- Type
- Palace / château
- Built
- 1720 · 18th century
- Location
- Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Style
- baroque architecture
- Commissioned by
- Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine
- Architect
- Nicolas de Pigage, Alessandro Galli da Bibbiena
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 49.4829°, 8.4618°
History
On the site of the Friedrichsburg fortress of 1606, Elector Charles III Philip, at odds with Protestant Heidelberg, moved the Palatinate's capital to Mannheim in 1720 and began a new residence. Several architects followed one another, among them Jean Clemens Froimon, Guillaume d'Hauberat, Alessandro Galli da Bibiena and Nicolas de Pigage; the court moved in in 1731 and the last wings were finished around 1760. Costs far exceeded the plans and were met by a special palace tax. The court reached its height under Charles Theodore, who left for Munich in 1778 after inheriting Bavaria, and in 1802 the palace passed to Baden. Air raids in 1943–1944 left it almost completely destroyed; demolition was debated after the war, but the building was rebuilt between 1957 and 1964. The University of Mannheim has used it since 1967, and works in 2005–2007 restored the historic roof and some of the state apartments.
What to see
Most of the three-winged complex, with a frontage of about 450 metres, is taken up by the university, its library and the local court. The central block houses the palace museum, opened in 2007, with reconstructed electoral apartments and the Imperial Quarters furnished with tapestries, furniture, porcelain and silver, visited at your own pace with an audio guide. The grand staircase, the Knights' Hall, which hosts concerts, and the restored palace church in the west wing can also be seen. The palace is managed by the state palaces and gardens authority of Baden-Württemberg.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q574723
Popularity: articles about this site in 17 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).