Hunting Depot at Grunewald Hunting LodgeHunting History

Frederick the Great closed the royal hunting lodge on Friedrichswerder located in Berlin’s present-day district of Mitte in 1765 and opened the hunting depot at Grunewald Hunting Lodge in 1770. The king, who had little interest in hunting, also had hunting gear and equipment from Liebenwalde, Oranienburg, and Spandau transported to the Grunewald site, where an extensive depot with wagons, canvas barriers, ropes, nets, and more was established. Wooden hooks on the ceiling still recall this use. Hunting weapons, however, were not stored here, but at the armories.

The hunting depot was in service until use of the imperial hunting grounds was discontinued in 1904. Subsequently, the building was variously used, among other things as a horse stable and wagon shed, and by a mounted police unit in the 1920s. In early 1977, the hunting collection was reopened to the public.

Today visitors can supplement their visit to the exhibition in the palace with knowledge about the history of the courtly hunt in Brandenburg-Prussia and its most common forms. Archaeological discoveries from the former moats around the Hunting Lodge also illustrate aspects of the site’s construction history.