Venice in Ludwigsburg

The city of Ludwigsburg is really fascinating - so much culture and history are available if you know where to look. It's an army town, founded by a fat, 6-foot-tall duke who demanded that a town be built up around his summer castle. During World War II, only Ludwigsburg and Heidelberg were spared bombings because both cities contained barracks in which the Allied forces could house their own soldiers. There are numerous homes where famous German figures (Schiller, Goethe) have lived or spent the night. Aside from all that, they throw really GREAT festivals...
 
Here are a few photos from the Venecian Festival we attended last weekend in Ludwigsburg. It was a little expensive (€10 entrance fee), but it was well worth it to see all the incredible costumes! There was also live entertainment all night, on different stages set up around the market square. We met these two ladies (?) at the entrance.


After entering, Fabian took the opportunity to try on an antique pirate hat at one of the mask stands. Other stands were selling jewelry, candles, Baroque outfits, different kinds of food, and bright orange alcoholic beverages.


 
We also ran across five ladies dressed up as the different sister cities of Ludigsburg - among them St. Charles, Missouri! She was dressed a bit like the Statue of Liberty, except with fish all over her dress. I told her I came from St. Louis and had family in St. Charles, and she was more than happy to pose for a photograph.

It was a long day in Ludwigsburg since I had already taken a "training tour" of the city (to see if my German skills were good enough to actually lead said tours myself in the near future), but we decided to stay until dusk because we had heard how beautiful the festival is at night. We were not disappointed! This is a photo of the Evangelical church in the square, decorated and lit up for the festivities!

Hope you enjoyed the pics! When some and/or all of you come to visit me someday, I promise to give you the grand tour of this awesome city, if you haven't already been there!

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