Ludwigsburg Travel Guide

More about the History of Ludwigsburg

The middle of Neckarland, in which Ludwigsburg lies, was settled in the Stone age and in the Bronze age. Numerous archaeological finds from the city and the surrounding area remain from the time when it was settled by the Celts.

Toward the end of the 1st century, the Romans occupied the region. They pushed the Limes further to the east around 150, and controlled the region until 260, when the Alamanni occupied the Neckarland. Also the Alamanni settlement is proven by grave finds in the city today.

Ludwigsburg originated in the beginning of the 18th century (1718 - 1723) by the building of the largest Baroque castle in Germany, Ludwigsburg Palace, under Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg. Originally the Duke planned only one pleasure-palace, which he began building in 1704. However, the example of other Fürsts (or Princes) woke in him a desire: the establishment of a city through which to project his absolutist power. The Baroque hunting- and pleasure-palaces became Favorite (1713 - 1728), and the Seeschloss Seeschloss (Lake-palace) Monrepos (1764 - 1768) besides.

In the years between 1730 and 1800, the royal place of residence changed back and forth several times between Stuttgart (Stuttgart vacation rentals | Stuttgart travel guide) and Ludwigsburg. In 1800, Württemberg was occupied by France under Napoleon Bonaparte and was forced into an alliance with France. In 1806 the Kurfürst (Prince-Elector) Friedrich became the king of Württemberg by Napoleon's grant. In 1812 in Ludwigsburg, the Württembergish army was raised for Napoleon's Russian campaign. The majority of the soldiers did not survive it.

One famous person to come out of Ludwigsburg during this period was Friedrich Schiller. Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg, enrolled the youth in the Karlsschule Stuttgart (an elite military academy he had founded) in 1773, where Schiller eventually studied medicine. The Duke was very demanding of his students, and Schiller's childhood was a lonely and unhappy one, but he was greatly enriched by the excellent education he received. It was there that he wrote his first play, Die Räuber (The Robbers), about a group of naïve revolutionaries and their tragic failure.

In 1921 Ludwigsburg became the largest garrison in southwest Germany. In 1926 in the course of the building of the north south powerline, the large transformer station Ludwigsburg-Hoheneck, which still exists today, was built, which still represents another central junction in electricity mains of Baden-Württemberg to this day.

In World War II the city suffered moderate destruction (compared with other German cities). The people had 1,500 dead to mourn. It was also the site of the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag V-A from October 1939 till April 1945. After the end of the war there was a large Displaced persons camp which housed several thousand mainly Polish Displaced Persons until about 1948.

For about 45 years after the war the U.S. military maintained Pattonville, a large housing area including a high school, east of Ludwigsburg. In 1956 the tradition of the German garrison town was taken up again by the Bundeswehr, Germany's federal armed forces.

On October 5th, 1957 the first 380kV-powerline in Germany between the transformer station Ludwigsburg-Hoheneck and Rommerskirchen (Rommerskirchen vacation rentals | Rommerskirchen travel guide) went into service.

In 1966 the Pädagogische Hochschule (Teaching College) and the Staatliche Sportschule Ludwigsburg (State Sports School) were opened. 2004 is the 300th birthday of Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg, celebrated by the opening of the Baroque Gallery and the Ceramic Museum in Residenzschloss. In 1991 the national film school Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg was established in Ludwigsburg.

[ source: wikipedia ]