Image Copyright: Schloss Friedrichstein

Schloß Friedrichstein lies on a mount in the south of the town Bad Wildungen, probably the original place of a castle ground from the 12th century.Oldest building part is the in 1550 built big round tower. Under earl Josias IIfrom Waldeck a large-scale programme for the building of a Baroque palace started; the palace in today's form wascompleted in the year 1714.

Military and hunting historical collection
At the Palace Friedrichsteinnear Bad Wildungen the state museums Kassel are showing since 1980 an extensive collection about Hesse military history that included historical weapons and an equally valuable as beautiful collection of old hunting equipment from the former landgrave estate.
The exhibition objects are being in respective room groups presented so that their cultural-historical connection is being kept.The earliest pieces are accommodated in the vaulted cellar rooms.This section encompasses the time until the end of the Thirty-Year War. On show arearmours and pieces of these,rampart rifles among them a three-barrelled one, the bow of a crossbow, early firearms like an unusual four-barrelled one, 20-shot pistol from the middle of the 17th century, swords, epees and pole weapons.Apart from the pure defensive and offensive weapons there are also the valuable splendour epees of the Hesse landgrave on show as well as the splendour sword that was given to the landgrave Wilhelm the elder in 1491 by pope Innocenz VIII.

On the ground floor the so-called Turkish loot is on show, those looted pieces that have been brought back by the Hesse troops from the battle of Belgrade and belong ever since to the landgrave collection: guns, sabres and daggers, gold and silver embroidered bow and arrow quivers, shields and bows, a coat of mail with helmet andgloves, silver inlayed stirrup. In one of the rooms a tent from the Turkish military camp has beenerreected. All this war equipmentshows splendid attire of highly artistic order.