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Freudental is situated at an altitude of 224 m about 45 km north of Stuttgart.

The first mention of "Froedetal" is found in a document of the hospital of Eßlingen, dating from 1304. Afther the battle of Seckenheim (29th of JUne, 1462) the Margraviate of Baden had to cede the town of Bedigheim together with the surrounding villages, which included Freudental, to the Palatinate in 1463. In 1504, during the Bavarian War of Succession, the village came in possession of the Duchy of Württemberg, which had been allied to Bavaria against the Palatinate. During the following two centuries the ownership changed several times, until the village was purchased again by Württemberg in 1685. In 1710 the village came in possession of Baron Johann Gottlob Zobel von Gibelstadt, Lord of Hechtsheim, who admitted the settlement of 6 Jewish families. In 1727 the heirs of the baron sold Freudental to Countess Christina Wilhelmine of Grävenitz, the mistress of Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Württemberg. The countess allowed the settlement of further 24 Jewish families, a rabbi and a cantor in 1731. After the coutess lost the grace of the duke in 1731, she was interned at Cannstadt and then at Urach. In 1733 the village was purchased again by the Duke and in 1736 was finally incorporated into Württemberg. The Jewish community flourished especially during the 1850s and 1860s.

The former chateau (Neues Schloss) [bottom inset] was built in 1729–1731 for Countess Christina Wilhelmine of Grävenitz, the maitresse of Duke Eberhard Ludwig. King Friedrich of Württemberg enlarged the chateau in 1810 and had it transformed into a summer and hunting residence. In 1911 the chateau was bought by the union of the Stuttgart health insurance companies which used it as a recreation home (see labeling "Erholungsheim"). During World War I the chateau was used as an army hospital, and during World War II it served as a sanatorium for soldiers afflicted with tuberculosis. In 1945 it was transformed into a hospital for former forced labors. The building finally passed into the ownership of the district of Ludwigsburg in 1961. Since 1962 it is used as a residential and nursing home for the elderly. In 1979 the building was put under monumental protection.