"King Ludwig I - Longing for the Palatinate"

The Bavarian regent King Ludwig I felt a deep connection to today's Palatinate and left behind numerous traces that are still visible today. The exhibition was dedicated to his life and work as a patron of the arts, culture and business. Works of art from the 18th and 19th centuries were complemented in the exhibition by excerpts from poems written by the king and passages from correspondence with his contemporaries, which provide a very private insight into the king's life. In addition, multimedia stations and video installations provided information on his life story. In the "Gallery of Beauty", visitors to the exhibition not only learnt interesting facts about the early women's movement, but were also able to project themselves into one of the paintings. Carolin Matzko and the illustrator Elias Hauck, both known from the BR TV programme "Ringlstetter", portrayed the monarch and his lover Lola Montez in two humorous comic videos.

The varied accompanying programme ranged from scientific lectures to staged guided tours. Culinary tours with museum director Alexander Schubert were offered for the first time.
In cooperation with the youth theatre group Mannheim 2026 e. V., the museum offered staged readings on the correspondence between King Ludwig I and his lover Lola Montez.
As part of an activity day, interested visitors were able to travel back in time to the reign of the monarch in historical costume. Special editions of the exhibition were produced by the Black Stork beer brewery and the Deidesheim Winegrowers' Association and offered in the museum shop. The richly illustrated exhibition catalogue complemented the visit to the exhibition with contributions from renowned scientists.

The exhibition was held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Duke Franz of Bavaria. A total of around 30,000 visitors came to see the exhibition.