Stadtschloss Fulda

The Historic Rooms in the Fulda City Palace

The glittering centerpiece among Fulda’s secular buildings is the Stadtschloss, the former residence of Fulda’s prince abbots and prince bishops. The present baroque palace was extended between 1708 and 1714 as a four-wing complex with two side wings enclosing a courtyard of honor. The master builder of the palace complex, which was created from the previous buildings, was Johann Dientzenhofer, who also built the Baroque cathedral. His client was prince abbot Adalbert von Schleifras.

Most of the castle today serves as the seat of the city administration. Some parts have been reconstructed as Historical Rooms, which offer a glimpse into the life of absolutism. The heart of the tour is the residential wing of the Fulda prince abbots and prince bishops of the 18th century.

Depending on their individual interests and at their own pace, users of the digital offering can click through the museum rooms in the southern Ehrenhoff wing, which owe their name “Mirror Rooms” to the rich furnishings of mirrors. The sequence of private and representative rooms was once a princely apartment, furnished around 1730 and remodeled in the Rococo style after 1756. After the antechamber, visitors first enter the Dalberg Hall, which served as a dining room for the prince and his guests. The adjoining Dianazimmer (Blue Room) forms the anteroom to the Audienzzimmer (Audience Room), which is furnished with red-gold silk wallpaper and a magnificent wooden floor with inlay work. From the princely bedroom, one looks into the Mirror Cabinet, which is equipped with over 420 mirrors and paintings in rocaille frames. They unfold their splendor against a red silk damask wallpaper. Further stops on the tour are the study, the Red Room, where paintings from the Konrad Hahne Collection commemorate the founder of today’s Vonderau Museum Fulda. The exquisite collection of the Historical Rooms also includes the faiences and porcelains from the Fulda manufactories, which produced high-quality pieces for a short time. These are complemented by the porcelains from the collection of Prof. Nieth, which can be discovered in the anteroom to the chapel.