Palais du Rhin
Neo-Renaissance former imperial palace of pink Vosges sandstone, modeled loosely on Florence's Pitti Palace.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Palais du Rhin in Strasbourg asks why a palace built for one endless imperial party barely saw its guest of honor. Work began in 1884, timed to Kaiser Wilhelm I's birthday, and Prussian architect Hermann Eggert modeled the pink sandstone building loosely on Florence's Pitti Palace, complete with a throne room and ballrooms built for grand receptions. Wilhelm II, who inaugurated it, visited only a handful of times before 1914, preferring Berlin. Its grand staircase and wrought-iron railings still lead past the Emperor's and Empress's salons toward that gilded throne room.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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