00:00Bad Homburg Castle, Schloss Bad Homburg, or Homburg Palace is a castle and palace in the
00:15German city of Bad Homburg-Vor-der-Heue.
00:18Originally the residence of the Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg.
00:21It was first built in the 12th century.
00:24Dining room in the English wing all but the keep was demolished in 1660 by Frederick II,
00:29Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
00:31He replaced the old castle with a new one designed by Paul Andric between 1680 and 1685.
00:37Its grounds and gardens were landscaped in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the
00:42addition of the Gothic house.
00:44It was built for Princess Elizabeth, a daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom,
00:48the wife of Frederick VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
00:52The couple had the palace renovated and furnished in contemporary style, including the English
00:56wing.
00:58In particular, the British princess realized her passion for garden art, which can still
01:02be experienced in the castle park today.
01:05After Prussia's annexation of Hesse-Homburg in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War,
01:10it became a summer residence for the kings of Prussia.
01:13William I stayed at the castle several times, as did his son and successor Frederick III
01:18and Frederick's wife Victoria, a daughter of the British Queen Victoria.
01:22The castle was a particular favorite of Frederick and he added bathrooms, telephone rooms and
01:26electricity and merged some rooms.
01:29His son William II and the latter's wife Augusta Victoria also used the palace as a summer
01:34residence and refurbished the royal wing.
01:37After the German Revolution of 1918-1919 the castle was administered by the Free State
01:41of Prussia.
01:43After Hitler came to power in 1933, he offered William II, who was living in exile in Huis
01:49Doorn in the Netherlands, a return to Germany to bring him under his control, and Homburg
01:53Palace as a residence, but the ex-Kaiser refused.
01:57After the dissolution of the State of Prussia in 1945, the palace was taken over by the
02:01State of Hesse.
02:03From 1947 it housed the Verwaltung der Städtlichen Schlosser und Garten Hessen, Hesse Administration
02:09for State Castles and Gardens.
02:11Today it is a museum.
02:13Bad Homburg vor der Höhe is the district town of the Hochtauniskriege, Hesse, Germany,
02:18on the southern slope of the Taunus Mountains.
02:21Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhine main urban area.
02:24The town's official name is Bad Homburg vs. die Höhe, which distinguishes it from other
02:29places named Homburg.
02:31The town has become best known for its mineral springs and spa, hence the prefix bad- meaning
02:36''bath'' and for its casino.
02:38As of 2021, Bad Homburg was one of the wealthiest towns in Germany, while the Hochtauniskriege
02:44itself and the Landkriege Starnberg in Bavaria regularly vie for the title of the wealthiest
02:48district in Germany.
02:50As of 2004, the town used the marketing slogan, ''Champagne-Ehren-Tradition''.
02:56Local tradition holds that Bad Homburg's documented history began with the mention of the Villa
03:00Teitenheim in the Lorsch Codex.
03:03Associated with the year 782, this Villa Teitenheim was equated with the historic city center,
03:08which is called Detaigeim.
03:10The local historian Rüdiger Kurth has questioned this traditional story based on his study
03:15of written sources and local factors.
03:18In 2002, Kurth initiated archaeological excavations by the University of Frankfurt, managed by
03:23Professor Joachim Henning.
03:26The excavations showed no evidence of settlement between the beginning of the Christian era
03:30and the 13th century.
03:32It seems that the historical record in the Eberbach Chronicles, Eberbacher Zugenreihe,
03:37which mentions Wortwin, or Ortwin, von Hohenbirch as Homburg's founder about 1180 is the first
03:42solid evidence of the town's existence.
03:45That is all.
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