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In 1772-1776 Duke
Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin commissioned the court architect Johann Joachim Busch to
build the new palace as the centre piece of the late baroque townscape of Ludwigslust.
Ludwigslust was also the main residence under Grand Duke Friedrich Franz I. In the year
1837 Grand Duke Paul Friedrich returned the court to Schwerin and after that the palace
became a hunting lodge and summer residence.
Parts of the palace were open to the public as a museum from 1920. After dispossession
during the course of land reform it housed the local administrative authorities. The palace
has belonged to the Staatliches Museum Schwerin since 1986 and has gradually been opened to
the public as a museum.
The original furnishings in the as yet unrestored rooms include fire places, mirrors and
supraportas, parquet floors and chandeliers, together with ornaments and decorations of
Ludwigslust card (papier maché) and make for an impression of authenticity.
Currently, the courtly art and life style of the end of the 18th and the early 19th century
are exemplified in the Golden Hall and in eighteen other rooms in the ceremonial suite by
furniture and clocks, paintings and busts. These include works that were produced in
Ludwigslust, or which were acquired to furnish the palace. There is a particularly fine
small cabinet in which 125 small paintings, pietra-dura works and miniatures are exhibited.
The permanent collection includes a representative collection with a high quality
collection of paintings of the French court artist Jean Baptiste Oudry and busts by the
French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon. They reflect the artistic taste and collecting
enthusiasm of the Mecklenburg dukes.
What the museum has to offer is rounded off by special exhibitions covering specific topics,
guided tours, lectures and supervised educational visits to the museum for groups of
children and school classes. The festive concerts, that take place in the Golden Chamber
between May and September, are particularly popular.
The palace is surrounded by the gardens laid out in the 18th century. The palace gardens,
that were originally laid out geometrically, were enlarged in the landscape style by the
garden designer Peter Joseph Lenné in the middle of the 19th century to include baroque
elements such as alleys, cascades, canals and fountains. The park today extends over about
150 hectares. The Ludwigslust palace park is regarded as one of the finest in Northern
Germany on account of its baroque water works, garden architecture and dendrological
features. Once a year this place of dreamy stillness is transformed into an enchanting
scene at the “Little festival in the great park”. On one August weekend international
artists produce a high quality handicrafts festival. |
Palace Ludwigslust
Palace Ludwigslust
"Goldener Saal"
Palace Ludwigslust
"Orleanszimmer"
Palacegarden
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