Charlottenburg is the largest royal palace in Berlin and the city's most complete survival of Prussian Baroque splendour. Commissioned in 1695 as a summer retreat for Sophie Charlotte — the brilliant, music-loving consort who gave the estate its name — it grew across the eighteenth century into a sprawling residence of state apartments, a glittering ballroom and intimate private rooms, each one a window into how Prussia's kings and queens actually lived.
About this ticket
Charlottenburg is the largest royal palace in Berlin and the city's most complete survival of Prussian Baroque splendour. Commissioned in 1695 as a summer retreat for Sophie Charlotte — the brilliant, music-loving consort who gave the estate its name — it grew across the eighteenth century into a sprawling residence of state apartments, a glittering ballroom and intimate private rooms, each one a window into how Prussia's kings and queens actually lived.
Visiting Charlottenburg
Inside, the highlights come thick and fast. The Porcelain Cabinet glows with thousands of pieces of blue-and-white Chinese and Japanese porcelain stacked floor to ceiling, while the Golden Gallery — a 42-metre rococo ballroom of mirrors, gilding and pale green — is one of the most photographed interiors in Berlin. Further on, the New Wing holds the lavish apartments of Frederick the Great and a celebrated collection of eighteenth-century French painting.
Beyond the palace walls lie 55 hectares of gardens, laid out first in formal French style and later softened into an English landscape park threaded with lakes and shaded avenues. Dotted among them are a domed mausoleum, a neoclassical garden pavilion and a Belvedere teahouse — and the grounds are free to wander, making the estate a full day out for the price of a single ticket.