Chattenburg

The Chattenburg (also formerly known as Kattenburg) was a monumental residential palace in Kassel, Germany, started by Elector William I of Hesse.

It was intended to replace the Kassel City Palace, which had been largely destroyed by a major fire in 1811 and demolished in 1816.

The construction was located at an elevation of 156 meters above sea level, at the site of the current regional government office (German: Regierungspräsidium) overlooking the Fulda river, where the former city palace of the Landgraves of Hesse or Hesse-Kassel had previously stood.

The Kassel city palace was largely destroyed by a major fire on the night of 24 November 1811, during the French occupation under the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia (1807–1813).

[1][2] King Jérôme Bonaparte moved into Schloss Bellevue and showed no interest in rebuilding the city palace.

Elector William I, who returned to his land in November 1813 after the French were expelled from Hesse, also had no interest in rebuilding the old palace.

However, the space there was too limited from the start, and soon the site of the former and unfinished Chattenburg was considered for the construction of a new government building.

After the remaining ruins were completely removed in 1870, the government purchased the land, along with the still-existing foundations and cellars, from the General Administration of the Electorate's Family Trust and began constructing a new monumental government and justice building in 1875, in the style of the Gründerzeit era.