Schloss Glienicke

Glienicke Palace, at the far southwestern tip of Berlin, is the result of what happens when a rich royal kid goes to Italy and falls in love with the country. Prince Carl of Prussia (1801–83), son of Friedrich Wilhelm III, was only 21 when he returned to Berlin giddy with dreams of building his own Italian villa. He hired Schinkel to turn an existing estate – surrounded by a rambling, romantic garden designed by Peter Joseph Lenné – into an elegant, antique-looking compound. When Schinkel was through, he had indulged the prince’s love of antiquities by expanding the existing mansion, converting the former billiard house into the Casino, an Italian villa with a double pergola, and building two pavilions, the Kleine Neugierde (literally ‘Small Curiosity’) and Grosse Neugierde (‘Big Curiosity’). The latter sits in an especially scenic spot overlooking the Havel River, Schloss Babelsberg and the outskirts of Potsdam. A stroll through the park is a true delight, as beautiful vistas open up at every bend in the path. The palace itself is richly decorated with marble fireplaces, sparkling crystal chandeliers, gold-framed paintings and fine furniture. The turquoise bedroom of the princess and the midnight-blue library are especially memorable. Tour tickets are also good for the Hofgärtner Museum (Royal Court Gardeners’ Museum), where you can peek into the lives and practices of landscape artists like Lenné. The restaurant with its lovely terrace is a good place to relax.