Grillenburg Hunting Lodge, Historical hunting lodge in Tharandt, Germany.

Grillenburg Hunting Lodge is a pale yellow three-storey building with a steep dark tiled roof, three dormer windows and a clock tower on the ridge, behind a low white wall. A lower wing with a red tiled roof extends to the left. The facade has five columns of white-framed windows on the upper floors and five on the ground floor, centred on a projecting entrance bay with a small pediment. Its Biedermeier facade dates from Julius August Rothe's 1855 reconstruction of the former Schösserei.

The site on the Grillenburger Lichtung dates back to the 13th century; archaeology from 1935–37 and 1980–83 points to an abbey, a Staufen or Meissen hunting palace, or a hospice on the pilgrims' route, and it is recorded in 1289 and 1294 alongside Tharandt Castle. The complex was destroyed in the Hussite wars of 1429/30 and the Saxon Fratricidal War around 1447–50. From 1554 to 1558 Elector August of Saxony had a hunting lodge built on the old foundations, with the Jägerhaus added in 1599 and the Fronfeste in 1614. After fires and demolitions only the Schösserei and the wall with the Colmnitz Gate survived; in 1855 Julius August Rothe rebuilt the Schösserei as the royal hunting lodge with its Biedermeier facade.

The lodge was a place where the aristocracy practiced hunting traditions and where the relationship between nobility and forest stewardship became visible. Visitors can still see how this site reflected the social hierarchy and leisure culture of the ruling classes.

The lodge lies on the Silberstraße between Dresden and Freiberg, surrounded by three ponds; only the pond with the sandstone bridge in front of the building survives from the original four. The site is being redeveloped for TU Dresden, so some areas may be fenced off. Check current access before visiting.

The lodge includes spaces originally designed for processing game, revealing the practical side of hunting operations that visitors often overlook. These functional rooms show how the work of managing hunted animals was integrated into the residence itself.