Rastatt Palace

After his ancestral palace in Baden-Baden had been destroyed by French troops, Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm of Baden-Baden had a new, representative residence built from 1700 to 1707 in the broad Rhine valley.

He planned a vast complex consisting of a palace, garden and a town on the site of the village of Rastatt, which he raised to the status of a town in 1700.  The residence stood at the beginning of an entire series of large palace complexes built in Germany in the early 18th century.  The absolutistic court around the "Sun King" (Louis XIV) in Versailles was always the model for all these magnificent buildings.  The costs for the Rastatt project are reportedly 12 million gulden.

The first hunting palace built in 1697 was torn down again after two years and a considerably more expansive draft of the architect Rossi was realized.  After Ludwig Wilhelm's hopes of being crowned King of Poland had been dashed in the same year, the Margrave was forced to settle in his own country once and for all.  To be recognized by the larger courts despite his lack of political power, he required a representative architectural setting.

The actual palace area consists of an enormous three-wing complex, which frames the expansive "Ehrenhof" (Court of Honor).  To both sides of the long main building, the "Corps de Logis", two garden wings continue the longitudinal axis to the north and south - a total of 755 feet (230 meters)!  The "Schlosskirche" (Palace Church) lies on the northern garden wing, while the "Schlosstheater" (Palace Theater - not preserved) was located along the southern one.  The Court of Honor is enclosed by two long wings and separated from the town by the Ehrenhofterrassen (Court of Honor Terraces).  Barracks and kitchen buildings, stables and coach houses were located behind the wings of the Court of Honor.  The administration, guests of the court and the servants were also housed within the expansive complex.

The line dies out with the death of the last Margrave of Baden-Baden in 1771, and the land and palace went to Margrave Carl Friedrich of Baden-Durlach.  For a long time Rastatt was no longer required as a residence, and the palace complex was therefore not remodeled in accordance with the latest prevailing taste, as was usually the case.  It was preserved almost unchanged with its rich stuccowork and paintings.  Only the furniture and the other movable furnishings were taken away and for the most part lost.

Rastatt Palace is one of the few residential palaces that have also survived World War II undamaged. The main floor, the so-called "Beletage", is open to the public.

>>> more

>>> Ground Floor

>>> History of Style

>>> Beletage

>>> Lacquer Cabinet

>>> Palace Church

>>> Timeline