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Schloss Charlottenhof Review

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Schloss Charlottenhof

Phone: 0331/969-4228

Category: Castles/Palaces
Location: Potsdam

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Fodor's Review:

Schloss Charlottenhof is in the southern part of Sanssouci Park. After Frederick the Great died in 1786, the ambitious Sanssouci building program ground to a halt, and the park fell into neglect. It was 50 years before another Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, restored Sanssouci's earlier glory. He engaged the great Berlin architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel to build this small palace for the crown prince. Schinkel's demure interiors are preserved, and the most fanciful room is the bedroom, decorated like a Roman tent, with its walls and ceiling draped in striped canvas.

Between the Sanssouci palaces are later additions to the park. In 1836 Friedrich Wilhelm IV built the Römische Bäder (Roman Baths. EUR 3 with exhibit. May-Oct., Tues.-Sun. 10-5:30). The Orangerieschloss und Turm (Guided tour EUR 4, tower only EUR 2. Palace and tower mid-May-mid-Oct., Tues.-Sun. 10-5; tower only Apr. weekends 10-5) was completed in 1860; its two massive towers linked by a colonnade evoke an Italian Renaissance palace. Today it houses 47 copies of paintings by Raphael. The Chinesisches Teehaus (Chinese Teahouse. EUR 2. May-Oct., Tues.-Sun. 10-5:30) was erected in 1757 in the Chinese style, which was all the rage at the time, and houses porcelain from Meissen and Asia. Completed in 1848, the Italianate Friedenskirche (Peace Church. 0331/969-4228. Free. Late Mar.-Apr. and 1st 2 wks in Oct., Mon.-Sat. 11-5, Sun. noon-5; May-Sept., Mon.-Sat. 10-6, Sun. noon-6) houses a 12th-century Byzantine mosaic taken from an island near Venice.

Cost: EUR 4 with tour
Open: Easter week and May-Oct., daily 10-5:30

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