Every design for Rastatt

Did you know that a peace treaty carries this town's name? The Treaty of Rastatt came out of a congress held here during the War of the Spanish Succession. The town had counted for little until the French destroyed it in 1689; then Louis William, Margrave of Baden, the general everyone called Türkenlouis, rebuilt it on a grander scale, and it remained the residence of the Margraves of Baden-Baden until 1771. In the 1840s it became a fortress, and in May 1849 a mutiny of soldiers here set off the Baden Revolution.

What sets Rastatt apart is how much of that story is still standing. The Baroque core gathers around Schloss Rastatt, Schloss Favorite waits out in Niederbühl, and the Kasematten am Südring are left from the fortress years. The Erinnerungsstätte für die Freiheitsbewegungen in der deutschen Geschichte and the Wehrgeschichtliches Museum tell the rest.

Yet for the people who live here, history is simply the backdrop: the Murg running towards the Rhine, the quiet streets of the Gartenstadt Zay, and the feeling of turning into town after a long trip and knowing you are home.