Time (stories) from 350 years

A castle through the ages

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  Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen – Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen © SPSG

• Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen, Bett im Gästezimmer – Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen, Bett im Gästezimmer © SPSG

• Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen, Badezimmer – Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen, Badezimmer © SPSG / Foto: Günter Schneider

• Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen, Treppenhaus – Berlin, Schloss Schönhausen, Treppenhaus © SPSG / Foto: Leo Seidel

Schönhausen occupies a unique position in Berlin's monument landscape: as one of the city's few historical monuments, the palace has been repeatedly rebuilt but never fundamentally destroyed, and it has remained an important site of German history and politics until the recent past. A tour full of contrasts

The exhibition shows the changing use of the building and offers a tour full of contrasts through the German history of the last three centuries. All layers of time have been preserved in the building in great abundance, both above and next to each other. Contrasts, breaks and flaws are deliberately integrated into the concept of the exhibition. This also applies to the garden, which has been restored to its 1950s design as an important monument to garden history.

History in fast motion

The first palace on this site was built by the Prussian-Dutch Countess Sophie Dorothea zu Dohna in the 1660s. After complete renovation around 1690 for Elector Frederick III, Schönhausen was mainly influenced by Queen Elisabeth Christine, who used the castle as a summer residence for more than 50 years (1740-1797). After a long "slumber" and sporadic use, Schönhausen became the focus of attention during the Cold War in the young GDR and once again played an important historical role during the period of the Peaceful Revolution as a negotiating venue for the "Two-plus-Four Talks" on German unity.

Residence of the Queen

On the ground floor, the exhibition recalls the residence of Elisabeth Christine, the wife of Frederick the Great. During the renovation work, the original 18th century design was revealed in numerous places under the 20th century wall coverings and layers of paint. In addition, detective work in the SPSG's depots has made it possible to identify furniture, paintings and even wallpaper from the time of the Queen, which were still in Schönhausen until the early 20th century, on the basis of the palace's inventory books. Following extensive restoration, they are now returning to their original location, and in some rooms they will be able to convey an authentic impression of how the Queen lived in her summer palace. In other rooms, works of art from the Queen's possessions, her person and her interests will be highlighted. The objects come from Elisabeth Christine's destroyed apartment in the Berlin Palace or from rooms in Schönhausen that no longer exist in their original form. For the first time ever, the life of Elisabeth Christine is the focus of an exhibition here.

Representation of the GDR

In the northern part of the first floor, more recent history is presented. From 1949 to 1960 Schönhausen was the seat of the first head of state of the GDR, before it was used, after reconstruction, as a state guest house of the GDR from 1964 to 1990. Today, Schönhausen is one of the last places at all where visitors can authentically experience the self-staging of the SED dictatorship. The first phase is represented by Wilhelm Pieck's office. Its furnishings, designed for Schönhausen in 1950, have been preserved in the Museum of German History/Deutsche Historisches Museum. The guest apartment with dressing room, men's and women's bedrooms and bathrooms has been largely preserved from the period as a state guest house. The emphatically modern style of the furnishings in the strong colours of the time was intended as a demonstration of the progressiveness of the GDR. Personalities of world politics such as Indira Gandhi, Fidel Castro or Mikhail Gorbachev stayed in these rooms. One room will be restored to the condition in which the palace was taken over by the SPSG in 2005. This so-called Kaminzimmer (Fireplace Room) represents the furnishing style of the Honecker era, when the GDR turned to Prussian history and chose to decorate the palace in a demonstratively historicist manner.

Dohna-Schlobitten Collection in Schönhausen Palace

In the remaining rooms on the first floor, the arc is drawn to the beginning of Schönhausen's history. The family of the builder of the first castle, Countess Dohna, was closely connected to the Prussian royal family for centuries. Until 1945, the Dohna family had its headquarters at Schlobitten Castle in East Prussia. Miraculously, Prince Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten was able to save a significant part of the inventory shortly before the end of the war, before the castle was destroyed. Now Schönhausen Palace will be the new home of this magnificent collection of works of art of all genres in their context, which has grown over centuries.

Restoration of Schönhausen Palace and Gardens 2005-2009

The exhibition chapter on the second floor deals with the restoration of Schönhausen Palace and Garden between 2005 and 2009. The restoration included the facade of the palace, the palace rooms and the garden. The preservation of all historical epochs required different, sometimes conflicting monument conservation, restoration and technical approaches. The principle of monument preservation was: conservation instead of reconstruction. For this reason, all planning and restoration work was geared towards restoring the typical features of those groups of rooms that are particularly representative of a particular period in the palace, thus also consciously accepting supposed disruptions.

Runtime: from December 2009

Price: €8.00

Reduced price: €6.00

Takes place here:

• Schloss Schönhausen