Bad Homburg Castle (''Schloss Bad Homburg'') is a castle and palace in the German city of

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'', w ...

. Originally the residence of the

Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

, it was first built in the 12th century. All but the keep was demolished in 1660 by

Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Frederick II of Hesse-Homburg (german: Friedrich II. von Hessen-Homburg), also known as the Prince of Homburg (30 March 1633 – 24 January 1708) was Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. He was also a successful and experienced general for the crowns of ...

. He replaced the old castle with a new one designed by Paul Andrich between 1680 and 1685. Its grounds and gardens were landscaped in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the addition of the Gothic House. It was inherited by

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

after Prussia's annexation of Hesse-Homburg in 1866 following the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

, becoming a summer residence for the

kings of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

stayed at the castle several times, as did his son and successor Frederick III and Frederick's wife

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The castle was a particular favourite of Frederick and he and his successors added bathrooms, telephone rooms and electricity and merged some rooms. After 1918 the castle was administered by the Prussian state and from 1945 by the state of Hesse. From 1947 it housed the Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlösser und Gärten Hessen (Hesse Administration for State Castles and Gardens).

Bibliography (in German)

* Heinz Biehn, Wolfgang Einsingbach: ''Amtlicher Führer Schloss Homburg vor der Höhe''. Herausgegeben von Verwaltung der Staatlichen Schlösser und Gärten in Hessen. Dt. Kunstverlag, München 1959 *

Günther Binding Günther Binding (born 6 March 1936) is a German art historian and retired professor of art history and urban conservation at the University of Cologne. Life Born in Koblenz, Binding, brother of the later sculptor Wolfgang Binding and uncle o ...

: ''Beobachtungen und Grabungen im Schloss Bad Homburg vor der Höhe im Jahre 1962''. In: Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte und Landeskunde zu Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Band 32 (1974) * Rüdiger Kurth: ''Vielleicht ist er Kaiser Barbarossa begegnet. (W)Ortwin von Hohenberch und seine Burg,'' in: ''Jahrbuch des Hochtaunuskreises 2006''. Frankfurt 2005, S. 94–98 * Friedrich Lotz: ''Geschichte der Stadt Bad Homburg vor der Höhe''. 2 Bände: ** Band 1: ''Begegnung mit Urkunden''. Kramer, Frankfurt 1964 ** Band 2: ''Die Landgrafenzeit''. Kramer, Frankfurt 1972, * Fried Lübbecke: ''Kleines Vaterland Homburg vor der Höhe''. Frankfurt 1964 * Bernd Modrow, Claudia Gröschel: ''Fürstliches Vergnügen. 400 Jahre Gartenkultur in Hessen''. Verlag Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2002, * Bernd Modrow: ''Schlosspark Homburg vor der Höhe. Vom Burggarten zum Schlosspark'', Verlag Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg, 1. Auflage 2007, * Iris Reepen, Claudia Göschel: ''Landgräfin Elisabeth, ihre Wohnung in Schloss Homburg und ihre Gärten''. Verlag Ausbildung und Wissen, Bad Homburg 1998,

References

{{Coord, 50.2279, 8.6100, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title 1680s architecture Baroque architecture in Hesse Buildings and structures in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Castles in Hesse Royal residences in Hesse