Shortly after the end of the First World War, a soldiers' council was founded on November 9, 1918 in the replacement battalion of the 80th Fusilier Regiment, which took command of the garrison command at Oranienstraße 5. After rallies in the trade union building and in the Wartburg, a workers' council was elected in the evening: the SPD and USPD each provided eight members. The Soldiers' and Workers' Councils merged the following day and formed an enforcement committee for the city and district of Wiesbaden.

The first actions were an appeal to the population to obey all orders, to dispose of all rank insignia and to hand in their weapons. The first proclamation published in the press announced the end of the monarchy and the abdication of the Emperor. The following day, a joint meeting was held with representatives of the city administration and the government; District President Karl Wilhelm von Meister and the city administration placed themselves under the control of the Workers' and Soldiers' Council. The takeover of power was thus complete. This was followed by a rally on the market square, which was attended by thousands of people. In the speeches, the question of war guilt, the imperial question and the reorganization of the state were discussed.

On November 12, the council government invited the press to a meeting in its newly occupied offices on the first floor of Wiesbaden City Palace and announced its next actions. The most important thing was to maintain security and order, as the Workers' and Soldiers' Council wanted freedom, but not anarchy.

One of the most urgent tasks was to disarm the hundreds of soldiers who had been released from captivity and demobilized and were streaming into the city. A strictly guarded weapons store was set up in the garrison command, while a clothing store for discarded uniforms and shoes was set up in the castle. The so-called surreptitious trade was prosecuted very harshly. Looting was punishable by death. On November 16, the Royal Court Theatre was abolished and renamed the Nassau State Theatre; a mixed commission chaired by the director Ernst Legal was put in charge. The most important task was to feed the population and demobilize them. To prevent the threat of unemployment, the eight-hour working day was introduced and job placement was centralized. On November 24, the council government formed a People's Army from 400 former soldiers living in Wiesbaden.

Despite the vigor with which the Workers' and Soldiers' Council tackled pressing problems in the city in a very short time and solved many of them, its end was foreseeable from the outset. Its rule lasted a total of five weeks; it was dissolved on December 13, 1918 when French occupying troops marched in.