Berlin Palace

For centuries, the Berlin Palace served as the primary residence for the Electors of Brandenburg ( members of the electoral college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor), Kings of Prussia, and Emperors of Germany. The original palace does not exist anymore because it was destroyed in the 1950’s by the German Democratic Republic (but wait, there is hope, as you will see later in the blog).

Originally built during the 15th century, on what was known as Festin’s Island in the center of the city, to replace an earlier fort that was guarding the Spee River, its presence was designed to establish the authority of the “Margraves” (medieval Holy Roman Empire title for a military commander) over the “...unruly citizens of Berlin.” Frederick II laid the foundation stone for the new palace in 1443. Construction was” finalized” (as we’ve seen at other such structures, completion was only a limited term, as there were always expansions and renovations happening) eight years later. Following a 1454 pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Frederick II turned the palace’s chapel into a parish church. With plans to build a newer, grander palace, Joachim II demolished the old palace in 1538. Renovations continued under subsequent rulers - except for an interruption during the reign of Frederick William I, who apparently was more interested in developing Prussia as a military power than in building palaces. The place became a center piece during the “Revolution of 1848” when Berliners protested in front of it to demand a constitution. Frederick William originally accepted their demands, only to ignore them afterwards.

By 1871, William I had become Emperor of Germany and made the palace his center of the Empire. With Germany’s defeat in World War I, the monarchy was abolished and the German Socialist Republic (better known as the Weimar Republic) was born. This Republic turned part of the palace into a museum while keeping the rest to serve State functions. Economic instability eventually led to the downfall of the Republic and the rise of Hitler’s National Socialist Workers’ Party (the Nazis). During Hitler’s time as head of the government, the palace was pretty much neglected. Allied bombings of Berlin during World War II damaged much of the building. Following the war, the area of the palace fell under the control of the Soviet Union’s supported German Democratic Republic. Seeing the palace as a symbol of Prussian militarism, the new Socialist Government had the building demolished.

This is not the end of the story of the palace, however. Following reunification of Germany, plans were developed to rebuild the palace as a “..multipurpose people’s center.” Debates as to whether or not the place should be built began in 1993, with those in favor of the project winning out. Construction of the new facility began in 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2019.

Note: Because the original palace no longer exists, we had to rely on archival photos and paintings of what it looked like. In that same vein, there was no physical palace that we could visit, only a small museum in front of the construction site with artifacts salvaged from the old Stadtschloss. Present day architects are also using some of the same depictions offered here,for their recreation of the palace.

A 19th century painting of how the Berlin Palace looked.

Taken in 1904, this aerial view shows the immensity of the Berlin Palace (“Stadtschloss”).

The Palace as it appeared in 1920.

One of the reception hallways running through the Stadtschloss.

Known as the “Knights’ Room”, this is typical of the grandeur of the European palaces.They are amazing. We would imagine that trying to replicate this grandeur today would be prohibitively expensive.

This other room in the palace was known as the “Amber Room.”

Of course, no self-respecting palace could be built without a throne.

Today’s reconstruction of the palace, expected to be completed by 2019, only recreates the exterior facade, The interior rooms will be more modern.

A small museum in front of the construction site contains this model of the Stadtschloss in relation to its surroundings...

...as well as statuary and other small pieces salvaged from the demolished old palace. These will all be moved into the “new” place once it is completed.

One of the salvaged pieces is this sculpture...

...that hung over an entrance doorway of the palace (see the red square in the center of this photo).

We were amazed at the intricacies of some of the sculpturing .

Even the tops of some of the Corinthian columns were adorned with intricate creations.