The Dicasterial Building
A baroque building with an eventful history.
Elector Franz Georg Schönborn had the baroque, palace-like dicasterial building built in the mid-18th century at the foot of the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. The plans for it came from the famous master builder Balthasar Neumann.
The building originally stood in the immediate vicinity of Philippsburg Castle, at that time one of the most important and largest baroque buildings on the Rhine. in 1801, Philippsburg Castle was destroyed by the French, but the dicasterial building remained intact.
The secular administrative building of the elector of Trier housed, among other things, the electoral court. In the meantime, the building also served as a residence, troop accommodation, a military hospital, the seat of the Nassau government and a provisions magazine. in 1936, the dicasterial building was converted into offices. It was partially destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt in 1947.
