Jagdschloss Grunewald

Jagdschloss Grunewald
Jagdschloss Grunewald
Jagdschloss Grunewald from the lake side

The Jagdschloss Grunewald, a hunting lodge, is the oldest preserved castle of Berlin, Germany. It is on the south waterfront of the Grunewaldsee and is part of the locality Dahlem in the borough Steglitz-Zehlendorf.

The Jagdschloss was built in 1542/1543. Its owner was Joachim II Hector the prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The building was created in the Renaissance style and got the name Zum grünen Wald, "to the green forest", and gave the whole Grunewald its name. Around 1800 the château got the name Grunewald too. During reconstructions between 1705 and 1708 by Frederick I, the first king of Prussia, it received its Baroque design from master builder Martin Grünberg.

The Jagdschloss has been administered by the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg since 1932 and is used as a museum. It contains paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, his son Lucas Cranach the Younger, and from the Netherlands and Germany from 15th to 19th century. The Jagdschloss contains the sole remaining hall in Berlin from the time of the Renaissance. In 1977, a hunting-kit collection was established in a nearby building.