Schloss Rastatt

Schloss Rastatt stands beside the Upper Rhine in the small city of Rastatt. The palace and its gardens were raised between 1700 and 1707 for Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden by the Italian architect Domenico Egidio Rossi. A hunting lodge once occupied the site until the Margrave ordered it demolished to make room for a grand residence. The village of Rastatt became a city the same year construction began. The palace is the oldest Baroque residence in the German Upper-Rhine region and follows the example of Versailles. The palace served as a military headquarters in the 19th century and escaped damage in the Second World War. It now belongs to the State of Baden-Württemberg and houses two museums: a military history museum and a memorial site for the German liberation movement. The restored Baroque interior includes a grand staircase with elaborate stucco work and a large Ancestral Hall. Frescoes and portraits line the hall, alongside paintings of captured Ottoman soldiers. Visitors walk through the Ahnensaal and other restored rooms before strolling the Baroque gardens. The palace’s military museum displays weapons and uniforms from different centuries. The memorial site tells the story of German freedom movements in chronological rooms. The surrounding city retains the layout planned when the palace was built.