Köpenick Palace, Berlin, Germany

Schloss Köpenick is a Baroque water palace of the Hohenzollern electors of Brandenburg which stands on an island in the Dahme River surrounded by an English-style park and gives its name to Köpenick, a district of Berlin.

The castle was originally built on the foundations of a Slavic castle (6th century) in 1558 as a hunting lodge by order of Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg. The building in a Renaissance style was located on the river island at the site of the former medieval fort. Joachim II died here in 1571. In 1631 it served as the headquarters of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, where he - without results - asked his brother-in-law Elector George William for assistance in the Thirty Years' War.

Frederick I of Prussia had the lodge rebuilt and enlarged from 1677 and lived here together with his first wife Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel. In 1730 Frederick II of Prussia, then Crown Prince, and his friend Hans Hermann von Katte faced the court-martial for desertion at Schloss Köpenick. Today the castle surrounded by a small park serves as the Museum of Decorative Arts, run by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation as part of the Berlin State Museums.

Since 1963, Köpenick Palace has been used by the Kunstgewerbemuseum as an exhibition space. Being renovated in 2004, the palace accommodates museum of arts with the permanent exhibition 'RoomArt', featuring the decorative arts of the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods. The museum also presents the outstanding masterworks in interior design from the 16th to 18th centuries.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Bogdan Drăgan (4 years ago)
great place for a relaxing Sunday walk

Mahshad Shirzaee (4 years ago)
We booked a ticket for 4:45pm but when we arrived they said it's closed now and it's only opened until 5pm and didn't let us in. It was awful because they knew that there is this 4:45pm time-slot to book online on their website and they just said it was a mistake and they are sorry! Aw

R. Wolff (4 years ago)
A baroque gem by the river, with a - for the size of the palace - pretty impressive collection of renaissance, baroque, and rococo furniture - and some unforgettable stucco work!

lokesh agarwal (4 years ago)
More than Köpenick Palace itself, I loved the surrounding area to it. There are several spots to sit down near water and soak sun light. It is a good place to hang around when Sun is shining. A good picnic place for sure.

Dikla Zilberberg (4 years ago)
Beautiful place if you its on your road

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright radoslaw.maciejewski

Historic Site of the week

Ogrodzieniec Castle Ruins

Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle originally built in the 14th–15th century by the W³odkowie Sulimczycy family. Established in the early 12th century, during the reign of Boles³aw III Wrymouth, the first stronghold was razed by the Tatars in 1241. In the mid-14th century a new gothic castle was built here to accommodate the Sulimczycy family. Surrounded by three high rocks, the castle was well integrated into the area. The defensive walls were built to close the circuit formed by the rocks, and a narrow opening between two of the rocks served as an entrance.

In 1470 the castle and lands were bought by the wealthy Cracovian townsmen, Ibram and Piotr Salomon. Then, Ogrodzieniec became the property of Jan Feliks Rzeszowski, the rector of Przemy¶l and the canon of Cracow. The owners of the castle about that time were also Jan and Andrzej Rzeszowskis, and later Pilecki and Che³miñski families. In 1523 the castle was bought by Jan Boner.

Köpenick Palace

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Ogrodzieniec Castle Ruins