Wittgenstein Palais

The building (house number 7) was constructed after 1790 by the wine merchant Heinrich Huyssen as part of the settlement of Carlstadt. After Huyssen, ownership passed to Senate President Johann Theodor Jakob Reichsfreiherr von Kylmann, and later to his daughter Constanze and her husband Freiherr Phillip von Lezaack. In 1874, Prince Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein acquired the house, but left it again just two years later. In 1878, the wine merchant Eduard Hauth moved in and utilized the existing wine cellars, having the courtyard excavated for a cellar in 1887. The distinctive gate of the Palais by Paul Bogus was acquired for Hauth's house in 1902. The neighboring house number 9 was built by Gottfried Bensberg. The buildings at Bilker Straße 7–9 were later taken over by the state capital Düsseldorf. Between 1974 and 1976, after severe war damage, the exterior facades were historically reconstructed and the interior was modernized by architect Alo Terhoeven. In 1976, the Palais Wittgenstein opened as a cultural center.