![Schloss Monbijou mit der Sophienkirche im Hintergrund (Degen)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Schloss_Monbijou_mit_der_Sophienkirche_im_Hintergrund_%28Degen%29.jpg)
Monbijou Palace was a
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
palace in central Berlin located in the present-day
Monbijou Park
Monbijou Park is a park in Mitte, a district of Berlin, Germany. The park is bounded to the south by the river Spree (river), Spree, to the west by Monbijoustraße, and to the north Oranienburger Straße and Monbijouplatz. It is close to the Fried ...
on the north bank of the
Spree
Spree may refer to:
Geography
* Spree (river), river in Germany
Film and television
* ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
* ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery
* "Spree" (''Numbers' ...
river across from today's
Bode Museum
The Bode-Museum (English: ''Bode Museum''), formerly called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (''Emperor Frederick Museum''), is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1898 to 1904 by order of Germa ...
and within sight of the Hohenzollern
city palace City Palace may refer to:
* City Palace, Berlin, Germany
* City Palace, Brunswick, Germany
* City Palace, Potsdam, Germany
* Wiesbaden City Palace, Germany
* Schloss Weimar, Germany
* City Palace, Jaipur, India
* City Palace, Udaipur, India
* Myso ...
. Heavily damaged in
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 ...
, the ruins were finally razed by the communist authorities of
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
in 1959. The palace has not been rebuilt.
Beginnings
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
the site was outside the city walls on the road to Spandau and contained a manor farmstead of the
prince-elector of Brandenburg. The entire area was devastated in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
.
In 1649,
Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...
, popularly known as the Great Elector (''Der Große Kurfürst'') for his military and political skills, ordered the property to be re-cultivated and presented it to his first consort, Louise Henriette of the
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...
. With great dedication she established there an exemplary rural estate including crops and dairy farming following the
Dutch model. The first potatoes in the
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.
Brandenburg developed out o ...
were grown there as an ornamental plant and curiosity. After Henriette's death in 1667 the property went to the elector's second wife,
Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to:
*Sophia (wisdom)
*Sophia (Gnosticism)
* Sophia (given name)
Places
*Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu
*Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana
*Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpo ...
. She added a garden with a small summer house, the nucleus of the future palace and grounds.
Frederick I, who became Elector of Brandenburg on the death of his father in 1688 and King in Prussia in 1701, decided to expand the estate.
Count von Wartenberg, his chief minister and favorite, was the developer of a "pleasure house", a small palace of just 400 square meters, erected by the royal architect Eosander von Göthe between 1703 and 1706 in a late
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 ...
style. Friedrich I presented it to Countess Wartenberg, his mistress.
Residence of queens
From 1712 the little palace served as the summer residence of
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, who in 1706 married
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuch ...
, the son and successor of Frederick I. Both she and her father-in-law are attributed with naming the palace "Monbijou", from the French ''mon bijou'' ("my jewel"). In 1717 tsar
Peter the Great of Russia and his court lodged at Monbijou for two days while traveling abroad. According to contemporary reports, the Russian guests left the property in "a complete mess" after their departure. Dorothea's son,
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 ...
, had the palace modernized and considerably enlarged as soon as he had acceded to the throne. His architect,
Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff
(Hans) Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (17 February 1699 – 16 September 1753) was a painter and architect in Prussia.
Knobelsdorff was born in Kuckädel, now in Krosno Odrzańskie County. A soldier in the service of Prussia, he resigned his ...
, superintendent of all royal buildings and architect of
Sanssouci, had new extensions and outbuildings erected which extended the original size of the grounds by several times on the Spree river side. In 1742 the "Berlinische(n) Nachrichten" reported that the keys had been turned over to the queen mother, which "delighted her immensely". Dorothea spent the summer months at Monbijou, giving formal dinners,
masquerade balls
A masquerade ball (or ''bal masqué'') is an event in which many participants attend in costume wearing a mask. (Compare the word "masque"—a formal written and sung court pageant.) Less formal "costume parties" may be a descendant of this tra ...
and concerts there, pleasures she had long done without under the Spartan reign of Frederick William I. The palace had its own jetty, since the court members often preferred to arrive in comfort via the waterways instead of being jarred over rough roads.
The palace was long uninhabited after the death of Queen Sophie Dorothea in 1757. In 1786 it became the chief residence of Queen
Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, who had been humiliated by her husband, King
Frederick William II of Prussia (popularly known as "''Der Dicke Lüderjahn''", "the portly voluptuary") because of his girth and his numerous affairs and two official
morganatic marriages; a monumental gate by Georg Christian Unger was added during this period. The Queen died at Monbijou in 1805. After that, the palace had outlived its usefulness as a residence for members of the court. The Anglican congregation of Berlin began using a gatehouse of Monbijou Palace as the ''English Chapel'' from 1855.
