Count Eberhard V im Bart came to rule in 1459 via the Urach half of the dominion of Württemberg. When he died at the age of fifty, he left behind a dukedom consolidated and strengthened under his rule. Eberhard had no legitimate successor, and had the son of his cousin Heinrich, the later Duke Ulrich, educated in Stuttgart. In 1482 Eberhard achieved the reunification of the state. Under the Hapsburg influence he achieved this, the determination of his successor and the raising of the earldom to a dukedom. Under Eberhard the central administration of Württemberg, the judicial system and the state defenses were expanded. He founded the University of Tübingen in 1477 and believed the duties of the sovereign lay in the commitment to the welfare of the state, and therefore shaped the later "state" tasks. Eberhard lived at times in the Old Palace (Altes Schloss) in Stuttgart.
The daughter of Ludovico II, Margrave of Mantua and Barbara, Margravine
of Brandenburg married Count Eberhard V von Württemberg in
April 1474 in Mantua. A grand wedding celebration took place in
Urach Palace in July. Both sides had dynastic and political advantages
from this relationship. Her only daughter, Barbara, died after a
few months and the Countess and later Duchess did not feel very
comfortable at the modest Württemberg court. She never carried
out her plan to return to her family. Barbara Gonzaga was buried
in Kirchheim, her mortal remains were lost when the chancel was
torn down in 1537.
Ulrich von Württemberg had an unhappy childhood. His mother
died after his birth, and his mentally ill father was imprisoned
at Hohenurach in 1490. His guardians, who pursued different political
interests, were careless with the boy's upbringing and education.
As an adult Ulrich was distinguished by his lack of consideration
for and mistrust of the people around him. His private and political
life was a turbulent one. For example, he lost his Duchy for many
years when the Swabian Confederation (Schwäbische Bund) relinquished
it to Karl V. The only refuge left to Ulrich was Mömpelgard
and Hohentwiel, to which he withdrew and brought into his possession
once and for all. With the introduction of the Reformation, Ulrich
established decisive criteria for education and training. Duke Ulrich
von Württemberg died in 1550 and lies buried in the Collegiate
Church (Stiftskirche) in Tübingen. He lived at times in the
Old Palace in Stuttgart and made his court there into one of the
most magnificent of its age.
Duke Christoph's mother, Sabina von Bayern, fled from her husband, Duke Ulrich, and from an untenable marriage. The son she left behind, who treated his father with great mistrust his entire life, was raised in Innsbruck at the court of Ferdinand I. He was involved in dynastic conflicts for many years. Duke Christoph imposed the Lutheran orientation of the Württemberg church once and for all, established thirteen monastery schools for training theologians and assumed the role of the political leader of German Protestantism. His court in the Old Palace was that of a Renaissance sovereign, who placed great value on courtly representation and self-portrayal. Duke Christoph's achievements in government laid the basis for Württemberg's body politic for over two hundred years.
Duke Friedrich enjoyed a choice, comprehensive education, learned Latin and French and visited numerous countries. He is considered the State's first power politician, as a representative of early absolutism. At first he ruled the Mömpelgard possessions on the western side of the Rhine, and his rein met with mistrust by the Diet in Württemberg. Friedrich's efforts to also increase his income with the mercantile development of the state strengthened this characteristic. He took extensive armament and fortification measures due to increasing political and confessional tensions. The architect Heinrich Schickhardt shaped many plans, places and buildings under his rule. In addition to architecture, the Duke, who's seat of government was in the Old Palace, also promoted education and alchemy, established a "Kunstkammer" (a collection of art, treasures and natural oddities from around the world) and is considered an extremely distinguished personage.
Duke Eberhard Ludwig began his reign in 1693 at the age of 16. Due
to his military victories in the War of Spanish Succession in 1712
he was named Field Marshal of the German Reich. Eberhard Ludwig
gave the palace project and the city complex in Ludwigsburg its
name. In 1718 he moved to Ludwigsburg with his entire royal household
in order to live together undisturbed with his mistress Wilhelmine
von Grävenitz away from the Old Palace in Stuttgart.
Large sections of Ludwigsburg Palace were built in the baroque style
as a result of his ”building mania”. Following the intervention
of King Friedrich Wilhelm I von Preußen, Eberhard Ludwig put
an end to his relationship with Wilhelmine von Grävenitz as
his mistress in 1730 and became reconciled with his wife. He died
in 1733 without descendants.
