Paulinen Castle (Bad Soden)

Duchess Pauline of Nassau resided in the Reiss house in April 1841 after the death of her husband during a spa stay. She took a liking to the spa town and decided to have a summer residence built here. The Paulinenschlösschen was built for her in 1847.

In addition to the three-story main house, a coach house was built opposite.

Shortly before Pauline's death, she sold the property on September 24, 1855, to the balneologist Dr. Georg Thilenius. He operated a guesthouse in the Paulinenschlösschen, which hosted a number of princes, ministers, officers, and princesses in the 1870s and 1880s. The most famous resident was Princess Bismarck and her daughter, who stayed here during their spa treatment in 1872. Other prominent visitors included King Wilhelm of Württemberg and Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke.

In 1909, the city of Bad Soden acquired the property. From 1909 to 1949, it was used as the town hall, after the Second World War as a café and restaurant, and later as a registry office. Today, it is among other things the seat of the city's Citizen's Office.

The opposite coach house of the Paulinenschlösschen now houses the ecumenical Diaconal Station. Until the 1970s, the police and DRK (German Red Cross) station were located here.

The complex is complemented by the Krug'sche Villa or Parkvilla. This building was built in 1845 for Mrs. von Krug from Darmstadt as a summer residence and was also acquired by Dr. Thilenius in 1861 and sold to the city in 1909. Today, doctor's offices are located in this house.