Wittgenstein Palais

The cultural center Palais Wittgenstein at Bilker Straße 7–9 in Düsseldorf's Carlstadt houses a chamber music hall, the Düsseldorf Marionette Theater, the Institut Français Düsseldorf, and an Art Nouveau cafeteria (former butcher shop London, previously Lorettostraße).

The building now known as Palais Wittgenstein (house no. 7) was built after 1790 by the wine merchant Heinrich Huyssen, who came from an Essen family, as part of the settlement of Carlstadt. In 1801, he lived in Essen again, but still owned the house. The next owner was Senate President Johann Theodor Jakob Reichsfreiherr von Kylmann (1751–1837), later his daughter Constanze (1801–1872) and her husband Freiherr Phillip von Lezaack (1796–1878). In 1874, Prince Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein bought the house, but left it again in 1876. In 1878, the wine merchant Eduard Hauth moved his wine business from Schwanenmarkt to Bilker Straße 7 and was able to use the wine cellars built by Huyssen. In 1887, he had the courtyard, among other things, excavated and cellared. The gate of Palais Wittgenstein is the masterpiece of Paul Bogus, purchased for 600 Goldmark for the Hauth house, Bilker Straße 7, on the occasion of the Düsseldorf Trade Exhibition in 1902. House no. 9 was built by Gottfried Bensberg, owner of the Krautmühle in Neustadt. In 1790, the engraver Johann Gerhard Huck lived here.

The building complex Bilker Straße 7–9 was transferred to the state capital Düsseldorf. From 1974–76, the buildings, which were severely damaged in World War II, were historically reconstructed externally by the Municipal Building Department, architect Alo Terhoeven, and furnished internally to meet modern needs. In 1976, the Palais Wittgenstein was opened as a cultural center. As part of the renovation measures in 1976, the former butcher shop Peter London, previously Lorettostraße 30, acquired by the city of Düsseldorf in 1975, was incorporated into the Palais and has since been used as a cafeteria. It is an example of Historicism around 1900 and was acquired by Theodor London for 28,000 Goldmark on the occasion of the World Exhibition in Ghent, Belgium, exhibited there in 1906, and awarded a first prize.