Schloss Favorite is a
Baroque ''
maison de plaisance
In Renaissance and Early Modern German architecture, a ''Lustschloss'' (french: maison de plaisance, both equating in English to "pleasure castle/house") is a small country house or palace which served the private pleasure of its owner, usual ...
'' and
hunting lodge in
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and was used as a summer residence and hunting lodge. It is located on a rise, directly north of
Ludwigsburg Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...
and connected via an avenue to it.
History
Schloss Favorite was built from 1717 to 1723 for the sovereign Duke of Württemberg,
Eberhard Ludwig, to a design by
Donato Giuseppe Frisoni
Donato Giuseppe Frisoni (b. 1681 or 1683, Laino – d. 29 November 1735, Ludwigsburg) was an Italian architect active during the Rococo period in Northern Italy, Southern Germany, and Bohemia.
Biography
Donato Giuseppe Frisoni was born in Lai ...
. The model was the
Gartenpalais in Vienna.
The original plan provided for combining the functions of a hunting castle, surrounded by a vast park and hunting grounds, and a country villa with a beautiful view. In 1748, it served as a backdrop for a grandiose firework display arranged on the occasion of the wedding of
Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg and Princess
.
From 1806,
King Frederick I of Württemberg converted the park into a
ménagerie, containing
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
,
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
and
chamois, and the house was used as a hunting lodge. At much the same time, the architect
Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret renovated the building's interior in the
neoclassical style.
With the fall of the monarchy in the 20th century, the house was little used, neglected and fell into disrepair. It was restored from 1980 onward, and it opened to the public in 1983. The park has been transformed into a landscape garden, which has since served as an animal park. Today, the originally furnished castle rooms give an insight into courtly life.
Modern use
Schloss Favorite is state-owned, under the control of the State Castles and Parks of Baden-Württemberg. It is open to the public, included with a guided tour of the main palace.
Starting in 1987, Schloss Favorite has been used for the filming of the weekly evening talk show "NACHTCAFé" produced by the television and radio company SWR. In 2003, a two-part film “Pride and Passion” (German: Das unbezähmbare Herz) was shot here, in which
Bettina Zimmermann,
Stefan Jürgens and
Sonja Kirchberger
Sonja Kirchberger (born 9 November 1964 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian actress.
From 1974 to 1978 she was a dancer in the Ballet of the Opera in Vienna ( Wiener Oper).
She became popular to the European public as ''Coco'', a sensuous bu ...
played the main roles.
See also
*
List of Baroque residences
This is a list of Baroque architecture, Baroque palaces and Residenz, residences built in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Baroque architecture is a building style of the Baroque, Baroque era, begun in late 16th-century Italy and spread in Europe ...
*
Monrepos Palace
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Architecture in Germany
Houses completed in 1723
Hunting lodges in Germany
Palaces in Baden-Württemberg
1723 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire