Babelsberg Palace: Stories of time

Since the interior renovation is still pending, a small exhibition featuring a few exhibits—some of which have never been shown before—presents three selected themes: Traces from Afar: Based on two shell halves fished up by the German sailing ship “Minna” in the Sulu Archipelago, as well as busts of Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm I, , a little-known episode of Prussian-German foreign, colonial, and trade policy in the Sulu Sea (now part of the Philippines) from the 1870s is recounted.

Traces of Art Preservation: Babelsberg Palace, the Flatow Tower, and the kitchen building served as the largest evacuation depot of the Prussian Palace Administration during World War II: paintings and furniture from the palaces of Berlin and Potsdam, includingincluding Frederick the Great’s desk from Sanssouci Palace and his libraries, as well as carriages from Monbijou Palace, were stored here and, after the war, partially transported to the Soviet Union. Many works of art returned from there in 1958, packed in simple wooden crates, one of which is on display. Other art objects from the Babelsberg Palace inventory were lost forever after 1945 or were deliberately destroyed, such as the zinc-cast fragments of a Landsknecht figure from the Flatow Tower.

Traces in the palace rooms after 1945: To accommodate certain institutions in the postwar period, some of the original room structures in Babelsberg Palace were destroyed. A prime example of this is the dining hall with its lowered false ceiling. Here, historical signs and photographs provide insight into how the palace rooms were used by the People’s Judges’ School, the Academy of Film Arts, and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History between 1945 and 1990.

The aim is also to engage visitors in conversation about their questions regarding the castle. What memories or hopes do you associate with Babelsberg? This external perspective will be incorporated into future museum concepts and help make the offerings even more interesting.