Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe Inventarium der Gr. Sammlung türkischer Trophäen des Markgrafen Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden: Vom Gr. Conservator der Alterthümer u. der mit ihnen vereinigten Sammlungen am 11. Juni 1877 übergeben (Karlsruhe, 1878-1886)

Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe

Inventarium der Gr. Sammlung türkischer Trophäen des Markgrafen Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden: Vom Gr. Conservator der Alterthümer u. der mit ihnen vereinigten Sammlungen am 11. Juni 1877 übergeben

Karlsruhe, 1878-1886

When the collection of Ottoman art and weaponry, widely known as the ‘Türkenbeute’ (Turkish booty) and mainly from the late 17th century, was inventoried in 1878 and presented to the public for the first time in Karlsruhe, it already had a complex and eventful history.
In 1771, Margrave August Georg of Baden-Baden had the so-called ‘Türckische Kammer’ (Turkish Chamber) set up in the east wing of the Rastatt residential palace to glorify the glorious deeds of his father, Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm (1655–1707), also known as ‘Türkenlouis’. It remained there for several decades. However, it has been shown that only a few pieces can be traced back to ‘Türkenlouis’; some may have come into the margrave's possession before and only after his marriage to Franziska Sibylla Augusta of Saxe-Lauenburg (1675–1733). With the extinction of the Baden-Baden line, the Rastatt collection passed into the possession of the Margraves of Baden-Durlach. It initially remained in Rastatt Palace before being transferred to Karlsruhe in 1859, where it was combined with a smaller, less significant collection of ‘Turkish curiosities’ belonging to the Margraves of Baden-Durlach. The revolution of 1848/49 had already led to losses in both original collections, some of which were compensated for in the 1870s through repurchases from abroad and additional acquisitions.
The collection of Ottoman art and weaponry from the 16th to 19th centuries, known as the ‘Karlsruher Türkenbeute’, remains one of the most famous collections in the museum today.