Arolsen Residential Palace

E-Card holders are entitled to a reduced admission price (€8.00 for adults instead of €9.00)
Arolsen Palace is a Baroque palace in Bad Arolsen in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district of North Hesse (Germany). The palace comprises three wings, adjoined by a slightly younger English garden, the central feature of which is a large roundabout. The palace was the residence of the Princes of Waldeck of the House of Waldeck, and is still inhabited by their descendants today. In 2009, the renovation and restoration work, which had been ongoing since 1987, was completed. In 2002, the ‘Christian Daniel Rauch Museum’ was established in the stables opposite the residential palace, creating a further cultural institution. Today, the palace houses a museum run by the Princely Foundation, which offers guided tours of the state rooms and salons, an exhibition on Waldeck’s military history, a municipal museum with changing exhibitions, a registry office, and it continues to be inhabited by the descendants of the princely family. During the summer months, the Arolsen Baroque Festival is staged at the palace and concerts are held in the Stone Hall. Part of the west wing houses the Adolf Brehm Library, which is of great significance in the German-speaking world. The Baroque staircase, the Garden Hall and the White Hall are the main state rooms. Inside, the ceilings were ornately decorated in the Baroque style with stucco work by Andrea Gallasini, a collaborator of Julius Ludwig Rothweil the Elder. The ceiling paintings, dating from 1721 to 1722, are by the Italian painter Carlo Lodovico Castelli. In 1721, the Kassel-based painter Magnus de Quitter created the supraports for the Palatinate Room and the Crown Prince’s Room. Sculptures by Christian Daniel Rauch, Ernst Rietschel and Alexander Trippel adorn the rooms. The living quarters are furnished with valuable 18th-century Dutch tapestries, furniture and paintings. Arolsen Castle houses the only oil painting by Heinrich Aldegrever, as well as works by Martin van Meytens, Ziessen, and Heinrich and Friedrich August Tischbein. The most significant painting is Wilhelm Tischbein’s *Iphigenia Recognises Orestes*. Above the Garden Hall lies the White Hall with its encircling gallery. In one of the side wings is an extensive library containing a collection of old, historically significant books, as well as a rich historical collection of prints. Arolsen Castle also exhibits an extensive collection of cast iron art.