My only complaint after investigating the King’s side, the Queen’s side, and the palace theater was that by the end of the tour my neck hurt. As one of the oldest, largest Baroque residential palaces, Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg has countless beautifully painted ceilings, and my neck was aching from gazing at them all. Many of of the ceilings' paintings played tricks on the eye and looked as though they rose up indefinitely, or were in fact clouds and sky.

During the tour, the guides who are on a first-name basis with the past castle inhabitants, tell stories of how they lived, and why the castle is laid out the way it is. The tour include parts of the palace not normally shown on other palace tours, including the dark, windowless servants quarters that lay in the heart of the palace in order for the servants to prepare the King and Queen’s rooms without being seen. Somehow, seeing where the servants lived really humanized the entire experience, and made everything feel real.

One of the palace's greatest treasures is the theater completed in 1758. It is the oldest preserved theater in Europe, and even includes the original stage machinery to change the sets.

Photography is not allowed during the tours, so just relax and lose yourself in the stories. All the interior photos included here are supplied by the Press department of the Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg.

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