Every design for Ludwigsburg

Ludwigsburg lies a short way north of Stuttgart, on a plateau between the Hohenasperg and the Neckar valley, yet it has never felt like a suburb of the state capital. It is a baroque town through and through, built around Schloss Ludwigsburg, the largest baroque palace in Germany, and the district that bears its name is governed from here.

What makes it unusual is that the palace came first and the town followed. Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg began with a country house in 1704, then wanted a capital to match his ambitions: he added the Favoriteschloss as a hunting lodge, later came the lakeside palace of Monrepos, and in 1718 the new settlement received its town charter. The gardens of the Blühendes Barock, the Favoritepark and the long, straight avenues still give the centre its shape, and the Schlosstheater adds a stage to the ensemble.

If you have walked through the Blühendes Barock on a warm evening, or followed the avenues home without needing to look where you were going, this is your town on a map: clean lines, wide streets and a palace at the centre of it all.