ABSTRACT

Karl-Eugen gave ample proof that he had inherited from his father that ‘mania for building’ which Montesquieu recorded — a passion possessed by few German princes to such a marked degree. Karl-Eugen decided that his new dwelling should be a few hundred yards away from the old. In 1747, Karl-Eugen thought of replacing him by Bibiena, at that time Director of Buildings to the Elector Palatine; then by Balthazar Neumann, who was invited to produce drawings of the façades. To decorate the 365 rooms of the Schloss, Karl-Eugen, one of the most francophile princes of his age, summoned a whole French staff. The important commissions given to Falconnet by Karl-Eugen were never fulfilled because the Duke waived his rights to them in favour of Catherine the Great. During the nineteenth century the interior of the Neues Schloss underwent extensive modifications.