Osteiner Hof
Osteiner Hof is a Baroque palatial mansion on the southern edge of Schillerplatz in Mainz, with a formal façade facing the square. Three rounded projections mark the entrance and both corners.
Johann Valentin Thomann built it between 1747 and 1752 for Franz Wolfgang Damian von Ostein, brother of Mainz’s prince-bishop. Rococo cartouches around the windows represent air, earth, and water. Diana and Mars appear beside the balcony doors, adding mythological detail to the façade. The von Osteins occupied the residence only briefly.
French authorities made the building the seat of Mont-Tonnerre in 1798, and later governments continued using it. It served as Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia’s headquarters during the Franco-Prussian War. Fire destroyed the mansion during the Second World War, before restoration followed in 1947 and 1948. From 1958 to 2014, the Bundeswehr used it as headquarters and an officers’ mess. Each 11 November at 11:11, Mainz’s carnival season begins from its balcony.
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