Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WORTH A DETOUR
SCHLOSS SCHÖNHAUSEN
In Pankow, just north of Prenzlauer Berg,
Schloss Schönhausen
( 030-3949 2625;
www.spsg.de
;
Tschaikowskistrasse 1; adult/concession €6/5; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, to 5pm Sat &
Sun Nov-Mar; M1)
is surrounded by a lovely park and packs a lot of German history into
its pint-size frame. Originally a country estate of Prussian nobles, in 1740 it became
the summer residence of Frederick II's estranged wife Elisabeth Christine, who had it
enlarged and rendered in playful rococo. Taking a page from Sleeping Beauty,the
palace fell into a long slumber after her death in 1797 until the Nazis used the dilapid-
ated structure as a storeroom for 'degenerate' modern art. In 1949 the building was
restored once more and became the seat of East Germany's first head of state, Wil-
helm Pieck, before later becoming the country's state guesthouse.
After yet another mega-makeover, the palace sparkles in renewed splendour. The
downstairs rooms, where the queen had her private quarters, reflect the 18th-century
style with partly original furniture and wallpaper. More interesting - largely for their
uniqueness - are the upstairs rooms where GDR fustiness is alive in the heavy fur-
niture of Pieck's 1950s office and in the baby-blue bedspread in the Gentlemen's Bed-
room where Castro, Ceauşescu, Gaddafi and other 'bad boys' slept. To get to the
palace, catch tram M1 to the Tschaikowksistrasse stop, then walk about 300m east on
Tschaikowksistrasse.
