Frankfurt Am Main-Palais Thurn und Taxis-Ansicht vom Maintower-20110328

The Palais Thurn und Taxis () in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany was built from 1731 to 1739 by

Robert de Cotte Robert de Cotte (; 1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo, Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of ...

and commissioned by the Imperial Postmaster, Prince Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis (1714–1739). The building was heavily damaged in World War II and then demolished. Today a reconstruction houses some shops.

History

In 1748 the castle was the administrative seat of the imperial post office, then operated by the

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...

family, and from 1805 to 1813 it was the residence of the

Prince Primate Prince-primate (German: ''Fürstprimas'', Hungarian: ''hercegprímás'') is a rare princely title held by individual (prince-) archbishops of specific sees in a presiding capacity in an august assembly of mainly secular princes, notably the foll ...

and

Grand Duke of Frankfurt The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself. Histo ...

Karl Theodor von Dalberg Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was a Catholic German bishop and statesman. In various capacities, he served as Archbishop of Mainz, Prince of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, ...

. After the restoration of the

Free City of Frankfurt Frankfurt was a major city of the Holy Roman Empire, being the seat of imperial elections since 885 and the city for Coronation of the Holy Roman emperor, imperial coronations from 1562 (previously in Free Imperial City of Aachen) until 1792. F ...

, it held the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

of the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

from 1816 to 1848 and from 1851 to 1866. The public was excluded from the meetings. They were chaired by the Austrian envoy, who would live in the castle when the Bundestag was in session. In 1895

Prince Albert I von Thurn und Taxis Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (full German language, German name: ''Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis''; 8 May 1867 – 22 January 1952) was the eighth Thurn und Taxis, P ...

sold the Palais to the Imperial Post. In 1905 the city of Frankfurt took over the palace and used it to house the Museum of Ethnology for the collections of the African explorer

Leo Frobenius Leo Viktor Frobenius (29 June 1873 – 9 August 1938) was a German self-taught ethnologist and archaeologist and a major figure in German ethnography. Life He was born in Berlin as the son of a Prussian officer and died in Biganzolo, Lago M ...

Demolition & reconstruction

During 1943 and 1944 the palace was badly damaged in the

bombing of Frankfurt am Main in World War II Bombing of Frankfurt am Main by the Allies of World War II killed about 5,500 residents and destroyed the largest half-timbered historical city centre in Germany (the Eighth Air Force dropped 12,197 tons of explosives on the city Bombing the E ...

, but much of the structure was preserved, such as some ceiling paintings and stucco. Although reconstruction was possible, it would have been too costly, and so much of the building was demolished in 1951. The remaining parts of the building were actually new buildings made from sections of the original, but with modern reinforced concrete and without the

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

s. From 2004 to 2010 the palais has been reconstructed as part of the

Palais Quartier The Palais Quartier (), formerly known as the FrankfurtHochVier, is a mixed-use tower block, building complex in the Innenstadt (Frankfurt am Main), Innenstadt district of Frankfurt, Germany. Built between 2004 and 2011, the complex consists of tw ...

development.

History

Demolition & reconstruction

See also