Erbprinzenpalace (Wiesbaden)

The Hereditary Prince's Palace on Wilhelmstraße in Wiesbaden is a Neoclassical building with a dominant central gable, erected by Christian Zais between 1813 and 1817 for the Hereditary Prince of the Nassau Dukes. After a checkered history, it now houses the Wiesbaden Chamber of Commerce and Industry, founded in 1865.

After the founding of the Duchy of Nassau, the representative building was specially constructed for the Nassau Hereditary Prince Wilhelm (* June 14, 1792; † August 20, 1839). The renowned city architect Christian Zais, who had already built the old Kurhaus in the city, was commissioned for the construction project.

Duke Friedrich August of Nassau-Usingen (* April 23, 1738), who had reigned since 1806, had no male heir, as his two sons among his total of 7 children died in infancy. Thus, it was clear early on that the ducal dignity would pass to the Nassau-Weilburg line. Friedrich August's cousin, Friedrich Wilhelm of Nassau-Weilburg (* October 25, 1768), 30 years his junior, who already shared government affairs with him, was to inherit from Friedrich August. Therefore, from 1813, he had the building constructed for his son Wilhelm, which the latter was to inhabit during his upcoming term of office. However, this did not happen: when Friedrich August died at the age of 77 on March 24, 1816, Friedrich Wilhelm was also already dead: he died two months earlier, on January 9, 1816, in a tragic accident at Weilburg Castle, falling from a staircase.

Wilhelm thus became Duke at the age of 23, moved out of the not yet completely finished Hereditary Prince's Palace and into Biebrich Palace. The palace was converted into an administrative building. From 1821, the later Hessian State Library moved in, and in the years up to 1829, also the three museums now united as Museum Wiesbaden: Art Museum, Natural Science Museum, and Antiquities Museum. From 1913-1915, the museums and the library received their new buildings in Friedrich-Ebert-Allee (Museum) and Rheinstraße, respectively. The Hereditary Prince's Palace was subsequently used as a municipal administrative center and henceforth referred to as the "Old Museum".

After the Second World War, the Hessian State Government rented the building and used it for the Ministry of Justice. In 1968, the Wiesbaden Chamber of Commerce and Industry finally bought the building from the city for 1.2 million Marks and subjected it to a complete renovation. However, since this became much more expensive than initially assumed, at 5.2 million Marks, there was a consideration, which was then not realized, to demolish the building and replace it with a cheaper new construction. The Hereditary Prince's Palace is today the only surviving of Christian Zais's three Neoclassical buildings in Wiesbaden (the Old Kurhaus was replaced by a new building in 1906, the Hotel Vierjahreszeiten was destroyed in the Second World War).

The building, occasionally also called "Crown Prince's Palace", is located at Wilhelmstraße No. 24, named after Wilhelm, directly opposite the park of the Warmer Damm.