10 Palaces to Explore in Baden-Württemberg
Checkout places to visit in Baden-Württemberg
Germany's third largest state. Most of the major cities of Baden-Württemberg straddle the banks of the Neckar River, which runs downstream (from southwest to the center, then northwest) through the state past Tübingen, Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Heidelberg, and Mannheim.
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Palaces to Explore in Baden-Württemberg
One of the oldest inhabited castles in Germany, located on a rocky outcropping ovelooking Lake Constance. Portions of the castle are open visitors on self-guided tours. The remainder of the castle is occupied by the descendants of Karl Mayer von Mayerfels from Munich who bought the castle in 1877.
Ancestral seat of the imperial House of Hohenzollern. The third of three hilltop castles built on the site, it is located atop Mount Hohenzollern. The third, and current, castle was built between 1846 and 1867 as a family memorial by Hohenzollern descendant King Frederick William IV of Prussia. No member of the Hohenzollern family was in permanent or regular residence when it was completed.
Built in 1715 by Margrave Charles III William of Baden-Durlach, after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach. The city of Karlsruhe was planned with the tower of the palace at the center and 32 streets radiating out from it like spokes on a wheel, or ribs on a folding fan, so that a nickname for Karlsruhe in German is the "fan city"
Gothic Revival style fairy tale castle of Württemberg. The castle was inspired by the novel Lichtenstein (1826) by Wilhelm Hauff and was built in 1840–1842. The ruins of the medieval castle that inspired the novel are a few hundred meters away. The castle is located on an escarpment that marks the northwestern edge of the Swabian Alps.
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.
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.
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.
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.