German Royal Palaces, Castles and Homes

[HerrKaiser]

The Stadt Schloss in Berlin was considered to be the most grand example of baroque palace architecture in all of Europe. A main attribute was the so-called White Salon. Are there details of the design and decoration of this room? Was it white marble with white furnishings? How did the Stadt Schloss compare in terms of opulence to other royal residences in Europe and England?

[HerrKaiser]

In the "making of..." segment of the recent "The Lost Prince" TV movie, the documentarian said Wilhelm II "build the most sumptuous and elegant palaces in Europe". I have never known about such palaces. In Potsdam, the residences existed before Wilhelm came to power. The only new palace he built, I thought, was Ceceliehof for his son and wife. William did remodel some main rooms at Neues Palais but I was caught in a major surprise on the reference in the film. Any expert on this?

[AGRBear]

This is an expensive over sized book,  so,  see if you have it in your library.  It is called GERMAN CASTLES AND PALACES by Klaus Merten with photographs by Palo Manton.   247 pages with about 53/54 castle/palaces listed.  In English.

I'm not sure how many castle/palaces Wilhelm II built from scratch.  I suspect he placed sizeable sums of money into old places that needed repair.  I may be wrong on this so someone in the know will have to let us know the answer to your question.


AGRBear

[Eurohistory]

This is an expensive over sized book,  so,  see if you have it in your library.  It is called GERMAN CASTLES AND PALACES by Klaus Merten with photographs by Palo Manton.   247 pages with about 53/54 castle/palaces listed.  In English.

I'm not sure how many castle/palaces Wilhelm II built from scratch.  I suspect he placed sizeable sums of money into old places that needed repair.  I may be wrong on this so someone in the know will have to let us know the answer to your question.


AGRBear

Andy...that is a particularly beautiful book indeed!

Arturo Beéche

[AGRBear]

Sans Souci
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Contact:  AGRBear

[Eurohistory]

The first time I visited Potsadm in the 1980's the DDR was still in existence...Potsdam looked like a ghost town and Westerners stuck out like a sore thumb.

Then in 1989 all changed.  I went to Berlin as soon as my Fall Semester ended and yes chiselled at the Wall!

Change took a precipitous turn after that and money began pouring into Potsdam...and I must say that the end result is fantastic as the palaces seem to have regained a certain degree of life of their own.

I last visited Potsdam this past May when I went to the opening of the Crown Princess Cecilie exhibition at the Marmorpalais.  Babelsberg, Klein Glienicke, the Neues Palais, Charlottenhof, the Friedenkirche, Sans Souci and everything else in Potsdam is a wonderful treat for the royal watcher!

Arturo Beéche

[HerrKaiser]

I too was in Potsdam in the mid 80s and the taupy-gray of all the buildings, ruins from the war, and totally faded glory of what wasn't in ruins was a sight to behold. It seemed a combination of sadness, ugliness, and withered beauty that was, in a strange way, romatically attractive. Europe before McDonald's for sure.

Arturo, going back to the original post, did Wilhelm II build or rebuild these palaces as suggested in the TV show? I thought not. I know he "remodeled" the grand entry hall in the Neues Palais with semi precious raw stone work.

[Eurohistory]

I know W2 worked on the Neues Palais, while also changing the name back from Friedrichskron to Neues Palais, which his mother was none to happy about.

Also during the reign of W2 Burg Hohenzollern was worked on as well as Schloß Cadinen and a couple of other residences in Silesia and East Prussia were remodelled and/or restored.

I am afgraid, though, that I cannot give more information about this other than what I mentioned here since architecture, royal or not, is not really my forté.

Arturo Beéche

[Aliard]

In the "making of..." segment of the recent "The Lost Prince" TV movie, the documentarian said Wilhelm II "build the most sumptuous and elegant palaces in Europe". I have never known about such palaces. In Potsdam, the residences existed before Wilhelm came to power. The only new palace he built, I thought, was Ceceliehof for his son and wife. William did remodel some main rooms at Neues Palais but I was caught in a major surprise on the reference in the film. Any expert on this?

Well, it seemed to me like the filmaker sort of twisted many things to make certain figures out the way he wanted, and it's quite clear the Kaiser was hit the hardest. He and Alexandra came off quite horribly in that film, though I'm not so sure they deserved it.

[HerrKaiser]

Great photos and commentary! And the thought of a beer party with song is not irreverent at all; probably happened alot!
The ornateness seems wonderfully detailed. Was this palace considered among the most opulent of Europe/England? There is talk about rebuilding it, but the interiors could never be truly recreated.

[Robert_Hall]

May I ask: what are those huge plates on the wall? I have seen pictures of the Winter Palace rooms with the same sort of plates. Are they battle tropgies ?
Best,
Robert

[Silja]

The Stadtschloß is to be rebuilt (one day . . . ), but there's no intention of reconstructing the interiors, at least not to a great extent.

[brnbg aka: liljones1968]

 Although the thought is perhaps irreverent, I keep having visions of cozy family evenings chez Hohenzollern, with everyone suddenly breaking out in a lusty, Prussian version of "Ninety-nine Gallons of Beer on the Wall".

OMG!  that's hysterical!

[jfkhaos]

Charlottenburg:

[jfkhaos]

Neues Palais, Potsdam: