The following rooms house the mirror or porcelain cabinet and the writing cabinet. The walls and ceilings of these cabinets have particularly splendid appointments. They were used to exhibit valuable porcelain pieces and glasses to convey the royal wealth.
The private appartements of both the Margrave and the Margravine were located in three rooms facing the "Ehrenhof".
The appartement of the Margravine differs considerably in style and execution from the appartement of the sovereign. The decoration of the room ceilings are among the earliest preserved examples of an Italian form of decoration. They are proof of the modern taste of the prince and his architects and are particularly characterized by the uniform, grand view of illusionist architectural painting, stuccowork and ceiling painting.
In the antechamber the ceiling painting shows the union of Bacchus and Ariadne, a reference to the earthly marriage of Sibylla Augusta to Ludwig Wilhelm. While here the architectural painting is kept tone-in-tone and "colorless", colorful painting with playful putti unfolds in the adjacent audience chamber.
In the ceiling painting the main task of the princess, the raising of a prince to become a future hero, is described with the myth of Alkmene and her son Hercules. Particularly impressive illusionary painting dominates the wall and ceiling decoration.
A "Resting Venus" is contained in the ceiling painting in the Margravine's bedroom, and is almost a mandatory motive for such a room. Artistically gilded framework can be seen on the ceiling and surrounds the painting. A magnificent arc of triumph rises above the alcove. In the miniatures cabinet the walls were once adorned with 143 miniature paintings in gold-plated frames, which have unfortunately been lost. Representations of the work of goddesses for growth and prosperity can be found in the private rooms of the Margravine: The princess was to be presented as the protectress of the welfare of the state.
The Palace Church
During the years 1719-23, i.e. after the death of the Margrave, Sibylla Augusta had a court church and a Holy Staircase, which was located between her appartement and the church, built by Michael Ludwig Rohrer following a journey to Rome. The legend of the Holy Cross, to which the church is consecrated, is located in the center of the ceiling painting, which dominates the impression of the interior together with the altar podium accessible via two staircases. A cloud wreath of ornamental plasterwork with the Trinity in the center projects over the altar and is framed by alabaster columns, which could be illuminated from the inside with small oil lamps.
In 1771 the Baden-Baden line of the margraves died out, and the state and palace fell to Margrave Carl Friedrich von Baden-Durlach. It is to this situation that we owe the preservation of the palace, with its rich stuccowork and paintings, in nearly undamaged condition, as in the time that followed no changing prevailing taste acted on an alteration of the building with renovations. However, the furniture and the other movable furnishings were lost.
Margravine Sibylla Augusta moved to Ettlingen Palace with the five year old hereditary prince and the court. She fired the Italian artists and hereafter employed the Bohemian architect Michael Ludwig Rohrer, who came from her homeland.