In 1730–32 Frederick William I, King in Prussia, had a small hunting lodge built outside the gates of Potsdam. It gets its name from the originally sixteen aisles cut into the forest for the par force hunt which cross over here in the form of a star (“Stern”). 

Built in the style of a Dutch bourgeois house, the lodge has survived almost intact in its original condition. Other than a wood-panelled room with paintings showing the king hunting, there are merely a bed chamber, an adjutant’s room and a white-tiled kitchen. The hunting lodge is in the care of the organisation Förderverein Jagdschloss Stern-Parforceheide (Parforceheide Friends of the Star Hunting Lodge) and is open to visitors from April to September when special events are being held.

Attached to the lodge there are also a castellan’s house, a stable and other outbuildings which were built at the same time as the lodge and are being repaired bit by bit by the Friends. For instance, a few years ago the historic baking oven was restored appropriately for the period and has been back in use since then.