Twenty-five sumptuous royal sleds from the collection of the Württembergisches Landesmuseum (Württemberg State Museum) are now on display at Urach Palace. The exquisite sleds were all produced on order of the dukes of Württemberg in the 17th and 18th century. Ducal sled rides served representation purposes and the legitimization of sovereignty. The subjects were to experience the power and authority of their ruler firsthand in the extraordinary display of splendor.
The program of festive winter pleasures at the Court always also included sled rides. However, the impressive sleds did not travel across the countryside, but instead glided, pulled by horses, across market and palace squares where the amazed public collected. Illuminated by torches to the sound of trumpets and small bells, the gleaming horse-drawn vehicles made their rounds. The Duke always sat in the first sled and the entire procession was accompanied by his bodyguard and grooms.
The elaborately worked sleds are adorned with imaginative figures - antique goddesses and gods are just as prominent as fabulous creatures and wild animals. They reinforce the special, luxurious impression the sled rides were intended to make. Only the best court artists were used. Sculptors, cabinet-makers, cartwrights and guilders created exquisite works of art.
Several descriptions of royal sled rides have been preserved that served to herald the fame of the sovereign to contemporaries and future generations: "Today at 5 o'clock in the evening His Most Serene Highness (Duke Eberhard Ludwig) (amused) Himself with a sled ride, whereby the sled was preceded with trumpets and kettledrums drawn by 6 mules. (...) 2 February 1731
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