48 Palaces to Explore in Germany

A 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings spread in 32 ha (79 acres). It is the largest palatial estate in Germany and is a combination of Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Empire style architecture.

Originally the main residence of the Prince-electors of the Electorate of the Palatinate of the House of Wittelsbach. Part of the palace is used by the University of Mannheim. The castle, which features tapestries, furniture, paintings, porcelain and silverware is open to visitors.

Marienburg Castle was built between the years of 1858 and 1867 in the Gothic style, located in Pattensen, Hannover, Germany. The castle was the summer residence for the House of Guelph. The castle houses a museum and restaurant, and visitors can take an exploration tour of the palace.

Moritzburg Castle originally was a hunting lodge built in Renaissance style in 1542, and later became a Baroque royal palace. The castle is furnished with examples of opulent baroque decor and visitors can take a tour and explore its rooms. The castle sits on a symmetrical artificial island in Dresden, Saxony, Germany.

The former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. It is the largest city palace in Germany and is open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displays from the former royal collections. The complex of buildings contains ten courtyards and displays 130 rooms.

The New Garden is a park in Potsdam with 102.5 hectares located south-west Berlin, Germany. Starting in 1787, Frederick William II arranged to have a new garden in this location and later, and it came to be known by this rather prosaic name. The New Garden is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. Cecilienhof Palace is located in the northern part of the New Garden.

The New Palace is situated on the Sanssouci park's western side in Potsdam, Germany. It was built in 1769 and considered to be the last grand Prussian baroque palace. The palace was built in varying forms of Baroque architecture and decoration. The building of the palace commenced in 1763, at the end of the Seven Years' War, to celebrate Prussia’s success.

18th-century Baroque palace and is one of the last large city palaces built in Southern Germany. Public tours of the building are only permitted by special arrangement, as the building contains some government offices. The palace is located in Schlossplatz, the largest square in Stuttgart.

Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park, it constitutes one of the premier royal palaces of Europe. Its frontal width of 632 m (2,073 ft) (north-south axis) even surpasses Versailles Palace in France. It served as the main summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. Nymphenburg is open to the public but also continues to be a home and chancery for the head of the House of Wittelsbach.

The castle, dating back to the 10th century was originally surrounded by water. It was the residence of the Counts and later some Dukes of Württemberg. King Charles I of Württemberg and his wife Olga are buried beneath the castle church.

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle was a toll castle on the Pfalz Island in the River Rhine near Kaub, Germany. It worked in concert with Gutenfels Castle and the fortified town of Kaub on the right side of the river. Due to a dangerous cataract on the river's left, every vessel would have to use the fairway nearer to the right bank, thus floating downstream between the mighty fortress on the vessel's left and the town and castle on its right. A chain across the river drawn between those two fortifications

Pillnitz Castle was a summer residence for the electors and kings of Saxony, built in the Baroque style in 1720. The castle houses two museums and has three buildings enclosing a Baroque garden and surrounded by a large public park. The castle is located on the bank of the River Elbe, in Dresden, Germany.

Rheinsberg Palace is located in the Rheinsberg Municipality, about 100 km north-west from Berlin, German, in Ostprignitz-Ruppin. The Palace on the eastern bank of the Grienericksee is a classic example of the so-called Frederician Rococo architecture style and it served as a basis for Sanssouci Palace. The palace is home to the Kurt Tucholsky Literature Museum.

Sanssouci was the summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. The palace's name emphasizes this; it is a French phrase (sans Souci), which translates as "without concerns", meaning "without worries" or "carefree", symbolizing that the palace was a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power.

Benrath Palace completed in 1770 is a Baroque-style palace in the residential suburb, Benrath. It was built for the Elector Palatine Charles Theodor and his wife, Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach and has been proposed to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main building called corps de logis is a museum with guided tours.

Biebrich Palace is a baroque residence in Wiesbaden, built in 1702 by Prince Georg August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein. It was serving as the ducal residence for the Nassau Duchy from 1816 until 1866. It is now used by the state government for representation purposes and houses the state's historic preservation agency.

The Schloss Koblenz or Electoral Palace was the residence of the last Archbishop and Elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, who commissioned the building in the late 18th century. It now houses various offices of the federal government. The building's interior is not accessible to the public. The Palace is one of the most important examples of the early French neoclassical house in Southwestern Germany.

A Castle in Schwerin city, the capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is located on an island in Lake Schwerin, and most parts of the castle was built between 1845 - 1857. For centuries the castle was the home of the dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg and later Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Today parts of it serve as the residence of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament, other parts are open for tourists.

Summer residence of the Electors Palatine Charles III Philip and Charles IV Theodore, most notable for its spacious and ornate gardens. The mosque in the gardens complex is the earliest mosque-style building in Germany, built in 1779–1791. It was built at a time when the “Turkish” style was fashionable in Germany, it was never intended for prayer but later served religious purposes at various times.

Family estate of the Swabian Hohenzollern family, a cadet branch of the Hohenzollern family, from which the German Emperors and kings of Prussia came. It was the seat of government for the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and it dominates the skyline of the town of Sigmaringen. The castle rises above the river Danube on a towering chalk projection. It is about 200 meters (660 ft) long and up to 35 meters (115 ft) above the river.