Schloss Charlottenburg

Statue of Sophie Charlotte on the East Side of the Charlottenburger Tor

I promised way back when to write something about Schloss Charlottenburg. Above you can see the imposing statue of Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Friedrich III, Elector of Brandenburg, who commissioned the palace in the village of Lietzenburg west of Berlin, in the late 1600's. The statue isn't at the palace, however, its on the east (Berlin) side of the Charlottenburger Tor. On the other side of the street is a statue of her husband, Elector Friedrich who had himself proclaimed King Friedrich I of Prussia in 1701, likewise facing east. The statues balance each other nicely, and every time I pass them on my bike or on foot on my way back from Mitte or Kreuzburg, I have this feeling that the Sophie and Friedrich are welcoming me back to their town, which is now my town, because I live in Charlottenburg. The palace gave its name to the village, Lietzenburg became Charlottenburg, and was incorporated as a borough into Berlin in 1920.

Below you can see some pictures of the palace in various light. First, near sunset, romantically lit from within:

Next from a distance across the parking lot:

And finally from the back, where the grounds are graced by an extensive French garden:

The palace was originally designed by Johann Arnold Nering in the Baroque style. Unfortunately, Nering didn't get to see his masterpiece completed since he died before construction finished, and the palace was completed by Martin Grünberg and Andreas Schlüter. It was dedicated, on July 11, 1699, King Friedrich I's 42nd birthday. The outer form of the palace as we see it today reflects heavy remodeling undertaken in the early 1700's. Under Friedrich's direction, Johann Friedrich von Eosander, the royal architect, traveled to France and was heavily influenced by the Palace of Versailles. Von Eosander added two wings, the Orangery where 500 citrus trees were housed in winter, the large domed tower, and a larger vestibule. Today, the influence of Versailles is very evident, as it is with other German palaces built during the same time period, for example the Karlruher Schloss.

The inside of the palace is as beautiful as the outside, a fine example of Baroque design. The most spectacular room, however, is gone. The walls of the Amber Room were covered in amber. It was designed by Andreas Schlüter and constructed by Gottfried Wolfram, a Danish amber craftsman in 1702, but was given to Tsar Peter the Great by King Friedrich Wilhelm I, King Friedrich's son in 1715. The most interesting room today is the  Porcelain Cabinet, which contains thousands of porcelain objects, a few of which you can see in the picture below:

Other Baroque flourishes abound, such as this small angel:

On the walls are pictures of luminaries who visited the palace in early 1800's during the reign of King Friedrich III and his wife Queen Luise. Queen Luise ran a kind of intellectual salon for scientists and philosophers, where they would be invited to come and talk with the queen and other members of the court about their discoveries. Here's Alexander von Humboldt, the famous German explorer and scientist who lived in Berlin:

The formal French gardens were designed by Simeon Godeau in 1697 but were extensively remodeled in 1787 to follow the English garden style which emphasized a more natural look over the geometric lines of the French style. The palace and gardens experienced extensive damage in WWII, and the gardens were restored afterwards towards the earlier French style. Below is a picture out into the gardens from the upstairs central reception chamber:

And here's the carp pond, set at some distance from the palace:

On the other side, in front of the palace in the reception courtyard stands a statue of Friedrich Wilhelm I in a heroic pose on his horse:

Don't worry if you are having a hard time keeping your Friedrichs straight, Friedrichs are to Prussia as Louis are to France and Williams and Georges are to England. Friedrich Wilhelm I was the son of Friedrich I who commissioned Schloss Charlottenburg.

Today, it's hard to imagine what the dedication of the palace must have been like, but fortunately we don't have to. Since there were no cell phones or video cameras to record the event, Friedrich I had a painting commissioned to commemorate the festive occasion:

The palace has seen some hard times - it was heavily damaged during WWII and was neglected by several of the Hohenzollern kings whose wives preferred other residences for example - but today thanks to the restoration work of the German government, we see it as it appeared in the early 1700's during the time of King Friedrich I, a beautiful example of the north German Baroque palace style.