Wilhelmshöhe Palace

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Wilhelmshöhe Palace
Wilhelmshöhe Palace Location in Germany Show map of Hesse Wilhelmshöhe Palace Wilhelmshöhe Palace (Germany) Show map of Germany
General information
Type	Palace
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Town or city	Kassel
Country	Germany
Coordinates	51°18′54″N 9°24′58″E / 51.31500°N 9.41611°E / 51.31500; 9.41611
Construction started	1786
Completed	1798
Renovated	1968–1974, 1994–2000
Client	William I, Elector of Hesse
Owner	Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Simon Louis du Ry, Heinrich Christoph Jussow [de]

The Wilhelmshöhe Palace (

made extensive use of it as a summer residence and personal retreat.

Today, the palace houses the art gallery

History

Beginning in the 12th century the site was used as a monastery. Under Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse 1504-1567 it was secularised and used as a castle. This castle was replaced by a new one from 1606 to 1610 by Landgrave Moritz. The current Neoclassical Schloss Wilhelmshöhe was designed by architects Simon Louis du Ry and Heinrich Christoph Jussow [de] from 1786 to 1798 for Landgrave William IX of Hesse.^[1]

As king of the

accommodation there, but after half a year the Emperor went into exile in England.

From 1899 to 1918, Wilhelmshöhe was the summer residence of the German emperor

.

The middle tract of the castle was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. The first reconstruction was made in 1968-1974 by the functionalist architect Paul Friedrich Posenenske. He completely reconstructed the exterior but changed the structure of the interior for its new function as an art museum. From 1994 to 2000 another renovation was made to bring it closer to the original structure. However, the dome of the castle was not rebuilt.

• 
  Wilhelmshöhe Palace in 1860
• 
  Wilhelmshöhe Palace in a 1907 postcard
• 
  Wilhelmshöhe Palace before the war

Today

Today the Wilhelmshöhe Castle Museum houses the antiquities collection, the Gallery of the Old Masters (which includes one of the world's largest Rembrandt collections^[2]) and the Graphic Arts Collection.

References

External links

• Website of Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel