Schönhausen Palace

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Schönhausen Palace in Berlin

Schönhausen Palace is a baroque palace in Berlin's borough of Niederschönhausen in the administrative district of Pankow. It is surrounded by gardens through which the River Panke runs. The palace belongs to the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg and is scheduled to be reopened to the public in 2009 after extensive restoration.

1 History
2 See also
3 Reference
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Prussian History

In 1662 Countess Dohna of the Holland-Brederode family acquired the lands Niederschönhausen and Pankow, then far off the Berlin gates. In 1664 she built a manor in Niederschönhausen in "Dutch" style and in 1691 sold it for 16,000 Thalers to Frederick III, Prince-elector of Brandenburg who had fallen in love with the property earlier. He put it under the care of the court Niederschönhausen and had the manor remodeled into a palace from 1691 through 1693 based on plans by Johann Arnold Nering. In August 1700 the Prince-elector prepared and planned his coronation as King of Prussia from the Schönhausen Palace. In 1704 the now King Frederick I of Prussia contracted Eosander von Göthe to again enlarge the palace. After the death of the king in 1713 his son and successor, Frederick William I of Prussia did not care much for the palace. As a result, civil servants moved in to use it as office space, part of the land was leased and both the palace and the park slowly became dilapidated in the ensuing years.

Under King Frederick II of Prussia, also known as "Frederick the Great" the palace was once again turned into a royal residence. He gave it to his wife Queen Elisabeth Christine who used it as her regular summer residence from 1740 to 1790. However, Frederick never visited his wife here. During the Seven Years' War the Russian troops pushed deep into Prussia and destroyed the palace.^{[citation needed]} It was subsequently rebuilt in 1764 in its current shape and the gardens were remodeled in the French Rococo style -Lustgartens. After the death of Queen Elisabeth Christine in 1797 the palace was seldom used and served mainly as a storage facility for furniture and paintings.

It is rumored that King Frederick II buried his favorite horse Conde in the gardens but whether the hill in question actually is his horse's grave has not been proven. In the 19th century the gardens were again remodeled, this time by Peter Joseph Lenne into an English landscape garden.

[edit] Post-Prussian history

The Prussian ruling family continued to own Schönhausen Palace until it became the property of the Prussian state in 1920 after the end of the monarchy in Prussia and Germany. It was then opened to the public and used for numerous art exhibitions and used by the government's official art department during the Third Reich. When the battles were being fought for Berlin at the end of World War II the palace was damaged but was almost immediately repaired by the Künstlerinitiative of Pankow so that it could already be used again for an exhibit in September 1945. Soon thereafter the Soviet military confiscated the palace and turned it into an officer's club. Later it served as a boarding school for Soviet students.

When the German Democratic Republic, the former East Germany, was founded on October 7, 1949, the Soviets turned Schönhausen Palace over to the GDR. Until 1960 it served as the official seat of the President Wilhelm Pieck. After his death the government used it as its official guest house and named it officially Schloss Niederschönhausen. Numerous guests of the government lodged here; one of the last was the then President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife in October 1989. At that time, the palace and part of the gardens were closed to the public and surrounded by a tall wall.

[edit] After the German reunification

While the German reunification was in progress in 1989 and 1990 the so-called Round table met in the auxiliary buildings of the palace. Significant portions of the negotiations leading to the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany also took place here and a plaque memorializes this period now.

After the German reunification the palace became property of the Bundesvermögensamt, the division of the German treasury in charge of managing the government-owned real estate. In 1991 the state of Berlin became the new owner of the palace and its gardens and in 1997 the State put the property up for sale. In 2003 it was at times envisioned to use the palace as temporary residence of the President of Germany until the renovation of Schloss Bellevue were completed but this plan fell through because of the significant expenses (€ 12 million) that would have been required to bring the palace sufficiently up to speed. Furthermore, due to treatment of the roof structure with chemicals to protect the wooden beams, only the two lower floors could be used for occasional celebrations and guided tours for several years.

On June 24, 2005 ownership of the palace was transferred to the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg. At the same time, € 8.6 million in federal funds was set aside for the renovation. The re-opening of the palace to the public is planned for 2009, although the interior restoration is not expected to be complete by that time. In addition to the historic rooms from the time of the Prussian queen, the rooms used by the GDR President will be reopened; the refurnishment of the office used by Wilhelm Pieck is also being considered. Furthermore, the artworks from the collection of Elisabeth Christine will be exhibited as well as the Dohna-Schlobitten collection which is currently housed at the Charlottenburg Palace.

The restoration of the gardens to the version in place when the President of the GDR worked here is also planned. The future of the garage that enjoys protection as a historic landmark is currently being studied.

Since 2003 the Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik (BAKS) is housed in two of the auxiliary buildings of the palace.