ABSTRACT
The requirements of the chase necessitated the building of vast stables two hundred yards from the castle. Two long main semicircular buildings behind the castle are also the work of La Guepiere and one of his pupils, the Wurttemberger Ferdinand Heinrich Fischer. In 1772, in other words at the most brilliant period of Solitude, he commissioned from Fischer the Laurel Gallery, which was demolished before the end of the century. Karl-Eugen, ‘that destroyer of nature’ as the Prince de Ligne called him, insisted that Fischer should strip the surroundings of his new residence of all its woodland character in order to create the most spectacular gardens. Karl-Eugen transformed part of the neighbouring forest into a vast game preserve in the middle of which Fischer built a charming hunting lodge in 1768. The castle became an inaccessible hermitage and then the court knew that a new favourite had just captivated the Duke’s heart.
