Arolsen

Bad Arolsen until 1997 Arolsen, is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the house metropolis of the Princes of Waldeck Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State. The International Tracing Service has its headquarters in Bad Arolsen. In 2003, the town hosted the 43^rd Hessentag country pageant. The earliest documents mentioning Arolsen date again to 1131 while an Augustinian nunnery was mounted there with the name of "Aroldessen".

The nunnery changed into secularized in 1526 and in 1655 has become the house of the Counts of Waldeck, who transformed it into a stately home. It was torn down in 1710 and changed with a new Baroque shape 1713 to 1728 by using Friedrich Anton Ulrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont 1676 to 1728. From 1918 to 1929 Arolsen changed into capital of the Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont which becomes finally incorporated into Prussia.