The Princess of Baden-Durlach, daughter of Margrave Friedrich Magnus
von Baden-Durlach, married Eberhard Ludwig in 1697. After the Duke
left her, she lived alone in the Old Palace in Stuttgart. Her only
son, Friedrich Ludwig, died in 1731 at the age of 33.
In 1744 Carl Eugen, born in Brussels as the son of Eberhard Ludwig's
nephew Carl Alexander, took up his rule. In Ludwigsburg an expansive
palace awaited him, however its heavy baroque splendor surely hardly
met with his enthusiasm. At first he lived in the Old Palace in
Stuttgart. To keep him there, he was promised that a New Palace
(Neues Schloss) would be built on a grand scale. Following
conflicts with the Württemberg provincial diet, Carl Eugen
moved to the Ludwigsburg residential palace, where he had Württemberg's
first rococo furnishings produced. For his Protestant wife he had
one of the banquet hall buildings converted to a chapel.
"A court of this kind was at the time quite unlike that of
Württemberg" judged the widely-traveled Baron Wimpfen
in 1763. Carl Eugen had pleasure palaces (Monrepos, Solitude, Hohenheim
etc.) built at incredible expense, organized hunts and had grand
celebrations, operas and fireworks displays put on. For his birthday
festivities in 1763/64 the entire palace courtyard was transformed
with festive architecture into the "Palace of Splendor".
The cost of this royal household ruined the public finances. At
that time the entire state had fewer inhabitants than Stuttgart
today. The Duke died in 1793 at Hohenheim Palace.
Franziska von Hohenheim was actually descended from lesser nobility, and was rather unhappily married to a Herr von Leutrum, chamberlain to the Württemberg Duke. In the beginning the Duke drew the couple to the court with invitations, and later he only invited Franziska. In 1772 the Leutrums were divorced and she became the Duke's official mistress. This devout, charitable woman enjoys a saintly reputation in Württemberg. She is said to have converted , the wild, unpredictable and extravagant Duke to a considerate sovereign. Hohenheim Palace itself was Carl Eugen's last project. It resulted from a rural estate as a representative country residence for himself and Franziska von Leutrum, from 1774 Duchess of the German Reich and later his wife.
During his reign (1816-64) Wilhelm I pursued a sound domestic policy and attempted to achieve a balance in the relationship of the states in a federal Germany with changing alliances with the major powers. Among the people of Württemberg the King was more respected than loved, and it was primarily his second wife, the Czar's sister Katharina of Russia, who died at a young age, who was revered. He took care of Hohenheim Palace, lived in the New Palace and built the Wilhelma and Rosenstein Palace , where he died in 1864.
In 1816 the then crown prince Wilhelm von Württemberg in Petersburg
married his cousin, Katharina Pawlowna, Grand Duchess of Russia.
However, after only three years of marriage the beloved wife died
at just 30 years of age.
Just how great the esteem for and importance of the deceased Queen
was, is shown by the willingness in 1819 to pull down the family
seat of the Württembergs to make room for her sepulchral chapel
(Grabkapelle).
Queen Katharina had brought an unusually modern social structure
to the state. She founded the first Württemberg savings bank,
created schools with modern curricula, hospitals, children's homes
and institutions for feeding the poor, which she paid for partially
from her immense Russian dowry. As the Russian Grand Duchess she
was a member of the Russian-Orthodox Church and remained so (an
indispensable condition for the marriage of a Russian princess to
a member of a Western dynasty of princes) when she wed the Lutheran
Crown Prince Wilhelm. Every Whit Monday a church service is held
in the Sepulchral Chapel in her memory.
Karl was born as the longed-for successor to the throne in the third marriage of his father, Wilhelm I. Following a careful upbringing and education he cultivated intellectual and social interests his entire life. Despite some alienation and several conflicts between the monarch and his subjects (who did not unduly revere him), the 25th anniversary of his rule offered an occasion for the review of a "mild and benevolent" reign. He lived in the New Palace, in Rosenstein Palace and also used the Wilhelma for occasional stays.
The marriage of the Russian Grand Duchess to the successor to the
throne in Württemberg in 1846 had begun with diverse dynastic
relations between the two houses and Olga was also accepted in Württemberg
due to her ”truly royal attitude”. On a social level
she emulated Queen Katharina, however without being able to make
use of as large a personal fortune. The fact that the royal couple
was childless also proved to be a serious problem for their marriage.
In 1870 Olga's niece Wera was adopted. Queen Olga lies buried in
the Palace Church (Schlosskirche) in Stuttgart.
