Landgrafen Castle (Butzbach)

The Landgravial Palace is a palace complex in Butzbach, Wetteraukreis in Hesse.

Both castles in Butzbach, both the Landgravial Palace and the Solms Palace, were built on the site of an earlier castle complex on the southeastern edge of Butzbach's old town. The town was first mentioned in a document in 773. It arose near the remains of a Roman fort at a crossroads of several ancient roads, including the Wine Road and the Lange Hessen. It is not certain whether this moated castle in an urban location (town castle) dates back to the minor nobility of Buetsbach, vassals of the Lords of Hagen-Münzenberg, mentioned in 1243, or was built later by the Falkensteiners, who inherited from the Münzenbergers.

In 1321, Philipp IV von Falkenstein was granted town rights for the settlement and had fortifications built. With the extinction of the Falkensteiners in 1418, Butzbach fell to the Lords of Eppstein, half to "von Eppstein-Münzenberg" and half to "Eppstein-Königstein". Subsequently, the property was further divided. Still in the 15th century, the Münzenberg line sold a quarter to the County of Katzenelnbogen, which fell to Hesse in 1479, and another quarter to Count Otto von Solms-Braunfels. The Königstein line sold a quarter to Solms-Lich in 1479, and their last quarter only in 1595 to Hesse-Marburg.

The parts of the medieval castle formerly incorporated into the city wall were probably largely dilapidated by this time. Around 1462, Werner von Eppstein-Münzenberg had a large granary built next to the southern gate of the city wall, which came into the possession of the Counts of Solms in 1479. They had it representatively rebuilt and supplemented with a defensive round tower in the style of the time. The resulting Solms Palace subsequently served as an official and widow's residence.

Incorporating a late medieval core building, the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt had a palace built at the beginning of the 17th century. The architect was probably Jakob Wustmann, who had also supervised the renovation of the Darmstadt Residence Palace. It served Landgrave Philipp III of Hesse-Butzbach as a residence from 1609–1643, but with the death of the Landgrave, it reverted to the main line of Hesse-Darmstadt. The art-loving Landgrave had numerous wall paintings and stucco decorations applied inside, and an observatory was also set up in the attic of the new wing. Twice, in 1621 and 1627, the astronomer Johannes Kepler was a guest here.

During the conversion into a Chevauleger barracks from 1817, the palace lost its magnificent furnishings. In 1898, the palace was converted into an infantry barracks and received the name Schloss-Kaserne (Palace Barracks). From 1951 to 1992, the barracks were used by the United States Army. After the withdrawal of troops and the conversion, the palace is now used for civilian purposes, with the Butzbach town hall located in the right wing.