![Liselotte von der Pfalz, known in France as “Madame Palatine”, in a painting by Jean-Gilbert Murat for the Palace of Versailles, after an original by Pierre Mignard (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/liselotte-von-der-pfalz-titel-300x225.jpg)
Madame Palatine at the court of the Sun King
Liselotte von der Pfalz’s extensive correspondence gives something of an autobiographical portrait of its writer, provides a no-holds-barred chronicle of the French court at the time of Louis XIV and the Régence, and is one of the best-known German-language texts of the Baroque period.
![High above the Neckar: the city of Heidelberg and Heidelberg Castle before they were destroyed. Painting by Gerrit Berckheyde, c. 1670.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/stadt-und-schloss-heidelberg-vor-der-zerstorung-300x185.jpg)
![Happier playing with her brother’s wooden swords than with dolls: little Liselotte as a child of about 4 or 5.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/die-kleine-liselotte-im-alter-von-vier-bis-funf-jahren-235x300.jpg)
![A portrait for the marriage market: Liselotte between 1670 and 1671, shortly before her marriage to Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/die-ca-18-jahrige-liselotte-zwischen-1670-und-1671-255x300.jpg)
From Heidelberg to Versailles
![Liselotte in hunting dress, watercolour drawing by Joseph Werner, 1671.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/liselotte-im-jagdkostum-1671-226x300.jpg)
Liselotte’s life at the French court
![Liselotte in about 1678-1679, with her children: Elisabeth Charlotte, later Duchess of Lorraine (left), and the future French Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (right).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/liselotte-um-1678-1679-mit-ihren-kindern-220x300.jpg)
“Being Madame is a miserable job”
Free of pretensions and artifice
![Letter dated 20 February 1718, signed by Liselotte von der Pfalz. A third of her correspondence was in French.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/brief-liselotte-von-der-pfalz-236x300.jpg)
In conflict with the beloved King
![Heidelberg in the Palatinate War of Succession: title page of an anonymous publication from 1693 about the deliberate destruction of the city and castle by fire-raising and explosions (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/heidelberg-im-pfalzischen-erbfolgekrieg-300x194.jpg)
From widow to mother of the Regent
![In the center and at the King’s right hand: Liselotte receiving the Elector of Saxony Friedrich August, later King Augustus III of Poland, on 27 September 1714. Painting by Louis de Silvestre.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/liselotte-und-louis-xiv-300x239.jpg)
Death and afterlife
![The favourite residence: the Château Saint-Cloud Castle near Paris, which belonged to Monsieur, passed to Liselotte’s son after Monsieur’s death. Painting by Étienne Allegrain (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/das-von-monsieur-erbaute-schloss-saint-cloud-bei-paris-300x174.jpg)
![Baroque opulence beneath the widow’s veil: Liselotte wears an ermine-lined velvet cloak with the Bourbon lilies that mark her out as a member of the royal family. Portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1713.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/liselotte-portrat-von-hyacinthe-rigaud-255x300.jpg)