Jagdschloss Kranichstein is a palace in

Kranichstein Kranichstein is a district in the city of Darmstadt. The town started with housing construction in the 1960s and now also has a number of residential high-rises. Often referred to as Darmstadt-Kranichstein. Geographical location Kranichstein is ...

, now part of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, Germany. It was built north of Darmstadt from 1578 as a

Jagdschloss A ''Jagdschloss'' is a hunting lodge in German-speaking countries. It is a ''schloss'' set in a wildlife park or a hunting area (such as a forest, field or by a lake) that served primarily as accommodation for a ruler or aristocrat and his entou ...

, a hunting lodge for George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. It served also as a summer residence. In 1917, it became a museum of hunting. From 1946, it was the first location of the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Cou ...

. The estate is one of few remaining

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

hunting lodges in Germany, referred to also as Kranichstein Hunting Lodge. It serves as a hunting museum, and as a hotel with restaurant and event location including for weddings.

History

Jagdschloss Kranichstein was built on a commission from George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt by his master builder as a palace with three wings. Transformation of a former agricultural estate to a courtly palace began in 1578 and was completed in 1580. His successors, Ernest Louis and

Louis VIII Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...

, held events such as , expanding the buildings towards more representation and elegance. The estate was used for hunting by the landgraves for more than 350 years. From 1863, Louis IV, the later Grand Duke of Hesse, and his wife Alice, a daughter of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, used the property temporarily as their residence, and in the following years as their summer residence. Queen Victoria visited the palace as a summer guest several times. The estate became a museum in 1917, when Ernest Louis collected all hunting weapons from his palaces and hunting lodges at this location. It was installed by . It became the venue of the

, courses for

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

from 1946. In 1952, the Stiftung Hessischer Jägerhof foundation acquired the estate. In the same year, the museum was reopened, with a focus on the Baroque period. The palace was restored from 1988 to 1996 by the state, Darmstadt and the foundation, restoring the Renaissance version of the first floor. The estate has been used as a hotel, with a wedding venue from the end of the 20th century. In 2008, the museum bioversum in the Jagdzeughaus was opened. It deals with

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

Literature

* Peter Engels: ''600 Jahre Kranichstein'', in: ''Sechste Sommerspiele Jagdschloß Kranichstein'', Darmstadt 1999 * Kuno Graf von Hardenberg: ''Das Jagdschloß Kranichstein und die Jagdmaler des Landgräflichen Hofes zu Darmstadt'', Darmstadt 1918 * Eberhard Lohmann: ''Landgraf Georg I. und die Anfänge von Schloß Kranichstein'', Darmstadt 2002 * Iris Reepen: ''Museum Jagdschloss Kranichstein'',

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation. History Deutscher Kunstverlag was fo ...

München/Berlin 2002 * H. Retzlaff: ''Kranichstein. Renaissanceschloß und Jagdmuseum bei Darmstadt'', Darmstadt 1961 * Gisela Siebert: ''Jagdhäuser der Landgrafen von Hessen-Darmstadt auf Bildern des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts'', Darmstadt 2001 * Wolfgang Weitz: ''Jagdwaffen aus dem Jagdmuseum Schloß Kranichstein'', in: ''Museumsblätter Niddaer Heimatmuseum'', Nidda 1990 * Bettina Clausmeyer-Ewers: ''Wildpark und Schlossgarten Kranichstein'', Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV), 2006

References

External links

* * * *
Renaissanceschlösser in Hessen
' (project of

Germanisches Nationalmuseum The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...

) *
Museum Jagdschloss Kranichstein
theplacesihavebeen.com {{Coordinate , NS=49/54/1/N , EW=8/41/51/E , type=landmark , region=DE-HE Castles in Hesse Museums in Darmstadt Renaissance architecture in Germany Baroque architecture in Hesse Hotels in Germany Buildings and structures completed in the 1570s