Wed 3 Sep 2008
So, acouple of days ago a friend of ours Christine, DH and I decided to head over to Ludwigsburg Castle in the town of Ludwigsburg. This castle has approximately 652 rooms ( I cannot remember exactly) and it holds a fashion museum, ceramic museum, baroque painting gallery and you can see the apartments of one of the kings. You have to go on the tour to see some more of the rooms of the castle. The English tour on the weekdays starts at 1:30 pm daily and there is only one english tour. The tour will take you through 65 of the rooms of the 600+ available.
The palace was originally built as the Kings hunting lodge, and from there over the years it was expanded.

This is the inner courtyard of the palace. Click on the photograph for a larger view.
You maybe wondering why Napoleon is here but Napoleon needed troops to go into Russia and he threatened the Duke of Württemburg that if he did not supply troops he would declare war. If the Duke would provide troops for Russia he would declare the Duke King, since Napoleon was an Emperor, but the Duke had a problem his sister was married to the king of Russia, but Württemburg was small and could not stand against Napoleon. The Duke sent the troops but only a few came back. I think the Duke sent about 16,000 troops and only 4oo came back. You will all have to check your history books as most of this is from memory.
The Queen and King had separate and shared bedrooms. In one instance the King Carl could not stand his wife and moved to Ludwigsburg with his mistress for 20 some odd years; where by law the Queen had to reside in Stuttgart. Until the need for an heir became critical the 50 year old queen was moved the Ludwigsburg and sadly could not produce an heir, and so the protestant kingdom ended with a Catholic king. In those times the people and the king had to have the same religion. Unfortunately in history there was too much friction between the two sects of Christianity.
Where you see the couch against the wall is where the head of the bed was located.
I have a lot more pictures, but I don’t want to bore you with them, but if you get a chance to visit Ludwigsburg Castle please do! It is interesting an the history is fascinating. It is only a hop skip and jump from Stuttgart, and about 2 hours from Munchen (Munich) Germany.
I would advise you to bring some snacks or by an all day pass and eat outside of the museum. The prices were a bit higher inside the castle then downtown.





November 13th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
When you were at the Ludwigsburg Castle .Did you see (I guess an exhibit ) that had a pair of red dancing shoes ? My father was stationed in Germany in the 70’s and thats all I can remember.If you have any photos of these shoes will you please email one to me . I have told my daughter about them and she doesnt believe me . I have searched the internet for them but I cannot find. Any help will be appreciated .
Susan Morrison
November 13th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Hi Susan,
Unfortunately I have no seen these shoes, but we did not see everything offered at Ludwigsburg. So the next time we go, we will look out for these shoes, and take pictures, and I will definitely e-mail them to you! Your comments will show up now without moderation.
August 14th, 2010 at 10:24 am
I toured the castle yesterday, and although I took in all I could, the shoes you mentioned were not visible. The guide did explaing that many of the artifacts are not offered for view by visitors. So sorry.
August 14th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Lothar,
Thanks for trying. I went there again too, and did not see them.