Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden (vēs'bä"dun, vis'–) [key], city (1994 pop. 270,873), capital of Hesse, central Germany, on the Rhine River, at the southern foot of the Taunus Mts. The city, an industrial center and a market for Rhine wines, is one of the most famous spas of Europe. Manufactures include metal goods, concrete products, and printed materials. There are also motion picture and television studios and publishing houses. Wiesbaden was founded as a Celtic settlement in the 3d cent. B.C. In the 1st and 2d cent. A.D. it was a popular Roman spa known as Aquae Mattiacorum; there are remains of the Roman water conduits and walls. It later became a free imperial city and passed to the county (later duchy) of Nassau in 1281. In 1806 the city was made the capital of Nassau and with it passed to Prussia in 1866. After World War I, Wiesbaden was the seat (1918–29) of the Allied Rhineland Commission. Noteworthy buildings in the city include the castle (1837–41), the Kurhaus (1905–7), and the State Theater of Hesse (1892–94).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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