["About us"](_blank)
on
''St George's Anglican Episcopal Church, Berlin''
retrieved on 14 May 2012. The chapel soon became too small for the services of the congregation, regularly attended by
Princess Royal Victoria, Crown Princess of Prussia and the German Empire.
["St. George's Anglican Church"](_blank)
, on
, retrieved on 14 May 2012 In 1883
Crown Prince Frederick William and Victoria provided a site in the
park of Monbijou Palace close to Monbijoustraße and the Domkandidatenstift.
Julius Carl Raschdorff, who would later design Berlin's
Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, was commissioned to develop the plans for an Anglican church, completed in 1885 and named
St. George's Church.
Hohenzollern Museum
![Berlin Hohenzollern Museum Schloss Monbijou](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Berlin_Hohenzollern_Museum_Schloss_Monbijou.jpg)
Around 1820, the so-called "Germanic-Slavic Antiquities" were removed from the royal curiosities cabinet (''Kunstkammer'') and housed in Monbijou Palace as the Museum for National Antiquities (''Museum für Vaterländische Alterthümer''). As the collections regularly expanded with the addition of new categories (paintings, jewelry, porcelain), the German emperor
Wilhelm I finally made the palace with its 42 rooms accessible to the public as the "Hohenzollern Museum" in 1877. It was considered to be on the one hand an educational institution of
cultural history
Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...
, and on the other hand a place for the
Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
dynasty to celebrate its own history and significance.
![Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P016536, Berlin, Schloss Monbijou Innenansicht](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P016536%2C_Berlin%2C_Schloss_Monbijou_Innenansicht.jpg)
The museum survived the abolition of the monarchy in Germany in 1918. Its inventory remained in the possession of the dynasty but it was administered by the state, which made Monbijou Palace available for the purpose and assumed responsibility for maintaining the museum in the traditional way.
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 ...
brought this state of affairs to an end. Large parts of the collections had been evacuated, and after the war were looted and brought to the Soviet Union and other places.
As late as 1940/41
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...
, Adolf Hitler's favored architect, proposed relocating the palace in order to make space for three new museum buildings across from the
Museum Island
The Museum Island (german: Museumsinsel) is a museum complex on the northern part of the Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin. It is one of the most visited sights of Germany's capital and one of the most important museum sites in Europ ...
—as part of the planning for the monumental
Welthauptstadt Germania
Welthauptstadt Germania () or World Capital Germania was the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin during the Nazi period, part of Adolf Hitler's vision for the future of Nazi Germany after the planned victory in World War II. It wa ...
("World Capital Germania") project. Monbijou castle was to be completely pulled down and rebuilt in the park of
Charlottenburg Palace between the nearby Spree sluice and the
Berlin Ringbahn. The war made these plans irrelevant.
War damage and demolition
As a precaution, all the palace windows had already been bricked up in 1940, but the entire building was gutted during an air raid in November 1943 and almost entirely destroyed. The ruins were left in place until 1959, when the East Berlin Magistrate—against the strenuous objection of museum professionals and parts of the
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
public— ordered the final demolition, apparently out of an ideological motivation similar to what prompted the breakup of the likewise heavily damaged Hohenzollern
city palace City Palace may refer to:
* City Palace, Berlin, Germany
* City Palace, Brunswick, Germany
* City Palace, Potsdam, Germany
* Wiesbaden City Palace, Germany
* Schloss Weimar, Germany
* City Palace, Jaipur, India
* City Palace, Udaipur, India
* Myso ...
in 1950.
Only a few names remain as testimony to the former existence of the palace: On the grounds between
Oranienburger Straße
Oranienburger Straße ( en, Oranienburger Street) is a street in central Berlin. It is located in the borough of Mitte, north of the River Spree, and runs south-east from Friedrichstraße to Hackescher Markt.
The street is popular with tourists ...
and the Spree there is a shady refuge of three
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s with a children's open-air swimming pool, today's
Monbijou Park
Monbijou Park is a park in Mitte, a district of Berlin, Germany. The park is bounded to the south by the river Spree (river), Spree, to the west by Monbijoustraße, and to the north Oranienburger Straße and Monbijouplatz. It is close to the Fried ...
. Nearby there is a Monbijou Square, a Monbijou Street, and a Monbijou Bridge for pedestrians connecting both banks of the Spree at the north end of Museum Island.
See also
*
List of castles in Berlin and Brandenburg
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
Private website about Monbijou (self-published)(de)
{{Authority control
Royal residences in Berlin
Palaces in Berlin
Buildings and structures in Berlin destroyed during World War II
Former palaces in Germany
Demolished buildings and structures in Berlin
Buildings and structures demolished in 1959