Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden lies at the southern foot of the Taunus, across the Rhine from Mainz. Its hot springs were known to the Romans, who called their settlement Aquae Mattiacorum after the Mattiaci people. A Frankish royal palace stood here in the eighth century, and the name Wisabada appears in the writings of Charlemagne's biographer Einhard. The counts of Nassau received the surrounding territory as a fief in the twelfth century.

In 1329 Emperor Louis the Bavarian granted the house of Nassau the right to mint coins. After the family divided its lands in 1355, Wiesbaden became the seat of Count Adolf of Nassau-Wiesbaden; it returned to Nassau-Weilburg in 1605. Later divisions brought it to Nassau-Idstein and then Nassau-Usingen, whose rulers made nearby Biebrich Palace their principal residence in 1744. The springs continued to attract visitors as the town developed under Nassau rule. In 1806 Wiesbaden became the capital of the newly formed Duchy of Nassau. The old bathing place and the ducal court gave the town a standing that reached beyond the wooded slopes and vineyards of the Taunus.