Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, Germany

Charlottenburg Palace (Schloss Charlottenburg) is the largest and most magnificent palace in Berlin, a sprawling Baroque and Rococo residence of the Prussian royal house set in extensive gardens on the bank of the Spree. It began modestly in 1695 as a summer retreat for Sophie Charlotte, the cultured wife of Elector Friedrich III — and took her name after her early death, by which time he had become King Friedrich I of Prussia. Over the following decades it was enlarged into the grand complex seen today, gaining its landmark domed tower and, under Frederick the Great, a whole new wing of dazzling Rococo state rooms. Badly damaged in the Second World War and carefully restored, it now offers one of the best windows in the city onto three centuries of Prussian court life.

What to See

The palace divides into two great parts. The Old Palace holds the Baroque apartments of the first Prussian king and queen, among them the celebrated Porcelain Cabinet, its walls packed floor to ceiling with hundreds of pieces of Chinese and Japanese porcelain, and the palace chapel beneath the copper dome. Frederick the Great’s New Wing (Neuer Flügel) adds the finest interiors of all: the shimmering Golden Gallery and the White Hall, masterpieces of Rococo, hung with one of the largest collections of 18th-century French painting outside France, including works by Watteau. Beyond the palace stretch some 55 hectares of gardens, laid out first in formal Baroque style and later softened into an English landscape park threaded with avenues and lakes. Hidden among them are three jewels: the Belvedere teahouse, now displaying royal porcelain; the New Pavilion, an Italianate villa by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel; and the solemn Mausoleum, where Queen Luise and other members of the royal family lie buried.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Charlottenburg Palace stands in the west of Berlin, on Spandauer Damm in the district that takes its name. It is easily reached by public transport: the U-Bahn stations Richard-Wagner-Platz and Sophie-Charlotte-Platz are each about a ten-minute walk away, and several bus routes stop right in front of the palace. The gardens are open daily and free to enter, a pleasant destination in their own right, while the palace buildings are ticketed — a combined “charlottenburg+” ticket covers the Old Palace and the New Wing, with the Belvedere, New Pavilion and Mausoleum charging separate admission. The palaces are generally open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays. Allow at least half a day to take in the main apartments and the gardens, and more if you want to visit the smaller garden buildings as well.