Zais, Wilhelm

Doctor, politician, hotelier

born: 04.02.1798 in Stuttgart

died: 16.01.1861 in Wiesbaden

Zais was the son of the architect Christian Zais. After finishing grammar school in Mainz, he initially studied philosophy, Latin and Greek in Heidelberg in 1817. In 1818, he decided to study medicine, which he completed in 1823. In 1824, he received permission to open a practice in Wiesbaden.

Later, he was medical registrar for the city and district of Wiesbaden. In 1829 he was promoted to medical assistant and in 1840 to medical councillor. From 1846, Zais, who felt an affinity with the ideas of the liberals, served in the Second Chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, of the Nassau State Parliament and was re-elected in 1858.

In 1852, his political convictions led to his dismissal from his position as a medical councillor. From then on, he concentrated on managing the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, which had been completed in 1821. He had already been managing the hotel alongside his work as a doctor since 1845. Like his father, Zais was committed to the development and establishment of the spa business in Wiesbaden, e.g. through the Wiesbaden Beautification Association founded in 1843.

He was buried in the old cemetery on Platter Straße.