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Gothic House

The “Gotisches Haus” (Gothic House) was commissioned as an English neo-Gothic hunting lodge and ceremonial location by Landgrave Elisabeth, who was descended from the British royal family, in 1822. After laying the foundation stone in 1823, the work initially came along very quickly, but a tragic accident in November of the same year, in which nine carpenters were injured, some severely and one fatally, led to delays. Structural problems with the roof construction and finally the death of the Landgrave in 1829 slowed construction to a crawl, so that it was still not finished when Elisabeth died in 1840. The family of the Landgrave had lost interest and used the building for forest management. In 1913, ownership of the house went to restauranteur Karl Otto Scheller, who opened a restaurant that remained in business under several different owners until 1968. A new owner planned to demolish or incorporate the restaurant into a new hotel building, which led to years of discussions. In 1978, the building was finally placed under protection as a landmark. After it was acquired in 1980 following the bankruptcy of the previous owner of the property management of the Allgemeine Hypothekenbank Bank in Frankfurt am Main, it went up in flames in an act of arson. By 1984, it was reconstructed, and it now houses the city’s historical museum.