Jagdschloss Oberhof

Jagdschloss Oberhof was a rectangular building in the Thuringian Forest designed to house hunting parties and their collection of trophies. More than two hundred animal heads and hunting displays covered its interior and exterior walls.

Duke Johann Ernst I built the original hunting lodge in 1616 with eight rooms surrounded by defensive earthworks, though it burned down just eighteen years later in 1634. A replacement structure was constructed afterward and continued to serve the region's hunting traditions for centuries.

The name reflects its origins as a hunting retreat built for the regional nobility to gather during sporting expeditions. Visitors could sense how aristocrats would have used the space to socialize between hunts and conduct their affairs.

The site lay in the forested Thuringian landscape, allowing visitors to experience the hunting grounds and surrounding nature. The building was demolished in 2020, so today only historical records and photographs remain to show how it once looked.

The lodge attracted top-ranking guests at different times, including Saxon King Friedrich August II with ten other princes in 1839. Another peak moment came in 1888 when four Prussian imperial princes including Wilhelm, Eitel Friedrich, Adalbert, and August Wilhelm stayed there.