Wilhelmsthal Castle

Wilhelmsthal Palace is a palace and garden complex in the district of Eckardtshausen in the municipality of Gerstungen in the Wartburgkreis region of Thuringia. The summer and hunting lodge is located about seven kilometers south of Eisenach in the valley of the Elte. The building complex was constructed in numerous phases from 1709 to 1913. Wilhelmsthal Palace is considered the last preserved secular premiere site of the composer Georg Philipp Telemann.

The original location was first mentioned in a document in 1349 as "Wintershusen." The game-rich forests and meadows along the Elte were a popular hunting area for the high nobility. Comfortable hunting lodges and stables were built, originating from the Eisenach palaces and the Marksuhl hunting lodge. They were constructed along the Rennsteig and at the Glöckner near Ruhla. In the Elte Valley, the hunting lodge Prunftau was established, where Duke Johann Georg I died on September 19, 1686, during the hunting season.

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