Friedrichsfelde Castle was originally called Rosenfelde and was first mentioned on April 2, 1265. Rosenfelde certainly existed decades before and was founded as part of the German eastern colonization by the Margraves Johann I (ca. 1213-1266) and Otto III of Brandenburg (ca. 1215-1267).
Rosenfelde was now again the property of Elector Friedrich III, who also ordered the name change of the village and the castle. On January 25, 1699, the name "Friedrichsfelde" was announced from the pulpit in the village church of the community.
His son, King Frederick William I (1688-1740) - the Soldier King - gave the empty castle to his uncle, Margrave Albrecht Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1672-1731) in 1713. After his death, his son Charles (1705-1762) inherited the castle. Charles was a close companion of Frederick the Great (1712-1786). During the Seven Years' War, the castle became the headquarters of the Russian troops, who plundered the castle and made it uninhabitable when they withdrew.
The youngest brother of Frederick the Great, Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia (1730-1813), acquired the castle in 1762 from Margrave Charles's only heir as a summer residence, where he lived with his family until 1785. He had cavalier houses and stables built based on the model of the Rheinsberg residence of his brother, Prince Henry (1726-1802), and expanded the park. Under Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia, the palace park became the largest park east of Berlin and the palace became a royal residence. The guard and kitchen building (today's ticket office of the zoo) and several smaller park buildings were built. At the southern end of the park there was still the vineyard, which was next to the current polar bear enclosure and had already been built under Margrave Karl. He did not change the palace itself.