Prinx-Max-Palais

The Prinz-Max-Palais is a cultural and historical building in Karlsruhe featuring baroque revival and Beaux-Arts architecture with atlantes, niche figures, and marble inscriptions throughout its facade. It functions today as a museum space presenting a detailed scale model of Karlsruhe from 1834 with multimedia explanations of historical sites.

The palace was built between 1881 and 1884 for banker August Schmieder and later became the residence of Prince Max of Baden. After World War Two it served as the seat of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court from 1951 to 1969 before transforming into a cultural center.

The building now serves multiple cultural institutions that cater to different interests: the City Museum, Museum of Literature on the Upper Rhine, and a youth library. These institutions shape the interior life of the palace and make it a living space for art lovers and history enthusiasts.

The site includes both the interior rooms and a garden with ornamental fountains and historical architectural fragments displayed on a wall. It is helpful to visit the permanent exhibition on the ground floor first to get an overview before exploring the upper floors.

The garden contains a remarkable collection of architectural fragments from different periods of Karlsruhe's history displayed on a wall. These fragments tell the story of the city's development and show how the urban landscape changed over time.