The "Spangenberg Conservatory" founded by Heinrich Spangenberg had 32 students immediately after its opening in 1888. The education soon enjoyed such a good reputation that by the fourth school year there were 452 students with 45 teachers. In 1897, the institute moved to Wilhelmstraße 16, where it remained until 1945.

Heinrich Spangenberg, who died in 1925, was succeeded by Richard Meißner as director of the music teachers' seminar. He expanded the range of lessons, intensified the training of young orchestral musicians and created the opera school. There was also a drama school within the Wiesbaden Conservatory. In 1931, Meißner took over the "Spangenberg Conservatory" as sole director.

Little is known about the development of the Wiesbaden Conservatory during the Nazi era, nor about the fate of Jewish teachers and their students. The institute was closed in 1944 as a result of the war. In the night of February 2 to 3, 1945, an air mine destroyed rooms and furnishings. Under extremely difficult circumstances, Meißner was able to reopen the "Wiesbaden Conservatory" - as it has been known since 1949 - on October 10, 1948.

Finally, the Wiesbaden Conservatory was given its own building, Villa Bodenstedtstraße 2, which the city purchased to provide the institute with a permanent home. In the years that followed, Meißner succeeded in making the Wiesbaden Conservatory an important factor in Wiesbaden's musical life. In 1975, the Hessian Ministry of Culture granted the music teachers' college "state recognition". In 1977, the institute was transferred to the status of a non-profit association. In 1978, it was accepted into the "Association of German Music Schools" (VdM). In 1986, the orchestra school was also officially recognized by the Hessian Minister for Science and Art and the name was changed to "Wiesbadener Konservatorium, Musikschule und staatlich anerkannte, private Fachschule für musikalische Berufsausbildung e.V.".

After more than 60 years of service, Meißner stepped down as director of the Wiesbaden Conservatory at the end of 1986. The Conservatory's study department was transferred to the newly founded Wiesbaden Music Academy (WMA) in 1991, and the Conservatory and the Güntzel Music Seminar merged in 1991 to form the Wiesbaden Music & Art School (WMK).