Charlottenburg Palace

What makes it special

The Old Palace carries the palace's crowning tower, with a gilded Fortuna standing on its dome. Inside, its highlights are the Porcelain Cabinet, the Palace Chapel and the first king's bedchamber.

The New Wing holds two separate apartments made for Frederick the Great, and one of the largest collections of eighteenth-century French painting outside France. Its two showpiece halls are the White Hall and the Golden Gallery.

The palace was severely damaged in the Second World War, and the New Wing came close to destruction. Both were largely rebuilt and refurnished afterwards, so many of the rooms you walk through are reconstructions.

The palace grounds also hold Andreas Schlüter's equestrian statue of the Great Elector.

Out in the palace garden, the Mausoleum is Queen Luise's tomb, and inside you see her large sarcophagus. The New Pavilion, also in the garden, was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

Visiting

Buy the charlottenburg+ ticket, which covers every museum in the palace garden for one day. Buying it also books you a fixed time slot for the palace itself, so plan the rest of the day around that time.

Begin with the Old Palace rooms, then go on into the New Wing. Afterwards, take the garden paths out to the Mausoleum, and on a Sunday to the New Pavilion as well.

The garden stays open from early morning until dusk, later than the palace. That leaves room to see the outlying buildings at your own pace once the palace has closed for the day.

Guided or on your own

To go round alone, use the foundation's free multimedia app on your own phone, with your own headphones, since the palace lends none. Guided tours of the palace run in German and English.

The New Pavilion is seen at a booked tour time: book it at the palace registers when you arrive. Its English tours start at 11 am and then every ninety minutes through the afternoon.

Tips

Photos are allowed in the rooms, but flash is not, and staff enforce that strictly, so turn it off before your slot begins.

None of the garden fountains carry drinking water, so take a bottle if you plan to walk out to the Mausoleum. In December a Christmas market is held on the square in front of the palace, which makes a winter visit an easy evening out.