Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
SCHLOSS CHARLOTTENBURG
STIFTUNG PREUSSISCHE SCHLÖSSER UND GÄRTEN BERLIN-BRANDENBURG/HANS BACH ©
Schloss Charlottenburg is an exquisite baroque palace and one of the few sites in Berlin that
still reflects the one-time grandeur of the royal Hohenzollern clan. A visit is especially
pleasant in summer when you can fold a stroll, sunbathing session or picnic by the carp
pond into a day of peeking at royal treasures. And what treasures: lavishly furnished period
rooms reflect royal tastes and lifestyles from the baroque period to the 20th century, as well
as the largest collection of 18th-century French paintings outside of France.
The palace started out rather modestly, as a petite summer retreat built for Sophie-Char-
lotte, wife of Elector Friedrich III, and was expanded in the mode of Versailles after the
elector's promotion to king in 1701. Subsequent royals dabbled with the compound, most
notably Frederick the Great who added the spectacular Neuer Flügel. Reconstruction of the
Schloss after its WWII drubbing became a priority and was completed in 1966.
