Bad Homburg Castle

Bad Homburg Castle (Schloss Bad Homburg) or Homburg Palace is a castle and palace in the German city of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe. Originally the residence of the Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg, it was first built in the 12th century.

All but the keep was demolished in 1660 by Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. He replaced the old castle with a new one designed by Paul Andrich between 1680 and 1685. Its grounds and gardens were landscaped in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the addition of the Gothic House. It was built for Princess Elizabeth, a daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom, the wife of Frederick VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. The couple had the palace renovated and furnished in contemporary style, including the English Wing. In particular, the British princess realized her passion for garden art, which can still be experienced in the castle park today.

After Prussia's annexation of Hesse-Homburg in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War, it became a summer residence for the kings of Prussia. William I stayed at the castle several times, as did his son and successor Frederick III and Frederick's wife Victoria, a daughter of the British Queen Victoria. The castle was a particular favourite of Frederick and he added bathrooms, telephone rooms and electricity and merged some rooms. His son William II and the latter's wife Augusta Victoria also used the palace as a summer residence and refurbished the Royal Wing.

Text adapted from “Bad Homburg Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bad Homburg Castle ranks #2,466 of 5,479 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #179 of the 349 mapped in Germany. Founded 1680, it is older than 27% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 350 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