The Friedrichsfelde Palace (german: Schloss Friedrichsfelde) is a Neoclassical-style building in the centre of the

Tierpark Berlin The Tierpark Berlin is one of two zoos located in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1955 and is located in Friedrichsfelde on the former grounds of Friedrichsfelde Palace, which is situated within the zoo. , the zoo houses 7,250 animals from 8 ...

in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde. It was property of various

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

Prussians and occasionally owned by Prussian Kings. The last owners were the Treskow family, whose landmarked family burial ground is located in the surrounding park. Currently, the palace offers

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

s about its history and is a place for classical concerts and cultural events.

History of the palace

Formerly constructed around 1695 by architect

Johann Arnold Nering Johann Arnold Nering (or Nehring; 13 January 1659 – 21 October 1695) was a German Baroque architect in the service of Brandenburg-Prussia. A native of Wesel, Cleves, Nering was educated largely in Holland. From 1677 to 1679 he also travelled ...

as ''Rosenfelde Palace'', the building received its current name in 1699 since

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union ( Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...

came into possession of the palace. In 1719, architect Martin Heinrich Böhme expanded the dimensions of the building on behalf of its new owner,

Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt Albert Frederick, Prince of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (24 January 1672 – 21 June 1731), was a Lieutenant General in the army of the Electorate of Brandenburg-Prussia and Grand Master of the Order of Saint John. In his lifetime h ...

, a half-brother of the late king. Thus, Friedrichsfelde Palace was equipped with new

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

stairs and the size of the facade was extended. In 1762, the building became property of

Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia en, Augustus Ferdinand , house =House of Hohenzollern , father =Frederick William I of Prussia , mother =Sophia Dorothea of Hanover , birth_date = , birth_place =Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_place =Berlin, Kingdom of Pr ...

, the youngest brother of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

. He intended to have the palace completely altered and enlarged. However, he discarded his plans for Friedrichsfelde Palace and instead used them for the construction of Bellevue Palace in the Tiergarten of Berlin. After moving there in 1786, he sold Friedrichsfelde Palace to the exiled Duke of Courland,

Peter von Biron Peter von Biron (15 February 1724 – 13 January 1800) was the last Duke of Courland and Semigallia, from 1769 to 1795. Life and reign Peter was born in Jelgava (german: Mitau) as the oldest son of Ernst Johann von Biron, future Duke of Courl ...

, who had the ballroom on the upper floor redesigned in neo-classical style. Sold several times in the course of the following decades, Friedrichsfelde Palace received its neoclassical appearance in 1800. In summer 1816, Carl von Treskow acquired the building and hired the Prussian landscape architect

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 19 ...

to transform the park of the palace into an

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

, which is still home to the family's burial ground. The palace remained in possession of the Treskow family until May

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, when the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

conquered the palace. The building itself overcame

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with little damage. The restorations of Friedrichsfelde Palace started in 1967. Since 1981, the building is used for musical concerts and as a museum. File:Rundgang 79 - Gartenseite.jpg, Garden of the palace File:Schloss Friedrichsfelde - 1026-908-(118).jpg, Ballroom File:Rundgang 11 - Zimmer 1.jpg, The ''Gartensaal'', interior of the building File:Rundgang 35 - Zimmer 4.jpg, The music room with murals from the 18th century File:Berlin Tierpark Friedrichsfelde 12-2015 Schloss img2.jpg, Frieze above the main entrance File:Berlin Tierpark 18.jpg, Treskow family burial ground

Bibliography

* Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin. "Vom Lustschloss zum Museumsschloss. Schloss Friedrichsfelde und seine wechselvolle Geschichte". Berlin, 2002. * Klaus-Dieter Stefan. "Friedrichsfelde – Der Ort. Das Schloss. Die Geschichte." Hendrik Bäßler Verlag, 2014. .

References

External links

"Friedrichsfelde Palace"
history, data and information about the building at the official website of the palace {{Authority control Houses completed in 1695 Houses completed in 1800 Palaces in Berlin Neoclassical architecture in Berlin Royal residences in Berlin Prussian cultural sites Frederick I of Prussia