The first evidence of settlement at Waldeck comes from the year 1232 when a document from the Netze Monastery mentioned the universitas civitatis de waldeke.

The dam, designed to help regulate water levels for shipping on the Weser and to generate hydroelectricity, was destroyed by the RAF on 17 May 1943 (see Operation Chastise), causing massive flooding and loss of life downstream, but was rebuilt.

In the Middle Ages, Freienhagen had a complete ring of walls with two town gates through which led the old trade road from Cologne to Leipzig.

The town council's 31 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 6 March 2016: Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.

Furthermore, Waldeck's official Internet presence does not contain any text about the civic coat of arms, although it does display the version with the lily.

[1] According to this same source, the star was originally eight-pointed, as commonly appears in many civic arms in the Waldeck region.

Operations on the stretch of the Ederseebahn railway line between Bad Wildungen and Korbach, on which lies Waldeck, ceased on 27 May 1995.