Weilburg Palace

At Weilburg the river Lahn loops almost all the way round a rocky spur, and Weilburg Palace sits right on top of it. The complex stretches 400 m along the eastern edge of the hill and covers nearly half of the old town. At its heart is a 16th-century Renaissance palace, around which Count Johann Ernst of Nassau-Weilburg built a complete Baroque residence from 1701, with orangeries, a church and terraced gardens. The result is one of the most important Baroque palace complexes in Hesse.

History: from the Conradines to Luxembourg

A fortified seat of the Conradine dynasty stood on the hill as early as 906, and King Conrad I died in Weilburg in 918. In 1294 King Adolf of Nassau bought the town and granted it a charter; afterwards a branch of the House of Nassau repeatedly lived here. Count Philipp III began the east wing of today's upper palace in 1533, and by 1590 the four-winged building was complete.

The great expansion followed from 1701 to 1721: court architect Julius Ludwig Rothweil added offices, stables, the palace church, the town hall and gardens so that everything looks of a piece. More than 720 workers are said to have been on site. Through the Nassau line the palace passed to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1890. Grand Duchess Charlotte sold it to the Prussian state in 1935, and it has belonged to the state of Hesse since 1945. Because almost all the furniture had gone to Luxembourg, the rooms were refitted with pieces from other palaces.

What to see

• Renaissance courtyard: The irregular courtyard with arcades and a lion fountain hosts the Weilburg palace concerts in summer thanks to its acoustics.
• Bathroom cabinet: The black marble bathtub of 1709 had running cold and hot water, heated in two copper boilers in a room next door.
• China cabinet: Gilded wall shelves full of East Asian porcelain frame portraits of Johann Ernst and his wife Maria Polyxena.
• Electoral bedchamber: The state bedroom for important guests, with a red bed, star-patterned parquet and a black marble fireplace, is the highlight of the Baroque rooms.
• Upper Orangery: Real Delft tiles were too expensive for the count, so Georg Friedrich Christian Seekatz painted around 2,000 convincing fake tiles on the walls.
• Palace garden: The terraces were laid out between 1706 and 1714. From the upper terrace, held up by a wall up to 12 m high, you look far across the Lahn valley. The Lower Orangery of 1711–1713 was modelled on the orangery at Versailles and still houses potted plants in winter.

A piece of Luxembourg in Hesse

Beneath the altar of the palace church lies the princely crypt with more than 30 rulers of Nassau and Luxembourg. When the palace was sold in 1935, the crypt stayed with the Luxembourg ruling family. It opens only once a year, on 17 November, the anniversary of the death of Grand Duke Adolphe, the last Duke of Nassau.

Visiting and timing

You can only see the interiors on a guided tour of about 60 minutes (in German), which starts every hour on the hour with a minimum of two people and covers the west, north, east and south wings plus the Upper Orangery. The palace garden is open free of charge all year until dusk. With the garden and a stroll around the market square, allow two to three hours. The Stadtpfeiferturm tower is currently closed.

Tickets and opening hours (as of October 2026)

• March to October: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–17:00, tours hourly 10:00–16:00
• November to February: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–16:00, tours hourly 10:00–15:00
• Closed: Mondays (except public holidays), 24 to 26 December, 31 December and 1 January
• Admission with tour: €9, reduced €7.50, family ticket €22.50, children up to 5 free
• Combined ticket with the Mining and Town Museum in the former chancellery: €13, reduced €9.50

Getting there and tips

The palace is on Schlossplatz in the middle of the old town. Weilburg has a station on the Lahn valley railway, and from there you walk across the river and up the hill. Your ticket gets you a discount at Braunfels Castle, which makes a good second outing. For photos of the whole palace, head to the opposite riverbank, where the façade rises above the Lahn.