"The Palace Gardens - 18 ..." a Schwetzingen Travel Page by Kathrin_E

The palace in Schwetzingen was built as a summer and hunting palace for the Electors of the Pfalz in the 16th century and later enlarged. In the 18th century a huge park was added.

The central part, as shown in photo 1, is a geometrical garden with parterres and bosquets in the typical baroque style. The outer parts, however, are English landscape gardens with a large number of buildings and attractions.

Schwetzingen is a candidate for the status of UNESCO World Heritage. The administration of the palaces and gardens in Baden-Württemberg have just handed in their application. Let's see.

Official website of Schloss Schwetzingen

In the late 18th century the gardening fashion changed. The baroque principles were abandoned. Instead, gardens now resembled natural landscapes, although they were still carefully designed. Small buildings were placed among trees, meadows and lakes, romantic views created. The buildings are a collection of architectures from all over the world and all eras. You'll discover a mosque, an ancient Roman temple, a medieval castle ruin, a Chinese bridge, an aqueduct, Egyptian sphinxes and many many more. You'll find separate tips about many of them on my pages.

Take your time to explore the park and take in its many surprises. Minimum time: 1 hour for the tour of the palace plus 3 hours for the park.

While the palace and its gardens are the main attraction of Schwetzingen, the centre of the little town deserves a look, too. I'm sorting my tips about the town into "Off the beaten path tips" to separate them from those about the palace.

Website of the municipality of Schwetzingen