Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
THE STORY OF THE CAPTAIN OF KÖPENICK
With its frilly turrets, soaring tower and stepped gable,
Rathaus Köpenick
(Town Hall;
Alt-Köpenick 21; 10am-5.30pm; 62 to Rathaus Köpenick)
exudes a fairy-tale quality, but is
actually more famous for an incident back in 1906. It involved an unemployed cobbler
named Wilhelm Voigt, who managed to make a laughing stock of the Prussian author-
ities. Costumed as an army captain, he marched upon the town hall, arrested the
mayor, confiscated the city coffers and disappeared with the loot. And no one ques-
tioned his authority! At least not initially. Although quickly caught and convicted, Voigt
became quite a celebrity for his chutzpah. Today, his bronze statue guards the town
hall, which also harbours a small exhibit about this infamous 'Hauptmann von
Köpenick' (Captain of Köpenick). The story is also re-enacted every summer during a
raucous festival.
SIGHTS
PALACE, MUSEUM
SCHLOSS KÖPENICK
( 030-266 424 242;
www.smb.museum/kgm
;
Schlossinsel 1; adult/concession/child €6/3/free;
11am-6pm Tue-Sun; 62, Köpenick)
Berlin's only surviving baroque palace, on a little island just south of the Altstadt, houses a
branch of the
Kunstgewerbemuseum
(Museum of Decorative Arts). It's a rich and eclectic
collection of furniture, tapestries, porcelain, silverware, glass and other frilly objects from
the Renaissance, baroque and rococo periods. Highlights include four lavishly panelled
rooms and the stunning
Wappensaal
(Coat of Arms Hall).
It was in this very hall where, in 1730, a military court sentenced Crown Prince Friedrich
(the later Frederick the Great) and his friend Hans Katte to death for attempted desertion.
The future king was eventually spared but forced by his father, the 'Soldier King', to watch
his friend's beheading. Tram 62 will take you there from S-Bahn station Köpenick.
LAKE
GROSSER MÜGGELSEE
( 60, Friedrichshagen)
Berlin's largest lake, the Müggelsee, is hemmed in by forest on two sides and is hugely pop-
ular for swimming and boating on hot summer days. Taking tram 60 from S-Bahn to
Friedrichshagen (or walking 1.5km south on historic and cafe-lined Bölschestrasse) gets you
