Practical renovations in Bebenhausen.
King Wilhelm II and his second wife, Charlotte von Schaumburg-Lippe, were passionate hunters and often stayed in Schönbuch. The royal couple valued the comforts that technical progress had made possible. They therefore had many practical renovations carried out in Bebenhausen Palace. The distribution of space changed in the queen's apartment, which now consisted of an antechamber, a bedroom, a dressing room, a bath, a spacious drawing room, and a music room.
The queen was a passionate hunter.
In the antechamber, which led both to the bedroom and to the drawing room of the queen, Charlotte presented herself as a successful huntress. The walls are all decorated with trophies of deer and boar hunts from the years between 1899 and 1917. Some bear her monogram: a C under a crown. As in all rooms of the apartment, fabric tapestries imitating the Art Nouveau style cover the walls.
A look inside the royal drawing room.
Quite typical for the style of Historicism, the queen's drawing room is a mix of original pieces and new items. The wall paneling and furniture are from the Renaissance; there are also six Dutch paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The ceiling paneling was created during the modernization of the palace in the late 19th century. In a niche in the west wall, a mural by Julius Mössel, depicts Nachod Palace in Bohemia. Charlotte von Schaumburg-Lippe spent her childhood and youth there.
How "civil" the lives of the ruling couple of Württemberg became at the beginning of the 20th century is reflected in the queen's private rooms. Her tastefully elegant yet functional dressing room is no different than the standard of living of a rich, upper class household at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. Yet, with its simple Art Nouveau forms, it was also extremely fashionable. The royal couple may indeed have felt themselves close to their subjects, they were, however, also conscious of their status and lived accordingly.
The ruling couple of Württemberg strongly preferred modern living comfort in their private rooms.
