Palais und Barocksaal

The Palais and Barocksaal stand together on Universitätsplatz in Rostock’s old town. The ducal palace was built in 1714 for Carl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg, as a plain three-storey baroque residence. Its ground and first floors still hold stucco ceilings, some reused from the earlier building and some from the year it was finished. The palace was later remodelled in the classical style between 1832 and 1834 by Carl Theodor Severin. Today the university uses the palace, and beneath its vaulted cellars lies the Studentenkeller club. Plans exist to restore the Green Hall of 1620, revealing its original parquet pattern and colour scheme. Next to the palace stands the former ducal theatre, now called the Barocksaal. Jean Laurent Legeay built it between 1747 and 1751 for Duke Christian Ludwig as a two-storey, seven-bay hall. The upper room has a wooden mirror vault, wall niches with carved festoons, medallions of Mecklenburg dukes, and a balcony railing topped by the ducal bull’s head. The cellar now houses Rostock’s tourist office, while the hall itself hosts concerts, receptions and theatre productions.