Schloss Waldthausen
Schloss Waldthausen is beautifully located in a surrounding park in the Lenneberg Forest on the outskirts of Mainz. The neo-classical castle was built in 1910 by Martin Wilhelm Freiherr von Waldthausen, son of a wealthy industrial family.
Having insulted Kaiser Wilhelm II with the famous but rude quotation of Goethe’s Götz involving various parts of the human anatomy, Waldthausen had to emigrate to Switzerland. However, after paying a considerable compensatory sum Waldthausen was allowed to return to Germany. He immediately started with the planning of Schloss Waldthausen to – as rumors say – show to the world and to Kaiser Wilhelm II in particular his unbroken selfconfidence.
Waldthausen lived there for only two years. In the course of history the owners changed several times: After World War I and II Schloss Waldthausen was seized by the French Army. In 1949 it went into state ownership and was sold to the city of Mainz in 1980 where it was used as a supply depot and even drill ground of the Federal Armed Forces.
Today Schloss Waldthausen serves as a well-equipped conference center with several seminar rooms, auditorium, accommodation complex, recreational facilities etc. The owners (Organization of Savings Banks) prevented Schloss Waldthausen from decay and thus saved the stock of historically significant buildings.
