Residenzschloss Rastatt

Description

Schloss Rastatt is located in the town of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg and forms the prominent centre of a Baroque residential landscape on the Upper Rhine. The three‑wing complex was built from 1697 at the behest of the Margrave of Baden‑Baden and has since defined the town’s appearance.

The complex was erected in place of a previously destroyed residence; after the devastation of the War of the Palatine Succession the margrave sought a representative new seat and first commissioned a hunting lodge and then an extensive residence. Around 1700 the then still village-like settlement was granted town rights, and from 1701/02 the ruling family and later the court moved to Rastatt. The construction followed the French court model of Versailles and was intended to demonstrate the power and rank of its patron; substantial sums were spent on the expansion of the palace. The margrave himself, however, spent little time there and died in 1707. Construction problems necessitated alterations; after the damage was repaired the Corps de Logis was completed in the 1720s and crowned with a figure of Jupiter visible on the roof, the original of which is kept in the vestibule of the Ahnensaal.

Architecturally the complex is dominated by a rectangular, three‑storey main building 23 bays long and five bays deep; a slightly projecting central risalit with an attic and balcony emphasizes the centre. On the town side two two‑storey wings enclose a representative forecourt of about 90 by 76 metres, while on the garden side further additions extend the façade to around 230 metres. In this respect Rastatt ranks second after Mannheim among the larger Baroque palaces in southwest Germany.

Visitors access the interior via two impressive staircases richly decorated with stucco and are led to the Beletage. The focal point is the Ahnensaal with numerous frescoes that, alongside family portraits, also depict captive Ottomans and portray the margrave as a victorious military commander defending Europe. Ceilings and state rooms received extensive Rococo stucco work; floor inlays in various woods attest to high craftsmanship. Most of the original furnishings have been lost.

Today Schloss Rastatt is one of the state‑owned monuments and is administered by the Staatlichen Schlössern und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. In addition to the historic state rooms, the building houses the district court, the Museum of Military History (developed from the former Badischen Armeemuseum) and the Memorial for the Movements for Freedom in German History, established in 1974 at the suggestion of the Federal President. Between 1946 and 1954 significant criminal trials took place in the Ahnensaal before a French military court against those responsible for the Nazi regime, involving more than 2,000 defendants in total.