Eremitage Castle

The construction of the Eremitage Palace began in 1724 under Damian Hugo Philipp von Schönborn, a prince-bishop who relocated the residence from Speyer to Bruchsal. During this period, several new buildings were erected on his estates. The initial designs for the Eremitage came from Michael Ludwig Rohrer, who had previously worked on Bruchsal Palace for Schönborn. The pavilion architecture was inspired by Marly-le-Roi Palace. Originally conceived as a sixteen-sided building with eight hermit pavilions arranged in a walled star-shaped path, the complex was completed between 1724 and 1729 and later served as a model for several other palaces. Around 1732, a ceiling fresco by Giovanni Francesco Marchini was painted, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1946. Probably at the suggestion of Balthasar Neumann, the hermit cottages were replaced by four two-story cavalier pavilions in 1730. Under Franz Christoph von Hutten, the main building was extended with four wings, and Balthasar Neumann extended the cavalier pavilions. In 1783, Damian August von Limburg had a clock with a bell tower and a wrought-iron balcony installed at the entrance. Following the dissolution of the Prince-Bishopric of Speyer in 1803, the last prince-bishop, Philipp Franz Wilderich Nepomuk von Walderdorf, retained residence rights until his death in 1810.