Old Palace, Berlin

Last updated
Old Palace
Altes Palais
Berlin, Mitte, Unter den Linden, Altes Palais 01.jpg
Old Palace
Old Palace, Berlin
Alternative namesKaiser Wilhelm Palace
General information
Type Palace
Architectural style Neoclassical
Location Unter den Linden
Town or city Berlin
Country Germany
Coordinates 52°31′01″N13°23′34″E / 52.5169°N 13.3928°E / 52.5169; 13.3928
Construction started1834
Completed1837
Renovated1963–1964
Design and construction
Architect(s) Carl Ferdinand Langhans

The Old Palace (German : Altes Palais), also called Kaiser Wilhelm Palace (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Palais), is a former royal Prussian residence on Unter den Linden boulevard in Mitte, the historic heart and city center of Berlin. It was built between 1834 and 1837 by order of Prince William of Prussia, who later became William I, German Emperor, according to plans by Carl Ferdinand Langhans in Neoclassical style. Damaged during the Allied bombing in World War II, the Old Palace was rebuilt from 1963 to 1964 as part of the Forum Fridericianum. Since then, the listed building has been home to the law faculty of the Humboldt-Universität. [1]

Contents

History

On the site of the Old Palace stood previously a town house built between 1688 and 1692 by Ernst Bernhard von Weyler, the chief of the Brandenburg artillery. His son Christian Ernst, who moved to Vienna, sold it to Philip William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. His descendant Margrave Frederick William had it converted into a baroque palace by Carl Ludwig Hildebrandt. The building, sold at the end of the 18th century, later served the chiefs of the III. Army Corps as a residence. As such, Prince William moved into it in 1829.

His elder brother, the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick William, hired one of the most prominent architects of Germany, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, to design a memorial complex for Frederick the Great. However, his plan would have provided for the demolition of the adjoining library of Frederick the Great in order to make room for a huge new building for Prince William with two towers. However, William found the plan both irreverent and too expensive. Being disappointed with the plans of Schinkel, he accepted the more modest concept of the architect Carl Ferdinand Langhans in neoclassical style. As the construction of the palace was completed in 1837, the then Prince William began using the building as his residence where he and his wife brought up their children. The palace was built with a pergola, a mezzanine and a vestibule. Even after William ascended the throne as king, later Emperor William I, he continued to live in this home until his death in 1888, while he only used the Berlin Palace for representative purposes.

Images

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum Island</span> Northern part of Spree Island in the Spree river in central Berlin

The Museum Island is a museum complex on the northern part of the Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin, Germany. It is one of the capital's most visited sights and one of the most important museum sites in Europe. Built from 1830 to 1930, by order of the Prussian Kings, according to plans by five architects, Museum Island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 because of its testimony to the architectural and cultural development of museums in the 19th and 20th centuries. It consists of the Altes Museum, the Neues Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Bode-Museum and the Pergamonmuseum. As Museum Island includes all of Spree Island north of the Unter den Linden, the historic Berlin Cathedral is also located there, next to the Lustgarten. To the south, the reconstructed Berlin Palace houses the Humboldt Forum museum and opened in 2020. Also adjacent, across the west branch of the Spree is the German Historical Museum. Since German reunification, the Museum Island has been rebuilt and extended according to a master plan. In 2019, a new visitor center and art gallery, the James Simon Gallery, was opened within the Museum Island heritage site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unter den Linden</span> Thoroughfare in Berlin, Germany

Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Running from the Spree River to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall on the median and the two broad carriageways. The avenue links numerous Berlin sights, landmarks and rivers for sightseeing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Friedrich Schinkel</span> Prussian architect, city planner and painter (1781–1841)

Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both Neoclassical and neo-Gothic buildings. His most famous buildings are found in and around Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humboldt University of Berlin</span> Public university in Berlin, Germany

The Humboldt University of Berlin is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin Palace</span> Former residence of the Prussian Kings, seat of the Humboldt Forum

The Berlin Palace, formally the Royal Palace, adjacent to the Berlin Cathedral and Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of King Frederick I of Prussia according to plans by Andreas Schlüter from 1689 to 1713, it was thereafter considered a major work of Prussian Baroque architecture. The royal palace was one of Berlin’s largest buildings and shaped the cityscape with its 60-meter-high (200 ft) dome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellevue Palace, Germany</span> Building in Berlin-Tiergarten, Germany

