Mozart was accompanied by the following personages: Elector palatine Carl Theodor, his wife Elisabeth Augusta, as well as the following court instrumentalists and singers (Mannheimer Hofkapelle): Dorothea (soprano), Johann Baptist and Franz Anton Wendling, Pietro Sarselli (tenor), the Toeschi brothers, Ignaz Fränzl, Christian Cannabich and others.
Places Mozart visited: Rotes Haus (Hotel), the ballroom and theatre at Schwetzingen castle

The first mention of Schwetzingen is in the Lorscher Codex (766), in which the city is referred to as Suezzingen. Beginning in the sixteenth century, the Schwetzingen fortress (1350) was used as a hunting lodge by the elector palatine of the Rhenish palatinate. The fortress was destroyed in 1689 and rebuilt in 1701. Elector palatine Carl Theodor (1724-1799) expanded the castle into a summer residence. In 1750, the "new city" was founded and in 1759 Schwetzingen was granted the right to hold markets. In 1777 the royal residence was moved to Munich. In 1803 the Rhenish palatinate was dissolved and the part of the palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine (and with it Schwetzingen) was incorporated into the Kingdom of Baden. In 1833 Schwetzingen acquired the status of a town, and in 1993 it became a chief town and administrative center.

Under the rule of Carl Theodor, the entire Rhenish palatinate, and with it Schwetzingen, entered a golden age that was characterized by decades of scientific and musical brilliance, the latter exemplified by the Mannheim school. The theatre that was built at the summer residence during this period is Europe's oldest circular theatre. In 1752, a sumptuous 180-acre formal garden was built whose design was influenced by French parterre and English gardens as well as rococo cabinets. But when the residence was moved, the castle lost its royal luster and fell into obscurity. A full fledged reconstruction effort was begun in 1970. A Unesco world cultural heritage site application is currently pending for the castle garden (including the castle and the landscape architecture), which is regarded as one of the most exquisite parks in Europe.