Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Top Four Prussian Palaces
Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam
Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin
Neues Palais, Potsdam
Schlösschen auf der Pfaueninsel, Wannsee
The Schinkel Touch
The architectural style that most shaped Berlin was neoclassicism, thanks in large part to
one man: Karl Friedrich Schinkel, arguably Prussia's most prominent architect. Turning
away from baroque flourishes, neoclassicism drew upon columns, pediments, domes and
other design elements that had been popular throughout antiquity.
Schinkel assisted with the design of Queen Luise's mausoleum in Schloss Charlotten-
burg's park in 1810, but didn't truly make his mark until his first major solo commission, the
Neue Wache (New Guardhouse) on Unter den Linden, was completed in 1818. Originally an
army guardhouse, it is now an antiwar memorial accented with a haunting sculpture by
Käthe Kollwitz.
The nearby Altes Museum (Old Museum) on Museumsinsel (Museum Island), with its
colonnaded front, is considered Schinkel's most mature work. Other neoclassical master-
pieces include the Schauspielhaus (now the Konzerthaus Berlin) on Gendarmenmarkt and
the Neue Pavillon (New Pavilion) in Schlossgarten Charlottenburg. Schinkel's most signi-
ficant departure from neoclassicism, the turreted Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, was inspired
by a Gothic revival in early-19th-century England.
After Schinkel's death in 1841, several of his disciples kept his legacy alive, notably
Friedrich August Stüler, who built the original Neues Museum (New Museum) and the Alte
Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), both on Museumsinsel, as well as the Mat-
thäuskirche (Church of St Matthew) in today's Kulturforum.
