Charlottenburg Palace/ Old Palace

Charlottenburg Palace – © Scholvien

Actually, it was just meant to be a small garden castle for Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Elec-tor Friedrich III.

And this is the reason why the core of the structure, which was inaugurated in 1699 and which bore the name of Lützenburg Palace, was not particularly large. But then Friedrich was crowned King of Prussia and, accordingly, Sophia Charlotte became a queen. And thus it was not too long before the ever-increasing expansion of the palace, which was modelled after Versailles, began. In the course of about 100 years worth of construction, which involved the extensive participation of such architects as Eosander von Goethe, Georg Wenceslaus von Knobelsdorff and Carl Langhans, there thus arose the most magnificent palace in Berlin: a domed tower, east and west wings, the Great Orangery and Palace Theatre. Ever since the death of Sophie Charlotte in 1705, it has been called Charlottenburg.

During World War II, the palace was severely damaged and the reconstruction work lasted two decades. Today it is an impressive ensemble of rooms and halls and is home to world-class art collections.

The garden

The palace’s garden was originally created as a French baroque garden and was later modified by the gardener Johann August Eyserbeck into an English style garden. Here, in addition to other buildings, can be found the former Belvedere teahouse built by Langhans and the mau-soleum designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel containing the tombs of Queen Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm III..

Audioguide

Explore the Charlottenburg Palace and other sights of major interest in Berlin with an audioguide. Just order online and upload the audioguide to your MP3 player or iPod. ...more