical effects of the mirrors set in the ceiling and walls like gems - perfect illusion and playing with reality.