15-01-18-Stuttgart-RalfR-DSCF1096-19 retusche

The Königsbau is one of the formative buildings of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

's Schlossplatz. It forms the north-west end of the square and is mainly home to shops and cafés. Since April 2006, the Königsbau-Passagen, a 45,000 square meter retail and commercial building, has been attached to the rear of the Königsbau.

History

The Königsbau was built between 1856 and 1860 by order of

King Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

in late

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

style as a business, concert and ball house. The royal court architect

Christian Friedrich von Leins Christian Friedrich von Leins (22 November 1814 in Stuttgart – 25 August 1892 in Stuttgart) was a German architect. Life He was the son of masonry foreman. Until 1837, Leins attended the Friedrich-Eugens-Gymnasium in Stuttgart, then s ...

together with architect

Johann Michael Knapp Johann Michael Knapp (10 March 1791, Stuttgart - 22 October 1861, Stuttgart) was a German court architect in Württemburg. Biography His father, also named Johann Michael, originally came from Ditzingen and was a Master baker. His mother, El ...

were awarded the building contract. After Knapp retired from work in 1857, partly for health reasons, Leins completed the construction. The official inauguration took place in September 1860. Two years earlier, Wilhelm I had already given permission for the project to be called the Königsbau. The monumental building was intended to form a counterpoint to the New Palace and is characterized by a colonnade consisting of 34 columns, 135 meters long. Inside, there were already at that time restaurants and large rooms used for various celebrations and events. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Königsbau was severely damaged, and in 1958 and 1959 it was rebuilt at a cost of the equivalent of €4 million. From 1991 to 2002, the Königsbau housed the

Stuttgart Stock Exchange Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swab ...

, which has since moved to Börsenstraße.

Literature

* Uwe Bogen (text); Thomas Wagner (photos): Stuttgart. Eine Stadt verändert ihr Gesicht. Erfurt 2012, p. 10–11. * ''Der Königsbau''. In: Eugen Dolmetsch: Aus Stuttgarts vergangenen Tagen (second volume from „Bilder aus Alt-Stuttgart“). Selbsterlebtes und Nacherzähltes. Stuttgart 1931, p. 66–69. * ''Königsbau Passagen''. Unter Dach und Fach. In: Stuttgart baut. Entwicklungen und neue Bauprojekte 4. 2006, p. 46–49. * Hermann Lenz; Günter Beysiegel (Herausgeber): Stuttgart. aus 12 Jahren Stuttgarter Leben. Stuttgart: Belser, 1983, p. 416–420. * Michael Wenger, Königsbau. In: Stadtarchiv Stuttgart: Digitales Stadtlexikon, published on August 24, 2020.

External links

Official website

www.koenigsbau-passagen.de
{{coord missing, Baden-Württemberg Tourist attractions in Stuttgart Palaces in Baden-Württemberg Neoclassical architecture in Germany