Charlottenburg Palace
Charlottenburg Palace was built in the late 1600s as a vacation home for Sophie Charlotte, wife of Friedrich III an Elector of Brandenburg. The structure of the building has a rich baroque style. It was formally named Lietzenburg. When 36 year old Sophie Charlotte died unexpectedly in 1705, from pneumonia. Her husband renamed Lietzenburg to Charlottenburg in her honour.
Over the years generations of royals whom inherited the castle expanded and renovated it to their tastes and styles. These renovations represent the eras they lived, giving the beautiful palace unique styles throughout all the rooms.
Missing from the original structure is the Amber Room which Frederick William gave to Peter the Great: Tsar of Russia in 1716 as a symbolic seal of Prussia’s alliance with Russia. The room had a baroque style that shone beautifully with golden tones of amber. Precious stones, mirrors and golden leaf panels embellished its walls. Some labelled this room the eighth wonder of the world. Sadly, during the end of the second world war it was dismantled and hidden for safe keeping never found again.
Significant restorations were done to the palace after World War ll greatly damaged it.
Today Charlottenburg Palace is the largest castle in Berlin and the only remaining royal residence in the city that dates back to the Holenzollern family. Portraits of the Holenzollern family are exhibited on an oak panel wall in the Oak Gallery.
An equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilahelm l was saved during the War by hiding it in storage at the bottom of lake Tegeler. This magnificent statue now stands centered of the courtyard at the front of the palace. At the bottom of the statue are four chained warriors symbolizing the four temperaments describing personalities: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic.
This exquisite palace, with its beautiful formal gardens and surrounding woods, is a renowned tourist attraction creating a lovely oasis in the city. For an admission fee visitors may enter and browse through sections of the Palace. There’s plenty of beautiful rooms to view such as the famous porcelain cabinet room located in the original section. This alluring room is adorned with many fascinating, and exquisite porcelain ornaments that show off their authentic influence from the Orient. The crown jewels, rare royal silver from the Hohenzollern family collection, the famous snuffboxes from Frederick the Great and porcelain dinnerware full of rich colours and form are exceptionally displayed.
The oldest section of the palace features a baroque style. Enjoy gazing upon the rooms of Queen Sophie Charlotte and Frederick l.
The new wing located on the east side of the Palace is designed in a rococo fashion. Here you will find the luxurious chambers of Frederick the Great as well as Friedrich Wilhelm II’s more modest winter lodgings. These rooms have been restored and displayed for everyone to enjoy with admirable French furnishings and artwork that belonged to the monarch.
The west side of the palace accommodates two rococo style grandiose ballrooms. The White Hall with its renowned acoustics was once used as a royal dining room and the Golden Gallery, a 42 metre long opulent ballroom, lavishly decorated with mirrors, marble and gilded ornaments. This royal ballroom displays a grand show of French paintings from Frederick’s private collection from the turn of the century as well as additions from other royals with marble sculptures from the area of the nineteenth century.
This wing also contains the impressive orangery built with a baroque style, once used to store rare citrus trees through the winter. In the summer around 500 orange, lemon and sour orange trees adorn the premises creating refreshing fragrants and scenic atmosphere for royal festivities. A large vestibule and dome tower; crowned by a gilded statue weather vane; representing fortune and luck were added later. Today these illuminated grandiose ballrooms are frequently used for concerts, weddings, banquets or art events. The palace former theatre; now a museum, is an extension to this wing leading out to the famous formal gardens. When strolling along these spectacular grounds you will come across structures such as the 1810 neoclassical Mausoleum of Queen Louise, the New Pavilion; this classical style pavilion displays furniture, sculptures and artwork conjuring up the style and era of the 1800’s, front of it are two pillars topped with statues that symbolize victory as well as the Belvedere. This structure’s exterior is that of a tiny castle. It was built in the late 18th century, originally as a teahouse for the royals. Today the belvedere houses famous collections of royal Porcelain.
Facts For Your Visit
Fee: You can visit the grounds and gardens for free. Some interior portions are subject to an admission fee.Charlottenburg Palace Hours:
Opening hours may differ on holidays
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Address: Spandauer Damm 10-22, 14059 Berlin, Germany
Phone: 0331 9694200
Official Website: Charlottenburg Palace
Charlottenburg Palace Reviews
Rated
out of 5 The place is beautiful and the area is large. It is simple and not very grand. The interior is similar to a normal palace. It is pleasant to walk around.
TUMNOY THAWIN - a week ago
We went inside to see the castle & it was very interesting. They have a free app you can download to listen to each story of every single room, which personally I think is great as most museums charge extra for audio.
Staff were very friendly.
Afterwards we had a walk in the park which is for free and really beautiful. Currently there are some construction sites but it didn’t disturb us.
Anne Fleischhauer - 2 months ago
Very luxurious palace and really shows how the king and queen lived. If you have a bigger bag or have water, staff will request you to put your bag in the cloakroom. I would recommend buying tickets online (it’s more convenient). If you have the charlottenburg+ ticket, you can visit all of the buildings in the palace area. I think you should only go if you have time. I would definitely recommend visiting the garden (no ticket needed).
kat - a month ago
It is one of the most attractive sites in Berlin. It's a great historic palace with an amazing Royal garden. It is so nice to walk, relax and enjoy the lakes. The palace is wonderful from inside.
David Zaki - 2 months ago
We visited the old palace yesterday and it was quite nice. We didn’t get the audio guide which was a mistake, as there weren’t really too much interesting information to read in the rooms. Upon arriving and after having looked at some photos online we wanted to visit the New Wing (we unfortunately didn’t have the time to visit both parts). The purpose of our visit was mostly to see some beautiful decor and aesthetically pleasing and cool interior design. But upon purchasing our tickets the woman working in the reception insisted that we visit the old palace, if we were only to see one of them. Even though it was a cool place and some of the rooms were really pretty, I think we would have preferred to visit the New Wing. She said that the old palace was more historically interesting, but as there wasn’t really too much historical information to find in the palace, it ended up not being so interesting at all. I guess it depends on what you’re interested in! The surrounding park was pretty! There were goats 🐐
Märta Hogmark - 2 months ago
Directions
How to get to Charlottenburg Palace by U-Bahn, S-Bahn
Nearest U-Bahn, S-Bahn Line(s): U7, S41, S42, S46
Nearest U-Bahn, S-Bahn Station(s): Berlin Westend, Richard-Wagner-Platz
From Westend Station head east on Spandauer Damm.
From Richard-Wagner-Platz head northwest on Otto-Suhr-Allee the slight left onto Sammlung Scarf-Gerstenberg.
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