After the annexation of the Duchy of Nassau by Prussia in 1866, the new administrative district of Wiesbaden (consisting of Nassau and the Free City of Frankfurt, which was also incorporated, along with some areas of Hesse-Darmstadt) was divided into twelve administrative districts. The former Nassau offices of Wiesbaden, Hochheim, Höchst and Rödelheim formed the Mainkreis from February 22, 1867. The seat of the district administration was Wiesbaden, although the city itself was not part of the district. In the course of the territorial reform of 1885 (Law Collection No. 250, p. 198), new, smaller districts were formed. The former Mainkreis was divided: The former offices of Hochheim and Wiesbaden now formed the new district of Wiesbaden, while the former offices of Höchst and Rödelheim formed the new district of Höchst. The villages of Langenhain, Lorsbach and Marxheim, which belonged to the Hochheim office, were transferred to the district of Höchst, while the municipality of Heddernheim and the town of Rödelheim, which had previously belonged to the Höchst office, were transferred to the district of Frankfurt.

Due to the incorporation of Biebrich, Schierstein and Sonnenberg in 1926 and a further nine municipalities in 1928, the district of Wiesbaden was no longer viable and was dissolved on March 31, 1928. The remaining towns and municipalities became part of the newly founded Main-Taunus district. The district administrators of the Wiesbaden district were Guido Maria Graf Matuschka-Greiffenklau, Georg Graf von Schlieffen, Günther von Hertzberg, Friedrich von Heimburg (subsequently Chief of Police of Wiesbaden) and Karl Joseph Schlitt.