Stern Hunting Lodge
The Stern Hunting Lodge in Potsdam was built between 1730 and 1732 under the reign of the Soldier King Frederick William I in the style of a simple Dutch town house.
The contract for the construction was probably awarded to Cornelius van den Bosch, a grenadier and master carpenter from Holland, and the building was supervised by Pierre de Gayette, Captain of the Corps of Engineers and Court Architect.
It is managed and maintained by the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg with the voluntary support of the Stern-Parforceheide Hunting Lodge Association.
In the 16th century, Elector Joachim II Hector began building the first hunting lodges in Grimnitz, Bötzow (now Oranienburg), Grunewald and Köpenick around his residences in Berlin and Cölln in the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
During the reign of the Great Elector Frederick William, further hunting lodges were built in the densely wooded and game-rich area around Berlin and Potsdam, including Groß Schönebeck and Glienicke.
In addition to fast dogs and horses, this type of hunting required clear terrain in order to be able to pursue the game over long distances until it collapsed exhausted.
To make it easier for the widely dispersed hunting party to find their way around, the area was divided into segments by sixteen star-shaped aisles (racks).
From the respective sections of the approximately one hundred square kilometer hunting ground, the hunters found their way back to their meeting point via the straight aisles that led to the center of the star.
Slightly offset from the center of the star, between two rays, the Soldier King had a hunting lodge built between 1730 and 1732 in the style of a simple Dutch town house, which he named after the location.
After the Second World War, it served as accommodation for the military protection unit for the British delegation during the Potsdam Conference and the entire complex was used as a vacation camp for schoolchildren from 1949 until the 1970s.
After extensive renovation work in the 1980s, the hunting lodge was furnished with items from Königs Wusterhausen Castle for museum use, but these are no longer part of the collection today.
In the north, the construction of the first Prussian Berlin-Potsdam railroad line and the Teltow Canal led to major losses of territory.
In the west, the construction of the Wetzlarer Bahn and the AVUS with its later extension to the Autobahn 115, which passes close to the hunting lodge, and in the south, the Nuthe expressway.
Particularly when compared with Moritzburg Castle near Dresden, which was converted into a Baroque hunting lodge at the same time, from 1723 to 1733, by the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland Frederick Augustus I/II, it becomes clear that the Prussian monarch did not use architecture for representation, as was generally the case at European courts.
The marriage of the Great Elector Frederick William to Luise Henriette of Orange-Nassau in 1646 encouraged the settlement of Dutch or Dutch-trained specialists for agriculture, landscaping, canal and dyke construction.
[11] The contract for the construction was probably awarded to the grenadier and master carpenter Cornelius van den Bosch (1679–1741) from Schipluiden near Delft,[12] other sources mention Schipley near Grafenhaag (The Hague),[13] who came to Potsdam around 1720.
The first mention of the Dutchman can be found in a rank roll (list of names) dated 1726 as a "long fellow" in the Royal Regiment of Foot.
[14] Like the soldiers of the time, he also pursued a civilian profession after his daily military service and is mentioned in the construction files for the hunting lodge in connection with the ordering of timber.
The French-born captain of the Corps of Engineers and court architect Pierre de Gayette supervised the construction, as evidenced by his signature under brick deliveries "for the new house in the royal par force garden" in August/September 1730.
The room was heated by an open fireplace made of dark red marble on the east wall, opposite the entrance door.
The few room decorations include a mirror framed with golden ornamentation and five paintings set into the wall showing Frederick William I in various hunting scenes.
The inventory list from 1826 lists further items for the kitchen: "A blue-painted Schab [crockery cupboard]; [...] six bowls, three candlesticks, two faience salt cellars, dating from the Elector's time, all damaged; a jug; two jugs of Chinese porcelain with silver and gilded lids; a damaged glass goblet with gilding".
