Schloss Waldeck, Medieval castle and museum in Waldeck, Germany

Schloss Waldeck is a castle and museum perched on a hilltop above the Edersee reservoir in Waldeck. The complex features several towers, courtyards, and thick stone walls that reflect different building periods and expansions.

Schloss Waldeck was first documented in 1120 and passed to the Schwalenberg counts through the marriages of Widekind I and his son Volkwin; from 1180 a branch took the name Waldeck. It remained the counts' residence until 1655, when they moved to Arolsen. It then served as a fortress, barracks, and from 1734 to 1868 as a penitentiary and women's prison.

The counts of Waldeck resided here until 1655, when they moved to Arolsen. The museum exhibition "Hinter Schloss und Riegel" displays objects from the women's prison and penitentiary that occupied the castle from 1734 to 1868. An audio guide accompanies the tour.

The castle stands on a steep rocky hill above the northeastern shore of the Edersee, reached by road from Waldeck town centre; the Waldecker Bergbahn cable car links it with the lakeside below. Inside, the upper gate of 1756 leads past the hotel into the courtyard, and the terrace opens views south to the Edertalsperre dam and west over the whole reservoir. Expect stairs and uneven ground.

The castle well, dug in the 16th century, drops about 120 metres through the rock; water had to be hauled up bucket by bucket by a wheel mechanism, and a 1612 plan for a pump lifting water from the Herrentränke in the valley may never have been built. On the Altane terrace stand two Liège cannon of 1862 used in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, beside a pillory with iron collar, the Kaak, rebuilt by pupils of the Korbach training workshop.