Freudental Castle

The castle's origins date back to the 16th century, when a predecessor building was erected. In 1727, Wilhelmine von Grävenitz, the court mistress and paramour of Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Württemberg, acquired the estate. She had the existing structure demolished and commissioned Paolo Retti, an architect who had also worked on Ludwigsburg Castle, to construct a new building. This was realized between 1729 and 1731. Just one year after its completion, Countess Grävenitz lost the castle to Württemberg. From 1742, it served as the seat of the Chief Forester of Stromberg and later, from 1807, also of the cameral administration. King Friedrich I of Württemberg had the castle transformed into his hunting and summer residence by Nikolaus Thouret from 1810, which included extending an outbuilding and constructing the Prince's and Cavalier buildings. After Friedrich's death in 1816, the building remained vacant for a long time. From 1860, a service apartment and a Christian elementary school were set up in the Cavalier building.