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"A great lookout with full view of the world cup stadium" – Interview with Jürgen Schad, Head of the State Department for Castles and Gardens in Baden-Württemberg
Ortenberg Castle - landmark of the Ortenau
What is the job of the “Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten” in Baden-Württemberg?
Jürgen Schad: Baden-Württemberg has among the most castles and palaces of any state in Germany. We manage around 250 palaces, castles, gardens, parks and monasteries. Of these, around 50 are our special “highlights”. Our job and our aim are to maintain the diversity of our cultural heritage as best we can and present them to the public in the most customer-friendly way possible. We don't want to present palaces in a passive way, like a museum, but want to offer a wide range of qualified tours and events to turn a visit into a real experience.
Do you have any special activities planned for the World Cup 2006?
Jürgen Schad: The most important goal for the World Cup was to complete the extensive renovation of Germany's largest Baroque palace, Ludwigsburg. It looks just as fantastic as it did when it was built over 300 years ago. People can come to see the fashion of the Baroque period, the palace park with “Blühendes Barock”, the Märchengarten as well as the historic city centre – a fantastic place to visit, and just a few kilometres outside of Stuttgart.
Other highlights include the new offerings in the hunting and summer residence, Solitude, located in the former royal forest in Stuttgart, as well as the recently renovated romantic funeral chapel high above Stuttgart. It is the final resting place of the czar's daughter Queen Katharina: a fabulous lookout point with a view of Gottlieb-Daimler stadium, one of the World Cup venues.
We offer our visitors tours in historic costumes throughout the entire state. The castle guides often appear as servants and tell about the lives of their masters in interesting anecdotes and stories. We have a number of special offers during the World Cup, but I'm not going to give away the details just yet.
Two special exhibitions are located a bit further outside of Stuttgart: people can discover the magic of the Hohenlohe cultural landscape in Weikersheim Palace. In addition, the former Benedictine monastery Wiblingen near Ulm will open its new museum.
How popular are the palaces and castles among tourists?
Jürgen Schad: They are consistently popular. Our top 50 palaces and castles receive around 2.5–2.8 million guests each year. There are a few favourites among them: Heidelberg has well over a million visitors each year, and Schwetzingen receives over 500,000 tourists. Both places are on the list to be named UNESCO World Heritage sites – Heidelberg along with the completely preserved old city centre, and Schwetzingen with its gorgeous park.
