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, 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, 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 Darmstädter Ferienkurse, courses for contemporary music 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 and invasive species.
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 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, 2006