Charlottenhof Palace

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Charlottenhof Palace

Charlottenhof Palace was the summer residence of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (1795–1861), from 1840 King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. It is located in Potsdam southwest in the palace gardens of Sanssouci and is under the administration of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg .

history

The rose garden

The area of ​​the park Charlottenhof with changing buildings goes back to the 18th century. After several changes of ownership, Friedrich Wilhelm III bought. (1770–1840) took over the area bordering Sanssouci Park to the south and gave it to his son Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and his wife Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria at Christmas 1825 .

The Crown Prince commissioned the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel to convert a house that already existed on this site, which Jan Bouman , castellan Friedrich II. And construction manager of the Sanssouci Palace, had built. The renovation was carried out in 1826–1829 with economical means. Schinkel, supported by his pupil Ludwig Persius , built a small pleasure palace in the classical style on the foundation walls of the old house , modeled on Roman villas.

The artistically gifted Crown Prince took part in the design of the palace and park with his own design drawings. He himself called his summer palace “Siam”, according to the understanding of the time “the land of the free” and jokingly called himself “Siam house architect”.

The palace and the park were officially named Charlottenhof. The namesake was Maria Charlotte von Gentzkow , the wife of a chamberlain and owner of the estate from 1790 to 1794.

architecture

Engravings from The antiquities of Athens (vol. 2) by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett (London 1825)

The Charlottenhof Palace presents itself with a sloping, slightly rusticated base level with low, unadorned windows. The windows on the upper floor are much higher. With wide bezels and a slight, straight roof, they are based on ancient models. The windows are also adorned with balustrades and shutters painted in shades of blue, which refer to the Bavarian origins of Princess Elisabeth. The Mittelrisalite the western and eastern front of the building are each surmounted by a gable, and with a flat gable roof interconnected.

On the western front - the entrance side of the castle - the central projection is designed as a monumental portal. The main entrance, framed by a wide, antique-looking bottle, is segmented into two entrances and two skylights by three right-angled columns and is reminiscent of the Thrasyllos Monument (320 BC) in Athens, which Schinkel was already modeled on at the Royal Theater on the Gendarmenmarkt has used. The frieze of laurel wreaths under the frontispiece also refers to the Thrasyllos monument in the reconstruction by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett from 1762, which is known to Schinkel . An acanthus tendril ornament runs above the main entrance . The gable is crowned by palmettes - akrotere . The central projection of the main entrance corresponds to a classic portico with Doric column arrangement on the east front of the castle , which opens the building to the garden and terrace.

The strict facade design is loosened up by a semicircular bay window on the north side. The inspiration for this apsidal bulge, its use as a bedroom and the arrangement of the three windows could go back to Diomedes' villa in Pompeii. This is the only known Italian villa from the imperial era to have such a semicircular bedroom with an alcove and three windows. Schinkel visited Pompeii extensively in September 1817 and will certainly have visited the excavated villa of Diomedes there.

Architectural interior design

Glass window in the skylight of the entrance door

Inside, the furnishings of the ten rooms have largely been preserved in their original form. The furniture was mostly designed by Schinkel himself and is characterized by simple, cultivated bourgeoisie.

What is remarkable is the different theming of each room in terms of material and color, which goes so far that even the doors are treated very differently on each side. The most original room in the castle is the tent room designed in the style of Roman general tents. The ceiling and walls are covered with blue and white striped paper wallpaper. The curtains and canopy-like overhangs and the blankets of the camp beds are of the same pattern. The room served as a bedroom for ladies-in-waiting and guests.

White and blue can also be found on all of the castle's shutters and is an allusion to the Bavarian origins of Crown Princess Elisabeth.

In the summer months of 1835–1840, the tent room housed the researcher and world traveler Alexander von Humboldt , who was in Potsdam at the invitation of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm.

Park Charlottenhof

Garden plan 1839
Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great in the hippodrome

The garden architect Hermann Sello was commissioned with the design of the Charlottenhof park with the assistance of Peter Joseph Lenné . The park is considered to be a milestone in garden history because it was the first to incorporate extensive geometric areas, then known as "Italian", into the landscape. At least these parts are based on personal designs by the Crown Prince, who is enthusiastic about Italy.

The park was cleverly connected to the old Sanssouci Park from the time of Frederick the Great . The originally flat and in places swampy terrain was transformed into an English landscape garden, the main elements of which are trees, meadows and water. The irrigation was done with water from the Havel , for which a water pipe and a separate machine house were built. Erwin Albert Barth later recorded the machine house, the pond system and bridges in the park in drawings.

From 1836 the hippodrome was built to the west of the castle building and is surrounded by a forest. In 1840 a pheasantry was laid out behind it according to plans by Friedrich Ludwig Persius. Lenné gave the area around the pheasantry a forest-like character. The paths in this area are suitable for quiet and contemplative walks.

Between 1960 and 1980 the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great stood in the middle of the hippodrome .

Picture gallery

  • Charlottenhof Palace

  • Charlottenhof Palace in the Sanssouci park

  • Charlottenhof Palace; Gallery on the outside area

  • Charlottenhof Palace; Gallery and park

  • Park of Charlottenhof Palace with a view of the New Palais

  • Park Charlottenhof

  • gallery

  • Arcade in Charlottenhof Palace

  • Pheasantry in the Charlottenhof Park

  • Gazelle by Wilhelm Wolff

literature

  • Antje Adler: Lived antiquity - Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And Charlottenhof. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-428-13744-2
  • Brandenburg State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and the State Archaeological Museum and Foundation Prussian Palaces and Gardens Berlin-Brandenburg (Ed.): Peter Josef Lenné. Parks and gardens in the state of Brandenburg . Wernersche, Worms 2005, ISBN 3-88462-217-X , pp. 182-194
  • Friedrich Mielke : Potsdam architecture. Classic Potsdam. Propylaeen, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-549-06648-1 , pp. 128-130
  • Heinz Schönemann: Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Charlottenhof, Potsdam-Sanssouci . 2nd, revised edition. Menges, Stuttgart / London 2012, ISBN 978-3-930698-12-7
  • Heinz Schönemann: The Charlottenhof Park . In: Foundation Prussian Palaces and Gardens Berlin-Brandenburg (ed.): Nothing thrives without care. The Potsdam park landscape and its gardeners . Exhibition catalog, Potsdam 2001, pp. 91-102
  • Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg: Charlottenhof Palace and Roman Baths . Prestel, Munich / Berlin / London / New York 2003, ISBN 3-7913-2894-8
  • Gert Streidt, Klaus Frahm: Potsdam. The castles and gardens of the Hohenzollern. Könemann, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-89508-238-4 , pp. 164-181

Web links

Commons : Charlottenhof Palace  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Hoffmann, Renate Möller (arrangement): Charlottenhof Palace and the Roman Baths . General Directorate d. State Locks and Gardens Potsdam-Sanssouci, Potsdam-Sanssouci 1985, p. 15.
  2. ↑ Florian Müller-Klug: Palace and Park Charlottenhof - An Arcadia . In: Clio Berlin Blog, June 23, 2014.
  3. ↑ Florian Müller-Klug: Palace and Park Charlottenhof - An Arcadia . In: Clio Berlin Blog, June 23, 2014.
  4. ^ Heinz Schönemann: Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Charlottenhof, Potsdam-Sanssouci . Potsdam 2012, p. 6ff.

Coordinates: 52 ° 23 '43.9 "  N , 13 ° 1' 33.4"  E