Classical antiquity While evidence of settlement at present-day Wiesbaden dates back to the
Neolithic era, historical records document continuous occupancy after the erection of a
Roman fort in 6 AD which housed an auxiliary cavalry unit. The
thermal springs of Wiesbaden are first mentioned in
Pliny the Elder's
Naturalis Historia. They were famous for their recreation pools for Roman army horses and possibly as the source of a mineral used for red hair dye (which was very fashionable around the turn of BC/AD among women in Rome). The Roman settlement is first mentioned using the name
Aquae Mattiacorum (
Latin for "Waters of the Mattiaci") in 121. The
Mattiaci were a
Germanic tribe, possibly a branch of the neighboring
Chatti, who lived in the vicinity at that time. The town also appears as Mattiacum in
Ptolemy's
Geographia (2.10). The Roman Empire built the
Limes Germanicus, which was a line of Roman frontier fortifications in the
Taunus. Wiesbaden is just south of the Taunus. The capital of the province of
Germania Superior,
Mogontiacum (present-day
Mainz), base of 2 (at times 3) Roman legions, was just over the Rhine and connected by a bridge at the present-day borough of
Mainz-Kastel (Roman "
castellum"), a strongly fortified bridgehead. The
Alamanni, a coalition of Germanic tribes from beyond the
Limes, captured the fort around 260. Later, in the 370s, when the Romans and Alamanni were allied, the Alemanni gained control of the Wiesbaden area and were in charge of its defense against other Germanic tribes.
Middle Ages After the
Franks under
Clovis I defeated the Alamanni in the
Battle of Tolbiac in 496, the Franks eventually displaced the Alamanni in the Wiesbaden area over the course of the 6th century. In the 8th century, Wiesbaden became the site of a royal
palace of the Frankish kingdom. The first documented use of the name Wiesbaden is by
Einhard, the biographer of
Charlemagne, whose writings mention "Wisabada" sometime between 828 and 830. When the Frankish
Carolingian Empire broke up in 888, Wiesbaden was in the eastern half, called
East Francia (which would evolve into the
Holy Roman Empire). The town was part of
Franconia, the heartland of East Francia. In the 1170s, the
Count of
Nassau, Walram I, received the area around Wiesbaden as a
fiefdom. When Franconia fragmented in the early 13th century, Nassau emerged as an independent state as part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1232 Wiesbaden became a
Reichsstadt, an imperial city, of the Holy Roman Empire. However, in 1242, during the war of Emperor
Frederick II against the Pope, the
Archbishop of Mainz,
Siegfried III, ordered the city's destruction. Wiesbaden returned to the control of the
House of Nassau in 1270 under Count
Walram II, Count of Nassau. However, Wiesbaden and the castle at
Sonnenberg were again destroyed in 1283 in conflict with
Eppstein. Walram's son and successor
Adolf would later become king of
Germany from 1292 until 1298. In 1329, under Adolf's son
Gerlach I of Nassau-Weilburg the House of Nassau and thereby, Wiesbaden, received the right of
coinage from Holy Roman Emperor
Louis the Bavarian. In 1355, the County of Nassau-Weilburg was divided among the sons of Gerlach. The County of Nassau's holdings would be subdivided many times among heirs, with the parts being brought together again whenever a line died out. Wiesbaden became the seat of the County of Nassau-Wiesbaden under Count Adolf I (1307–1370), eldest son of Gerlach. It would eventually fall back to Nassau-Weilburg in 1605.
Modern era in 1655|295px Due to its participation in the uprisings of the
German Peasants' War of 1525, Wiesbaden lost all its privileges for over 40 years. During this time, Wiesbaden became
Protestant with the nomination of Wolf Denthener as first
Lutheran pastor on 1 January 1543. The same day, the first Latin school was opened, preparing pupils for the
gymnasium in
Idstein. In 1566, the privileges of the city were restored. The oldest remaining building of Wiesbaden, the old city hall, was built in 1609 and 1610. No older buildings are preserved due to two fires in 1547 and 1561. In 1648, at the end of the devastating
Thirty Years' War, chronicles tell that Wiesbaden had barely 40 residents left. In 1659, the County of Nassau-Weilburg was divided again. Wiesbaden became part of the County of Nassau-Usingen. In 1744, the seat of Nassau-Usingen was moved to
Biebrich. In 1771, the Count of Nassau-Usingen granted a concession for gambling in Wiesbaden. In 1810, the Wiesbaden Casino (German:
Spielbank) was opened in the old Kurhaus. Gambling was later outlawed by
Prussian authorities in 1872. As a result of
Napoleon's victory over Austria in the
Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1805. On 12 July 1806, 16 states in present-day Germany, including the remaining counties of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg, formally left the Holy Roman Empire and joined in the
Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon was its "protector". Under pressure from Napoleon, both counties merged to form the
Duchy of Nassau on 30 August 1806. fallen at the
Battle of WaterlooAt the 1815
Congress of Vienna, the Duchy of Nassau joined the
German Confederation. The capital of Nassau was moved from Weilburg to Wiesbaden, and the city became the ducal residence. Building activity started to give the city a magnificent appearance. Most of the historical center of Wiesbaden dates back to this time. , designed by
Carl Boos: Its neo-Gothic steeple dominates the
Historical Pentagon. In the
Revolutions of 1848, 30,000 citizens of Nassau assembled in Wiesbaden on 4 March. They demanded a constitution from the Duke, which they received. In the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Nassau took Austria's side. This decision led to the end of the duchy. After the Austrian defeat, Nassau was annexed by
Prussia and became part of the Prussian
province of Hesse-Nassau. The deposed duke
Adolph of Nassau in 1890 became the
Grand Duke of Luxembourg (see
House of Nassau). This turned out to be a fortunate change for the city, as it then became an international spa town. A rise in construction commenced after the aristocracy followed the lead of the Hohenzollern emperors, who began annual trips to Wiesbaden. The period around the turn of the 20th century is regarded as the heyday of the city.
Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the city regularly in summer, such that it became an unofficial "summer residence". The city was also popular among the Russian nobility. In the wake of the imperial court, numerous nobles, artists, and wealthy businessmen increasingly settled in the city. Many wealthy persons chose Wiesbaden as their retirement seat, as it offered leisure and medical treatment alike. In the latter part of the 19th century, Wiesbaden became the German city with the most millionaires. In 1894, the present Hessian State Theater, designed by the Vienna architects Fellner and Helmer, was built on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Weimar Republic and Third Reich (1919 to 1945) After World War I, Wiesbaden fell under the Allied occupation of the Rhineland and was occupied by the French army in 1918. In 1921, the Wiesbaden Agreement on German reparations to France was signed in the city. In 1925, Wiesbaden became the headquarters of the
British Army of the Rhine until the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Rhineland in 1930. In 1929, an airport was constructed in Erbenheim on the site of a horse-racing track. In 1936,
Fighter Squadron 53 of the
Luftwaffe was stationed here. In the
Kristallnacht pogrom on 10 November 1938, Wiesbaden's large synagogue on Michelsberg was destroyed. The synagogue had been designed by Phillip Hoffmann and built in 1869. Another synagogue in
Wiesbaden-Bierstadt was also destroyed. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, there were 2,700 Jews living in Wiesbaden. By June 1942 nearly all of them had been deported to the
extermination camps in
German-occupied Poland. General
Ludwig Beck from Wiesbaden was one of the planners of the
20 July 1944 assassination attempt of
Adolf Hitler. Beck was designated by his fellow conspirators to be future Head of State (Regent) after the elimination of Hitler. The plot failed, however, and Beck was executed after attempting suicide. Today, the city annually awards the Ludwig Beck prize for civil courage in his honor. Lutheran pastor and theologian
Martin Niemöller, founder of the
Confessing Church resistance movement against the Nazis, was an Honorary Citizen of Wiesbaden. He presented his last sermon before his arrest in Wiesbaden's Market Church.
World War II In World War II, Wiesbaden was the headquarters for Germany's
Wehrkreis XII. This military district included the
Eifel, part of
Hesse, the
Palatinate, and the
Saarland. After the
Battle of France, this
Wehrkreis was extended to include
Lorraine, including
Nancy, and the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg. The commander was
General der Infanterie Walther Schroth.
Wehrkreis XII was made up of three subordinate regions:
Bereich Hauptsitze Koblenz,
Mannheim and
Metz. •
Bereich Hauptsitz Koblenz was the headquarters for 12
Unterregion-Hauptsitze, namely
Trier I, Trier II,
Koblenz,
Neuwied,
Kreuznach, Wiesbaden,
Limburg an der Lahn,
Lahn,
Mainz,
Worms,
Darmstadt, and
Luxembourg. •
Bereich Hauptsitz Mannheim was the headquarters for 10
Unterregion-Hauptsitze, namely
Saarlautern,
Saarbrücken,
St. Wendel,
Zweibrücken,
Kaiserslautern,
Neustadt an der Weinstraße,
Ludwigshafen (Rhein),
Mannheim I, Mannheim II, and
Heidelberg. •
Bereich Hauptsitz Metz was the headquarters for
Unterregion-Hauptsitze Metz,
Diedenhofen (Thionville), and
Saint-Avold. During the war, Wiesbaden was, between August 1940 and the end of 1942, bombed by the
Royal Air Force and from 1943 through to March 1945, was attacked by both RAF and United States Air Force bombers on 66 days. In the attacks, about 18% of the city's homes were destroyed. During the war, more than 25% of the city's buildings were damaged or worse and 1,700 people were killed. Wiesbaden was the location of a camp for
Sinti and
Romani people (see
Romani Holocaust), and two subcamps of the
Hinzert concentration camp, mostly for Luxembourgish prisoners. Wiesbaden was captured by U.S. Army forces on 28 March 1945. The U.S. 317th Infantry Regiment attacked in assault boats across the Rhine from Mainz while the 319th Infantry attacked across the river Main near
Hochheim am Main. The attack started at 01:00 and by early afternoon the two forces of the
80th U.S. Infantry Division had linked up with the loss of only three dead and three missing. The Americans captured 900 German soldiers and a warehouse full of 4,000 cases of champagne.
Cold War and contemporary history After World War II, the state of Hesse was established (see
Greater Hesse), and Wiesbaden became its capital, though nearby
Frankfurt am Main is much larger and works as Hesse's economic and financial centre. Wiesbaden however suffered much less than Frankfurt from air bombing. There is a persistent rumour that the U.S. Army Air Force spared the town with the intention of turning it into a postwar HQ, but USAAF sources claim this to be a myth, arguing that Wiesbaden's economic and strategic importance simply did not justify more bombing. Wiesbaden was host to the Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces, Europe based at the former
Lindsey Air Station from 1953 to 1973.
American armed forces have been present in Wiesbaden since World War II. The
U.S. 1st Armored Division was headquartered at the
Wiesbaden Army Airfield, just off the
autobahn toward Frankfurt, until the Division completed relocation to Fort Bliss, Texas, in 2011. Wiesbaden is now home to the
U.S. Army Europe Headquarters and the General
John Shalikashvili Mission Command Center. During his military service between 1958-1960 American rock artist
Elvis Presley was stationed in Friedberg and often visited Wiesbaden. ==Bathing and gambling==