15. August, 2026
On Saturday, August 15, at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Mežotne Palace invites you to guided tours of the exhibition “The Court of the Muses: The Salon of Duchess Dorothea of Courland at Lēbihava Palace in the Caricatures of Ernst Welker.”
Together with Inita Sondore, the cultural projects manager at Mežotne Palace, we will explore the exhibits of this unique exhibition—47 witty caricatures by the Austrian artist Ernst Welker (1784–1857). We’ll learn about the history behind their creation and the stories of the characters depicted—members of high society who gathered in the early 19th century at Duchess Dorothea of Courland’s famous salon at Lēbihava Castle. We’ll also take a look at the history of Mežotne Palace and how it is intertwined with the life of Duchess Dorothea.
The exhibition is the first large-scale project of its kind at Mežotne Palace since it came under the supervision of the Rundāle Palace Museum and symbolically marks the first anniversary of the palace’s reopening to visitors.
Duchess Dorothea of Courland and Semigallia (1761–1821) was one of the most prominent European aristocrats of her time. Her salon at Lebihava Castle in Thuringia, Germany, was known as the “Court of the Muses” and was renowned as a center of refined conversation, art, and intellectual life, where writers, artists, politicians, and aristocrats from various European countries gathered.
The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Posterstein Castle Museum in Germany and with the support of SIA “Groglass.”
To participate in the tour, you must purchase a ticket to visit the palace. This can be done online at https://e-tickets.rundale.net or at the Mežotne Palace ticket office.