Bellevue Palace, located in Berlin's Tiergarten district, has been the official residence of the president of Germany since 1994. The schloss is situated on the banks of the Spree river, near the Berlin Victory Column, along the northern edge of the Großer Tiergarten park. Its name – the French for "beautiful view" – derives from its scenic prospect over the Spree's course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altes Museum</span> Antiquities museum in Berlin, Germany

The Altes Museum is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. Built from 1825 to 1830 by order of King Frederick William III of Prussia according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, it is considered as a major work of German Neoclassical architecture. It is surrounded by the Berlin Cathedral to the east, the Berlin Palace to the south and the Zeughaus to the west. Currently, the Altes Museum is home to the Antikensammlung and parts of the Münzkabinett. As part of the Museum Island complex, the Altes Museum was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, because of its testimony to the development of museums as a social and architectural phenomenon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilhelmstrasse</span> Major thoroughfare in Berlin, Germany

Wilhelmstrasse is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, later of the unified German Reich, housing in particular the Reich Chancellery and the Foreign Office. The street's name was thus also frequently used as a metonym for overall German governmental administration: much as the term "Whitehall" is often used to signify the British governmental administration as a whole. In English, "the Wilhelmstrasse" usually referred to the German Foreign Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schloss Charlottenburg</span> Baroque palace in Berlin, Germany

Schloss Charlottenburg is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Adlon</span> Building in Berlin–Mitte, Germany

The Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin is a luxury hotel in Berlin, Germany. It is on Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in the central Mitte district, at the corner with Pariser Platz, directly opposite the Brandenburg Gate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neue Wache</span> Historic memorial in Berlin

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Palace, Potsdam</span> German palace

The New Palace is a palace situated on the western side of the Sanssouci park in Potsdam, Germany. The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years' War, under King Friedrich II and was completed in 1769. It is considered to be the last great Prussian Baroque palace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Gotthard Langhans</span> Prussian builder and architect

Carl Gotthard Langhans was a Prussian master builder and royal architect. His churches, palaces, grand houses, interiors, city gates and theatres in Silesia, Berlin, Potsdam and elsewhere belong to the earliest examples of Neoclassical architecture in Germany. His best-known work is the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, national symbol of today’s Germany and German reunification in 1989/90.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bebelplatz</span> Public square in Mitte, Berlin, Germany

The Bebelplatz is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl-Liebknecht-Straße</span> Major street in the Berlin Mitte district

Karl-Liebknecht-Straße is a major street in the central Mitte district of the German capital Berlin. It is named after Karl Liebknecht (1871–1919), one of the founders of the Communist Party of Germany. The street connects the Unter den Linden boulevard with the Prenzlauer Allee arterial road leading to the northern city limits. Although part of the street dates back to medieval times, most of the buildings at its side were built in the 1960s, when East Berlin's centre was redesigned as the capital of East Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marmorpalais</span> Palace in Potsdam, Germany

The Marmorpalais is a former royal residence in Potsdam, near Berlin in Germany, built on the grounds of the extensive Neuer Garten on the shores of the Heiliger See. The palace was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia and designed in the early Neoclassical style by the architects Carl von Gontard and Carl Gotthard Langhans. The palace remained in use by the Hohenzollern family until the early 20th century. It served as a military museum under communist rule, but has since been restored and is once again open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinrich Strack</span> German architect

Johann Heinrich Strack was a German architect of the Schinkelschule. His notable works include the Berlin Victory Column.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorotheenstadt</span> Historic zone or neighbourhood of central Berlin, Germany

is a historic zone or neighbourhood (Stadtviertel) of central Berlin, Germany, which forms part of the locality (Ortsteil) of Mitte within the borough (Bezirk) also called Mitte. It contains several famous Berlin landmarks: the Brandenburg Gate, the Pariser Platz, and Unter den Linden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kronprinzenpalais</span> Palace in Berlin, Germany

The Kronprinzenpalais is a former Royal Prussian residence on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built in 1663 and renovated in 1857 according to plans by Heinrich Strack in Neoclassical style. From 1919 to 1937, it was home to the modern art collection of the National Gallery. Damaged during the Allied bombing in World War II, the Kronprinzenpalais was rebuilt from 1968 to 1970 by Richard Paulick as part of the Forum Fridericianum. In 1990, the German Reunification Treaty was signed in the listed building. Since then, it has been used for events and exhibitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schlossbrücke</span> Bridge located in Germany

Schlossbrücke is a bridge in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Built between 1821 and 1824 according to plans designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, it was named after the nearby City Palace (Stadtschloss). The bridge marks the eastern end of the Unter den Linden boulevard.

References

  1. "Liste, Karte, Datenbank / Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt - Berlin". www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.

Bibliography