Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
icking with his mistress in a snowy-white fairy-tale
palace
. To heighten the romance factor,
he brought in a flock of peacocks that gave the island its name and that are still strutting
their stuff to this day. A stand-out among the smattering of other buildings is the
Meierei
, a
dairy farm in the shape of a Gothic monastery at the island's eastern end.
The island is a nature preserve, so no smoking, cycling or swimming. Picnicking, though,
remains legal. There are no cafes or restaurants. The island is about 4km northwest of S-
Bahn station Wannsee, from where it's served several times hourly by bus 218.
PALACE
SCHLOSS GLIENICKE
( 030-8058 6750;
www.spsg.de
;
Königstrasse 36; palace tours adult/concession €5/4, casino €1;
10am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Nov-Mar; Wannsee, then bus 316)
Glienicke Palace is the result of a rich royal kid travelling to Italy and falling in love with
the country. Prince Carl of Prussia (1801-83) was only 21 when he returned to Berlin giddy
with dreams of building his own Italian villa, so he hired starchitect du jour Karl Friedrich
Schinkel to turn an existing garden estate into an elegant, antique-looking compound. It's
richly decorated with marble fireplaces, sparkling crystal chandeliers, gold-framed paintings
and fine furniture.
The turquoise bedroom of the princess and the midnight-blue library are especially mem-
orable. Schinkel not only expanded the mansion, but added a smaller guesthouse (the
'Casino') and two charming pavilions, the
Kleine Neugierde
('Small Curiosity') and
Grosse
Neugierde
('Great Curiosity'). The latter sits in an especially scenic spot ovelooking the
Havel River, Schloss Babelsberg and the outskirts of Potsdam. The palace is about 6km
west of S-Bahn station Wannsee and served several times hourly by bus 316.
MUSEUM
LIEBERMANN-VILLA AM WANNSEE
( 030-8058 5900;
www.liebermann-villa.de
; Colomierstrasse 3; adult/concession €7/4, audioguide
€3; 10am-6pm Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat, to 7pm Thu & Sun Apr-Sep, 11am-5pm Wed-Mon Oct-Mar;
Wannsee, then bus 114)
This lovely villa was the summer home of Berlin Secession founder Max Liebermann from
1909 until his death in 1935. Liebermann loved the lyricism of nature and often painted the
gardens as seen through the window of his barrel-vaulted upstairs studio. Recently restored,
they consist of three hedge gardens shaped like a circle, a square and an oval and flanked by
beech trees.
Drink in the glorious views over coffee and cake from the terrace of the villa's Wannsee-
facing cafe. Bus 114 makes the trip to the villa several times hourly from the S-Bahn station
Wannsee.
