Summer residence of the Electors Palatine with an expansive palace garden, garden mosque, bathhouse and historic palace theater.
15. april 2026 – 1. november 2026
Outdoor trail showing how heat and drought are affecting the palace garden and what measures the gardeners take to protect old trees, soils and biodiversity; included in the garden ticket.
The origins of Schloss Schwetzingen go back to the Middle Ages: a fortified moated castle is first mentioned here in 1350; it passed to the Counts Palatine of the Rhine in 1427 and later served as a hunting lodge. After destruction in the Thirty Years' War and the War of the Palatine Succession, Elector Johann Wilhelm had the building extended with two side wings from 1697, giving it the plain, early Baroque form it still has today.
Schwetzingen flourished under Elector Carl Theodor, who moved his court here from Mannheim during the summer months. From 1748 the circular buildings (Zirkelbauten) and the circular garden parterre were created to plans by Johann Ludwig Petri, and the palace theater opened in 1753. Garden director Nicolas de Pigage designed numerous park buildings such as the bathhouse, the Temple of Apollo and the garden mosque, while Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell laid out the Wiesentälchen, one of the early landscape gardens in Germany. Voltaire and the young Mozart were among the guests at the summer residence.
After 1803 Schwetzingen passed to Baden. The grand dukes rarely used the complex, so the palace and garden remained largely unchanged and survived both world wars undamaged. During a restoration from 1975 to 1991, the electoral living quarters were refurnished with 18th-century furniture; also remarkable are the early panoramic wallpapers from 1804 in the apartment of the Countess of Hochberg.
Today the ensemble is managed by the Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg; around 820,000 visitors came in 2025. The palace museum can only be visited on a guided tour; the palace theater hosts the Schwetzinger Festspiele every year.
| Voksne | 9 € |
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| Nedsat pris | 4,50 €Children aged 6 and over, school and university students up to 28, people doing voluntary service or voluntary military service, people with a degree of disability (GdB) of 50 or more (proof required in each case) |
| Børn og unge | 4,50 €Reduced price from age 6; no price is listed for younger children. Visitors aged 15 and over count as adults unless they qualify for a reduction. |
| Pensionister | –No senior discount listed. |
| Personer med handicap | 4,50 €ledsager gratis · Reduced admission with a degree of disability (GdB) of 50 or more on presentation of proof; according to the accessibility page, a companion is taken into account if the severe disability ID (Schwerbehindertenausweis) carries the “B” marker (SSG rule: free admission). |
| Studerende og elever | 4,50 €School students (including vocational school students) and university students up to 28. |
| Grupper (fra 20 pers.) | 8,10 € pr. personPalace garden in summer per person for groups of 20 or more (winter €5.40); palace with 60-minute tour and garden €10.80 (winter €8.10); 90-minute tour for groups at a flat rate of €216 for up to 20 people. School class programs €4 per student, three accompanying adults free. |
| Familier | 22,50 €Family ticket for the palace garden in summer; in winter €15. Palace with guided tour and garden: families €30 (winter €22.50). |
Seasonal prices: palace garden in winter (Oct 26 – Mar 28) €6/reduced €3. Palace with 60-minute tour and garden: summer €12/€6, winter €9/€4.50; 90-minute tour (summer only) €13/€6.50/families €32.50; palace garden with guided tour €12/€6; special tours usually €13/€6.50. Annual pass €38 (reduced €19). Combination ticket with the Barockschloss Mannheim €18/€9/families €45 (March 29 – October 25, can be used on different days). The Schlosscard, Museums-PASS-Musées and Landesfamilienpass are accepted.
The palace garden is step-free (main courtyard with cobblestones, paths with a water-bound surface); the palace itself cannot be reached without steps. Step-free: visitor center, ticket office and shop, porcelain house, Orangery Museum, lapidarium, crafts museum (ramp) and bathhouse (platform lift); the garden mosque only via steps (arcades step-free). Accessible restrooms near the bathhouse and in the central palace building (Euro key against a deposit). Loan wheelchairs at the main entrance, folding stools in the palace, tour texts for hearing-impaired visitors in German, English, French and Italian. Tours for blind and visually impaired visitors (no guidance system, no tactile map), for hearing-impaired visitors with an induction loop, for deaf visitors with a sign language interpreter on request, and in plain and easy-to-read language. Two accessible parking spaces 150 m from the main entrance; parking garage (95 m) with three wheelchair spaces.
Velegnet til børn og familier
| Familiebillet | 22,50 € · Family ticket for the palace garden in summer; in winter €15. Palace with guided tour and garden: families €30 (winter €22.50). |
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Special tours in the “Kinder & Familie” (Children & Family) series and holiday tours (no dates currently announced); tours can also be booked as a children's birthday party program. Dedicated programs for kindergartens and schools.
Schlossplatz · 50 m
About a 10-minute walk from Schwetzingen station (accessibility page: about 15 minutes). BRN buses 710 (from Mannheim) and 717 (from Heidelberg/Speyer) to Schlossplatz; from Heidelberg, alternatively tram 22 to Eppelheim/Kirchheimer Straße and then bus 713.
Betalingsparkering · 300 m til indgangen
Public paid car parking at Alter Messplatz (300 m); paid parking garage 95 m from the main entrance with three wheelchair spaces; two accessible parking spaces 150 m from the main entrance. Five paid bus parking spaces at Alter Messplatz (day ticket €10).
GPS: Schloss Mittelbau, 68723 Schwetzingen; via the A6, exit Mannheim-Schwetzingen.
Planlæg ruteKurfürstenstube at the palace (traditional to upscale cuisine, coffee and cake); the palace restaurant is currently closed. Palace shop at the ticket office, lockers in the visitor center, drinking water fountain in the garden, e-bike charging stations in the main courtyard and at the Dreibrückentor. Dogs are allowed in the garden only on a leash no longer than 2 m.
Op til 6.000 personer.
Eleven rentable rooms and spaces, including the palace theater (up to 512 seats), the Langer Saal (up to 450), Jagdsaal, Mozartsaal, concert and chamber music hall, exhibition hall, conference room, palace chapel and the Blumenwiese meadow for open-air events (up to 6,000 people standing). Weddings, birthdays and children's birthday parties are possible; inquiries to the Schlossverwaltung Schwetzingen.
Forespørgsel & detaljer| Rundvisninger | ja · varighed ca. 60 min. |
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| Tilbud til skoler | ja |
| Fotografering | Not allowed in the palace; private photos permitted in the garden. Tripods and drones are prohibited on the entire grounds; wedding and commercial photography require a permit and a fee |
| Godt at vide | Palace interiors only by guided tour: classic palace tour of 60 or 90 minutes (also in English); plus garden tours and special tours. |
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