Karlsberg Castle

Charles II August was the son of the (titular) Count Palatine and prince of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler Frederick Michael.

His upbringing as the son of an unimportant poor prince did not give Charles II August the chance to build a castle of European standing.

Therefore, he was willing to sell his hereditary title and, after the death of Maximilian Joseph, his Bavarian property to the Austrian house of Habsburg.

The only way to prevent this from happening was to make sure that, instead of selling his own hereditary title too, Charles August protested against every attempt to impede his succession to the Bavarian throne.

Part of the demonstration of his position as the inheritor of the Electorate of the Palatinate and Bavaria was an extensive holding of court.

He was influenced by his mistress, Caroline von Esebeck, a cousin of the owner, who was seeking to sell the property she did not use any more, because she lived with her new husband, the count of Strahlenheim-Wasaburg in Forbach.

In addition to the mansion itself, there was a full functional small village with barracks, farms, nurseries, kennels and stables.

The uniform design of the one and two storied buildings includes continuous cornices and architrave blocks and gabled roofs.

The right side of the main complex of buildings has a length of 1,250 meters, thus creating the largest country palace of Europe.

Most of the elaborate carved and gilded furnitures and plankings were created by the French court cabinetmaker Georges Jacob gefertigt.

The main piece of the show bedroom was a bed "à la Romaine", which was the archetype of following furniture of the kings of France.

The court gardener, Johann Ludwig Petri, who created important parts of the park of Schwetzingen castle, seems to have been involved too.

After the outbreak of the French revolution and the begin of the first coalition war (1792–1797), the duke held a neutral position in relation to the revolutionary government of France.

There even served a Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, within the French army, which participated in several battles, especially the siege of Yorktown, where they played a prominent part of taking redoubt 9.

After the execution of Louis XVI, Charles II August was to be put on trial in front of a revolutionary tribunal, which would have meant his death.

Leaving the region, they marauded the castle and the residents of the nearby villages were allowed to plunder the buildings.

After serving for different purposes as a sugar factory or a forester's house, the Karsberger Hof is owned by the Karlsberg brewery.