Main information:

Residenz Museum

Trierzimmer (Trier Rooms)

The Trierzimmer, situated in the east wing of the Residenz, are named after Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony, Elector and Archbishop of Trier, who stayed here frequently in the 18th century. The rooms themselves, however, date from the early 17th century and were always among the finest in the Residenz.

Beginning in 1611, Duke Maximilian I had four tracts constructed round the Kaiserhof. The most important guest apartments were situated on the upper floor. Those in the west, facing onto Residenzstraße, were reserved for the Emperor and his wife. Members of the Emperor's family and high-ranking members of the Imperial court occupied the apartments in the east. If no guests were staying in the palace, the rooms were used as council chambers, a function that is reflected in the subject-matter of the ceiling paintings.

Almost all the rooms had wooden coffered ceilings with paintings by the Dutch court painter Pieter de Witte, who is better known as Peter Candid.

The walls had no permanent decoration. They were hung with precious tapestries, and furniture was installed in the rooms, only when guests were staying.

The rooms were largely destroyed in the Second World War, but after 1945 they were restored to look more or less as they had around 1615. The ceiling paintings are the only part of the original decoration to have survived. Today, the rooms are used to display various works of arts and crafts, chiefly 17th-century tapestries and furniture.

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