Babelsberg Palace (Germany)

Majestically, on the banks of the Havel River, Babelsberg Palace, built in the style of English Gothic Revival, sits enthroned. The castle and the park Babelsberg were built from 1833 for Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (later Emperor Wilhelm I) and his wife Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar. For more than fifty years, Babelsberg served as the summer residence of the later royal and imperial couple.

The architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel created from 1833 to 1835 the first castle construction, which had only the size of a small cottage. With the appointment of Prince William to the Prussian heir apparent in 1840 also increased his representation duties. As a result of this increase in rank, the palace was extended in the years 1844-1849 at the request of the client by the architects Ludwig Persius and Johann Heinrich Strack. Wilhelm and Augusta took an active part in the design and furnishing of their summer residence. In the 1860s to 1880s Babelsberg was one of the most important places in the social and political life of Prussia, which culminated in the proclamation of the Emperor in 1871.

Since 2016, the facade of the castle and the terraces have been restored to their former glory after extensive renovation. According to the garden architect Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau, the five terraces surrounding the palace are supposed to look like "open-air castle spaces". For the first time in over 100 years, the water games around the castle can be experienced again from April to October.