Charlottenburg Palace

Charlottenburg Palace is the largest and most significant Hohenzollern palace in Berlin, built at the end of the 17th century for Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Elector Frederick III (later King Frederick I of Prussia). The palace began in 1695 as a modest summer residence called Lietzenburg and was expanded in three major phases over the 18th century into the monumental Baroque and Rococo ensemble visible today. The central building is crowned by the distinctive green copper dome, added between 1701 and 1713, which became a defining element of the Berlin skyline. The interior highlights are concentrated on the piano nobile: the Golden Gallery is a 42-metre-long Rococo ballroom with gilded stucco, crystal chandeliers, marble pilasters, and ceiling frescoes that make it one of the finest Rococo interiors in Germany; the Porcelain Cabinet is lined with over 2,700 pieces of East Asian porcelain arranged in mirrored niche cabinets; the Oak Gallery preserves the original Baroque state; and the Queen's Apartments on the ground floor contain the bedchamber, writing room, and music room of Queen Luise of Prussia. The New Wing, added between 1740 and 1746, contains Frederick the Great's winter apartments, the White Hall ballroom, and the former court theatre. The palace park covers 55 hectares and combines formal French Baroque gardens with English landscape sections added by Peter Joseph Lenné. The park contains the Belvedere tea house, the New Pavilion (Schinkel's Italianate villa), and the Mausoleum of Queen Luise. The palace is reachable by U-Bahn line U2 to Sophie-Charlotte-Platz, followed by a 10-minute walk.