Schloss Schwetzingen

Current exhibitions

About the museum

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.

Highlights

• Circular garden parterre in the French section of the garden
• Red garden mosque by Nicolas de Pigage (1778–1785)
• Carl Theodor's bathhouse with the fountain of the water-spouting birds
• Palace theater from 1753, venue of the Schwetzinger Festspiele
• The Wiesentälchen, an early work by Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell
• Panoramic wallpapers from 1804 in the apartment of the Countess of Hochberg

Permanent exhibitions

• Schlossmuseum – Living and reception rooms of the electoral couple from the 18th century as well as 19th-century rooms, viewable on 60- or 90-minute guided tours.
• Gartendokumentation „Wie ein Kunstwerk entsteht“ – Exhibition in the southern circular building on the creation and development of the palace garden in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Orangerie-Museum – Insight into the furnishing and running of courtly orangeries and the elaborate care of exotic potted plants.

Operated by

Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg

Director

Sandra Moritz

Visitors per year

approx. 820,000 (2025)

Admission & discounts

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.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: not available
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

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.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Kids’ birthday parties

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.

Getting there & parking

GPS: Schloss Mittelbau, 68723 Schwetzingen; via the A6, exit Mannheim-Schwetzingen.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Lockers

Kurfürstenstube 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.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 6,000 guests.

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.

Plan your visit