Charlottenburg Palace
Charlottenburg Castle is an incredibly beautiful palace with over 400 years of history. This is the summer residence of the Prussian kings. Today, centuries after its establishment, Charlottenburg Castle is a unique place which throughout the year holds many cultural events, focusing primarily on classical concerts, which are easily transported in time at the Berlin Baroque.
Charlottenburg Castle is located in the eponymous region of the western German capital Berlin. It is one of the biggest attractions of the city, mostly because of its amazing Baroque architecture and interior design.
This early baroque palace is considered the most palatial building in the territory of Berlin and one of the finest representatives of Baroque architecture in Germany.
The original central part of Charlottenburg was built between 1695 and 1699 as a summer residence for Sophie Charlotte and Queen Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, who was the wife of the elector prince of Brandenburg - Friedrich III. Initially, the palace had the name Lietzenburg and was used solely as a summer residence, but gradually it grew into a massive and beautiful palace building.
Palace Charlottenburg was designed by Johann Arnold Nering and the castle was extended shortly after Frederick became the first Prussian King - Frederick I. In 1701 a new extension of Charlottenburg was added to this beautiful 48-meter structure copula and the construction of greenhouses in the western wing took place. At the same time, the front of Charlottenburg was inserted along with the avant palace statue of the goddess Fortuna.
In 1740 Frederick the Great or Frederick III ordered the extension of the east wing in addition to the renovation and expanded the west wing. Six years later, that part of Charlottenburg was completed by chief designer Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff.
During World War II in 1943 Charlottenburg was completely destroyed after air bombardment, which pprovoked a devastating fire in the palace. In the postwar years Charlottenburg was totally restored.
In the main wing of the castle are available apartments of Frederick. Incredibly impressive today is the room for receptions, which is a huge room with high arches, niches and reliefs. At the end of the west wing is the porcelain room where guests of Charlottenburg can see a beautiful collection of Chinese porcelain.
On the east side of Castle Charlottenburg a villa is located in the Italian style, known as the Schinkel Pavillon. The architect of this interesting building was Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who was a leading architect of that time.
Today, built in 1825 was the pavilion which is home to a small but very interesting museum, showcasing paintings and drawings by artists from the early 19th century. Some of the paintings are the work of Schinkel himself.
