New Castle (Gießen)

The New Palace (Gießen) is located on Brandplatz in the city center of the Hessian university city of Gießen. Directly adjacent to the east is the Gießen Armory, and a few meters to the southwest are the Botanical Garden and the Old Palace.

The palace was built by Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous from 1533 to 1539. Architecturally, the building, constructed in a mixed natural stone and half-timbered style, represents the transitional phase from the Gothic palas-hall building to the Renaissance palace. Due to its size alone (34.5 x 12 x 19.5 m), it is one of the most significant half-timbered buildings in Hesse.

After 1650, the building housed the university chancellery and a court. From 1899 to 1907, it was extensively restored. The palace miraculously remained undamaged during World War II (the directly adjacent armory and the Old Palace were completely destroyed) and has housed the Institute of Geography of Justus Liebig University Gießen since 1965.