Altes Schloss Stuttgart

Altes Schloss Stuttgart traces its origins to a 10th-century moated castle built to guard a horse stud farm, the Stutengarten, from which the city of Stuttgart takes its name. The Counts, later Dukes, of Württemberg expanded the fortress over the following centuries, and between 1553 and 1562 architect Aberlin Tretsch rebuilt it as a Renaissance palace with an arcaded inner courtyard, while retaining medieval defensive elements including corner towers and sections of the original moat. The palace served as the primary residence of the Württemberg rulers until the New Palace was built in the 18th century, after which the Altes Schloss was used for administrative and military purposes. Heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944, the building was restored after the war and now houses the Württemberg State Museum (Landesmuseum Württemberg), whose permanent collection spans regional archaeology, medieval art, and the crown jewels of the Württemberg royal house. Exhibits are arranged chronologically, from prehistoric and Roman-era regional finds through medieval religious art to the ducal and royal collections of Württemberg, with the Renaissance courtyard itself serving as a centrepiece connecting the museum's wings. Restoration since the 1940s has combined reconstructed sections with preserved original stonework, particularly in the courtyard arcades and the corner towers.