New Castle Bayreuth

After Bayreuth replaced Kulmbach as the residential city in 1604, the former residence, today known as the Old Palace, was largely destroyed by fire in January 1753. Consequently, Margrave Friedrich and Wilhelmine commissioned court architect Joseph Saint-Pierre to build a new palace. By 1758, the main construction was completed. Existing or under-construction structures were integrated into the design, including the shell of a Reformed church, which was converted into the central wing with the entrance, staircase, and ballroom. This led to architectural peculiarities, such as seemingly walled-up entrances. Margravine Wilhelmine was involved in the planning, as evidenced by her correspondence with her brother Friedrich II. The palace is a work of 18th-century German architecture, although it does not reach the dimensions of the Würzburg Residence. Later, after 1759, the Italian Building was constructed for the Margrave's second wife, Sophie Karoline Marie of Brunswick, designed by Carl von Gontard, and was later connected to the main palace. In 1799, Heinrich von Gagern, who later became president of the first German National Assembly, was born in the northern cross-wing.