Stadtschloss Eisenach

The Eisenach City Palace is a palace on the market square of the city of Eisenach in Thuringia. It was the residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Eisenach and later a residence of the Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Today, it houses offices of the city administration (Cultural Office), the Eisenach City Archive (in the north wing), and since 1931, the Thuringian Museum.

According to tradition, the current City Palace owes its existence to an outrageous event: When Anna Sophie Charlotte (1706–1751), a born Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt, the widow of the last Eisenach Duke Wilhelm Heinrich, was banished from the country and further humiliating gestures from the "heir" became known, she unceremoniously ordered the residential palace she inhabited to be cleared "down to the last nail" – at least, according to tradition, not much usable remained in the building after her departure. Highly enraged by this embarrassment, Duke Ernst August is said to have ordered the immediate demolition of the residential palace, a wish that was promptly fulfilled.

On January 20, 1742, the order for the construction of a new palace in Eisenach arrived. An area that at that time still consisted of six townhouses was designated as the building site. The acquisition of the properties proved to be extremely costly, and the combination of the existing building fabric with the ducal demands initially failed. The Princely Building Commission, with state master builder Gottfried Heinrich Krohne as the leading architect, was very hampered in the conception of the palace building, referred to as "Fürstenhof," by the given dimensions, the adoption of the foundations and partly the enclosing walls of the townhouses, as well as the compelling requirement to use only cheap building materials, half-timbering, and components from the Old Residence, and planning and implementation therefore proceeded only gradually. Due to the existing building fabric, the retention of its intermediate ceilings and load-bearing structures, it was only possible to realize small rooms in the south wing, which did not meet the high demands of a princely court. Thus, in 1743, the plan arose to build an additional north wing for ballrooms. To be able to connect these two wings meaningfully, a western connecting building was commissioned. Its primary purpose was to house the New Stables on the ground floor. The opposite east wing, initially conceived as stables, had been vaulted in 1743. However, the Duke did not like the result, so he had this unfinished building completed as a utility wing and servants' living area. This part of the palace was demolished in 1933.

In 1744, work focused on changes to the roof construction; in 1746, a floor that had already been added was removed due to static problems and discovered rot in the supporting beams. Meanwhile, work on heating technology had also begun, and in 1745, a set of 30 iron stoves with glazed stone tops was ordered from a stove builder. In 1746, large-format sandstone blocks from the Madelung quarry were ordered for the staircases, paving, and facade elements. In the ballroom, large-format polished crystal mirrors and two gilded chandeliers were installed in 1747. In the autumn of the same year, the stables were largely completed. The new upper floor of the south wing, three rooms with their alcoves and stove niches, as well as the gallery in front of them, were also declared finished in 1747, although in most rooms neither doors nor windows had been installed. The necessary roof drainage was only started in 1748; for this, gutters had to be attached to the roof, twelve copper pipes installed, and an underground drainage system laid around the palace. After the inner courtyard had initially been unpaved and partly covered with ornamental beds, it was decided in 1756 to pave the courtyard. The current appearance of the City Palace was established with the completion of the market-side facade in 1748. In the same year, the builder died.

„When this facade was completed around 1748, it presented itself with a central risalit crowned by a pavilion, whose stone gable was adorned with three vases. A balustrade formed the connection from the plinth to the first floor, just as the roof was visually separated from the building body by a pre-set balustrade. The further facade articulation with pilaster strips, capitals, window sills, and stucco ornaments was emphasized by a yellow-white coloring in addition to the natural color of the ashlar stones. In 1756, the stucco work was renewed, and at the end of the 18th century, due to damage, it was chipped off and rosettes were placed instead of the pilaster capitals.“

After the death of Krohne and the Duke, August Friedrich Straßburger completed the complex in the 1750s. The Eisenach City Palace remained the representative setting for the ducal court in Eisenach until 1918.