UIA
Rhein-Main 2002
Architecture
in Hesse: Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden, the capital of the federal state of Hesse with just over
270,000 inhabitants, is a "pearl of historicism" - which
is also the title of an adult education course. The fine city design
goes back to the architect Christoph Zais who was commissioned in
the early 19th century to plan the transition from a small town
to a residence city and health resort. Between 1800 and 1900 the
city grew from 2500 to over 100,000 inhabitants!
The city centre has a number of highly concentrated blocks of buildings
dating from classicism and the industrial expansion period, but
they are surrounded by spacious villa districts sub-divided by parks
which extend the valleys of the Taunus where they reach down to
the city.
Although the original classicist appearance dating from the 19th
century was lost due to the building developments of the Prussian
period and the (moderate) destruction in the Second World War, the
urban appearance of Wiesbaden is still very harmonious in comparison
with most other towns and cities in Germany. Wiesbaden is still
a city created in the 19th century; Wiesbaden is still an administrative,
service-oriented and residential city with little industry. It is
not the architecture of classical modernism or the restoration period
that characterises Wiesbaden; the city on the Rhine is still a "pearl
of historicism" which is almost unique in Germany.
Bund Deutscher Architekten BDA im Lande Hessen e.V.
Braubachstrasse 10/12
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
eMail: uia@bda-hessen.de
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